Review Fix Exclusive: Mat Dauzat and Heather St. Marie Talk ‘Falling Again’

Review Fix chats with Mat Dauzat and Heather St. Marie of the acoustic rock duo Dauzat St. Marie. Discussing their new EP, “Falling Again,’ the two give us an inside look at their creative process and their goals for the future. Featuring melodic guitar work and solid vocal harmonies, Dauzat and St. Marie have a much deeper sound than you’d ever expect.

Review Fix: What do you think you have to do to be as successful as you want to be?

Mat Dauzat: Hard work and persistence! I’ve rarely seen the TRULY successful get there without that crucial combination. And the very few I’ve witnessed obtain success without hard work and persistence have never maintained it.

Review Fix: What was the creative process like for this album?

Dauzat: Our creative process has always been centered around the two of us and an acoustic guitar, so nothing really changed with our writing process. We were, however, adamant that this would be a duo – no band – so the songs were certainly written and crafted with the duo presentation in mind.

Review Fix: What do you think makes a great song?

Heather St. Marie: In art, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, right? If YOU think a song is great…. then it IS great (to you at least). More widely acclaimed “great” songs, however, seem to be measured by their effectiveness in striking a chord with the core populous. I go one step further and measure songs that are able to strike a chord with the core populous AND stand the test of time. Now, what CAUSES this phenomenon is often an intangible “it factor.” You just know “it” when you hear “it.” The song just speaks to you for whatever reason. Perhaps it is a lyric that you are able to apply to something you have going on in your real life… maybe it is that riff that just resonates in your soul… maybe it is a vocal that is so real and haunting that it sticks with you throughout the day… maybe it is just a melody that is so catchy you can’t get it out of your head. Mat and I try our best to not overanalyze these things when we write. We just write with reckless abandon straight from our hearts, and hopefully the eyes of our beholders will find beauty in our creations!

Review Fix: What do you think is the best song on your newest album? Why?

Dauzat: That’s always a tough one. I mean, of course you have a favorite child, but you can’t actually VERBALIZE that you have a favorite child! How would that make the others feel? hahaha I am double-biased because I not only am a writer and a performer, I’m also the producer of the EP… so I have a different perspective. For that reason, I really really like “Falling Again.” I’ve always loved the power of that song, but I really am pleased with how the production created a constant crescendo of intensity from beginning to end. That’s a little nerdy. Whatever.

St. Marie: I really love “Time Slips Away.” That song has so many lyrical elements of our crazy journey in an epic pursuit of musical dreams, so it is very near and dear to my heart. Plus, that one is a big fan favorite, so it is a very special moment in our set every night.

Review Fix: What do you think you have to do to get to the next level?

Dauzat: I think it is a bit too early to tell right now. Dauzat St. Marie is effectively only a little over a year old, and in that amount of time we did 7 tours in the U.S., recorded and released our debut EP, picked up several endorsement deals with major gear brands, landed a spot on the roster of a large booking agency, played 9 festivals, began an ascent at internet and specialty radio, etc. etc. I think that because Dauzat St. Marie is still a fledgeling act, we get to a “next level” (at least for us) almost quarterly. The growth has been rapid and steady, and we couldn’t be more pleased. I’m not sure what the “next level” will be for us at this point, but I’m almost certain we’ll get to that precipice very soon. And every time we reach a new precipice, the climb to the next precipice begins.

Review Fix: What do you think is holding you back and how do you plan to address it?

St. Marie: Very little holds us back these days. We’re like a freight train! One goal for this year is to get some support slots on bigger tours. We spent the majority of last year doing headlining tours, and it was great! However, we can speed up our growth exponentially if we can get in front of some larger crowds. We just joined forces with Artery Global Agency to handle our booking, and one of the focuses will be getting Dauzat St. Marie on some support slots for bigger headliners and packaging with other bands to cross-promote to each others’ audiences.

Review Fix: What song on this album do you think is most indicative of what you guys represent?

Dauzat: I’d have to say “Time Slips Away.” It tells so much of our story.

Review Fix: Is there a story behind it? How was it written?

Dauzat: The song was written some years back when Heather and I were on tour with Schuyler Fisk. We were staying at a cottage on her family’s farm in Virginia when we wrote it. The family has an incredible old home on a large plot of land with rolling hills, horses and a pond. We fell in love with their place and Virginia in general, hence the lyric, “and I never knew what true love was until I touched down in Virginia.” The whole song is mostly about our travels and adventures, though the lyric “we’re so far from those places and the songs of yesterday” is more of a commentary on how far we’ve come in our career… and how much ground we’ve covered – both physically and musically.

Review Fix: What artists do you guys enjoy that people may not expect?

St. Marie: We might surprise you with a whole GENRE actually! Since we knew we’d be on tour so much, we sprung for Sirius radio in the DSM TourMobile… and we really got into Bluegrass a lot. I’d say we keep it on the Bluegrass Junction channel about 85% of the time actually. Great driving music! Plus, it is inspiring to hear such raw talent… those guys are total badasses.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2015?

Dauzat: Aside from getting on some great support slots on tours like Heather mentioned, we are talking about potentially releasing another CD later this year. Typical artist move…. we’re supposed to be promoting the current EP, but we’re already mentally moving onto the next one.