Dan Potthast, best known as the singer/guitarist of MU330, recently embarked on the “Dan P. Living Room Tour 2014.” The nationwide trek began in early June and will conclude in August, and we caught up with Dan shortly after he played Chicago to discuss the tour. We talked about what inspired this journey, how it was planned and what some of the shows have been like so far. We also spoke about his latest solo album, My Living Room, which came out in conjunction with the tour. Additional topics discussed include Dan’s other music projects, future plans and more.

Bill – Where did you get the idea for the living room tour?

Dan – The idea came last year when I was driving with Mike Park, (Asian Man Records founder) in a rental car chasing Streetlight Manifesto all over the U.S.A. and Canada. We were talking a lot about what tour should be next, and Mike had done a living room tour about seven or so years ago and was talking about how fun it was. He made it sound pretty good, so I basically stole his idea. Only when he did it, he brought at least three people with him at all times. I’ve been doing the majority of the tour by myself, so that’s a little different.

Bill – How did you go about putting the tour together, in terms of choosing where you would play and the route that you’d take?

Dan – Basically, I had no idea what the response would be, but I started by just posting it online through social media that I was going to tour this summer and only play in people’s living rooms, and that if you were interested in hosting a show, to please email me. I had no idea how many shows I would book, but just thought I’d sort that out as the responses came in. I wound up getting about 300 emails. In response, I would send out kind of a form letter and ask for a small guarantee and a deposit. Two other requirements I asked for was a bed to sleep in, and that you had to BBQ! (I’ve eaten more BBQ this summer than you would ever believe.) After that came the huge job of sorting through all the responses and determining which shows seemed legit and which ones seemed risky. Then I drew on a map where the clusters of shows were, and just made up a dream route and asked if people could do shows on those dates. That’s where it got hectic, but in the long run I think the driving turned out to be less than it would have been on a regular club tour. One cool thing about playing living rooms is that you can play multiple shows in one city, which saves your sanity a bit and also saves on gas. I played four shows in Montreal, two shows in Detroit, etc. It’s nice to be able to see a little more of a city. That being said, I just finished a ten and a half hour drive to southern Georgia today from St. Louis, and am a little fried. That’s a long way to drive by yourself. Also, as far as the route goes, the original plan was to do an East Coast/Canada loop, then fly to California and do a West Coast loop. I booked so many shows on the first loop that the first half turned into being almost two months long, which is longer than I imagined the whole tour to be. As things got rolling though, I just figured that as long as I’m going and doing it, I might as well go all the way.

Bill – How does playing living rooms compare to shows at more traditional venues?

Dan – It’s pretty great, actually. I’ve been loving how unpredictable it is. Every show is crazy different. After a while of playing shows at clubs and theaters and venues, you kind of know what you’re going to get. Living room shows are all ridiculously different. So far, I’ve played in living rooms, basements, attics, garages, backyards, decks, an apartment above a comic shop, public storage spaces and even an alleyway in Montreal. I’m liking the chaos of the adventure this tour. At each show, you’re really just showing up and discovering what each host’s interpretation of a show is. Sometimes that means a homemade stage in their front yard with tiki torches and a fish fry, and sometimes that means moving around some couches in a musty basement. Sometimes there will be upwards of six to seven bands playing with a whole PA set up in a garage and sometimes it’s just me walking in with my acoustic guitar and strumming to a group of people sitting poolside. You never really know on this tour. No matter what the setting though,  I’ve found that each show on this tour is pretty memorable and feels intimate and special, which at this point is really what I’m going for when I play shows. I want people to walk away thinking, “I will never forget this show.”

Bill – What have been some of your favorite shows so far on this tour?

Dan – This is hard to narrow down without writing a novel. This is also somewhat unfair to the shows I don’t mention, but I will narrow it down to seven shows! Massapequa, NY – Super sweet couple in Long Island went all out and made an amazing Mexican themed party. An ice cream truck showed up right before the set. Magical. Montreal, QC – played a show in an alleyway to a big crowd of punk rockers and their little punk kids. Random people walking down the alley would stop and hang out and listen for a bit before moving along. Indianapolis, IN – Smallest show of the tour so far, seven people. A couple surprised their teenage son, (who is a fan). The look on his face when he answered the front door was priceless! Amazing BBQ. Topeka, KS – Showed up at the venue and it was a nice recording studio with a camera crew. Filmed and recorded the whole set. St. Louis, MO – Played at a public storage unit place. Other members of MU330 showed up and played with me. My mom also was at this show. She managed to not get chiggers, unlike the rest of MU330. Hot Springs, AR – Giant fish fry in the front yard of a really cool house with a stage attached to the front. Fresh caught bass, crappie and catfish. Unbelievable. 100+ people. Went to an equally unbelievable after-party with a DJ and a poolside dance party. Cannon balls, fog machines, open bar, top tier snacks and burlesque dancers coming out of birthday cakes. New Orleans, LA – Fun, rowdy punk rock house in Algiers, across the river from the French Quarter. Good bands and amazing homemade jambalaya and gumbo.

Bill – At what point did you realize that you wanted to release an album to coincide with the tour?

Dan – About two months before the tour started, I realized it was silly to not have a new album for this tour, and just started cranking out recordings around the clock. It’s one of the fastest turnarounds I’ve ever had on a record.

Bill – Where did you record My Living Room and what was that experience like?

Dan – I recorded it in my living room. It was great. I would prefer to record every album there. I’d take breaks and take my dog to the beach. It was the best.

Bill – What inspired the lyrics to “Thank You,” the record’s opening song?

Dan – It’s basically about my wife being the best ever.

Bill – “All I Can Be” talks about a young person enlisting and going off to war. What made you want to write this song?

Dan – I’ve just been getting more into writing songs from other people’s perspectives. For a long time lots of my tunes were autobiographical or literally about things that directly happened to me. This is something that novelists and writers do all the time, but for some reason I’m just discovering rather late in my songwriting journey. I’ve found it to be really freeing and this song is one of those experiments in writing outside of my usual box.

Bill – “Older Now” is a reflective song that deals with living in the moment as opposed to always looking to the past. What was the inspiration for these lyrics?

Dan – As this one is more open to the listener’s interpretation, I feel like spelling it out too much would kind of take it away from the listener so to speak. That being said, it’s basically about the struggle to create and still do things that matter to you as you get older.

Bill – How do you feel that this album compares to your other solo records?

Dan – It has more harmonica on it than my other solo albums, therefore it is more folky. No, I’m just kidding. But it does have more harmonica and more finger-pickin’. I’ve been funneling all my ska songs towards the Bricks lately, so the ska is absent on this one. Maybe a little more mellow than my other solo records.

Bill – After the current tour wraps up, what else do you have planned for this year? Will there be more solo shows, or is there anything going on with either Dan P. and the Bricks or Mu330?

Dan – No MU330 plans, but I’m going to Korea and Japan at the end of August with Mike Park and Jeff from Bomb the Music Industry. We’ll be playing over there as the Bruce Lee Band. I’m also doing a couple weeks on the East Coast and Canada, playing solo with Streetlight Manifesto in October, and most likely touring with Mustard Plug and The Voodoo Glow Skulls in the winter. Also this winter I will be finishing up a second Dan P. and the Bricks album. I’ll also be mixing another solo album that is finished being recorded, and releasing an album that I co-wrote with Rick Johnson from Mustard Plug. That is a rock ‘n’ roll record, and the name of the band is Sharkanoid.