A Conversation with Augustana’s Dan Layus – HuffPost 5.7.14
Mike Ragogna: Dan! So what do you think of this new Augustana album Life Imitating Life, and in your opinion, how’s it different from your previous ones? What’s the jump like?
Dan Layus: I think that the biggest jump is that I focused a lot more attention on the structure of the songs, not sonically as much but I definitely put a lot more focus on the writing of this record. I spent a lot more time on it, really etched out the details and made sure that every lyric had a reason to be there in a three and a half minute song. There wasn’t any wasted breath, any wasted verbage or any wasted adjective, I wanted to really express my feelings about certain subjects in a more provocative and introspective way, in a way that’s difficult to voice at times. I wanted to find newer, more interesting ways to say some of these very common fears, excitement, any kind of emotions, essentially. I’d say that was a big emphasis for me.
MR: Was this a “maturing process?”
DL: Sure, sure. From a songwriting standpoint, from a record-making standpoint, as a human, really, as a person I felt that the process of me going from age twenty six to now twenty nine has been a really positive process. I really like myself at twenty nine. That feels good to say. I didn’t like myself during a lot of my twenties, probably like a lot of people in their twenties. It can be a tumultuous time, so I’m very happy to have come out the other side. I’ll be thirty next year and I’m feeling positive about my life and the choices I’m making and the things that I’m putting out there into the world.
MR: That’s wonderful and don’t be too hard on yourself, the brain doesn’t stop forming until twenty-five, so everyone gets to be a crazy person until then. Nature’s orders.
DL: [laughs] I absolutely concur.
MR: The name of this album is Life Imitating Life, which kind of implies you’re hunkering down now, like taking things seriously. Is that what’s happening with the band?
DL: Well, I hope so. I know it’s kind of a stock answer, but it is true that you always want to be evolving into a more interesting place as a songwriter or performer or a father or a husband or just a citizen of the world. I think you just want to be observant, and that was something I tried to do, just get out of myself a little bit so that I could dig inside myself a little bit more thoroughly. I kind of envision “Life imitating life” saying a lot of what the record is saying, which is a positive and thorough spring cleaning, kind of asking, “Have I come full circle or am I just going in circles?” Or is this process chemical, like you were saying? Is it a natural, unavoidable process growing up and making mistakes and making good choices and bad choices and hurting people and yourself and all these things, is it unavoidable? It’s like the famous quote, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Can you even really say that you would do anything different if you had a chance, because did you know any better anyways? I think it’s a question a lot of people bounce around. There were so many examples in front of me, generations of people know, civilizations of how we’ve known it for centuries, people have gone through the same issues forever and it’s like, “Man, why couldn’t I have learned from those examples and not gone down that road?” I think analyzing all that is essential at times, questioning whether it’s fate or how much free will there is, all those things.
MR: And you touch on that, it even seems to be the basis of your first single, “Ash And Ember.”
DL: Yeah, absolutely! That song is definitely questioning whether you can do anything about it at all and whether once you finally figure it out is it too late, have you already missed your potential? But I think it also says, “All I can do is focus on today and tomorrow and be the best person I can right now.” There’s sort of a full circle element to that. But it’s definitely like a soldier running away from the ambush or readying the deck for a storm that’s long gone, having anxiety about all these things that I really can’t control anyways. That’s an introspective thought process.
MR: Do you feel like the move to Razor & Tie from Epic was part of this maturing process?
DL: I think it all coincides. I don’t know that it’s a direct result of that, but I certainly learned a lot in the process of that label experience. I always try to take responsibility for myself and never put any kind of blame for any lack of success on anybody else but my own shoulders. Like we’re saying, I can’t control a lot of things out there, so I think seeing how a process can work better or worse at a label or any kind of business like that, I think it’s a good learning experience. You bang your head on a mistake and you turn around and run into another one and learn from that one and turn around and run into the next one.
MR: You’ve been on Late Night with David Letterman, soon to be Late Night with Stephen Colbert. What do you think about that, by the way?
DL: It’s funny, I had a question about that the other day, too. I love it, there’s been some interesting talk about it, but I’m a fan of all the late night programs. I’ve loved David Letterman for years and I enjoyed Leno as well and I think Fallon is fantastic. I love Colbert’s show, I think he’s a genius, he’s really special.
MR: It’ll be interesting when you visit him next. I’m curious about this point forward. Where is this heading? What’s the mission statement now?
DL: I don’t know where this ends, and I like that. It’s open ended. I I’m open for anything. I actually probably have more passion for songwriting and performing now than maybe I ever had. I have a very clear vision of the kind of things I want to put out into the world, I want to put positive things out there and I want people to connect. If I can be a messenger of some kind of important connection within somebody, whether that’s doubting something or being excited about something or love or fear or whatever that human condition is, I feel very fortunate to be able to be somebody who can convey those feelings in a song and through melody and lyric and that’s something I’ve never flet so fortunate or clear about really how rare and special that connection can be.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
DL: I don’t know if I have any, man. I hate to skirt around the question, but I don’t have the answer. Everybody’s experience is different. We started really young I was like eighteen when I signed the deal at Epic. It’s been eleven years and my experience will vary from somebody else’s experience, even at the same time. Everybody’s different, so I can’t think of any advice to be honest. I’ve just got to get my own thing order. [laughs]
MR: Is there anything from your creative experience or touring or signing that’s worth passing on? A warning or an encouragement?
DL: I don’t know if this is proven to be the right way to go, but I’ve always tried sincerely to just make sure that I’m putting these songs out because I believe in them. Especially on this record, but also on the last one. As soon as it’s somebody else’s belief and you’re just going with it–although trusted advice can be incredibly important and I think it is important to have people around you that can steer you in the right direction, absolutely, but I do believe that it has to come from your gut because ultimately you’re the one who goes out and plays it every night. People that are standing in front of you when you’re on that stage, they can see it, man. They have a BS meter and they can see when you mean it and when you don’t mean it, and when it means something to you and when it doesn’t. I think that’s something I’ve ultimately learned, you’ve got to put something out from your gut. I know that sounds really cliche, but I think it’s the fact from my experience.
MR: See, that’s perfect. That’s a great answer. Passing on that knowledge is all about life imitating life.
DL: Very true, Mike!
MR: What does the future look like for Augustana? You’re going to be on tour at least through may and maybe beyond that, right?
DL: We have nothing on the books for Summer and Fall but I have no doubt that we will probably be back out again. I definitely want to turn another record out pretty quick here, I don’t want to go another three years. It was never my intention to go three years, I just had to find the right songs, you know what I mean? I needed to live some life and dig it out of a real place before I spit something out there. I’ve still got a lot going on in my head and I’d love to put out another record. I don’t think it’ll be too long before there’s another one coming up.
MR: And you collaborated with John O’Mahony for this, was that cool?
DL: Oh it was fantastic, he’s got a great track record, he’s worked with some great artists and made some fantastic records, it was a great experience, man, he’s a great producer. He’s really got his finger on the pulse of how to blend indie rock influences with pop things. I think he’s going to have a lot of success beyond what he’s already had. He’s great, man, it’s a great experience.
MR: Nice. Is there anything else you’d like to say that we haven’t covered?
DL: No, this was a fantastic interview, my favorite by far. Thank you, I appreciate it.
MR: Oh, you’re awesome, thank you for saying that.
Transcribed By Galen Hawthorne