Through Love & Death, You’re All I Have Left: Track By Track With Dude Trips

It’s a big day for the Aberdeen based emo band Dude Trips. Released today is their stellar debut, Through Love & Death I All I Have Left, a cathartic and therapeutic narrative of the band’s struggles with love, death, release and acceptance. We spoke to Shaun Ross (Vocals, Guitar) and Jamie Mathers (Vocals, Bass) about the tales and stories that shaped each track on the record. Blank Canvas (Shaun Ross) We chose this track for the opener because we felt it was a good introduction to the “Love” half of the record. The song itself was written in the midst of Jamie & Shaun coming to terms with their long term relationship break ups, so typically some of the lyrics came across as bitter. In Between Days (Jamie Mathers) Following the theme of the first half of the record, this song was originally going to be about the in between days during a long distance relationship. Towards the end of the writing process, shit hit the fan & it’s soon became the second bitter track based on love. Documentaries (Shaun Ross) This is the first single from the record. We had a tough time deciding what track to choose for the first single but with a little help from some close friends, family, and DJ from Woes, it became apparent that Documentaries was a no brainer. In short, it’s about trying everything to get over someone but not being being able to completely let go. Sunday Club (Jamie Mathers) Sunday Club was written about seeing a close friend going through a hard time. I had recently gone through similar troubles & felt it was good we were there for each other through out the post break up process. We actually started a club titled ‘Sunday Club’ after the break ups where we replaced the girlfriends for beer, road trips, takeaways and netflix. Tampa Bay (Shaun Ross) Tampa has always been a favourite to play, the reaction it receives live is beyond humbling. During the writing process, I closed myself in my room day after day lasting weeks. I sat in silence & darkness pouring my heart out into the lyrics that describe the heartbreak whilst going through a break up. Subbuteo (Jamie Mathers) Introducing the death half of the record, Subbuteo is about a family member fighting a drug addiction causing their absence from funerals, and myself being stuck without a role model/friend whilst growing up. Kit (Shaun Ross) This song is dedicated to Kit Coutts, a fan/friend of a friend that sadly passed away at the young age of seventeen. Kit had been to some of our very first shows so we felt we owed her a song as a mark of respect. ’91 (Jamie Mathers) ‘91 is about losing one of your best friends to an unexpected death at a young age. Reminiscing and touching on past times, it took me 8 years to get the thoughts out my head and onto paper. Josh Dixon was the cheekiest person I had ever met, but was always there for you when you needed someone. It took me 8 years but I know for a fact he would’ve wanted a song written about him & I couldn’t be more proud of this one. Through Love & Death (Shaun Ross) The album closer was written as an ode to our drummer’s late father. I spent weeks-on-end changing lyrics to suit, trying to bring the song to life before even presenting it to Sean (our drummer). I remember when we got the mix back for the first listen, I put my headphones in and between the heartbreak and the sense of pride, I had a tear running down my face. It was good way to end an album full of emotions. Through Love And Death, You’re All I Have Left is out now via Side Mission Records