Great North Sound Society: Dietrich Strause
Next on the Makers of Maine Great North Sound Society Podcast Series is Dietrich Strause is a singer-songwriter based out of Massachusetts. While Dietrich is not a Maine-based musician, he has recorded many songs and albums at Great North Sound Society. Not only that, but he has been a production assistant alongside Sam Kassirer. He grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania & moved to Boston after graduation.
While viewing the behind the scenes of Dietrich's recording session at the studio, which you may have seen in the preview video of this series, it was amazing to see the dynamic between Sam and Dietrich. They carefully listened to the instrumentals and voice build into a magical tune. The voice and individual instruments were recorded one at a time, in separate rooms. The process seems so fluid and just came naturally to both of them. I was excited to have Great North Sound be my first recording studio experience because it is like no other.
Photos by: Sam Kassirer
Dietrich shares that his craft is songwriting. “It's a puzzle; the shapes of the puzzle keep changing based on my interests in the music that I like at a certain time. You sort of put it together, right? You feel like, okay, I've got that puzzle together. Then, a week later, the shapes change,” said Dietrich.
He started to play music at a very young age starting with the piano. In elementary school, he was given a trumpet and immediately got really into it and play all the way up until high school, even going to music school for trumpet performance after high school. He noticed that playing the trumpet can be very lonely and you have to be really, really good.
I had to ask - what is Dietrich’s favorite song he’s ever written?
“There was a song that I wrote called Jean Louise, which was a song inspired by To Kill a Mockingbird. I've put it on a couple of records, different versions of it. It has evolved over time, while the song has remained the same, each time I play with my band it has changed arrangement. I remember having written that song thinking like, this feels like I've expressed something that I wanted to express that I just couldn't quite before. It was through songwriting.”
Ten years ago, Dietrich first met Sam when his band wanted to finish recording their record at Great North and he has continued coming back for more. Dietrich shares with Makers of Maine podcast about his songwriting process, including his songwriting retreat every summer and the different experiences he's had in various recording studios including Great North Sound Society.
Hear more from Dietrich on this episode of the Great North Sound Society Series.
Thank you to Berlin City Auto Group for sponsoring this episode.