Diane Coffee brings retro rock to DMAFF

You may already know the man behind Diane Coffee, Shaun Fleming, either for his stick skills as drummer for the indie rock band Foxygen, or for his stint as a child actor, notably in Jeepers Creepers 2 and as a voice actor for Kim Possible. But Fleming stepped out from behind the kit to release his Diane Coffee debut, My Friend Fish, in 2013, and released a second album, Everybody’s A Good Dog, on Sept. 4 full of the energetic, retro melodies that hearken back to Lou Reed and T Rex’s Marc Bolan and captured listeners’ hearts and ears on the first go-round.

Diane Coffee’s performance in downtown Dayton is not one to be missed, and you should prepare for wild costumes, stage presence, and an inexhaustible energy that makes you want to kick off your dancing shoes and shimmy and sway your way back to the ’60s and ’70s.

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Fleming, 28, took a few minutes out of his Good Dogs schedule to chat with us about the new album, the Diane Coffee aesthetic and his first-ever festival slot on the DMAFF stage.

How did you get started playing music?

Shaun Fleming: I sang most of my life — not for anything in particular, just because I enjoyed doing it — and I learned to play the guitar when I was in high school, pretty much just to get girls. I didn’t really want to be a musician until about high school when I was essentially blackmailed into taking choir by my math teacher. And sitting down for that first class, that was that “aha” moment that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.

Before Foxygen got signed, I would play a lot of different stuff with those guys, where everybody played what was needed, there was a lot of recording and hanging out. And then they asked me, we have this album, we need you to play drums for a show, then one show became two, that became a five-day tour with me learning how to play on the road.

We’ve read that the name Diane Coffee was created as an homage to (singer-songwriter) Nathan Pelkey’s song, “Mr. Coffee” as well as to of Diana Ross, hence the first name Diane. What else drew you to this name?

SF: It’s just a name I gave to that part of me, the performer side of me. I wanted a female name to play with a more feminine stage persona.

Your new album, Everybody’s a Good Dog, has really ramped up the performance quality from My Friend Fish, embracing a shinier and bigger production, making your retro sound even more audible than the last. How much of the lo-fi sound of My Friend Fish was intentional or a product of low resources?

SF: I don’t think I really set out to make a retro album. It is the stuff I listen to a lot, so it does come out – I’m pretty much listening to the ’60s soul and Motown, and then Meatloaf and (David) Bowie. The album is a little eclectic, and there is a little bit of a retro vibe, but it feels cohesive in the production.

For My Friend Fish, a lot of the drums were recorded on an iPhone because I didn’t have proper equipment. They were like demos for fun, not really with the intention to put them out, but then (record label) Western Vinyl wanted to release it. So this one is kind of like the record that I wanted my first record to sound like.

Your music definitely has a lot of retro influences, especially some psychedelic notes, both on some My Friend Fish songs and definitely on your new single “Everyday.” And you’re not the only musician of late who’s bringing the psych rock back – why do you think this is happening now?

SF: I’m seeing it a lot, too, though I can’t really speak to why it’s happening. I grew up to listening to my dad’s stuff — the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds was some of the first music I ever listened to. I think a lot of musicians who are coming up now and playing a lot of the psych music were similar, and now we’re finally at the age where these kids are playing the music of their parents. And that might then explain why audiences are maybe embracing it more regularly than they did for a while. Music comes in waves and trends.

You’ve lived and played in several cities now — you grew up in Agoura Hills, outside of Los Angeles, moved to New York City with Foxygen, and now you’re based in Bloomington, In. What’s it like as a musician in each of these areas?

SF: Agoura was pretty hard for me, I stayed there for a while after high school, then went up to Boston for a bit and set myself up around places where there wasn’t a shortage of talented people in Boston. Then coming back to Agoura, all of the talented kids either moved to New York or Los Angeles after high school, and so I was left trying to write and couldn’t find anyone who was willing to start something with me. When I was later asked to play drums, I thought, “finally,” and I moved to New York with Foxygen, and that was incredibly different from L.A. It was easy to find people who were interested in playing shows; I was there and immediately wrote My Friend Fish while I was there.

But the prices to live there are insane, which is why I moved to Bloomington. I could not keep up with New York prices. I think it’s kind of hard for musicians who are trying to put everything into their music, but Bloomington is a college town with great, talented people, and I knew a lot of people, so it was easy to put together my new touring group, the Good Dogs, from the music scenes. Indiana is kind of the crossroads of the Midwest: You have Louisville and Chicago; it’s a short drive to Minnesota and Minneapolis, and I think that makes places like Bloomington and Dayton incredible locations.

Do you see any sort of mass exodus for musicians to the Midwest and other cheaper places to live? Traditionally, if you want to make it “big” you would go to New York City or Los Angeles, but with the rising cost of living and perhaps more of an oversaturation of bands now in those areas, it would be much more difficult for a new band to break out and smaller scenes and town would be more appealing.

SF: Especially for people who already live in the Midwest, I don’t think it’s a big secret that places like Bloomington are a great place to park. But it is harder for established bands to up and move when you have a job and maybe a family, and you have a place to live, even if you’re just barely able to squeak by, it’s a huge decision to up and move. When you’re solo like me it’s easier, but I think it’s a little harder for people to do.

What are you looking forward to for your first stop in Dayton and southwest Ohio?

SF: On the My Friend Fish tour, we had a ritual: The day before show, we look up the stats of not only the state but the town, like how many people are in the town, what the town is known for. I kind of reserve that research for the day that we’re traveling in, but I am excited to come to Dayton for the first time.

What can people who have never seen you before – or even heard of you – expect from your live show?

SF: A lot of energy! It’s our first festival, and I know playing festivals is often very different; I learned that playing with Foxygen, so I have to try and translate it into my own work. There’s going to be a lot of fresh, nervous excitement, and it’s going to be great, very theatrical. We’ll be selling our new record at the show, too.

Check out Diane Coffee’s “Mayflower” video premiere via Jimmy Kimmel.