Midwest R&D Interview with Dick Texas
We recently sat down with Valerie Salerno — her solo project Dick Texas merges raw sensibilities with electronic landscapes, creating a sound as layered and intentional as her approach to style.
X: What’s your process like when it comes to writing music? Do you have any rituals or routines, or is it just kind of random?
Valerie: Most of my songs start as dreams or in a dreamlike state. I hear a melody or see a visual concept first.
X: On a night out where would you visit in Detroit to hear live music?
Valerie: Lager House, Moondog Cafe, Scarab Club. Polka dot in Hamtramck. Bigger shows I love the Masonic Temple.
X: Do you have a favorite venue you perform at or have performed at?
Valerie: Uncle Lou's Entertainment Hall in Orlando, FL. For Detroit: Lager House or UFO Factory.
X: Who is in your music Mount Rushmore?
Valerie: If that means four artists who inspire me, it changes but ; Bob Dylan is always in there and probably right now John Cale, Bjork, Miles Davis
X: What is your go-to karaoke song? Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot lol or The Weight by the Band (sung with friends). The last one was "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy, I sung with my bff Indira.
Valerie: Where do you go in Detroit for a late-night bite? Whether it's post-show or post-night out what is open where are you headed? In Detroit proper: Duly's (or the taco truck across the street if it's closed), Telway also on the west side. In Hamtramck, Yemen Cafe and Boostan.
X: What are your thoughts on streaming paying literally 0.00000001 cents per play?
Valerie: Unsurprisingly evil, that's the way the industry is. I have friends who make incredible music and have hundreds of thousands of streams, but they have to work in bars and cafes. They struggle to make rent and can't afford to tour. The positive side is that DIY and real life is such a stronger system than the monster that is the streaming racket.
X: What’s the most insane ‘industry’ moment you’ve had to deal with?
Valerie: Selling many things on Bandcamp and getting nothing back cos the fees.
X: Who in the scene needs an intervention for their fits?
Valerie: We all need a little intervention from time to time ;)
X: What’s the most demonic thing a venue has tried to pass off as a ‘green room’?
Valerie: I can't think of crazy green rooms but I've slept in crazy house situations on tour. Once in Phoenix there was a concrete shack we were offered with just a single couch and buckets of bleach and piss. Luckily I got to sleep in the van that night lol. That being said, I've been grateful for every roof over my head <3
X: Do you have a fashion code that you live by, if so share your secrets.
Valerie: Keep it practical and timeless and only wear things you feel good in. I'm apprehensive about all trends because I move slowly and am strange, so I lean in hard to the timeless aspect. I live in Michigan too, which means I need a warm coat. Weirdly, I always inherit coats from friends. My current one is a mechanic's jacket. I think it's a good thing to be aware of not totally losing one's self in the cult of consumerism.
X: Finally, what’s next for you? Any big plans, or projects?
Valerie: Releasing a music video/single 1/17 shot by Sydney Ostrander, ahead of an album which will be put out on vinyl by someone whom I will announce later. Record another one and play more shows forever until I die :)