Dave Smassanow – An Xperience Interview

Dave Smassanow – An Xperience Interview – by Niki Kaos.

I met Dave working on custom merch orders for my WAMM group, then quickly figured out he’s holding down the low end for Albany-based rock band Hard Luck Souls. These guys really deliver the goods when it comes to hard-hitting beats and guitars with just the right amount of grunge and squeal. As luck would have it, I was able to score a preview listen of their latest single, “Going Out,” and this interview.

RRX: What got you started in the merch-making business?

DS: Actually, it was the Hard Luck Souls. I wanted a way to sell merch online for my band. We were at shows and would sell out of a certain size. It’s hard to capture that sale after someone is gone. And you can’t make a sale if you don’t have the right sizes. So I said, what if we had an online store? We could at least send them to that, and then they can buy a shirt in whatever size or style they wanted.

I realised that I had some friends’ bands that would benefit. And since the infrastructure’s built, it seemed like a no-brainer to start an online merch store. That’s where Missed Merch came from.

RRX: You made it so easy for me as a customer to set up my merch store. I was really impressed with how you integrated all of those components to make it a seamless system.

DS: I appreciate that. Our mission is to provide a service where artists can sell their merch online easily. They don’t have to carry any inventory. They don’t have to do any of the legwork. They can concentrate on making music. The other part is, I wanted to make it so the artists definitely get the lion’s share of the profits. Because nowadays, as you know, it doesn’t matter what service you use, it feels like everyone’s just ready to take, take, take. So I want to make it so the profit benefits the artist.

RRX: I thought the percentage of profits you offered me was very fair. What a great service you are providing to local musicians!

Now, I’d like to ask you about your new single, “Going Out.” I got a chance to hear a sneak preview before it’s released, and it’s fire! It made me want to jump up and down and sing along!

DS: It’s a little bit of a departure. I feel like the song’s a little more punk-based, but it definitely has the elements of our guitar player, Brian Gentile, who always brings it with the Slash-style blues-based hard rock solos.

It’s out on July 18th, and we’re really excited about it. It was recorded with Tim Lynch at the Recording Company and mastered by Peter Doell.

RRX: The quality shines through on the production side. This is a radio-ready rock anthem in my book. You start with that really tight build where the dynamics are low and the voice is really present. And then by the time you get to the chorus, the audience is ready to join in.

DS: I hope so, cause that would be fun.

RRX: When I heard it, that’s the first thing I thought about. I wanted to sing along with you and chant.

DS: Yeah! The guitar player in the band, he’s always been in kind of punk bands and hard rock bands. So he has a lot of that punk influence, but also, that Slash bluesy style of guitar playing. And the drummer and myself, we both played in a million hardcore bands, you know, back in the day, playing at the QE2, playing at Saratoga Winners, all those kinds of places.

The singer’s been in a ton of hard rock bands as well as blues and all that kind of stuff, so he can get real bluesy with his voice, too. That’s the spice that makes the sauce, right?

RRX: That’s exactly what I was talking about. How’d you guys start playing together?

DS: I had moved away to Boston with my wife. And we ended up moving back. It wasn’t a day after I moved back and Mark came up, and he’s like, hey, you’ve got to join my new band. So we’ve been playing together ever since.

RRX: It was meant to be! I’m really glad that you’re rocking it out in the Capital Region because we need this kind of energy in our scene.

Personally, you do a lot to give back. You’ve got a festival raising money for two great causes. What’s that about?

DS: This stemmed out of necessity last year. My son’s band needed a place to play. There was a show they were booked for, they were practising, and the show just wasn’t gonna work out. So to support them, we threw a show out on our front yard. We had a great response, it was a fun time, and we raised money for Heart Support.

And so, everybody was like, hey, you’re doing that again. Let’s make it bigger and better. So that’s what we’re doing this year. We’ve got a great lineup of bands and food trucks, all to raise money for Heart Support and Precious Souls.

Precious Souls is a nonprofit that does work to stop child abuse. And Heart Support is a nonprofit that broaches the topic of mental health through music. MissedMerch.com sells apparel for both of those nonprofits. And when we do a non-profit at Miss Merch, the nonprofit gets 100% of the profits.

RRX: That’s a nice way to bookend this interview. I’m grateful to learn about your work on behalf of your community. You work as a volunteer fireman as well, and I think that’s amazing. What can you say to let other people know that this opportunity exists, especially in communities that rely on volunteer support? How do people get involved if they’re curious about being a volunteer fire person or first responder?

DS: It’s just as easy as going down to your local station, knocking on the door, and asking. For example, if you live around the Round Lake Fire District, they’re always looking for volunteers, and you can sign up right on their website.

RRX: So, you don’t have to be able to carry a person out of a burning building? You can use all kinds of volunteers, right?

DS: Yeah, we’ve got a support level volunteer who does work around the firehouse and helps with community events.

Round Lake does a lot of community outreach, and one of my favourite things to do is to go to the Chango Elementary School. We go once a year, and we do fire prevention day. We’ll get dressed up in all our gear and go hang out with the kindergarteners so they can see what to expect when they see the firemen all dressed up. We teach them about what to do with different kinds of fires, you know, don’t throw water on a grease fire. It’s important for your family to have a plan so you know where to meet. How to call 911. All that kind of stuff.

And Round Lake does open house days as well. And the little kids love coming in. We show them the fire trucks, they get to sit up in the seats and take pictures.

I joined because I needed more of a sense of community, and I wanted to get more involved and give back more. So that’s why I went down and signed up. A friend of my kid actually was telling me about it. I was like, you know, that’s a great idea. So that’s what I did. And there’s indoor firefighting, there’s outdoor, you can be a driver, there’s all sorts of different positions.

RRX: That’s the best part. If you want to get involved, they can find a role that matches your skills, and I think it’s amazing and I really thank you for your service. It’s been great getting to know you.

Readers – check out SMAZ FEST – August 30th in Ballston Lake, NY, and visit thehardlucksouls.com for more information on their upcoming events and latest music!

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