All bands have an expiration date. Dope Body's comes this weekend.
One of Baltimore's most acclaimed live acts in recent years, the noise-rock quartet headlines Metro Gallery tonight and Floristree tomorrow for two final shows. All four members — singer Andrew Laumann, guitarist Zachary Utz, drummer David Jacober and bassist John Jones — will continue to pursue music and art in Baltimore, but Dope Body had run its natural course, Utz said recently.
"We're all in a good place with it," Utz said of the decision. "We'd rather just end it than let it coast on, and every six months we'll play another show and just let everybody know we're still here even though we're going to keep playing the same songs over and over again."
Since forming in 2008, Dope Body has toured the world and released singles, an EP and four full-length albums (including, most recently, 2015's "Kunk" on the Drag City label). The albums often made for fascinating listens, with Dope Body operating like a band in constant pursuit of abrasion and visceral moments. The band used a typical rock-band setup but produced twisting and contorting songs that kept listeners on their toes — and usually head-banging for their entirety.
Before Dope Body's final sets, the 29-year-old Utz discussed ending the band, favorite memories, why playing in Baltimore felt different than anywhere else and more. This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Let's start with the obvious: Why was now the right time to call it quits?
Well, I don't know that there was ever going to be a really right time. I think after we got back from our last tour, which was October last year — it was a European tour — and let's just say the tour wasn't a financial success. We all started to reassess a little bit what was going on in our lives individually, and started to think a little bit more about how everything felt a little static creatively.
I think after we each thought about that independently and talked it over, we realized that our individual lives and work schedules basically made it impossible to keep developing the band in a creative sense. If that aspect of the band isn't really happening and we're still not really doing well financially, it's like, man, I don't know if it's fair to even still be an entity as a band that's going to go into the future if we're just kind of stuck in this place and it's not developing.
When you look back at the life of the band, what jumps out most?
I can remember a few tours more vividly than other ones, and having some really special times. I would say the years of 2012 to 2013, that was kind of the apex for me, personally, when we felt like we were firing on all cylinders. Just touring a lot and spending what feels like an appropriate and healthy amount of time dedicated onto the band.
A lot of really cool traveling experiences [happened] during that time, going to Europe a bunch of times, playing some really far-out festivals that I never would have dreamed a few years before would have been possible for this band to be playing. That two-year window is what I remember the most. That isn't to say that was our most creative period, but just the whole traveling aspect of the band really took off in that time frame.
What were some of the areas you never expected to see?
We went to Mexico, which isn't even that crazy, I guess, but the festival we played in Mexico was just this insane, far-out experience. [Organizer] Todd P put on this festival in Monterrey called Festival Nrmal. The festival was cool and all, and it was great to go to Mexico in and of itself, but then we went on this crazy, horseback trek through this ghost town. We ate all of this peyote and rode horses down into this valley in the pitch-black Mexican desert. It was kind of terrifying now that I'm reflecting on it, but that's just an experience I never could have imagined ever happening in my life.
I have a feeling fans around here are going to remember the live shows most. What does a Baltimore Dope Body show have that others don't?
At least for the past several years, it's just had this crazy, built-in energy that you could almost take it for granted in a weird way. I can't really do this anywhere else in the country or the world, where we get to the venue and already have this crazy, anticipatory energy, like, I know this is going to be a good show. I know people are here and they've been coming for years now, and I see the same faces. I'm slowly seeing more new faces that are becoming old faces, and I know the show is going to be good.
I think I can speak for everyone else, it makes us just really try to up the game even more every time because I think the audience will match us. We've had those experiences in other places, but it was never something I could count on or assume would happen. That's just always been amazing about Baltimore for us, and I'll really miss that.
Is there unreleased material?
There are a few things. I don't actually know if or when or any timeline for anything. Honestly, I can't even say much more about it because it's so in the congenital stages. I can't really comment on it; it's way too early. Honestly, the whole dissolution of the band has put that stuff so far on the back burner that I don't even think it would be fair for me to really comment on it much right now.
What song captures the band best, in your opinion? Or the song that you think represents what Dope Body stood for?
I think the song that really felt like, at least in my mind, kind of a watershed moment for our creative process was "Enemy Outta Me." I just remember writing that in the studio and just feeling this weird energy out of the sounds that were coming out and just the vibe.
I think it led to the whole "Nupping" album. A lot of those songs came after that song, and I just remember feeling like that really pushed us to this weird place, and I don't know if we really carried that energy over to any other albums. But that, for me, stands out as the moment where it was like, "Oh wow, I think we're really on to something right now."
Naturally, when a band announces a breakup, people wonder if there's bad blood between members. Is there?
I think the vibe is pretty cool. Trust me, we've had our scuffles over the years like any other band, I'd think. But I'd say, for the most part, the vibe is pretty amicable. We're not going to kill each other on stage and have a hard time getting through the last set or anything. I think it'll be pretty chill.
What are the members' plans moving forward?
Everybody is still really engaged creatively with the arts, music scene in Baltimore, for sure. Dave and I have a new band with Lexie ["Mountain" Macchi] called Scroll Downers that has a record ["Hot Winter"] coming out, I believe the 27th of this month on Ehse, the Baltimore label. We're doing a little short tour to promote that in the first two weeks of June. I know John has a tape coming out with his Nerf Toss moniker. I believe that comes out the same day as our release, which is kind of cool. Andrew is really active in the visual arts scene in Baltimore. Everybody is still doing their thing and, beyond that, I don't really know and don't want to speculate too much about what the future holds for any of us. But it actually is pretty cool. Those two releases — John's doing one and we're doing one — and it feels like we're kind of picking right up with some energy that we're carrying out of the band right into some new territory. We're excited.