Let’s Talk About It: Dave Hause

(Note: I apologize for being absent for a while! Life happened aggressively; it was a long summer. But I’m back and excited to bring you new content! Thanks for sticking around 😘)

In advance of his seventh solo album “…And The Mermaid” (out September 26!), Singer and Songwriter Dave Hause graciously shared some time with me to talk about his process, finding balance, and if the punk scene is better off now that we aren’t throwing bottles at each other.

Q: You have an album coming out next month! For the first two singles, you did this really cool thing online where you went through the songs line by line and talked us through the writing process. Was it always part of the plan to give us this insight or is it something that just happened organically when you put the songs out?

I’m glad you have enjoyed it, but this was not my idea. We hired a social media coordinator to help keep me more consistent about posting as we have so much going on. Between all of the releases, running the label and then the festival, we need to keep people engaged, and they’ve done a great job of keeping me focused on this part of the operation. That said, this is one of their ideas that I was resistant to. I’m from the generation of leaving things more shrouded in mystery. One of my all time favorite records is Rancid’s Life Won’t Wait, it’s an epic double record and there’s very little info available about it. I would love to see video of them talking through the song meanings and the making of the album, and it just doesn’t exist. When I think about it from that perspective I am more willing to cooperate and give it a try, and once I did this for Enough Hope and people seemed to like it, I softened to the idea. I’m glad you got something out of it. 

Q: You write and perform with your brother Tim. Had you always wanted to do that, or did it happen by surprise? How do you keep balance in that relationship?

It happened as a surprise, and it’s one of the great gifts I’ve been given in my professional life.

Like any relationship, it takes communication, empathy, and letting go of things you can’t control. We value the relationship so we work at it. 

Q: You’re a singer and a songwriter, but you’re also a father and a husband. How do you manage the demands of both sides of that?

The father part is the most important, and the rest flows from there. I’m responding to these questions from a skatepark in Santa Barbara, taking breaks to help my kids enjoy skating. Life for me is often switching in and out of various roles quickly, and hopefully in a focused way. 

Q: You celebrated a DECADE of sobriety this summer. CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Obviously you write about it, and a not-insignificant portion of my sobriety playlist is music you wrote. And then there’s songs like “Pray for Tucson”, where you talk about the struggle of the “before” part. Was it scary to be so honest?

Thank you! I’m glad the songs could soundtrack some of your life too. Writing "Pray For Tucson" was so long ago, but I remember that it was helpful in figuring out some ambivalence I had around living a pretty risky and wild lifestyle while people I loved were retreating from a lot of that and starting families. 

Q: You write music that is very grounded in time and place, very specific to your experience, but that resonates with people all over the world. Does that feel really cool, really overwhelming, or both?

I’m grateful people find something compelling about it, it allows for a long and interesting conversation with the audience, which is something I always wanted when I was starting out. 

The overwhelm comes when people ask me for answers about their own life, or sobriety or mental health. I’m just writing songs about things I find compelling, I’m for sure not a mental health professional, nor do I have any answers about how to navigate life. 

Q: What music do you listen to when you are feeling off balance or struggling?

It always changes. These days I”m more likely to practice breathing techniques or take a walk in order to level out than turn to a specific song or record. 

Q: You’ve been all over the world. What are some differences you have noticed about “the scene” in different places?

The UK, Germany and the east coast of America are where the crowds are the biggest. Canada is great, Australia is great but we haven’t been in many years. Usually if we are in a new city we are trying to soak up as much of that city as we can, while also maintaining our ties to home as well as doing the work of putting the show on, so immersing yourself in “the scene” isn’t really possible. We try to bring our own little scene to the stage and the show and hope it dovetails with whatever is happening in the town we are playing and with the people who came out to the show. 

Q: You and I are the same age, so we came up with $5 punk shows where people would smash bottles in each other’s faces and shit. Things have changed—do you think it’s better now?

I tend to think it’s better now, and I’m wary of folks who romanticize the past too much. It’s certainly more diverse culturally and musically, and it’s safer, and those are always part of the goal, right? 

Q: Going back to “Look Alive”, you said something really profound (and I don’t want to put words in your mouth) about how the big word in that song is “if”. IF it’s the end of the world tonight, I am going to go out in a cloud of self destruction. Where did that song come from? Was it written about the state of the world now, or the general state of existence, or both?

I would say both. The intention with “Look Alive” is to capture that feeling when you’re just about to blow it all up, and by capturing that feeling, maybe we can live that together for 3-4 minutes instead of actually doing it. It feels cathartic. 

Q: In addition to writing really beautiful, personal songs, you write huge amazing protest bangers. At this point in your career, when you’re writing, do you lean more towards angry, introspective, or some balance of both?

I just write about whatever comes to mind, with as little attachment to outcome as possible initially. When it comes time to make recordings and albums, then those decisions get made with more clarity. The writing process is always changing and growing, and I tend to just gravitate towards whatever holds my interest at that point in time. 

Q: The best part of a Dave Hause show is that it always really feels like we’re all a group of friends hanging out in someone’s living room. You create an environment of safety and support, in large part because you don’t create a barrier between yourself and your audience. Is that exhausting? How do you look after yourself on tour?

I try to look at the exhaustion as a gift. Life is hard, and you’re always going to have to work at something. I get to work at something I love that creates a unique community of people, and that is so rare and special. 

Q: What’s on the horizon for you? What are you most excited about?

We are spending the autumn bringing the record out, and playing shows in Canada, Europe and parts of the US as a duo and a trio to sort of introduce the songs and get people reved up. 

The Mermaid tours with The Bouncing Souls in December to finish off the year. What I’m most excited about is touring as a full band throughout a lot of 2026 all over the world, and then heading back into the studio much sooner than you would think to work on the next batch of songs. 

Dave Hause is a singer-songwriter who performs solo, as a duo, a trio, and with his full band, The Mermaid. He is the founder and co-owner of Blood Harmony Records. His new album, “…And The Mermaid”, will be released Friday, September 26. The first two singles, “Enough Hope” and “Look Alive”, are available now wherever you listen to music. Follow him on Instagram @davehause or online at davehause.com .