Since 2009, Taylor Goldsmith and his younger brother Griffin have been the driving force behind Dawes, an indie rock mainstay with Laurel Canyon influences characteristic of their hometown, Los Angeles. Numerous other players, including Dickey Betts’ son Duane, have played in Dawes over the years, but as of last year the band is just a brotherly duo.
The release of their ninth studio album, Oh Brother, began this new era of Dawes, and alongside some touring musicians, the siblings hit the road to support their new record. But the joy of touring the country came to a hard halt in January of this year, when both brothers lost everything: their homes, their recording studio and their entire instrument collection, in the Eaton Fire that affected Altadena, CA.
“[The fire is] something I think we're going to be living in the shadow of for very long time,” Griffin said. “Our families are safe and we're okay, and for that, we're very fortunate. As wild and awful as that experience was for everybody, there are people that are much worse off than we are. It's easy to get lost in the devastation, to feel down. But on the other hand, it's important to remind myself, like, there are people that are living in civic centers, or really don't have many options going forward. So in that regard, I feel very lucky.”
“Not being bitter or angry or fearful is really like a daily practice ... because it's so tempting to fall into that, and sometimes I do,” Taylor said. “There's going to be a life before it and a life after it. Luckily, because of our family, because of each other, because of our band, because of our fans ... we are going to get to a place where this doesn't shape who we are or shape our relationship with the world, but it's definitely not going to be something that happens overnight.”
Recent times have been full of even more change for the Goldsmiths, as Taylor just had his third child with actress Mandy Moore last year and Griffin welcomed his first child with his wife Kit just two weeks after the fires. The brothers agreed that fatherhood in these trying times has changed their perspectives quite a bit, especially when it comes to success and mortality.
“'I’ve written a handful of dad songs, and I feel like you can only get away with only so many of those without your fans wanting you to kind of move on,” Taylor said. “A friend of mine, who's actually an actor, said it to me really succinctly. He said, ‘It doesn't change what's important, it changes why it's important.’ I don't think Griffin or I are going to want to stop doing [music] or change the way we do it, other than maybe trying to find tricks to keep us home more often to be with our families. In the past, there might have been sort of a vague concern with just general success, or maybe an even more ridiculous concern with, like, legacy or something. But now, I think it's really just how do we model for our kids what it means to do what you love and to be resilient and to work harder to the extent that you're able to. I want them to be proud. That matters more to me than anything now.”
Fame can be a complicated thing, but Taylor said that he’s learned a lot from his celebrity wife’s example on how to balance success and normalcy. According to him, Moore does a great job of separating her public and private personas.
“You hear stories about people that are really famous at young ages, and then they maintain that through their adult lives and they seem to be pretty messed up sometimes, but Mandy is probably the most level-headed person, especially when it comes to her relationship with success,” Taylor said. “She loves the work, she loves the lifestyle it provides, and like, the hours that it provides to be home. And she loves the fact that she gets to do what she wants. But she does seem to actively avoid getting too caught up with all that goes along with the concept of Hollywood. The fact that she's able to separate Mandy the public person and then Mandy the private person is something that I'm very inspired by and I really admire.”
Both Taylor and Griffin have seen how Dawes’ new era as a family band has improved the versatility of their sound. For Oh Brother, they found that they could be a lot more flexible in their songwriting as opposed to previous records. Throughout their history, Dawes has been releasing albums every two years like clockwork, and while they don’t know what direction their tenth album is going to take, they do look forward to the limitless possibilities they have as a band of brothers.
“Similar to other bands that are duos, like Sparks or Steely Dan or something, it allows us to kind of be in charge of figuring out whatever the song needs, and then if that's not something that we can execute, then bringing in other people,” Taylor said. “I think before this, all eras before this one, we’re just such very obvious bands where it had very distinct personalities on each instrument, so every record was a showcase of those personalities. And now, you know, along the lines of how an artist like Paul Simon could go from Still Crazy After All These Years all the way to Graceland or something, we have a little bit more flexibility to just really separate the sound and personality of each of our albums.”
Despite a setback as devastating as losing everything in a fire, the Goldsmith brothers have big plans for 2025 that will take them across the country and the world. If they keep on with the momentum and energy that they shared at Hoyt Sherman Place, it’s clear that, with some life-altering experiences under their belt, Dawes is back and better than ever.
