Good Night Gold Dust on Making the Most of Making Music: “People don’t understand your lived experiences unless you share them.”

Graham Tolbert Photography

First Impressions

The first of several times I’ve now spent getting to know Good Night Gold Dust, it was a bright and comfortably warm August morning in Minneapolis. We sat outside of the coffee shop, the day not yet hot and the lazy weekend traffic on the southern end of Nicollet not bothersome. This sunny forecast was reflected in their demeanors; all of us catching up on summer escapades and trading funny stories about the inaugural Eaux Claires festival.
 
Right when the four of us - Laura Schultz (guitar, vocals), Colin Scharf (guitar, vocals), Zachary Arney (synths), and I - were contemplating the mysterious existence of the "music festival bro" (Scharf: “Why are you so fit?!”), a red mustang convertible with the top down made a loud and sudden entrance into the driveway directly adjacent to us. Out jumps Michelle Roche (drums), beaming, and the mustang makes as brief an exit as its entrance, honking cheerfully twice as it spins around and out of sight.
 
“Hey guys!” Roche announces, “There’s more Bull Runs in town!”

“So you got a ride with somebody?” Schultz asks, caught in amazement. “In a mustang! With the top down!” Scharf chuckles boisterously.

​Roche explained that she ended up at the wrong Bull Run, on Lyndale, and mentioned to another customer outside, that “I’m supposed to be meeting some people here… ‘oh yeah, there’s another one down there,’ and he asked, ‘do you need a ride?’ …I’m like ‘yeah, that’d be great!’” Her good luck already in progress, she described how upon walking toward his mustang she realized, “Wait, this is your car??”
 
This jovial manner comes naturally to most members of Good Night Gold Dust, in contrast to the tone of their latest release, a self-titled EP. Recorded and produced by Brett Bullion (Caroline Smith, Poliça, Now, Now, Bad Bad Hats), the choices that Good Night Gold Dust have made this time around are purposeful, with strong intention to make the most of what comes of making music. Informed by many forms of loss and trial, their EP also stems from chances at good luck, as well as accepting one’s limitations in order to go beyond them. ​

Origins

​The story starts five years ago, although the current four-piece lineup is just over a year strong. Schultz, Scharf, and Roche are the oldest members, surviving several changes in personnel and genre. Arney approached the group in April 2014, and they opened for Cloud Cult soon after. Areny proved a valuable addition also for his family connections in the Twin Cities, which gives them a place to stay in the metro.
 
It’s atypical, being a rock band in Minnesota not based in Minneapolis-St Paul or Duluth. Mankato, an area home to collegiate and recreational industries, is not known for producing indie musicians. It’s no Northfield, yet close enough to the Cities in the same way to foster enough talent and opportunity for these rockers.
 
“[I’m] not gonna say anything off color about Mankato… but a lot of the venues closed!” Scharf is blunt in his description, his honesty a knee-jerk reaction.
 
Schultz points out that, “Colin and I now host living shows, and that’s been a great way to repay bands we play with up here [in the Twin Cities]. Because there aren’t a lot of listening rooms in Mankato… there’s a really great coffee shop, some art centers in the area... but we definitely play more here.”
 
Making the most of their time in Minneapolis is tricky, three of them with careers as teachers and Arney still taking classes. Yet the desire to be as successful and appealing as a native metro band is evident, as they’ve put in the performance and publicity hours this year to be locally recognizable. Although maybe it’s not always necessary to follow in the cool kids’ steps.
 
“We’ve heard a few times since we started playing up here a lot, people will come up and say they like hearing something that’s not a Minneapolis band,” Arney laughs, “It was kind of confusing at first because that’s what we were going for, but through our failure to do that, it’s become a good thing.”

The one thing they’re willing to hide however, is their previous work. Like many smaller level bands,  early work was self-produced and “recorded in bathrooms,” as Schultz admits.
 
Scharf comes clean that those albums are, “all great in their own right, but vastly different” from what they’re doing now. John Solomon from Communist Daughter advised them to “take down all your old stuff, except for the most recent old stuff,” as previous releases can provide credibility, but also can muddle the message your band is trying to promote.
 
For their latest, Good Night Gold Dust chose one of the best in the business. Recorded with Bullion at Near North Studios, he served as not only their engineer, but as a priceless source of advice in all sorts of decision making. After Arney joined in 2014, Schultz says, “We went into the studio with Brett, I think that’s what really gave us a little bit more of a laser focus.”
 
