Below is an interview I did with Dean Summerwind (Dustin Christensen) last year during February 2023. He has a lot to say about what art is and why it’s important, and so I couldn’t just leave this in my records.
The song “Parked out by the Lake” has reached over six million streams on Spotify and remains, arguably, one of the most introspective tracks of our age. Summerwind wrote the song after a flash of inspiration, as you can see from our interview below, and it just took off from there. It has reached the ears of millions of people worldwide, some of whom have long heard of the oft-fabled lake that is 80 miles from Santa Fe.
1. J: How did you form the idea to have the alter ego Dean Summerwind?
D.S.: …I used to use it from time to time on stuff I didn’t want to put my name on or just stuff I wanted to keep separate branding wise.
2. J: How often do you perform as Dean as opposed to Dustin, or are they one and the same identity to you?
D.S.: As Dean, just the rare private performances people hire me for.
As Dustin, I play quite a bit.
3. J: What projects do you have in the works right now?
D.S.: Parked out by the lake gets a “piano version” “live version” and “sad version” FEB 15 [2023] on all streaming platforms.
And I am working on Solo releases under Dustin Christensen this year too!
4. J: How did you get the idea for “Parked out by the Lake”? It’s so introspective, to be honest (this is not sarcasm).
D.S.: I always heard the joke that you could take the first line of any song and sing it for the entire song. The only reason it was ever funny to me, and the engineer I work with is that it’s just a one take vocal, whatever comes out of my mouth in the moment comes out of my mouth, and then you just spend 15 minutes doing three-part harmonies on it. Parked out by the lake has the track of a song called vacant, motel heart, which is on my last solo record, so I did it as a joke in the studio, late at night, and never expected anyone to even hear it let alone think it was funny, it leaked out onto the Internet through a private SoundCloud link and made its way through Bobby Bones’ Radio show that wanted me to come on, and then since has made its way through everyone from Post Malone to Jimmy Fallon to people that I have no idea how it got to that I still hear about.
5. J: Is all art imitation?
D.S.: I think portions of art is. I think everyone, especially nowadays has been influenced by someone in some way, and they take that influence and apply it to their own creativity in creating their own art, but none of it is completely original. It’s all taken from the inspiration that they have gotten from the people they admire, and other people will take it from your Art. But all art has its originality and its imitation mixed in.
6. J: Who are some of your favorite, all-time artists?
D.S.: Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Psychedelic Furs, Tori Amos, Bruce Hornsby. There’s way too many to list and it sort of spans a large variety.
7. J: What inspires you most?
D.S.: Meaning it. It’s too easy nowadays to create. Everyone has the tools to create, and those tools make creation easier and easier, but you still know when someone means it. When someone sings, you can tell if they are singing karaoke, or singing something that the deeply believe or went through or feel the story that much that you can tell they mean singing it. That inspires me. The real that still exists out there. It’s harder to find in the pile, but it’s there odd you are willing to look for it.
8. J: What was it like competing on The Voice?
D.S: The voice was great. I was sick the entire show, so performing and that aspect I don’t get like to see the old videos knowing the state I was in, but I met some lifelong friends and it was a great dot on the musical map I’m traveling.
9. J: What advice do you have for younger musicians?
D.S.: Be you, there’s not recipe to this stuff. Every big artist and band I know would tell you they have no idea how they ended up where they were other than they worked hard.
Write as many songs as you can.
Listen to as many songs as you can.
Know that it’s ok to imitate someone else on your way to finding who you really are and study those things until you’re confident enough in your own skin to just own what is authentically you, because that is what stands out. No one needs an exact copy of someone else, they will love you for you because you aren’t like anyone else.
10. J: Where are you parked right now?
D.S.: 79.9 miles from Santa Fe. I needed a sandwich.