Exclusive track premiere of ‘Torrential Downpour’ featuring Cory Lomberg from the upcoming album ‘In Search of Memory’ by Sharif Dumani, slated for release on August 15, 2024, via Broken Clover Records.

Sharif Dumani is gearing up to unleash his debut solo album, ‘In Search of Memory,’ and it’s set to blow your mind and speakers soon. Picture this: a wild ride through the chaotic, soulful terrain of a punk-rock veteran who’s seen it all and lived to tell the tale in glorious analog. Dumani, once the melody-chasing heart of late ’90s punk bands, now dives deep into his own psyche, crafting tracks on a Tascam 388 ¼” reel-to-reel machine that scream raw emotion.

This isn’t just an album; it’s a communal séance with musical heavyweights like Kevin Rutmanis and Imaad Wasif, each bringing their own mojo to the mix, making every track a multi-faceted gem. And the visuals? Jill Emery’s artwork is the perfect companion to Dumani’s sonic explorations, merging life, death, and time into a cosmic soup. With ‘In Search of Memory,’ Dumani is lighting a fire under the bloated corpse of contemporary rock, and it’s set to explode soon.

<a href="https://sharifdumani.bandcamp.com/album/in-search-of-memory">In Search Of Memory by Sharif Dumani</a>

“We were, and are, living in an information dark age”

Your album ‘In Search of Memory’ seems to be a sonic journey through various emotional landscapes. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the title and how your personal experiences shaped these tracks?

Sharif Dumani: The inspiration behind the title came from a number of life events and personal journeys that led me to a place of healing and peace that I was in the midst of discovering while this album was being made. There was a series of deaths in my life, inner work that had me diving into my past and trauma, as well as a volatile time socio-politically. These songs were written, recorded, and/or mixed between 2019 and 2022. It took a while to complete the mixing because I had been working on other releases in between all of that, including Alice Bag’s ‘Sister Dynamite,’ Exploding Flowers’ ‘Stumbling Blocks,’ and the Classics of Love’s ‘World of Burning Hate’ EP. All of these recordings were made while entering a new career field as an archivist. In the middle of a new career, and writing and recording this album, there was a global pandemic, a BLM movement spotlighting an ongoing racist epidemic in America, the rise of Christian right-wing conspiracy theorists, and cancel culture that began to mime a prison system ideology of self-righteous indignation that had any online spectator acting as if they were both judge and jury. We were, and are, living in an information dark age where news sources and journalism are reduced to OpEd pieces and clickbait from people with high social media numbers, or those who have the best camera lenses to capture the right-angled shots in making their skewed cases. Dark times, so I did my best to find my light. That came with a lot of inner work and smashing imposed and embedded societal frameworks that often try to tell us how we are or are not meaningful in life. I entered where many have gone for centuries… into the letting go of it all. Not apathy, but self-preservation. In Buddhism, there’s a story called “Tea with Mara.” The basic idea is, if you invite fear or negative emotions to sit next to you, and accept those experiences with kindness instead of avoiding them or fighting them, those things begin to have less power. In fact, you can even embrace them with compassion to create change. World views and ideologies are similar. So much variance and so much division. So I got to the point where the echo chambers of political viewpoints, cartoon heroics of slacktivism, and all other types of bullshit that create divide got very tiring. This album was coming from that place of thought.

Tell us about the premiering track and the inspiration behind it.

The inspiration behind the song ‘Torrential Downpour’ is very simple: it’s a song of hope. Rewiring thought, reshaping perspective, and embracing it all with a kind of radical acceptance.

Sharif, you’ve transitioned from punk bands in the late ’90s to collaborating with artists like Alice Bag and now going solo. How do these different musical phases reflect your evolution as an artist and a person?

