It would be an understatement to say Dak Wright has been keeping busy lately. The namesake and bandleader of dak duBois hit the ground running after moving to Milwaukee from Appleton two and a half years ago. In that relatively short span of time, the singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist has quickly made waves in Milwaukee music and beyond with his malleable sound and tireless work ethic.
Today marks the release of duBois’ latest effort, “retribution.” The song is the third standalone single he’s released since mid-February as part of his ongoing aim to put out a new, fully-realized recording every four weeks. The new song follows last month’s smooth and bouncy “it’s all you-“ and an aurally alluring toe-tapper called “b mine” that he released on Valentine’s Day.
Though all three songs are decidedly “dak,” each one—much like his entire body of work—ably delves into divergent sonic territories and different eras of inspiration. Even that abbreviated, three-song glimpse into his catalog reveals modern indie-tinged pop seamlessly intermingling with shades of ’70s soul and funk music, underlying psychedelic elements, and even an occasional touch of jazz applied for good measure. At this point in time, dak duBois is pretty tough to pin down stylistically and utterly impossible to slow down artistically.
“Musically, I just want to keep trucking, not slack off, and try to do some creative things to get more people engaged,” Wright says. “I kind of just want to really hone in as an artist. I think everything else will follow with that.”
A major reason his dak duBois project is able to manage its breakneck creative pace is because it’s largely self-sustaining. Following lots of trial and error, Wright now feels just as comfortable recording and mixing his songs in his home studio space in Riverwest as he does writing and performing the music itself. Excluding some accompaniment from frequent collaborator Jon Harris on drums for some material, the bandleader is able to handle every single element of writing, recording, and releasing his music however and whenever he wants.
“It feels like every mix just keeps getting better every day. The stuff I have coming out now is the highest quality mix I can imagine doing, which is pretty exciting,” Wright says. “I’m just navigating everything. There’s a million avenues you can take when you’re producing and recording.”
He says he’s currently sitting on approximately 500 songs that he doesn’t know what to do with. Some will never see the light of day. Others might wind up on an upcoming release or be dismantled for use in another song. Many will be shelved indefinitely to be revisited at a later time. Not knowing what’s ahead and following his heart seem to be part of the appeal.
As if juggling hundreds of his own songs isn’t enough, Wright also does what he calls “studio work” for other musicians. Recently, he’s done production and recording for the likes of Emmitt James, Wave Chapelle, Klassik, and Cripes, among others. And when he’s not in the studio or on stage, Wright and his wife are selling vintage wares at their “casa duBois” business.
Outside of the current every-four-weeks song release goal, Wright says he wants his dak DuBois endeavor to continue playing out locally on a regular basis, do a few five- to 10-day mini tours per year, record a live album, and score a film at some point in his life. He also fully intends to put out an EP and/or a full-length by year’s end. Accomplishing even a fraction of that may seem daunting and unrealistic to most, but if anyone in Milwaukee can do it all, it’s probably Dak Wright…even if he’s not quite sure how he’ll get there.
“I’m going to drop a record. I’m just not sure what it’ll be,” Wright says. “I wish I had a better strategy, but I’m kind of a space cadet. I have to roll with whatever happens and figure it out. It will make sense in the end.”