The auditory mission of Dirtwire is to take the listener on a spiritually guided excursion through ancient roots and worldly sounds, creating dynamically appealing compositions unlike any you’ve heard before. Comprised of David Satori from Beats Antique and Evan Fraser of Hamsa Lila, these two musical geniuses have successfully conquered uncharted territory when it comes to their unique world-fusion beats.
Coining their sound as electro-acoustic, Dirtwire produces enlightening productions that force you to reach beyond the surface, bringing a sense of insight and fulfillment, which is only intensified when seeing the duo perform live. Coasting on the high from the release of their album on September 9th, Dirtwire are even more determined in their mission to deliver their twangy, sexy and innovative swampy-bluegrass sound.
After seeing their mesmerizing debut in Denver last week, we had the amazing opportunity of sitting down with both David and Evan for an interview. Read on as we talk about their newest release, The Carrier, what makes Colorado so special, and why it’s crucial to spread environmental awareness.
CYM: Your newest single from The Carrier, called ‘The Well’ featuring Rising Appalachia, is about the drought in California. How did the song come about?
FRASER: During our last tour, we were driving down the 101 and it was just super dry. We kept saying ‘Man, we need some rain,’ and David had his guitar and we were just driving along, and a bunch of lyrics came out. Then we sent it to Rising Appalachia, and they blessed it with their beautiful vocals.
SATORI: Definitely, they’ve become friends over the years too so it just felt good. Doing it tonight, we really just wanted to do it ourselves, since we already have the recording with them. It feels good to play that song; we want to raise awareness.
FRASER: It’s a little bit scary what’s going on with the environment. Weather patterns are changing, stuff’s drying up, and it’s like okay, what’s next? People will go where the water flows, so we’ll see what happens. People will have to wake up.
CYM: As of right now, the new release is at #2 on the World Charts. You guys have really outdone yourselves with The Carrier. Hearing it live tonight was great – I feel like it’s the perfect dose of sexy, folk blues that you hinted towards with the last EP; getting into the raw side of Dirtwire. How do you feel about the response you’ve received so far?
SATORI: It’s really amazing. We’re super touched. Whenever our audience is vibing with us, like tonight… We resonate with that. We’re lucky to have such solid fan bases and great people coming out to our shows.
FRASER: And it seems like there’s a lot of good energy here in Colorado right now. There’s a ton of reasons why but its just an amazing place in general. The energy of the land itself, the weather patterns, and what people are into, the collision of the electronica and bluegrass scene, the jam band scene, hip hop, it’s all here. It’s cool that we can come and just blend into that, because we’ve got our foot in several different worlds, and we love the mashup. The link between the blues of Africa, New Orleans, the South… and then combining that with afro beat and fat production, we love all of it.
CYM: Speaking of all your influences, during your show you had an entire table laid out with a ton of different instruments, some of which I’d never seen before. How many different instruments do you guys use for live performances?
FRASER: I’m pretty much switching every song. I brought like, 12 or 15 instruments. They’re all small, like n’goni harps, kalimbas, the megaphone, the harmonica… David’s got the melodica.
SATORI: The first time we’ve ever done the jaw harp live together was tonight. Finally getting that done was amazing; I’d been waiting to do it for years. The first time we’ve ever played ‘The Well’ was tonight as well, and our first singing debut together. Tonight was just special overall.
CYM: So now that you’ve got the Denver date down, where is the tour taking you after tonight?
SATORI: All along the West coast. Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Sebastopol, Sacramento, and Oakland as well. All of our dates are listed on our site, along with the album as well. Thank you guys for coming out, it really means a lot!
Endless thanks to I Dreamt Last Night for putting together this wonderful opportunity, and many thanks to David Satori and Evan Fraser for being such great and down-to-earth souls. Stream ‘The Carrier’ below for free, and then keep the album forever by purchasing it via iTunes.
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