Gary Canino is a social being by nature. With his musical outlet Dark Tea, Canino has made two albums — his second eponymous full length being released April 30 on Fire Talk Records — that host a revolving door of friends and musicians to actualize his sprawling musical vision.
Aside from music, Canino spent years picking the brains of musicians and creative types as a journalist for publications like BOMB magazine and The Creative Independent. By gaining this unique insight from some of his biggest heroes — and playing in bands for years — he gained a sense of how to think “big picture” with his own music.
“Having conversations with artists is really good about getting you to think conceptually about what you do,” said Canino over the phone from his home in Los Angeles, where he moved last September. “I feel like the best artists do, or the ones that I’m the most interested in do. I’ve interviewed people like John Cale and Kevin Shields. Hearing their takes on what they do was a huge inspiration for sure and I’m lucky to be able to do that.”
For Dark Tea (2021), Canino corralled 20 friends to play on the record with two sessions helmed by NYC punk fixture Sasha Stroud and the Walkmen’s Matthew Barrick. Taking on the mantle of master of ceremonies with such a large cast of characters contributing to the album’s laid back sprawl — such as the Burt Bacharach influenced standout single “Highway Mile” — he feels as though the puzzle pieces have been easier to navigate into their spots with each record. “I find myself constantly getting better at recording, getting people together, mixing, mastering. But it only happens through the process of doing it,” he said. “Hopefully there’s a jump in quality between every record. That’s what I aspire to.”
Even though Canino has been more than willing to surrender the construction of his songs to collaboration, he has found that his most inspired lyrics have been coming to him through solitary exercises like reshuffling the deck through daily meditation. He explained that taking an analytical versus a subconscious approach to songwriting helped him to create a dreamlike narrative to the record — especially evident on songs like “The End” and the two part “US Blues Pt. 1” and “US Blues Pt. 2”.
“This album, to me, and art to me is about distracting ourselves from these modern times we find ourselves in,” Canino confessed about his songwriting approach. “But it’s almost like a device where I try to jolt you back into the situation once you’re out.”
Canino strives to write lyrics that can’t be tethered to an era or a state of waking consciousness. But like everyone else, the modern problems of the day maintain a disregard for poetry and have a way with crashing the party no matter what. In “Highway Mile”, Canino dreams of a Heaven that allows him privacy away from the noise both online and offline. “With the way things are it’s hard to feel privacy anymore,” he said of the song, “Heaven to me is the opposite of having a smartphone.”
On the album’s closer “Finally On Time” he takes it a little bit further as his subconscious dredged up a hateful phrase from our last President in order to repurpose it with a shocking amount of musicality. “Another longing drunken night,” he sings over a calming electric piano, “reading the failing New York Times.” Canino was shocked at how easily it slipped into his mind and how well it worked within the song’s context.
While Canino had some downtime from playing shows and touring, he has been focusing his efforts on another collaborative effort with his friends; writing, producing and co-directing videos for songs on the new album. While David Lynch has had a huge influence on him in all aspects of creativity, Canino is drawn to the maverick spirit and “go for broke” attitude of the father of Independent Cinema John Cassavetes for these projects.
“I want to make art that really moves people and I want to put absolutely everything into it,” said Canino of his reverence for Cassavetes. “The pandemic influenced these videos because I don’t know if I would have put the amount of effort into these that I would have if I was on tour or playing shows. I miss the old world dearly like everyone else, but the pandemic has been a good way to focus and sink into other projects.”
Dark Tea’s second self-titled record will be released on Friday April 30th via Fire Talk Records.
This interview has been edited for clarity.