Album Player Credits: Dylan Rodrigue- vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, pump organ, piano, and chair / Evan Jiroudek-drums, vocals/ Lincoln Mendell-Nord Organ/ Sie Sie Benhoff, Natalie Perez, Ian Lipson, Albert Hickman-vocals
Dylan Rodrigue, a 26-year old rocker and singer-songwriter based in
LA, will release his first studio album, Cat’s Game on January 25th via
Palomino Records in the US and Bad Paintings in the UK. The album was
produced, engineered and mixed by Evan Jiroudeck (INNocent Alex, Lake
Ryan & Bones Muhroni,) at Sound Orgy Palace (SOP) Studios and
mastered by Jason NeSmith of the Elephant 6 Collective in Athens, GA (Of
Montreal, Daniel Johnston, Casper & the Cookies).
Cat’s
Game features stripped down acoustic folk, Neil Young inspired electric
guitar rock, and Stooges-esque punk. Rodrigue, who loves exploring all
genres and musical forms, can jump between intimate and quiet to loud
and abrasive. Cat’s Game falls on the side of more intimate and
acoustic, though there are some louder electric rockers, such as “The
Money Game” and “Minimize the Damage”. “My main concern was to have no
instrument get in the way of the lyrics,” he specified.
Rodrigue
began playing guitar and writing his own songs at the age of 8. He
studied classical guitar in high school and eventually obtained a degree
in songwriting and avant-garde composition from the California
Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He has recorded several lofi albums on
bandcamp prior to Cat's Game. His professional career has shown the same
sense of adventure with this year bringing about movement and change.
Playing
guitar in 8 different bands, the artist, who considers himself a
songwriter, realized he would need to narrow his focus if he was ever
going to pursue his own music. Now playing live shows under his own
name, he’s enlisted Marcus Hogsta (Fell Runner, Wistappear) on bass and
Robert Anderson (Cerny Brothers, Albert & His Dreamboats) on drums.
“Having such a small group with such wonderful players has been
amazing,” he states. “I’m finally in a place where I have a band that
feels expansive and unlimited.” Claiming that he doesn’t regret playing
in so many bands, Rodrigue says, “It’s made me a better musician.
Nonetheless, I’ve have always thought of myself as a songwriter, rather
than a guitarist. I love playing guitar, but writing is what I do every
day and it’s what makes me strive to move forward.”
Rodrigue
reluctantly notes that Cat’s Game is a breakup album. “I almost called
it The Stages of Grief just because I realized that’s what I was going
through. What I find interesting about documenting the grieving process
is that there is nothing logical about it. So many of the thoughts and
concepts in the album are fueled by emotion rather than critical
reasoning. This results in something that can even be contradicting
itself at times.”
Rodrigue came to
Jiroudeck with 30 songs and they slowly narrowed it down to 9. “White
Moon” kicks it off, warm song about the world written from the Moon’s
point of view. “Self-Love” is a straight-ahead pop song about
manifesting a fictitious lover in one's mind in order to cope with
loneliness. “Self-Love” will also be the first single from the album.
“Some Kind of Heaven” is a simple folk song that was inspired by his
upbringing in the spiritual community of Ananda Village. “They told me
that if we meditate every day then we will all go to heaven and that
there is a divine mother watching over all of us,” he says. “The idea
is improbable, but it’s nice to think of an afterlife without all the
pain and suffering and heartbreak, even if it’s all bullshit.”
The
vocals for “Living This Way” were recorded in a bathtub. “It’s a song
about wanting to die and not wanting to look for hope,” he explains.
“The most over-the-top thing we did with this was record me kicking a
chair to the ground after the line, ‘I wanna find me a rope, knock the
chair and let it go’. It’s honestly so depressing that it only felt
natural to go that far with it.”
A cool
and subtle detail is on the song, “If You’re Not My Lover”. While
recording, Jiroudeck had accidentally clinked his glass of whiskey on
his desk right before Rodrigue sings “That’s why I’m seeing that girl
from the bar”. They liked the effect so much that they kept it.
While
all of the songs showcase Rodrigue’s deeply personal lyrics, “Minimize
the Damage” is a more dynamic and epic sounding than the rest of the
record. “If the songs on the album represent stages of grief, this song
would represent acceptance,” he says. “It was really fun to work on.
We spent a lot of time experimenting with Evan letting loose on the
drums and overdubbing several guitars at the end, more than any other
song.”
Cat’s Game is an introspective album
and is recorded with all live instruments. “There’s no midi,” Rodrigue
explains. “The songs lean more toward a traditional folk sound and less
towards and avant-garde pop thing, like on my EP Scrimp. It’s not a
bold statement from the beginning. I think it has many layers that are
hopefully revealed through multiple listens.” 
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