A one-man band of pop-tastic proportions, Dolour (aka Shane Tutmarc) is making most excellent waves in the wake of the release of the "band's" second album, Suburbiac (check out the MySweater.net review). The creator of clever, Beach-Boys meets The Beatles-inspired pop music, Shane recently took some time to respond to few e-mail questions for us.

By: Sam
    http://www.mysweater.net

What's up these days in the land Dolour?

Currently, I am hard at work on Dolour's next full-length. Over the course
of the last year I've written about 3 albums worth of material, but it
hadn't occurred to me, til about 2 months ago, that I should actually
release this stuff. I was tired of waiting around for my label to front the
cash, so I'm just doing it all myself. You can download new rough-mixes
from our site.

What prompted you to go with the name Dolour, rather than just using Shane Tutmarc (or something really cool, like ³Tutmarcia²)?

Dolour is actually the left over resin of an old trip gone bad. OK..
Horrible drug analogy. Umm.. I've used the name Dolour since late 1997,
when I had a full band and we released a 7" on a really small local label.
Once that band dissolved, there was thoughts of changing the name, but of
course, "at least 10 people knew the name" so we felt it was worth keeping.
It wasn't til January 2001 that the band FULLY was dropped into my lap. I
had recorded the first album with a long-time collaborated, who played bass,
but he left before the record was released.. So I had to present this record
as a functioning project, not a broken up band. I opted to credit it as
"DOLOUR: SHANE TUTMARC", since I'd written the songs, etc. But Suburbiac is
really the first example of me going nuts, following my own vision.

Were you at all nervous about having an extreme close-up of your face as the cover for ³Suburbiac²?

Whoever invented air-brushing had a proud day.

How do you find playing live with a band, versus playing live all by yourlonesome?

Well, I've really only played all by my lonesome a handful of times. When I
do "solo" shows the only thing that really changes is the instrumentation.
I like going for a more country/folkie vibe when doing solo gigs. But the
songs I write are written for a group to play, so I usually gather up a
couple buddies to play with me. That said - I am embarking on a solo tour
of the East Coast in a few weeks, which is exciting and really scary.
There's already a few kids out there learning the parts, in case I freak out
and need someone next to me.

Do you find there is any Brian Wilson-esque stigma which goes along with playing in a one-man-band?

If you mean fighting off the temptation of growing a beard, staying in bed
for weeks, and basically closing off from the world - yeah, I fight that
everyday. But I also feel that in a situation like mine you get to "make
your own cake, have your own cake, AND eat it too", so ultimately its very
rewarding for me, spiritually or whatever.

What are your thoughts on the over-saturation of pop music in our society today?

My definition of pop music is vastly different from what you are talking
about. But if you are talking about the justin's and britney's.. I really
don't see much difference between them and the frankie's and annette's of
the early 60s. We just need our beatles right about now.

Bjork = Awesome. Expand.

Yeah, she has everything to offer (and more) that radiohead does, but she
makes you feel in love, and helps you appreciate the little things in life.
She's is one of the most important artists of our times. All bow to bjork!
Plus, I once knew Bjork's little cousin.

What was the last instrument you decided to learn how to play?

I don't really know all that many instruments, mainly just the rock and roll
ones (guitar, bass, piano, drums). But this last summer I played bass in a
daft punk-esque dance band here in seattle called, United State of
Electronica and it really taught me a lot about groove and helped me become
a better bassist overall. Good segue way..

How to electronics-heavy songs like ³Highway Hypnosis² come across in a live setting?

I dunno.. Never played it live.

If you could ask yourself one questions, what would it be, and how would you answer it?

How can I continually find out more about dolour? Easy... Go to dolour.com!

~mysweater