K Michelle DuBois will release her new album on Friday, with a show at the EARL on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of the artist)
Earlier this week, when ArtsATL reached out to K Michelle DuBois, she was busy putting the final touches on her latest video.
“The song is called ‘Club Shadow’ and it’s actually the third video from Infinity Sandwich, my new album,” she explained by phone from her Cabbagetown home studio.
“I’m really proud of this one, and I’ve been excited to get some of the music out — even before the official release this Friday (July 11).” The independently issued collection will be available across all major streaming services this weekend. To celebrate, DuBois and friends have scheduled a live performance of selections from the new record on Saturday, July 12, at The EARL in East Atlanta Village.
“To be honest with you, I’m a little nervous about that date,” she laughed. “Because I’m not sure the vinyl version will actually be here by then. There’s been a number of delays, but it’s OK. We’ll still have some surprises for everyone.”
She added that the frustrating manufacturing delay is consistent with the overall theme of the album.
When pressed to describe the general concept of the record, DuBois paused for a moment. “Well, the way I see it, Infinity Sandwich is a collection of songs that look at what it means to basically try to stay human and creative. Especially now, in an era that is sort of defined — and sometimes threatened by — artificial intelligence. All the digital noise we have to deal with every day is a factor. It’s sort of an existential think piece because of the reality we live in and around every single day.”
She points to the song “Club Shadow” as a personal example. “There are sides of us that we might not want to share with everyone, but it’s in our hearts and in our heads, and we carry it around with us all the time. Thanks to technology, now we have to deal with it all, due to social media or whatever.”
DuBois said during the editing process for the video, she was “sort of ‘painting’ with the images of four different people. “Three were friends I’d asked to do a selfie video of themselves dancing around. They contribute to the narrative — and somehow it all adds to the communal thread.” Fiona Sophia, burlesque artist Dominique Trixx and Gabriella Muglia are featured, with a bonus cameo from a curated clip of an unnamed Argentina-based dancer.
The video follows the initial online release from the collection, “Tar and Scars,” and the whole person versus machine theme is set. “At my day job, I constantly have to do those steps to prove I’m somehow not a robot,” she explained.
“So basically, a robot is asking me to prove that I’m not a robot. It’s very frustrating to be sandwiched between AI-generated artists on streaming platforms and then to be held accountable for your own identity.”
K Michelle DuBois. (Photo by Flournoy Holmes)
The second video from the album is the cartoonish “Not Today, Lucy.” In it, she explains she’s saying “no” to “the devil.” “In this case, I was being tempted to turn on some garbage TV when I was supposed to be writing a song. It’s all in the same theme: How do we say no to the big tech world that seems to permeate our lives?”
The disc is her fifth solo album and fourth with producer-collaborator Dan Dixon from Atlanta-based rock band Dropsonic. “He’s my musical soul brother, and we have a really magical working relationship,” said DuBois.
When the duo works, she said, it’s alone with each other in the studio — until a drummer is needed. A frequent collaborator is veteran percussionist Chandler Rentz. A majority of the nuts and bolts of DuBois’ albums are recorded in her home studio.
What can’t be properly tracked in DuBois’ space is taken to Dixon’s studio in Peoplestown. “That’s been our process for quite a while now,” continued DuBois. “Again, going back to ‘Club Shadow,’ it was just in my head and it wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to go into a closet and record a voice memo of it so I wouldn’t wake my husband up. It just kept calling to me, and I had to get it down before it was gone. That happens pretty frequently. I’ll have an idea and it just comes, and I have to deal with it as it becomes sort of an immediate thing. And that keeps it interesting for me.”
“A lot of my songwriting will be on synthesizers and bass, which is an acoustic guitar, but I’m playing what should be the bass lines,” explained DuBois of her writing technique. “Elements from all of that will somehow make it into the mix. And I’m already daydreaming about doing it again this winter.”
DuBois, who started her rock ’n’ roll journey in Knoxville with the Flying Polecats combo in the late ’80s, eventually formed the popular Atlanta-based Ultrababyfat with her childhood friend Shonali Bhowmik around 1994.
For a journey that began with a raw punk band and morphed into a decade of national alternative acceptance with Ultrababyfat — including a tour with comedian David Cross in the early 2000s — DuBois’ determined vision is clear.
The final lineup of Ultrababyfat, with DuBois, second from left, and Shonali Bhowmik on the right. (Photo by Frank Mullen)
“I can’t even tell you how many songs I’ve written. Because I am constantly writing,” she confirmed. “I would do this — even if no one’s ever going to hear it. It’s the same kind of way I am with the fact that I love to try new recipes. I love to cook, and I only cook for myself and my husband, but I love his reaction — and that’s all that matters.”
Born into a musical family, DuBois is fine with her own instant gratification. “My father and brother are deep-rooted in country music. They’ve heard my music, and they know I’m on this path. I don’t even show them stuff anymore now because I’m just constantly creating new things. I know they support it, and that’s fine with me. I do this for me first, then everyone can relate to it or not because it’s my own art.”
On Saturday, backed by Dan Dixon (guitar), David Chase (bass), Chandler Rentz (drums), with Mary O. Harrison (keyboards) and Jim Prible (guitar), the combo will bring her songs and artistic visions to life on the small stage at the EARL.
“Writing songs keeps me from falling into a ball of anxiety with everything that’s going on,” she said. “I’m thinking maybe if I can keep playing music, I’ll stay sane. This album came from a time when I felt the need to question everything. And I still do!”
“I’ve been wondering why we still try to create, so I guess it’s all about finding some kind of connection with humanity in the middle of all this craziness,” DuBois concluded. “Maybe when we play live, we can question all of that — within the safe confines of a nice little ‘friends and family’ style gathering — so, yeah, let’s do it.”
Where & When
K Michelle DuBois plays at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 12. Love Letter and ANTHMZ open. $20; $18 in advance. The EARL, 488 Flat Shoals Ave. N.E. 404-522-3950. badearl.com.
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Lee Valentine Smith is an Atlanta-born artist, writer and musician. Currently a regular contributor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, his work has been syndicated internationally. He has appeared at Music Midtown, on CBS Radio and on Air America. He also served as art director, consultant and archivist for projects with ’80s hitmakers The Go-Go’s.
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