DAVID DONDERO "Immersion Therapy" (Fluff and Gravy)
Add Date: 8/29/2022
Release Date: 8/18/2023
FCC: Clean
Focus Track: Recipe to be Lonely
Formats: Non-Comm AAA, AMA, Folk, NACC Top 200
RIYL: Dan Reeder, Conor Oberst, Okkervil River
In February 2020, David Dondero was on the upswing. A new LP, The Filter Bubble Blues had just come out and was creating a palpable buzz. He’d begun a cross-country tour that would last well into the summer, but everything was canceled by mid-March 2020. As an itinerant musician who had spent the last two decades making a home on the road, Dondero was faced with finding a spot to hunker down and wait out the quarantine. He drove back to Portland to shelter in the garage loft at Fluff and Gravy Records HQ. What he thought would be a few months turned into a couple years as we waited for live music and touring to recover.
If there was a silver lining, he was riding out the pandemic with access to the Fluff and Gravy Studio and their house band (John Shepski and Juniana Lanning). He began writing the tracks for his 11th studio LP, Immersion Therapy, and fleshing them out with John and Juniana.
Immersion Therapy is set to be released on Fluff and Gravy Records on August 18, 2023. The album features the talents of John Shepski on keys and bass, Juniana Lanning on drums and backing vocals, Anna Tivel on violin, Nic Clark on harmonica, Patrick Spurgeon on drums, Skip Vonkuske on Cello, and Paul Brainerd on pedal steel and string arrangement.
“Immersion Therapy is a grieving process. A dive into the darkness of mental illness, isolation, and a remembrance of loved ones lost. All the while trying to hang onto sanity,” says Dondero. “I lost a dear friend twice; once to mental illness and then suicide.” The subjects range from analyzing what makes people lonely (a lack of connection) to isolation and its effect on social anxiety. It addresses a lost battle for life with a close friend and facing the grief in sobriety. Embracing the emotional fog and serving as the pallbearer, bringing the symbolic casket of a sculpture home to the place it was born. Returning from the depths of America with the realization of still being alive.
The cover art features the ritual burning of a mask Dondero painted and has used for 25 years on various albums. For David, the mask represented self-hatred, imposter syndrome, social anxiety, addiction, and depression. “People signed the mask in solidarity at my concerts. I burned it in the mountains outside Reno, NV,” said Dondero. “I took many pictures as the mask burned. In one photo, I imagined a woman weeping in the flames. I used that picture for the cover. I hope the people who signed the back will see the picture and remember my intent was to burn up a little piece of our collective depression.”
David Dondero was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1969 but he grew up in New Jersey and Illinois. He spent his formative years in suburban Chicago and northern New Jersey. A latchkey kid and a product of divorce. He moved a lot growing up. His stepfather adopted him in the early ‘80s and gave him the name Dondero. He grew up on classic rock but was turned on to punk rock and early hip hop at the age of 13. He stumbled upon a pirate ship radio broadcast off the coast of New Jersey while searching left of the dial. His outlook changed after hearing the Dead Kennedy’s and Black Flag. As a kid he memorized lyrics to Bruce Springsteen’s “Greetings from Asbury Park” while simultaneously studying early hip hop and reciting lyrics to “Jam on it” by Newcleus and Whodini’s “Five minutes of funk”.
He began writing songs in the late ‘80s while attending Clemson University. Initially a drummer and lyricist, he formed Sunbrain in 1991. A post-punk indie rock quartet heavily influenced by Fugazi and Dischord Records. Grass Records signed Sunbrain, and they recorded three albums. When the group disbanded, he went on to play drums for the folk punk band; This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. After two years, he left the band and began his solo career. He’s been doing that since 1998 and his music has taken him all over the world.
His style and ongoing narratives don’t fit into a particular genre. He’s been told that he’s “too quirky for Nashville.” The music is inspired by heartbreak, hopefulness, everyday work, and an impulsive desire for adventure. Dondero’s lyrics are influenced by the angst of Black Flag, the wanderlust of Bruce Springsteen, the sentimentality of Paul Simon, the flow of Whodini and the politics of Woody Guthrie. He has shared bills and tours with Pedro the Lion, The Mountain Goats, Darren Hanlon, Daniel Johnston, and Against Me! In 2006 Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton of NPR put David on their list of the ten greatest living songwriters. Aside from multiple years at South by Southwest, Mudhoney invited him as a featured artist at All Tomorrow’s Parties in Rye, England. God Speed You Black Emperor brought him to The Sled Island Festival in Calgary. He’s played at the Bellow Winter Music Festival in Australia under the recommendation of Australian songwriter Darren Hanlon. He has split seven inches with Mischief Brew and the Pine Hill Haints. Dondero has recorded ten albums; his 11th is slated to come out on Fluff and Gravy Records in the Summer of 2023. Recorded in Portland, OR at Fluff and Gravy Studio. Dondero currently lives in Pensacola, FL and is about to publish his first novel.