Revelations from Dashboard:
Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba Let’s Us In – A Little Bit
-- by Michelle Kaplan

Dashboard Confessional is the band’s name, but don’t ask founder Chris Carrabba to give up his sins or reveal too much personal information. If you want him to bare his soul, then give a listen – all that information is contained in the lyrics of his songs.

“I put a lot of myself into my songs,” he confessed.

He was willing to give up a little piece of himself, if only maybe by accident. Mere small talk seems to give way to his deeper self that, unfortunately, he couldn’t hide if he tried. As he talks about the band and where they’re going, it’s easy to see that they have now come to that point where through hard work and very little exposure, they’re about to break – big time.

“We’ve never been on the radio, we’ve had no radio support…now the song, “Stolen,” which is about Florida, is burning up the charts,” he said.

Right now, the band seems to be riding the crest of a wave that’s gaining momentum. While the band gets set to hit the road, taking it across the pond to Germany, they’ve made a few pit stops along the way, including an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on June 7. Earlier in June, the band was in Pasadena, CA, taping the 2007 ALMA (Spanish for “spirit” or “soul”) Awards. As Carrabba talked about the experience, his voice betrayed his excitement of just being there, as well as getting to see Prince perform.

“Watching prince. There’s not many cooler things… and I’ve never seen more beautiful women in one place.”

To add to this, last month they released their eighth album, the deluxe edition of Dusk and Summer, which he described as a labor of love.

But it wasn’t all studio tapings, TV appearances and record-release parties.

The 32-year-old grew up in Boca Raton, moving from Hartford, CT when he was 16, and aligning himself with the skateboarder clique at Boca Raton High School.

“We were skateboarders before it was cool to be skateboarders, now skateboarders get the girls,” he laughed.

He went to Florida Atlantic University and then taught pre-school at JC Mitchell Elementary School, something he said he’d still be doing if he weren’t doing what he’s doing now.

Five years ago, Dashboard Confessional was formed. Although one might think the band’s name came from a close call in a car followed by a few Hail Marys, it’s not so. Dashboard Confessional was written in the lyrics of another earlier song called “sharp hint of new tears.”

Still, Florida has a strong hold on him. Not only does he exude an artist’s love of where he comes from, South Florida seems to give him something back.

“I need to be in Florida to write songs. It’s where I’m connected… where I find my artistic inspiration. I have a little love affair with South Florida; it’s a little bit of a muse for me.”

It’s this humble, “I know where I come from” attitude that gives Carrabba instant likeability.

He gives complete credit to the band’s fans for their “ten years in the making, overnight success story,” as he calls it.

“I started playing in bands in 1998, almost ten years ago. I recorded a few records by myself.”

This version of Dashboard Confessional has been together for five years and includes former band mate, Mike March on drums, John Lefler on guitar, and Scott Schoenbeck on bass.  

As Carrabba tells it, the band came together in his travels.

I met Mike from Miami…we played together in the Agency…I knew him well.”

The others were kismet. 
 
“We’d meet people and it was like, if you can play something, and you want to join us, come on, and it’s been great. We have many people who come in and out of the band.”

Of those who form the core band, each has written a bio on the band’s website: www.dashboardconfessional.com. It may be coincidence, but there is one member whose bio reads: “Coming soon,” guess who? Otherwise, there’s a little something, something about each. John espouses his love of Cookie Crisp cereal. After all, he should know, according to the bio he has a “discerning palette for breakfast cereals.” He rates Boo Berry the worst and awards Post Alpha-Bits as the most underrated cereal. Mike’s is simple and to the point; he lists nine things he loves and one thing he hates. The thing he hates is “the lack of the things I love.” Enough said. Scott’s is even simpler; he must have been looking on Mike’s paper over his shoulder. He lists three things he loves: “Unicorns, Rainbows and Sarcasm.” He hates: “Fill in the blank questionnaires and every Police record except the first one.”

Life on the road has gotta be fun.

Carrabba talks about the symbiotic relationship the band shares with its audience.
 
“We try to be very honest with our music and our audience. We hold our personal relationship with the audience paramount to everything else.”

As he clamored to describe just who is a Dashboard fan, he spoke without hesitation. He knows who’s listening out there.

“Just by looking out at them, you couldn’t guess that this diverse group would be listening to the same band, but they are. They are a wide cross-section of indefinable people… real intelligent… I credit all of them by bringing friends and more friends.”

This chain of friendship, one friend introducing to the next, has given the band a kind of cult following.

“What I savor as a performer is audience interaction.”

He says that you’ve never seen anything like a live Dashboard show.

“They sing from their whole hearts, from the very beginning the show.”

“Really they’re the band and their leading us. I make a good show that I’m steering the ship, if I am, it would make them the wind and I’d be the rudder.”

In between the live shows is the recording of albums, for Carrabba, “Summer and Dusk” was a long time coming.

“It was a labor of love. It did take a long time, a year. That was the longest…usually we do it in three weeks.”

But the life he’s chosen does have its perks. The pinnacle moment came when Neil Young extended a dinner invitation to the band. Carrabba calls it the best night of his life.

“I had dinner at Young’s house. He was impressed with the music.”

If you remain among the unrecruited Carrabba makes you this promise: “Give a listen, come and see us, and I can guarantee you the night of your life.”

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