Arney and Scharf interchanged as they explained: “Working with Brett, one of the most helpful things was that he really paired down the songs… they were all a minute longer than they are now - ”

“He turned us into a pop band basically.”
​
“Now our songs are like that, we write like that - ”

“For better or worse… what would Brett say about that intro, that you think needs to be a bit longer than it is? …learn how to write succinctly.”
 
Under Bullion’s guidance, they also chose a shorter final product, the EP. That way, people will be “looking forward to what comes next,” Scharf says slyly, hinting at something more to come.
 
So what’s in this release? “A lot of death,” Scharf admits, only half joking. While the band members don’t elaborate on the details, the lyrics in their five songs shine light on a tough past for themselves, family, or friends.

More Than Words

​In “Waves,” Schultz croons to a sharp beat, “I’ve forgotten how to forget the bad parts / It’s getting harder to remember the good,” as the guitars come in loud. There’s a sense of implied loss, with her chanting “make it through the night,” at the end of the first chorus. Although the instruments are poppy and the beat is feel-good, the story makes you feel that something – or someone – is missing.

“Broken Wing” starts off the EP with a more blatant, “No one can catch you when you’re already gone,” to Schultz’s rich harmonies. This lush rock tune is the basis for a beautifully choreographed music video (above), which was premiered last month.
 
While Schultz holds the lead vocals throughout, Scharf takes charge of “Headlights,” highlighting his indie-friendly pipes. He proclaims, “Shine on,” with a raspy edge reminiscent of beloved 90’s bands, while carrying the tune with Schultz’s matching harmonies in tow.  In “California” and “Four Letter,” these four get low key. Haunting the listener, Schultz almost whispers at the end, “You can’t get too carried away.”

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Lessons Learned

​The process of recording the EP not only aired emotions, but gave the band a chance to learn to reign them in.

​“Quit your crying!” That’s what Bullion would say, Roche informs me. When playing in a group, it’s important to remember that you “don’t need to take it so personally.”
 
It can be hard, however, to not take some aspects of music personally. Keeping day jobs separate can be difficult, for example. Especially when you’re also a musician during the day, like Roche.
 
“I try not to mention it, I like going in there and being a teacher. I play percussion, I do marimba. I’ll tell them I play in the symphony… It’s not like, oh I know why Ms. Roach is so tired, cause she was out til 4am! That I try to keep separate… But if it’s a festival, outdoorsy, our band is family friendly.”
 
Scharf, an English teacher, chooses to selectively share. “At the end of the year I’ll always play them a tune… They’re like ‘oh my god, that was really cool,’ and they look at you like you’re an alien all of a sudden.”

Schultz, who currently works in the field of advocacy, education and programming around intimate partner and sexual violence, has a more subtle balance. “When I teach, I need to create a separate identity, and I’ve been able to bring in different parts of myself the more that I teach.”
​
Her role as an advocate – and personally as a woman – have challenged her as musician. Sexism, still an all too pervasive element in the music industry, has given her many positive and negative experiences.
 
“It’s frustrating to have to still be having those conversations, but it’s still very necessary,” she admits.
 
“I play lead lines in two of the songs, and we played a show in Cincinnati and a guy came up to me afterwards – and I started crying… because he said ‘you shouldn’t play lead, girls shouldn’t play lead, you can’t rock the lead line.’ I was furious, but also really hurt… It was a wholesale ‘women can’t play.’”

She laughs, “And I didn’t fuck it up either!”

“People don’t understand your lived experiences unless you share them,” she points out. “We’ve got some strides to make.”

“People don’t understand your lived experiences unless you share them,” she points out. “We’ve got some strides to make.”

Music can also be a haven, people-wise. Whether working with your fellow band members, or a producer, “Remind yourself, you trust this person,” Schultz advises. “You chose this person for a reason.”
 
“I’ve changed as a musician from working with everybody here,” Scharf offers, all heads nodding in agreement.
 
Schultz owns up: “And Brett [Bullion] too – that makes a huge difference in how we view the music that we write, that we want to keep creating.”
 
Since we spoke back in August, Good Night Gold Dust has been busy playing shows around the Midwest and in Minneapolis. Their Daytrotter session just went online, and their White Wall Session (Sioux Falls) is coming soon. They’ve also been busy preparing for their EP release at the Triple Rock Social Club this Friday! Come out and see them live, where, as Colin would say, “Everything’s a little louder.”

Good Night Gold Dust EP Release show
with Bora York and OSO at Triple Rock Social Club
Friday, November 20, 2015
Doors at 9pm, $5 / $7, 18+ ​