Pleased To Meet Me: DAHL
DAHL
Introduce yourself... (Where are you from, what band do
you play in etc..)
Nassir: Hi, I am Nassir Liselle. I’m originally from Calgary, Alberta but have called Montreal home for well over a decade now. I play guitar and am one of the founding members of the band DahL.
Bryan: Also from Calgary and have been living in Montreal just as long. I’m the other founding member and play bass and synths.
Why do you play music?
Nassir: Oh wow, that's a hard question. It’s something I’ve always done as far as I can remember. I think at this
point in my career it’s a bit of a hodgepodge of reasons. I think the main reason is rooted in my curiosity about
moments I live or witness and what imprint is left on mefrom them. In my attempt to put meaning to what I just
mentioned I think I rely on tools to help me expressmyself. Playing music and writing lyrics serve as tools and really helps me work through life’s experiences I guess.
Bryan: yep that’s a hard question, but like yeah, I’ve been doing it forever and it has always been one of the main tools for expressing my emotions. It also is something that can be explored and never be done with. Whether it’s learning a new instrument, piece of equipment, or trying out a different way… different style of writing. And the way of relating to it is malleable and changes. The reason I played music 10 years ago isn’t exactly the same reason I play it now.
What was a major influence on you as an Artist/Band? What’s a favourite book or film?
Nassir: For this record, when we first started writing It, I was influenced a lot by artists like Grebenstien, DVA Damas, Vessel and Liars to name a few. I was really into sequences and repetition. A lot of this album (That’s it) took place before, during and after the pandemic restrictions so I think those artists really helped me to understand how I felt around that time.
Favourite book: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Favourite film: Withnail and I
Bryan: Like Nassir said, those artists were a big influence… I would throw in Death Grips and Earl Sweatshirt on my end at that time. For books, “A Scanner Darkly” by Philip K Dick had a big effect on me. First seeing the movie when I was 17 then reading the book 5 years after.
Do you prefer the recording process or performing live? What would be a dream collaboration?
Nassir: I hate recording. Dream collab hmmm. I have my personal dream collabs but with DahL I think it’s be really awesome to do a collab with like Owen Pallett. His music is a huge influence in both mine and if I may speak for Bryan, his life as well.
Bryan: I really enjoy recording on my own terms when there’s no pressure or rush. But like, I love performing live, it’s a lot of fun even though I have bad nerves before every show haha. Yeah, a collab with Owen Pallett would be wild. Or like Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith would be so cool.
Describe a favourite album.
Nassir: I am a huge fan of Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino by the Arctic Monkeys. I love anything to do with sci-fi and this concept of a hotel and casino on the moon named after the site where the Apollo 11 landing took place I just absolutely adored. The lyrical content throughout was just the right amount of stream of consciousness and historical fact for me and the arrangements and production have made it a favourite of mine lately.
Bryan: One of my favourite albums would be Piramida by Efterklang. I’m a sucker for melody and Efterklang has such a gentle approach to it that I just find so beautiful. That album uses electronics and acoustics in a synergistic manner that I think takes a lot of subtlety to pull off. And I remember at the time, like 2012, I thought it was wild that they went to this isolated island and collected a bunch of field recordings that they used as the basis for composition. The sounds of the island informing the music.
What's your favourite local haunt?
Nassir: Home
Bryan: I’d probably say Grumpy’s
What's your strangest experience while performing live?
Nassir:Once, we played at a venue in Montreal that was hosting an afterparty for a sporting event after our set. There was I think maybe 4 people there for us and we played to them while the people from the sporting event peered through the door outside of the venue and refused to come in and just stared at us till we got off the stage. Midway through our set, the bart manager kicked us off the stage. Smart business move on their part. It was humbling (laughs)
Bryan: We were playing a festival in Chambly and Nassir said he never had ice cream before. An audience member sweetly came up and gave him an ice cream cone. Not only has he tried ice cream, he dislikes ice cream. He was just standing there awkwardly holding an ice cream cone while the rest of us were waiting to start the next song. I saw the pain in his face while he politely tasted it and put it down but it’s an ice cream cone… it fell over and made a mess.
What are some of your favourite aspects of being a musician in Montreal?
Nassir: Montreal has a lot of great guitar shops and luthiers. I've had the privilege of meeting some really interesting craftspeople and have had some restoration work done on some instruments of mine. Its nice to have that proximity to people like that.
Bryan: The venues I think. The city has seemingly been trying to push them out for a few years now but the ones that are able to stay or the new ones that are popping up are creating important spaces/communities for us all.
Has the current COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine influenced your creative process?
Nassir: Yeah it definitely had an impact but it also created new avenues for creativity that could be both shared at a time when media consumption was really high cause folks were more or less spatially confined indefinitely. We actually filmed a live performance called ‘The Solo Show’ where we performed two songs from one of our older EP’s for one person to honour gathering restrictions and keep playing live. That was a few years back though. Currently the restrictions are quite lax where we are and we essentially go about our creative process the same way we did before the pandemic.
Bryan: Yeah, that was some time ago when the quarantine was in full effect. The quarantine had huge implications so of course it had an impact. Most of the songs on the album we wrote during that time, but I don’t know if it influenced my process incredibly… maybe it did. I think Nassir and I had more time on our hands to sit down together and dig into things.
If you weren’t playing music in Montreal where would you be ?
Nassir: Probably not playing music but still living in Montreal.
Bryan: I don’t know I mean, Vancouver Island is lovely.
Any sage advice for young musicians?
Nassir: Listen to Fourtet
Bryan: Don’t take shit personally.
Check out Dahl’s latest album That’s It below!