Music

Back To The Stage: iDKHOW star Dallon Weekes shares ‘anxiety’ about performing live post-lockdown


Dallon Weekes of iDKHOW is back on the road…safely (Picture: Getty)

Dallon Weekes has opened up about his fears for fans’ safety during concerts as live music makes its return in the pandemic.

Dallon and band mate Ryan Seaman are the Utah-based iDKHOW – or to call them by their full title, I Don’t Know How But They Found Me – and played a handful of shows in the UK once restrictions lifted, including the Reading and Leeds Festival.

The singer might be best known for his work in Panic! At The Disco which for a time forced iDKHOW to ‘deny we were even a band’, but now they are over the parapet and carving their own lane.

Metro.co.uk caught up with singer and bassist Dallon to chat about releasing an album during a global health crisis, his concerns about playing to crowds and getting away from the ’emo synth pop’ tag from his old job.

Hi Dallon! How did you find performing post-lockdown?

We did a headlining show in London at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town after our Reading and Leeds performances. It was incredible to have the small number of shows we have done over in the UK. It’s been a minute since we’ve been here.

We’ve gone to a little more lengths to encourage people to be vaccinated and wear masks when they come to the show. We put that on social media that we really want fans to follow those guidelines if they’re going to come. It’s hard to exactly police that.

There is certain level of anxiety still around performing because of that. We definitely don’t want to send anybody home to get ill, and we don’t want to get sick ourselves either.

The band encourage fans to follow public health guidelines at their show (Picture: Getty)

Your concert encouraged mask wearing – how did you find that change?

It’s disappointing to see when people don’t follow the guidelines but when you’re on stage, everything just fades away into the background and you just exist in a moment.

Before we take the stage, that’s a concern that we have. There are plenty of fans that come to shows and do take precautions and we like to encourage that.

Do you hope the measures in place for live music stay?

The hope is there’s light at the end of the tunnel but for the time being we have to adjust to the new normal and part of that is taking a small amount of responsibility for your neighbour, and wearing masks and getting vaccinated is part of that.

How did it feel to bring out your new album Razzmatazz during the pandemic?

It was pretty stressful because there was this giant question mark hanging over it. How do you release music without being able to tour behind it and support it? Are you going to release this thing in a vaccum and then it disappears into the ether? That was a worry that kept me up at night.

However we had been sitting on this music for so long that postponing it further was out of the question for the sake of my own mental health. I couldn’t wait any longer. Consequences be damned.

Do you connect your music to your mental health quite strongly?

Yes, both writing and performing live. Performing is an immediate release or disconnection from the stuff you write about, you revisit those thoughts and feelings while you’re performing but as soon as the song is done there’s a release where you let it go.

Constructing songs and recording them in a studio is more of a way of processing through things, whether they’re positive or negative. Sorting through how you feel about it and compartmentalising it all.

What’s your take on artists who pull out of festivals with public health restrictions in place?

You have to go on your own conscience and personal circumstances. If we ever had any doubts about the safety of a show we would not hesitate to cancel it.

As important as playing music is to us I don’t know what I would do if that meant some of our fans ended up in hospital or worse.

What are your backstage rituals?

I don’t know how ritualistic they are but we have a good stretch out – don’t wanna pull a hammy! I feel like the older we get the longer that takes!

Before we hit the stage we have a special handshake that we do. If there are any superstitions about going on stage that’s the one we have. It might have just happened from the first show then after we did it we were like, “That has to be our thing now.” Maybe we did that and the show went really well.

What’s on your tour rider these days?

Our tour rider’s overly specific at least when it comes to food. I love food, it’s my second favourite thing. I get specific about brands, especially when it comes to salsa.

There is a particular brand that I like and I have a whole list of brands I don’t like and don’t ever wanna see. From experience you go on the road and you keep seeing one particular brand because it’s available. Never mind that it’s terrible!

Also an iron because you’ve got to iron your shirt every once in a while. Maybe I’m not very rock and roll!

Can you tease any ideas you’ve had for the follow up to Razzmatazz?

I specifically want to make a record where the words ‘synth pop’ could never even be considered. It’s a bit irksome because I don’t feel like it reflects the music I want to make. Not just synth pop but anything that could be described as ’emo’ or ‘warped’ or any of the stuff I just really don’t like.

Because I had a job in Panic! At The Disco people draw that line very easily. People forget that I was never a fan of that kind of stuff. Not pop punk or emo or anything that like that. I want to try to consciously step even further away from that so those comparisons can’t be made.

When you’re making your own art, it’s frustrating to have people compare it to things that you don’t like, it makes you kind of wonder, “What am I doing wrong here?”

iDKHOW started out playing in secret. Is there a part of you that misses being underground?

I don’t think so. Anyone who is a performer wants to play in front of as many people as possible and make a living making art. A certain level of notoriety is paramount to that.

We always knew from day one that the ghost of past employment would always follow us around everywhere we go and hang over everything that we do and say.

Making the effort to avoid that in a way that doesn’t exploit those fans and exploit those bands that we worked for before – that is very important to us.

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