I don’t see any of it as being so far removed from one another. I’m a melody chaser. I love hooks. The common throughline in nearly all of the projects I’ve been involved with are melodies and underlying pop hooks. Whether it’s on the punkier side, noisier side, power pop, jangly, folky, or whatever terms people want to use, there’s always some type of melodic nature to what I do. That doesn’t mean I don’t like diving into dissonance or noise. In fact, there is also that element on this record.

The album was recorded on a Tascam 388 ¼” reel-to-reel machine, giving it a raw, analog sound. What was the reasoning behind this choice, and how do you think it influences the listener’s experience?

I used this equipment because that’s how I record. I record on analog equipment. Usually, I use a 16-track 1” reel-to-reel recorder for Exploding Flowers material, but I used the Tascam 388 ¼” recorder for a few reasons. First, to challenge myself and record something with some aspect of limitation, to see what I could do with that. It turns out, I come up with things a thousand times more creative than if I had a hundred tracks to really kill the life out of something. Ultimately, this is a rock record, not the L.A. Philharmonic. I wanted it to sound like a band on fire.

The other reason is, I used the Tascam 388 for its portability. I could rope in my buddy Nick Murray easier scheduling-wise. He’s one of my closest friends and an incredible drummer. He’s played on so many records (Oh Sees, White Fence, Shannon Lay, Witch Egg, Damaged Bug, etc.), he’s just so intuitive in his playing. It’s amazing, really. He was my number one choice for this batch of songs, and we were able to track his drum parts at his studio, and then I would bring the tape recorder back to my studio to add everything else.

Another beautiful thing about this recording is that it was not precious. I literally showed Nick the songs, we practiced each individual song about three times at the most, then hit record. He had no idea how it was all going to turn out until I sent him completed recordings much later. Hahaha. I love that! That’s how good he is, and that’s how much I know what I’m doing. So there’s a beauty in the spontaneity of it all that comes from great playing and close friendship that’s hard to match. It sounds like a full band, when in reality it’s Nick playing to a scratch guitar track and me adding the rest of the instrumentation after tracking his drums.

I have no idea how it influences the listener’s experience. I stay out of those results. My business is to write and record the best songs to my capability and in the way I hear and see the world, and hope people connect with it. That’s the gift. I prefer an LP to a thin mp3. I also prefer tape to digital recording, but that doesn’t mean both don’t have their place in the world. I just happen to love the creativity of self-recording and analog. People like Chris Knox, Olivia Tremor Control, Guided By Voices, Martin Newell, Emitt Rhodes, Elliott Smith, etc. There are also a ton of incredible soul and funk bands with records on labels like Colemine Records self-recording to analog machines. It doesn’t have to be lo-fi; I just find there’s so much creativity and imagination when people take the means of recording into their own hands, but also shape the sound because of limitations. I mean, if Harry Belafonte records with full string sections in an arena were recorded onto 4-track recording machines with great mics and sound incredible, then what’s my excuse not to follow suit?

The list of collaborators on your album is impressive, with names from diverse musical backgrounds. How did these collaborations come about, and what did each artist bring to the table that enriched your work?

I just asked my friends to be on my record. Once a lot of the basic tracks were completed, I thought it would be fun to get guests that I believed could bring their brilliance to the songs. I think everyone added their own thing to them. That was the point. I wanted their sound. Also, there are so many incredible hip-hop albums that have crews and guest appearances on them, and I was like, why aren’t there as many underground “rock,” or whatever you want to call it, albums with a bunch of guests doing their thing on it and adding that kind of magic energy to it? So that’s what we did. Kevin Rutmanis (Cows, Hepa-Titus, Melvins, Tomahawk) is known for his wicked slide bass, so I had him do his thing. Imaad Wasif (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Folk Implosion, Lowercase) is an incredible guitarist and songwriter, so I had him do vocals with me and lead guitar. Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks, Joe Strummer) has his own solo work that is gorgeous singer/songwriter compositions, and I had him do vocals on a gentler song. Sophia Knapp’s music and albums on Drag City are heavenly, and I had her do vocals on two songs, along with Stephen McBean (Black Mountain, Pink Mountaintops) that the three of us did in a choir/chant style. My friend Cory Lomberg, who has a lovely voice, did vocals on a track.

