Christian Review Magazine Issue 4 - April 2015 | Page 50

an exclusive interview with

Dustin Kensrue
THRICE VOCALIST
DUSTIN KENSRUE
OPENS UP ABOUT HIS
NEW SOLO PROJECT
“CARRY THE FIRE”

Christian Review (CR): Before you began releasing solo projects, you were
originally the lead vocalist/rhythm
guitarist for Thrice. What are some of
the main differences between your
work with Thrice and your solo
projects?
Dustin Kensrue (DK): The are two
main differences. One is that I am
working alone rather than in a very
collaborative environment with 3
other people. Collaboration is fun
and invigorating sometimes and
other times is very frustrating.
Working alone you skip the
frustration, but miss out on the life
giving qualities of that collaboration.
The second difference is that
generally the solo stuff pulls more
from Americana influences than
Thrice ever does.
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CR: Do you find you have more
creative freedom with your solo
projects?

CR: Can you name some of your
favorite bands/artists? Do they
influence the way you write music?

DK: Definitely more freedom in the
sense that you can do whatever you
want and no one else’s opinion can
interfere with that. But it can also be
hard not having a sounding board.
Thankfully this time around I ran a lot
of things by my wife and had a ton of
fun letting her speak into the songs.
She doesn’t have a musical
background as far as making music,
but has a great ear and great ideas. If
I think something’s great, it doesn’t
matter what anyone says, but if I’m
on the fence, hearing some outside
input can inject some new life into a
song.

DK: That’s a tough one but I’ll throw
out some favorites. Tom Waits,
Radiohead, Arcade Fire, The
National. Right now I’m especially
captivated by the latest Father John
Misty record. I think the music I listen
to influences the way I write but not
in any quantifiable way, especially at
this point in my life. You have to
develop your own voice as an artist
and it becomes harder to distinguish
the way that the tapestry of those
influences are woven together in
your own work.
CR: How does your faith influence
your songwriting?

Photos by Myriam Santos