Today we’d like to introduce you to Russ Finn
Hi Russ, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We started Dialup Ghost in the summer of 2017 as three friends (Russ, Jordan, and Jade) playing sloppy slacker rock music in our apartments. By early 2018, we had recorded and released our debut EP. After receiving praise from our friends and coworkers, we decided to take things a bit more seriously and recorded a full studio album in the summer of 2018–just a year after our first practice. By the end of 2018, we self-released our debut album *I’m Fine, I’m Fine* and added Jack as our drummer–solidifying the four-piece lineup we’ve had ever since. Throughout the next five years, we played about a show a month at small venues in Nashville, all while writing and recording more music. We released our second album *Empty Houses* in July 2020 and our third album *Sunshine Gets Hotter* in October of 2022. In 2023, our friends Katie and Shawn, members of the great Nashville bands Riley Parker and Father Sunn, joined Dialup Ghost to help us make our fourth album *May You Live Forever in Cowboy Heaven*. *Cowboy Heaven* is our best album yet, and it will release on October 31, 2024.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The innerworkings of Dialup Ghost have always been relatively smooth. We are best friends and never have infighting. We are democratic in our music-making process, and we never have problems compromising and working together. It helps that everyone has great musical talent, bold opinions, and passion for the project. That being said, if we were to look at the “music industry” side of things–it has not been a smooth road at all. Our three albums have all been written about by various smaller blogs and spoken highly of on some podcasts, and the acclaim is all very nice–we are very grateful anyone listens to our music at all. But, no matter how much acclaim we’ve received, there are huge barriers of success in the music industry. We do everything ourselves. All of our albums have been self-released without the help of a label, and we don’t use any PR services to promote our music. When you do everything on your own, you have to rely on word-of-mouth to get your music out there. It doesn’t help that the Nashville indie rock scene is VERY cliquey, exclusive, and competitive. We also consistently shoot ourselves in the foot by being abrasive, eclectic, off-kilter, and politically radical.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Dialup Ghost is an indie rock band in Nashville that plays a noisy mix of punk, psychedelic, and country rock. We are perhaps best known for our debut album, which music site Bandcamp has called “an essential release.” We are also known for our unflinching politics, brutally sad songs, and our raucous live shows. We are most proud of our upcoming fourth album *May You Live Forever in Cowboy Heaven*–an apolitical album about love, fun, and the beauty and peace found in the mundane. We’re not sure what sets us apart–we’re just our authentic selves making good art,
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I would say the music industry is completely dead right now, especially if you play rock music. We have never toured and we have never made vinyl records–it’s simply not feasible. There are popular bands right now who sell records and tour, and they still need to have jobs when they’re not touring because they can’t turn a profit in the music industry. I do not see this getting any better in the next 5 – 10 years. But I also can’t see how it can get much worse. I think a lot of artists are hoping for the downfall of streaming services, and for music fans to return to buying music. Consumers have been brainwashed for the last decade into believing they are entitled to the entirety of recorded music for $11 a month. If anything, I foresee a huge wave of artists not allowing their music on streaming services and only having their music available on physical media.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dialupghost.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dialup_ghost/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dialupghost4289
