Boone Patrello, better known as the frontman of Dead Sullivan, a Denton-based lo-fi rock band, has been playing shows in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for about a year and a half. Speaking with The Daily Texan, Patrello revealed his humble beginnings and teased Dead Sullivan’s upcoming EP as a preview for this year’s Levitation festival.
The Daily Texan:
You’re still pretty fresh when it comes to being a performer. Tell me how you started making music.
Boone Patrello:
My friends started showing me some music, some more, like, lo-fi stuff, and I didn’t realize you (could) record at home. I started recording stuff on my mom’s iPad on GarageBand, and I think eventually I just bought a little interface. I mean, I’ve put up some stuff, and then I took it down because I didn’t like it that much. Then I recorded an EP (Reason) which is the first one (on Spotify). I think I put that out November, two and a half years ago.
DT:
Could you tell me more about how your
process works?
BP:
I guess, starting off, I was always a little OCD about it. I would try and write something on the acoustic guitar from just messing around and then maybe add some vocals and then do some drums and then bass and then lead guitar, something like that.
I have some new stuff I’m working on. (For this project), I live next to a pretty old dude who doesn’t like a lot of noise, so I sort of had to have a different approach. I found an old Casio in my parents attic, and I started using that a little more because it’s quieter. It’s kind of good to not be OCD about it, I guess.
DT:
Could you tell me more about your new stuff? When are you planning on
releasing it?
BP:
I actually might be putting out a single (this week). I have to put out the full album sometime this summer,
maybe June.
As far as inspirations, I guess I’ve been listening to Ariel M a lot, and I’ve been listening to Sparklehorse a lot. I usually stay in the stuff within the similar vein of lo-fi; I just like music that also has a solo aspect where somebody is doing everything themselves. I get into it a little bit more.
DT:
How different will (your upcoming EP) Season be from your other releases?
BP:
I guess it does sound a little bit different. Like I was saying before, I couldn’t drum as much when I was recording this time around. I tried to experiment a little bit more.
The last thing I put out was really straightforward, which, I mean, is always really fun, and I feel like it’s the easiest way to write — which is just a really straightforward instrumentation of just drums and guitar and bass and vocals. It’s always really fun to record that way, but with this thing, I’ve been working on putting out, I think I tried to get more creative with the writing process. Hopefully, it sounds that way.
DT:
So how does it feel being on the lineup for Levitation?
BP:
Yeah man, it’s cool. It’s exciting and cool, but I don’t know, I’m just always trying to put in work on stuff, so it’s like I’m not like, “Oh this is it.” I don’t really know how to digest it, really, other than thinking it’s really cool and feeling really lucky.
DT:
Do you have any idea of where you want to end up or how far you want to go with this project?
BP:
I guess I never really thought about it as a means to an end, but it would be super cool to be able to provide for myself based on doing something creative. That would be ideal, just to provide for yourself by doing what you love to do. That sounds good to me.`
