'We Want to Keep It Fresh In Every Sense' - Return to Dust Interview

"We never want to hit a wall."

On Tuesday (March 24), Return to Dust joined Loudwire Nights to celebrate all of the success they've achieved in a relatively short amount of time — and they opened up about how they approach creating their unique sound.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

"We want to keep it fresh in every sense, we're always playing around with all sorts of different sounds and stuff in the studio and we try not to limit ourselves," bassist Graham Stanush shared with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

Drummer London Hudson conveyed a similar sentiment about how Return to Dust push themselves.

"I don't think any of us want to feel like...we did everything, because that's never the case. There's always way more to do, more songs to write, shows to play."

When Chuck asked them how they protect that energy, Hudson was quick to answer.

"I think it's just about keeping it fun and fresh and, especially live, when we're playing the same songs like a hundred times a year, for me, a lot of the drum parts I don't think I ever play a lot of the same stuff twice — I'm just trying new stuff all the time."

Keeping it fresh is part of what makes Return to Dust's sound familiar but totally unique — whether they're drawing inspirations from the road or from a long, varied list of influences.

"Pushing the envelope," both Hudson and guitarist Sebastian Gonzalez said about how they would define the sound of the band.

READ MORE: Chris Robinson Interview — 'Since We Put the Band Back Together, It's Just Been Really Light'

"It's always in some sense heavy — and I don't mean sonically every time," Stanush added.

"There's a lot of themes of mortality and kind of a seriousness to the tone of the music, whether it's lyrics or musically ... We want to cover a big breadth of sound."

What Else Did Return to Dust Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What's on the horizon for new music: "What could possibly happen this year? Could there possibly be new music? We're working on a lot of really exciting stuff, so I would definitely expect some new music...I don't want to drop too big of a promise, but there's definitely a lot of new music for sure. A lot of variety, a lot of great songs."
• What life on the road is like: "When we're in the van, it gets weird for sure. I think it makes us all super hungry, too. We have all this time that we've spent pushing our stuff and you know, it's only a matter of time before things start to pick up and it gets even better, shows get bigger and everything, so it just makes us so hungry for that ... Nothing will ever feel like it's enough right now."
• Why they love committing their lives to music: "Your thought process is always on that. How can I innovate? How can I improve what's going on? When you have that much devoted time to your craft, you're guaranteed to turn anew pretty often."

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Return to Dust joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, March 24; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.