Q&A: ‘throwing sh*t at the wall’ With Dillon Tiger
“I CAN BE VERSATILE’ — sings vocalist, songwriter, producer, and director Dillon Tiger on “in the dark,” the first track off his new EP, throwing sh*t at the wall. Hailing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tiger independently released his first album, Eventually, Someday, Soon, in 2022. Writing, producing, and recording in his bedroom, Tiger returns with his new indie-alternative rock EP, throwing sh*t at the wall.
The opening song, “in the dark,” introduces listeners to layered vocals creating an echo effect that continues throughout the EP. The opener is the most vibrant track of the collection, with a catchy refrain to get it stuck in your head. The second song tells the story of a new love with a “beautiful stranger.” The track communicates a hesitancy in pursuing vulnerability as Tiger sings, “I tend to run away.” At the same time, there is a togetherness to this reluctance: “Should we leave it all and run away?”
The third song, “the other room,” is a guitar track that brings listeners to a confined space to showcase the physical experience of navigating a relationship: “lying on the floor”; “I can hear your thoughts from the other room”; “pick me up off the floor.” Tiger’s vocals lead the final track, “stop the clocks,” which is penitent and lethargic. The song’s dreamy unhurriedness contrasts with the problem of love in the face of fast-moving time: “Did I take too long to figure out that I want you?” In this way, the song feels as though it has achieved its desire of slowing down time.
Read below as Tiger discusses throwing sh*t at the wall, his musical influences, and his creative process.
LUNA: Can you talk a bit about your experience creating throwing sh*t at the wall?
TIGER: Making this EP was a bit spontaneous. I never really had the intention of making an EP or never really set out to do so at first. I tend to go through what I like to call “creative rushes,” where I’ll get a rush of ideas all at once. They tend to come and go. Last summer I moved into a new little apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at the time it was about 100 degrees outside. My AC didn’t work, but for some reason, at that moment, I just had a rush. Something about the change of place or the heat might have triggered me subconsciously. I’ll never know. But the opening track, “in the dark,” and the third track, “the other room,” came out of that rush. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with those songs and didn’t feel like putting them out as singles so I just put them to the side. The other two tracks, “beautiful stranger” and “stop the clocks,” were made a few months later, and I eventually had these four songs I was happy with but didn’t know what to do with. But they were all written, produced, and recorded in my bedroom. Putting them out together as an EP was an easy cop-out solution. The project title is a bit of a reflection of that, as well as just how the process of creating feels sometimes. Sometimes it can feel like you’re throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks.
LUNA: The EP is mellow with vocals that don’t overstate anything. Your previous releases are similarly gentle. What artists or genres have inspired you and your sound?
TIGER: My influences can range a bit and may not sound like they directly correlate, but ever since I was a kid my two favorite bands were Oasis and The Beatles, but also my own family. I come from a family of musicians. My grandpa had a Chicano rock band called Lumbre Del Sol that he started when he came back to New Mexico from serving in Vietnam. My uncles have a Chicano rock band called Sol Fire. Both bands are really well known locally in New Mexico. I’m also influenced by Frank Ocean, James Blake, Daft Punk, The Strokes, Tame Impala, and The Smiths. The list can go on. I started listening to Phoebe Bridgers a little bit when making some of the songs on this EP so that might’ve had some influence as well. But I’m also inspired by different changes in my life, whether it be successes, failures, memories, or newfound love. I’m influenced by a lot of different things, and it seems to change every now and then. I’m yet to really have my Chicano heritage bleed into my music. It will eventually — I just want to do it right. I want my skill sets as a producer and songwriter to be sharper so [that] when I do it, it’s not just an attempt. I want to do it justice.
LUNA: In addition to music, you also direct. Do you find your creative process changes between the two, or do music and film go hand in hand for you?
TIGER: The creative process is in many ways similar for me, but there are of course some differences. I’m not afraid to experiment a little when it comes to directing as well as making music. But you have to at some point find a balance between experimenting and knowing what you want. You also have to trust your instincts. Successful directors and artists are efficient. A major difference between the two is that directing is very collaborative, while on the other hand making music has been a very lonely process for me. When I’m making music, it’s pretty much me in a room for hours on end by myself. I want to work with more producers. When making something by yourself, it can be easy to get lost in it and lose all perspective.
LUNA: Your first release was in 2022. How has your journey as an emerging artist been since then?
TIGER: It has felt less like emerging and more like hidden. I say that because when I put out music, I kind of put it out spontaneously and then go about my life. I don’t go screaming to the world that I make music every day. Throughout middle school and high school I kept it a bit of a secret that I made music and it wasn’t until college that I started to make it somewhat known.
I’m also really not the type to bring it up in conversation, either, and I really hate playing it for other people or at least being in the same room as other people when it’s playing. I find it to be a little awkward. Only recently have I posted on social media more consistently about my music.
LUNA: What’s something you’re excited for going forward?
TIGER: Going forward I’m excited for my music to evolve. I always want to keep growing and evolving as an artist. I don’t care about how well it does with streams. When you first put out music, you care a little. But if you’re really in it for the music and love of creating, that shit shouldn’t matter to you.
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