Dawson Fuss: Part 2: What am I going to do with my life? And what am I going to do for dinner?
Growing up, moving out, heartache, and more. To quote singer-songwriter Dawson Fuss in his 2023 release: “When will these growing pains give my bones a break?”
We last spoke to Dawson in April of 2021 about his musical beginnings. Two years later, the Teen Star and Cate School alum is now a sophomore at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where he is studying toward his bachelor’s in contemporary vocal performance. With these two years for reflection and growth, I sat down with Dawson to talk about his thoughts on his previous releases, the biggest surprises about music school, and his decision process about whether or not to release his newest song “Oblivious.”
Q. I have heard people describe music as a very demanding major. Two years in, what has been the biggest learning curve for you?
A. I think learning about copyright and publishing, because it is tricky to discuss a thing that’s not physically there. We are talking about ideas, and how do you copyright an idea, and how do you split an idea among other people. If you’re getting money for that idea, then how does the money get split up between the people who make the ideas? It’s a very complicated, nuanced subject, so establishing terms at the beginning of the course really helps – realizing something like a song is different from a sound recording.
This is your second year in music school, but you have been releasing music for much longer. Last time we spoke, you were getting ready to release your seven-song collection, Edge of Adolescence. What was it like finally being able to release that project?
I have been writing music since middle school. I had never really taken it seriously until the beginning of my junior year of high school when I started to record everything. I had gotten used to keeping all these projects to myself, so releasing the music was definitely a unique experience. Learning how to put out something that’s so personal… it’s like putting out a journal entry for the whole world to see. I have grown so much since I released that, both sonically but also as a person. It’s cool to look back on previous releases and be able to see yourself, thinking: “Oh wow, I was at that point in my life when I released that.” It’s kind of like having little breadcrumbs dropped behind me.
How does it feel looking back on former projects like this? Is there anything you would change about Edge of Adolescence?
When I look back critically, I remind myself that I was in a different part of my life when I released that. I released Edge of Adolescence two years ago, and for me if I’m looking back on something I created that long ago and thinking it’s not that good, that means that I have grown a lot as an artist. I’m incredibly proud of the work I’m putting out today but know that I’ll look back on it one day thinking it could be better, but that just means I will have honed my skills that much more.
A part of me wants to say I would go back to re-write or re-produce projects like Edge of Adolescence. You can produce a song for 10 years and always think it still needs more work. But I think there’s such beauty in having something I don’t think is perfect – it’s always going to be frozen in history.
In the last two years, what would you say has changed about your work thematically? Are there major topics you were concerned with back then that aren’t as important to you anymore?
I think there are a lot of things that have changed. I am a lot more secure about my identity – who I am, what I enjoy, all these kinds of things. I am more confident and know myself a lot better than I did a couple years ago. But naturally, now that I am not worrying about those things, I am going to be worrying about other things like – where am I going to end up in two years? Where am I going to live? Is my career going to take off? Am I going to be able to support myself fully? What is my backup plan if music doesn’t work out?
It’s a lot of bigger existential thoughts now mixed in with the smaller things. It is the constant battle of: What am I going to do with my life? And what am I going to do for dinner?
You recently released a new music video for your song “Oblivious.” What is the backstory behind this new song?
“Oblivious” is one of those songs that has been brewing for a while. To me this is a good sign because if it still has the same impact on me six months after I wrote it, then I know the song must be pretty good. But I contemplated for a long time whether or not I should pursue this song because I had written it about a situation in my life.
It was back in my first semester of freshman year, living away from family, you are learning a lot of things about yourself and the kind of people you want to be around. A big thing I learned in college is that everyone’s family situation is completely different, and you will start to spend time with people who have different views on what a healthy romantic relationship should look like. I ended up in a situation where I kind of got led on by a friend and it really had an effect on my idea of what a friendship should look like versus what a romantic relationship should look like. Being a songwriter, I wrote a song about it!
I contemplated whether or not to release the song because it’s one thing to write something therapeutically but actually deciding to put something out is another thing. This person still exists in my life, they go to my school. Ultimately, I realized it was a “canon event,” as people call it, so it was important to me. And for me the whole point of making music is to try and put words to experiences some people might not be able to. I know that if I had this experience, I’m definitely not the only person to have that experience. So I ultimately ended up deciding to release it because it felt important to me and I was hoping it would resonate with other people.
I just watched the music video and think it looks really good! What was it like filming?
Even though I’m living in Miami, I love to come back to California to shoot, so I kind of stockpile my content over breaks. My last four releases were all shot over five days and “Oblivious” was the last video we were shooting. I was exhausted. It was 12-hour days for five days straight – I took on the role of the producer and co-director, so I was organizing locations and people and all different stuff I had never really done before. It was a lot of pre-production work, but shooting it was really fun. I got to ask a lot of friends I hadn’t seen in a while if they would like to be in my video, and I also got to include my family in a scene with my dad’s old ’52 Chevy pickup truck. That was definitely a highlight!
Where should people go to watch and listen to “Oblivious” and all of your other music?
People can listen to “Oblivious” and all of my previous releases on any streaming platform and the music video for “Oblivious” is now available on my YouTube channel. They can also follow me on Instagram and TikTok @dawsonfuss to stay updated on my future releases and performances!
