Dufus Interview

INTERVIEW WITH DUFUS FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) Why did you choose the name "Dufus" for the band?

SH) The name of the band turned to Dufus out of convenience. I had originally done work on four track recorders under the title of Rufus, which was taken from a song that I never finished but I soon discovered after recording two albums of that that there was already someone under the title of Rufus and so I changed it to Dufus when I went to the eight track format. Made a CD on J-bird records under that title and then the band really started, other people started getting involved and we made another CD and released it ourselves. The name seems to fit what we do in a very strange way and takes on different significance through our changes as a band.

DM) I assume that there were some people who thought the name kind of funny?

SH) We haven't really been taken seriously as a band and have been warned against using such a title. I've been told that certain people haven't listened to the music I sent them just on the name alone. It has become a strangely ironic name and always holds a different standpoint on the changes we go through as a band. A lot of people like the name too, and that's nice.

DM) Did you have other names in mind?

SH) No, it just happened out of convenience because of the history involved it seemed the only name possible.

DM) Who were your influences?

SH) My main influence personally is a man by the name of John Ludington who used to perform in Syracuse (my hometown); he played with a band called the barefoot grave diggers. He's not popular. He was living and playing in the subway of Boston for a long time and now he lives in Prescott, AZ. he and I write to each other and send each other music. It's pretty much the way I get influence, the people around me. The other guys in the band have been influenced much in the same way, they've all studied jazz, but I think they mostly deny many of the concepts behind the music, not because they don't appreciate it, but because they are abstract thinkers in many ways and think in sound rather than structure, but maybe I'm all wrong about that whole thing.

DM) Who are your "non-musical" influences?

SH) Personally, my biggest non-musical influences are religions, I guess you could say I'm a man of god but I follow no path but my own. I have begun writing a religion called the complete dissassemblement of reality. It's basic structure is formed on the idea that we were free moving spirits before we entered these bodies we live in, but we were alone, separate entities. We collectively came to the decision that we would create a place in which we might be able to communicate. Thus, the birth of reality and time. These two structures are loose and shoddy and do not move, as we would prefer them to move. The only way to reach the next level is to reach communications, which could allow for such things. It's kind of a joke religion, but I believe in it more and more every day, sort of like Dufus.

DM) What do your friend's say about your "religion"?

SH) Friends laugh at my religion. I act like it's a joke. I don't think I could handle the ego of someone who believed they could actually write a religion. Really, they act sort of like it's me being my usual self.

DM) What was your most memorable gig?

SH) My most memorable one was one that we played at the knitting factory one time over this past summer. They hadn't told us about the show, somehow their records got mixed up and we weren't informed. Somebody called me asking directions or something that day. I called everyone in the band but we couldn't get all together, so I headed down there myself and Graham, our piano player, got down there about fifteen minutes into the set. We ended up somehow putting on a comedy show. Not really much to talk about it, I just remember that it was really good and fun for us.

DM) Where do you see the band as going in the future?

SH) I see Dufus being in a constant state of new change. I see new people coming in, older members leaving, people coming back. I see us gathering people of like minds and bringing forth a revolution. I see this revolution very clearly. I see the pieces of the puzzle fitting together precisely. It may be a small thing, but it's good.

DM) What do you mean, revolution?

SH) I suppose the biggest concept of the revolution has to do with a group that is forming here in NYC and surrounding areas with people I've been involved with called PRO ANTI. It is a group dedicated to bringing artists together under one self-negating title so that no direction is given except for that of collective arts creation for the betterment of humankind and probably the rest of the species on this ball we live on. Should I expand more?

DM) Yes, please, go on….

SH) I guess when people speak of revolution they're talking about large violent uprising or something. I don't think this one's going to happen like that, I see it as happening sort of like a low whisper that ends up in a roar, but joyful war. It's going to be hidden from the media; otherwise they will notice and instantly curb it.