Your track titles like ‘Another A**hole’ and ‘Gentrifashionable’ suggest a biting, perhaps sardonic take on contemporary issues. Can you delve into the themes you’re exploring in these songs?

Yeah, ‘Another A**hole’ has a bite to it for sure. As previously mentioned, it gets a bit tiresome having the world’s wagging finger pointing at everyone’s face at all times, and the online faux do-goodership and virtue-signaling that goes on so much. This song is just some commentary on that. The ever-so-popular statement “Do Better” cracks me up. Lol!

‘Gentrifashionable,’ much like another song on the album, ‘Invisible Economy,’ is commentary on the widening gap between poverty and wealth, not only in this country but in my home state of California. Pricing out and no cap on skyrocketing rent prices or the housing market crisis, leaving thousands displaced or houseless. No policy to truly solve an ever-growing issue. It’s not cynicism, and not sardonic, it’s what’s happening. The 2028 Olympics coming to Los Angeles will not help these matters either. As development scoops up more property in areas, and downtown L.A. becomes a goldmine for parking structure monopolies. ‘Gentrifashionable’ is a statement on wealth, wealthy arrogance, and this city’s illusive entertainment industry enticement. ‘Invisible Economy’ has similar themes but gives praise to immigrant workers, undocumented people, and so much of what actually generates money in our economy by hard workers contributing to an invisible economy in California and the nation.

The album artwork was created by Jill Emery, an artist with a rich background in music herself. How did you collaborate on the visual aspects of the album, and what message or feeling do you hope the artwork conveys?

There was no collaboration except for just asking Jill if I could use her artwork. The album artwork is all her. I only did the “Cheerleaders and Chocolate Cake” collage on the inner sleeve. Everything else was the pure genius that is Jill Emery. She is one of my favorite artists. I was a huge fan of her artwork starting with some of the drawings and doodles on Hole’s first album ‘Pretty On The Inside.’ I always loved the insert so much. Then I started buying some pieces of artwork from her and we struck up an online friendship. I loved all of her bands (Super Heroines, Hole, Mazzy Star, Shadow Project, etc.), and her artwork is spectacular. I’m a big Jill fan. So I asked her if she wouldn’t mind me using the pieces that I got from her, and she was all for it. All artwork is hers right down to the handwriting of the tracks. I think the message that’s conveyed is embedded in the text of Jill’s artwork on the back cover of this album: “Life = death = life = death = what is time friend.”

What are some future plans for you now?

I will be playing out for this record as much as I can. I’ve already recorded basic tracks, again with Nick Murray on drums, for my second solo record. There are a total of 18 songs recorded for this next one. My group Exploding Flowers has a third album coming out in March 2025, with some guests including Rachel Love (Dolly Mixture) and Jowe Head (Swell Maps, Television Personalities). I’ve been working on a project with Chris D (Flesh Eaters, Divine Horsemen) and Larry Schemel (Death Valley Girls, Flesh Eaters, Midnight Movies) that is in its infant stage but will most likely be recording by the end of this year.

What are some of the latest records you are spinning lately?

Ten albums I recently bought (in no particular order):

Stephen Pastel and Gavin Thomson – ‘This Is Memorial Device’
Les Lou’s – ‘Wild Fire’
Kirsty MacColl – ‘Free World: The Best Of 1979-2000’
Dead Bob – ‘Life Like’
Birdie – ‘Some Dusty’ (reissue)
Young Ginns – S/T
These Immortal Souls – ‘I’m Never Gonna Die Again’ (reissue)
The Adverts – ‘Rehearsal Tape’
Twelve Cubic Feet – ‘Straight Out The Fridge’
Legal Weapon – ‘No Sorrow’ (reissue)

Klemen Breznikar

Sharif Dumani Instagram / Linktr
Broken Clover Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp