Off the Record with Dave Hause

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in a rock and roll band.” – Dave Hause

Few songwriters in punk rock have charted a journey as resonant as Dave Hause. For more than twenty years, first fronting The Loved Ones and later as a solo artist, he’s been telling stories that marry the urgency of punk with the heart of Americana and folk. As he releases his newest record and prepares for another season of the Sing Us Home Festival, Hause continues to show that his music is as much about connection as it is about chords, melody and choruses.

The new album carries a spark that feels both fresh and deeply lived-in. Hause attributes that to the way it was made. Instead of piecing the songs together in Nashville with a rotating cast of session players, he brought his touring band, The Mermaid, up to Canada for two intense weeks of writing and recording. “This one came from many different headspaces,” he says. “I generally have a sense of urgency in life, and I do lean reflective… We were all together in the room, our own murderers’ row of a rock and roll band making it ourselves.”

That sense of being present with his band, capturing the immediacy of a group locked in together lends the record its pulse: part camaraderie, part conviction. It’s a spirit that also animates Sing Us Home, the festival he co-founded in Philadelphia. What started as a local gathering has grown into something that feels, in Hause’s words, “like a small neighborhood fair, not a giant corporate festival.” He speaks warmly about seeing parents bring their kids for free, watching people from four to eighty-four sharing the same patch of grass, listening to the same songs. “We want it to simultaneously get bigger and feel small,” he says. “I’d love for it to feel like a holiday on people’s calendars, a family reunion as much as a rock and roll show.”

That balance and intimacy within something larger has been a hallmark of Hause’s career. In the late 2000s, alongside bands like The Gaslight Anthem and The Menzingers, he helped shape a strain of punk that was as rooted in storytelling as it was in energy. These days, newer acts such as Spanish Love Songs, The Carolyn, and The Jack Knives cite him as an influence. Hause takes the idea of being a mentor in stride. “If people get inspired by something I make and then make their own thing, that’s a wonderful outcome. More humans creating and sharing is never a bad thing. If someone had a question or wanted advice, I’d give it, but I know very little about the process. It’s mysterious.”

“When the socio-political currents weigh on you, it makes its way into your mood, and your mood gets reflected in what you make”

That humility belies the craft that runs through his songwriting. Hause’s lyrics often blur the line between personal reflections and the wider social and political tides of the times. “When the socio-political currents weigh on you, it makes its way into your mood, and your mood gets reflected in what you make” he says. “I’m more apt to be creative when the world feels less in control. The creative act is something I can focus on that allows me to unplug from the madness of modern life.”

For all the years he’s spent on the road, moving from basement shows to festival stages, Hause resists dwelling on milestones. “There are those turning-point moments, but one useful thing I’ve learned is to be grateful for them without holding too tightly to your memory of them. By staying open and working hard, you can make little versions of those moments each time you do anything. The joy that comes from that outshines nostalgia.”

Still, he’s candid about the lessons of the past. Asked what advice he’d give his younger self in The Loved Ones era, “Get a divorce, stop drinking, own your own masters, lead the band in a way that you’ll be proud of.”

That kind of hard-won clarity informs not just his music but his day-to-day life. Ten years sober, Hause keeps his priorities simple: “Hydrate. Sleep as much as you can. Be kind. Call your friends, especially the ones who aren’t in the music industry. Make the family the top priority and make the rest of it yield to that.” This past summer, watching his six-year-old twins learn to skateboard provided a kind of inspiration that no chart placement could match. “It’s so fun to watch them blossom at something that’s that difficult,” he says.

Whether he’s playing to fifty people in a record store or five thousand at a festival, Hause insists the intention is the same: to connect. “Comfort isn’t the goal, connection is. And connection takes vulnerability.”

Asked what keeps punk alive after all these years, Hause doesn’t hesitate. “Mostly showing up for each other. Go to the show. Buy the record. Invite a friend, and have fun. We can resist norms that stifle humanity and have a great time while we do it. Together.”

That ethos, equal parts resilience and solidarity runs through everything Dave Hause does: his songs, his festival, his devotion to family and community. It’s proof that punk’s most enduring strength isn’t just in the volume or the speed, but in the bonds it builds, connections that keep people coming back, year after year, for one more chorus sung together.

Dave Hause ...and The Mermaid is out now on all streaming platforms. Visit www.davehause.com for more.

Photo Credit: Jesse DeFlorio