Comments (Brandon Kaelin
Evansville
RISE OF EMO
Dashboard Confessional has come a long way since Carrabba put together his first song: a comedic country tune crafted to make his brother laugh. His emotionally charged musical evolution has taken him to great heights; bringing success and tremendous recognition, not to mention the monster smash “Screaming Infidelities.” Dubbed the poster boy of emo (a title he’s resistant to embrace) in the early 2000s, Carrabba has transitioned into a respected career artist, and with the addition of talented band mates, propelled Dashboard even further into the limelight.
Carrabba
cut his musical teeth fronting bands The Vacant Andys and the hard rock
Christian act, Further Seems Forever, before a friend encouraged him to pursue
his solo projects full-time. Driven by simple, stripped-down acoustics and an
uncompromised passion for individual and honest expression drenched in emotion,
Dashboard Confessional was born. Meaning behind the name comes from a line off
of his first full-length debut, The Swiss Army Romance: “on the way home, this
car hears my confessions.” He decided against using his identifying name to
catalog his music, instead choosing something that would encompass the efforts
of his musically-inclined friends as well.
Carrabba began incorporating a full-band
sound on 2002’s Summers Kiss EP and 2003’s
A Mark, A
THE
At times, Dashboard’s music revolves largely around an outpouring of pain; a big middle finger to those responsible for the heartbreak and suffering Carrabba has endured. Songs are forthright with the strife and insecurities that fill his life performed with vocal clarity and tremendous confidence, despite Carrabba’s often guarded demeanor and difficulties with stage fright. Carrabba states, “I may be a very minor public figure, but I’m an extremely private person.”
For a man
who sings intensely about his feelings, Carrabba might unfairly be
considered soft
by some; a sensitive melodramatic that sits in a dark room all day, crying and
seething to his guitar. Take one look at him and you’ll probably notice the
near mirrored, intricate tattoos covering both of his arms—he acquired his
first tat in a backroom from someone he knew wanting to try out a recently
purchased tattoo gun. He frequents the gym, watches boxing and found his way
into scraps and scuffles throughout high school and college. “They probably
wouldn’t think that because I’ve written about feelings and not about getting
into fights,” he says. As a youth, he developed an affinity for punk-rock music
and even garnered a few sponsorships as a trick-performing skateboarder, shedding
light on the contrasting layers that embody the Dashboard front man today.
Now, in his early thirties, this former after-school and camp counselor routinely finds himself on stages all over the world, charged with electricity, pouring his songs out to participating audiences that often shout along with fierce vigor. The songs Carrabba creates on his own and with the collaboration of his Dashboard band mates are more than just songs; they foster emotional connections to audiences that most bands will aspire to but never reach throughout their careers. Carrabba’s deep passion for his music, along with intimate performance atmospheres and enthusiastic crowd participation help make Dashboard performances memorable for all in attendance. He remarks, “Any show I do, big or small, just playing some random place, it always makes me feel really alive.”
ROLLING ON
Their latest album (released October 2007), The Shade of Poison Trees, marks a return to the sound Carraba became known for years ago. Driven by singles “Thick as Thieves” and “These Bones,” the album is still going strong. Even then, Carrabba is always inspired to write new songs, indicating the band is working on their sixth studio album, which they are recording with producer/Fountains of Wayne and Ivy bassist Adam Schlesinger. No matter what the future brings for Dashboard, success seems imminent.
Dashboard Confessional
will be playing April 19th at 6:45 p.m. with special guest Five Times August at
Springfest 2008 on the campus of
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Sources (quotes):
Rollingstone.com, “Dashboard Confessional’s King of Pain,”
Gavin Edwards, posted
EW.com, “Five Rounds with…Dashboard Confessional,” Caryn
Ganz, posted
Vagrant.com, Vagrant Artist Info, www.vagrant.com/artist/index/11
