You had an album featured on Musically Dependent in If No Place... and have released two new albums since. What do these albums offer?
SLA started out as a way for me to start getting clean four and a half years ago. I had never even played a show up until I turned 20 but had always been writing music but just never had a band materialiaze for me.Straight Line Arrival became my therapist. I used this medium to cope with and try to understand my frustrations with the world around me. Two years in and "If No Place..." was my first album where I realized, hey I'm gonna start taking this project seriously. Its a short ep giving glimpses into various parts of my life from the ages 18 to 22. It really starts to expose my frustrations with the place I've called home for 20 plus years. And was recorded during the NODAPL protests which happened pretty much in my backyard. Glass Bones I wrote after breaking two bones back to back. It set me back a lot and there were a lot of challenges that came with it. And the fact that I couldn't be there in person to support Standing Rock killed me. I was angry with the world. I was angry with myself. I finally had something I felt like I could make a difference with and I could do nothing about it. Even with it practically in my backyard. I did a lot of reflecting during that time about the things that were eating me alive and the things I was scared of and put it into an album. Paper Skin was a giant continuation of the same themes except I really wanted to highlight the growth and willingness to move on from my traumas and do what it takes to finally leave this place.
You have often made comments on social media about the struggles of being progressive, and of being a folk punk musician in North Dakota. What has that experience been like for you?
Bismarck, North Dakota is a strange anomoly. Last winter on new years day we were the coldest place in the world. Colder than both poles even if just for a while. This cold leads to severe isolation and in a lot of cases various drug abuses for a very good portion of the year. This place is the place Trump holds rallies when he wants to feel good about himself. Racism, transphobia, and homophobia is so ingrained here and socially acceptible that it blows my mind. The people that are trying to make a difference are few and far between. Our lawmakers refuse to repeal blue laws "because their wives spend enough of their money" and they wonder "whatever will happen to breakfast in bed". Our police tried murdering over a hundred people by spraying cold water on them outside in below freezing temperatures. Hardly anyone here bats an eye. The government around here definitely represents the majority here. It's sad. Every time someone tries to start out somethint great it is almowt immediately shut down. Its a very frustrating place. I used to see the appeal to the isolation when I was younger. But as I got out and travveled I realized the center of the continent was just a backwoods shithole.
What drew you to folk punk?
When I first got clean off the needle a friend left a guitar at my house. I started writing music and asked him what genre my music was. He said folk punk then showed me the front bottoms. From there I found Ramshackle Glory and I listened to Live the Dream everyday for a whole year until I hit my one year mark that Pat sang about in First Song part 2. The rest is really history. I got into it for the accesibility stayed in it for the community that inspired me to get clean and be a better person.
I saw where you were recently active in local politics by supporting a measure that would have allowed cannabis to be consumed in your state. Can you talk about that movement, and your feelings on the ultimate failure to garner the needed votes?
Measure 3 ultimately was doomed to fail. I severely underestimated how many of the old dying people here make it out of their nursing home to vote. There were critics saying the bill was poorly worded but everyone was biased against anything to do with legalization from the start. If people start smoking pot legally people might not want to buy meth off the crooked cops. I really did believe in it. For a few weeks there I really felt as if something good would happen here. I got good and hammered when it failed and am just happy that the voting power here will shift when the nursing homes finally empty. I wont be here. But I still want the best for my friends that will still he here.
What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of music?
I love playing bartender at parties. At every house show I try to have a few specialty drinks to make for everyone. I like painting even though I haven't painted in a while. I used to he quite great with watercolor pencils. I am also a very good cook and love making pastas and seafood. I guess other than that my main hobby is playing video games. I think I have at least a few thousand hours put into league of legends.
What projects are you working on right now? What should people expect of Straight Line Arrival in the future?
Right now I am working on an album called "The Greatest Arsonist" its an album exploring how everything changes as you grow up and desperately trying to keep hope and a sense of wonder. I will have a short two week tour going from Lousiana back to Bismarck sometime in the very near future. After that I am slowing down for a few months and moving to Minneapolis. I'm very excited to be in a new place with much more opprotunities. Where I live has held me back for much too long. And I can assure anyone that I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing even if I don't have my prison of a hometown to whine about anymore.
Don't forget to check out Straight Line Arrival on Bandcamp!
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