Interview: Dustin Hayes of Walter. Etc
Prior to Walter Etc.’s show in Brooklyn, I had a chance to sit down with Dustin Hayes and discuss music and the band. Full transcript is available below the video.
DH: Hi, I’m Dustin from the band Walter Etc. and we’re here in Brooklyn on April something, 2023.
SB: Walter Etc. was originally called Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra. How did that project start and why the name Walter?
DH: Yeah, I started Walter Mitty with Kris, our drummer in our senior year of high school and I was originally recording songs that I wrote… well to be honest, the story starts when we were like kids we had a band. It was just under a different name and I wasn’t the singer. Our now bass player was the singer then and then I broke off and wanted to do my own songs and I was hiding them on my computer ‘cause I didn’t want friends to come over and listen to my embarrassing you know shitty songs. I just liked the name Walter and I typed it into Wikipedia and I found this character in a book called Walter Mitty. I added “and His Makeshift Orchestra” cause it was all kazoos and tambourines and strange instruments. It wasn’t like a real band sounding band. So that’s why it was called Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra. And Kris and I recorded first album together.
SB: You’ve been making music for over a decade now. What’s the toughest part about being a musician?
DH: I think the toughest part is like there’s this kind of narrative of success or trajectory that a band is supposed to be on, but that’s really just kind of a social construct that doesn’t really have to do with making art or playing music with your friends. So, in various eras of my life, that narrative gets louder and louder. It’s almost like a lawyer in your ear that’s like you have to be doing it this way. This is what an normal band does. So sometimes, fighting with that can get me down and that can be darker eras of the band for.
SB: Yeah, I feel like that’s something all artists struggle with is that kind of push and pull between making art and doing what you want vs. looking at the world and seeing what success looks like them. It’s definitely tough.
SB: What’s the best part about being a musician?
DH: Just writing songs is my favorite part. I would still…if I could never play music with anyone ever again, I think I’d still just write songs. But the best part of the band and the whole thing is getting around and using the band as an excuse to travel. We’ve gotten to go to a bunch of countries and we meet so many people. And then you come back and see the people again and it feels like you’re a part of a community. So definitely just using the band as a reason, an excuse to go out and see the world.
SB: What’s been the best part of touring?
DH: There’s always like special, magical tour days, you know? That stand out. But, for this tour specifically, I think it was probably everyone’s kind of magical tour day was we went to Montreal for our first time. And the show was like, you know we were not expecting a lot of people there. And there weren't a ton of people there. But everyone was so cool and we just had the most fun time. We made so many friends that night. We were outside and kept hanging out throughout the night together and everyone was in really good moods. We were in the van blasting music and singing together. Just walking around this strange new city. We met these guys who were in college there and they took us in and we stayed at their house. They were like the coolest guys. We stayed up playing chess with them til early in the morning. Just very much the quintessential beautiful tour day that I think we all really loved.
SB: How would you describe Walter. Etc’s sound?
DH: That’s always the hardest part. If a relative or someone random is like “what kind of music do you play”, I usually just say “oh we’re like an indie band”.
SB: That's the go to answer?
DH: Yeah, it kind of just says everything and nothing at the same time. The real answer is some albums are very folky, and some albums are punk, and some albums are more surf indie kind of thing. So it’s somewhere in the big webbing of that.
SB: A little bit of everything.
DH: A little bit of everything.
SB: This next question comes from your last two albums, the 2021 There There and 2020 Dark Comedy Performance Piece. The album titles reflect the difference in subject matter and heaviness. Does the music grow with you and reflect your life experiences or do you decide to make an album lighter vs. heavier?
DH: That’s a really good question. I don’t think it’s very intentional. I think it’s kind of a reflection of my experience, like what I’m into. Like the Dark Comedy album is one big concept album about a breakup I went through and so subject matter wise it’s pretty literally a reflection of where I was at. And then, Dark Comedy was more of a rock record with drums and guitars and stuff and so I think after that, I kind of just stepped away and I got more into softer music. I was listening to a lot of this artist called Little Wings and other more folk/bass stuff. I think I’m really impressionable and so naturally, I started making a softer album. So, I don’t think I’m that much in control of it.
SB: What music are you listening to now?
DH: We have a playlist in the car where everybody puts a few songs on during the day and then we put it on shuffle and nobody knows who put what song on. That’s been really fun. But, right now, I’ll plug…there’s this band in the town I live in called Out West. It’s like a really small new band. They're like a super cool, they sound kind of like an ‘80s punk new wave band. It’s this really fresh sound of guitar music that I haven’t heard in a while. They’re playing gigs around my town in little art spaces and stuff and I’m really hyped on them right now.
SB: I’ll have to check them out. What do you like to do outside of music that people might not know about?
DH: I really like to surf, but I feel like people know that about me. I really like camping and backpacking. Every year, I try to get out for a few nights out in the back country alone or with some friends and camp or do a long thru hike. It’s a little cliche, but getting out in the nature.
SB: What’s next for Walter Etc.?
DH: Dang, we’ve been a band since we were literally in high school and I never really know what’s coming next. We do have an album coming out in September on SideOneDummy Records which will be pretty sick. It’s a kind of pop punk album and it’s a big homage to the style of music we listened to as kids. We recorded it with me, Kris, and Jake, our original band that we had since like freaking kindergarten. So I’m excited about that. We’ll put that out and then we’ll tour through the fall. I think we’re going to go back to Europe next June. That’s the near future at least. In the future, though we’re aiming to be the second biggest band in the world.
SB: Second biggest?
DH: That’s our goal.
SB: After who? Who’s number one?
DH: I don’t know. By the time we get there, whoever happens to be number one. I probably don’t know their name yet. It might take a couple years but the goal is to be the second biggest band.
SB: Where can people find you online?
DH: You can find us at @waltersetc. On twitter i think it’s walter_etc. But that name pretty much only brings us up. It’s a good searchable name.
SB: Awesome! It was great chatting with you and I’m looking forward to the set.
DH: It was great chatting with you.