The DMV Daily Interviews: Butch Dawson

Meet Butch Dawson, A Baltimore Artist With An Eclectic Sound 

A Baltimore artist with his own unique sound, Butch Dawson has been putting out music since he was a teen and his work has been a notable part of Baltimore’s underground DIY arts scene. An artistic kid from the hood, Butch expresses his love of the arts through rapping and producing beats. He’s also the founder of Basement Rap a multimedia collective/label which pushes out audiovisual content with music, comedy skits, song mixes, documentaries, and art shows.

Not far  removed from the August 28th release of his highly anticipated album “Swamp Boy” the Baltimore native took the time to do an exclusive interview with us and answer questions related to growing up in Baltimore, the state of its DIY scene, the creation and composing of “Swamp Noy” and more.

Where did the “Swamp Boy” name come from?

It’s came from being from the “Swamps”, being a product of my environment. In Baltimore, we call the hood the trenches I call it the “Swamps”.

How is growing up in the hood comparable to the “Swamps”?

Because both are dirty, and you literally have to watch ya back at all times.  You really don’t know what to expect.

Did you lose a lot of friends to gun or gang violence growing up in Baltimore?

Absolutely. If you growing up in the hood mostly likely, 80% you probably lost a friend to that shit. as a teen, like during middle school and early high school days, I lost more friends than any period of my life.

When you’re surrounded by so much trauma and violence. How do you stay on a righteous and positive path?

it becomes desensitizing. experiencing things like that when you’re young but I got parents who stay on me and keep my head right plus smoking weed helps.

“Swamp Boy” is your (which number) full length project?

Can’t even keep count. It’s definitely my 2nd project I put mad time into. this is like my foot in the door project.

Let’s talk composition, what made you choose “Liberation” as your intro and “Faucet” as the outro?

“Liberation” is the introduction to how my life shaped out to be and it’s me expressing myself. “Faucet” just felt like a outro so I had to put it there.

Let’s talk about “Liberation”. I found that video to be odd but interesting. Is there any imagery or symbolism in that video that you want to discuss?

Yeah the production set up was a replica of the backyard of the home I was raised in as a kid, and then it switches to the actual backyard. One of them is reality and one of them is how it’s viewed in my head.

How long did it take to write and record “Feeel Nobody”? The final product is amazing.who did you work on that song with?

It took me four hours to make the beat, write and record it. me and one of my managers mixed it and my friend JPEG mastered it.

Speaking of JPEG he gave you a shoutout in his Needledrop interview. How did you two link up? Do you have any tracks together?

I didn’t even know that (laughs) and he was hip to my music years ago and hit my email to collab. Later he moved to Baltimore and we finally met, and started working on shit together. Check out his previous albums I’m all up in there. We actually lived together for a few months before he moved to LA.

What is the purpose of “Distances” it doesn’t sound like anything else on the tape?

it’s unexpected I know but it makes sense for me. The song is about being distant from someone you love but also it’s a vibe full of sounds that I’m interested in. When people hear it they feel something. “Swamp Boy” was intended to capture the eerie bass energy driven elements but also jazzy elements as well. “Check Up”, “Ridin Round” “Feel Nobody ” is super energy drivin and punk, you have “Liberation”, “Faucet” which captures both elements and then rest is just ambient jazz feels. They all have a cohesive role in the project.

What exactly is the “Division Street Blues”?

It ain’t nothing deep and cool that’s just the name (laughs) I‘m from Division Street though.

That’s where you spent most of your life? Does the address 1539 N Calvert hold any significance to you?

Kinda my grandmother still lives around the neighborhood and yeah that was The Bell Foundry. It was a safe space for artists and people of color basically everyone. I lived there for a couple years but it was a DIY warehouse spot’.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnM6kg2nDCD/?taken-by=butchdawson

I haven’t really heard the term “DIY arts scene” does Baltimore have a severe lack of resources and studios? Does the city actively shutdown venues and creative spaces? How could things be better?

We have a huge underground scene in Baltimore but people wanna do things themselves and that’s where DIY comes in. there’s a bunch of warehouse spaces in Baltimore that artists (painters, musicians etc) live in and also throw shows there so it’s a bunch of places to perform but some get shut down because of fire hazards and shit but it’s getting better. A couple creative hubs have been built since that happened.

Can you tell me about recording “Swamp Boy” and how your release show went?

I started recording some of the songs a year or two ago. then I had to live a little and come back to it but the process was pretty easy and the release show was lit as hell.

How do you want “Swamp Boy” to be received?

Honestly I want people to get a chance to hear it. That’s all I care about.  If people love it or hate it I’m glad they got to feel some type of way about it.

Music

Liberation

Feel Nobody

Set It Up ft. Rezt

Swamp Boy (Album)