All photos by: pepsi.on.the.house
I first met Dan LaTerra while interviewing her band SCOBY from Winston-Salem last spring. Since then, our paths have crossed repeatedly. She contributed the track “petrichor” to our Mountains to Sea Vol. 1 compilation, performed at our benefit show for Frog Hollow Outdoors. And over the past year or so, I’ve watched her become a fixture in the Triad DIY scene, filling in or playing in bands like Bedroom Division, Melodramatic, and Nervous Surface.
saturn is changing started as LaTerra’s “grief project” and a vehicle for learning guitar, but has evolved into something far more confident. Her second record, SOME HAVE LEFT THE PASTURE, was co-created with Daniel Nesbit and marks a significant artistic leap. After a year spent juggling multiple bands, booking her first out-of-state tours, and immersing herself in what she calls “the artist’s lifestyle,” LaTerra has found her voice as both a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. Someone capable of writing songs in 15 minutes, a feat that once would have seemed impossible.
We caught up to discuss the Google Calendar mastery behind it all, the invigorating chaos of DIY touring, and an album inspired by cows gathered around a wind turbine in West Texas.
Looking back on our last conversation, you mentioned that your goal for the rest of 2025 was “tour booking.” How did that go?
Dan: That’s interesting because I don’t remember actually saying that out loud. But I think we executed on the goal. SCOBY played its first legit tour with Fifth Floor in September. Before then, we’d never played out of the state. But we made our way up four or five states on the East Coast. I also toured with Nervous Surface, and we got up to New York. And then with saturn is changing, we’ve got a short North Carolina tour lined up this weekend.
I got a lot more comfortable reaching out to people and sending those awkward emails. That has opened the door for future comfort when booking. Overall, we did what we wanted to do there. We’re also recording; we have like eight songs that we haven’t even played live yet. We have all the material we need to start making a new record.
That’s a lot!
Dan: When I say it out loud, it is. In my head, it feels like we’re not grinding hard enough. But that’s just one part of what I’m working on.
How do you balance all of these different projects?
Dan: I had to get really good at Google Calendar. I officially put everything into different boxes. Sometimes you’ll get some conflicts. With SCOBY, everyone has their own commitments and jobs. I love the touring, booking, and gigging lifestyle, so it’s easier to book around everybody else.
As for saturn is changing, I’m wide open. Nervous Surface books a lot, to the point where I’m playing more with them than SCOBY, just in terms of frequency. I fill in for Melodramatic sometimes. But it’s honestly not that hard, I just look at my calendar and fill in whatever is open. SCOBY is flexible too, since we have five members and two vocalists. If I can’t make a gig for whatever reason, they can play all the Jane songs.
I feel like playing out so much has got to sharpen your craft for the other projects. Like a cross-pollination of sorts.
Dan: I was just telling my partner that I feel like I’ve gotten so much better as a musician from playing with Matty [Brotherton, guitar/vocals] and Nervous Surface. The songs are way faster and it’s a different style than SCOBY. The technically that Matty has is so much greater than my ability. I have to fulfill the obligation of playing those songs to the highest degree. At this point, I’ve played lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and bass for Nervous Surface just because the cast is so rotating. But it’s made me better at every one of those skills.
And that’s definitely helped me coming into this new saturn is changing record with writing and riffage. Because the goal for the last album was just “write something on guitar,” since I have historically been a keys player. But now I feel very comfortable just picking up and writing on the guitar.
It seems like your growth as an artist has helped evolve what you do with saturn is changing.
Dan: It definitely has. I have shifted my perspective on my identity as a whole this year, and the music has shifted with that. That sounds pretentious to say, but I’ve been trying to immerse myself in more of the “artist’s lifestyle.” I’ve been watching artist and production videos to the point where my YouTube feed is very curated.
Coming out of college, I thought I had to do music as a side thing because it’s just not viable. But then I met a bunch of musicians who do this as a job and a lifestyle. That made me realize it’s more possible than I thought. Going on tour with Nervous Surface really helped me see this a realistic path.
With the first saturn is changing album, that was my first step in taking myself more seriously as an artist. I didn’t have a computer, but I had a phone. If it’s crap, it’s crap. But I ended up needing that outlet so badly. Up to that point, I’d never journaled before. But everything I needed to say in that moment came out on that record.
Now, I feel more secure in my identity as a person who can tell narratives and create a cohesive project. There’s a song in this new album that I wrote in like 15 minutes. I could never see myself doing that a year ago. This whole year has been huge for developing that confidence as a creative person.
What about that touring lifestyle keeps you coming back for more?
Dan: When people talk about the touring lifestyle, some are regretful about it or didn’t think they felt like they fit into it. The classic “long nights, waking up on a tour bus, eating Taco Bell every day.” There are those extremes.
The way we did the Nervous Surface tour, we were sleeping on people’s couches every night and eating like a meal and a half each day. But it was invigorating to be in a new place, meeting a bunch of people, and playing a show. Even if only five people show up, there’s something about playing new venues and taking songs that you like out on stage.
Ultimately, the music part of it outweighs the shitty aspects that people tend to associate with the touring lifestyle. I had a bunch of fun, made new friends, and that’s what life’s all about. If I could block out a couple weeks a year to do that and still sustain myself, that’s the dream.
How has your connection with the local Triad community and the greater North Carolina scenes grown over the last several months?
Dan: We’ve definitely met a ton of new people. Coming into that SCOBY interview, we were pretty connected and had been playing out for a couple of years. But there are awesome new people coming into the scene every year to do cool stuff. It doesn’t even have to be music.
I feel like I strengthened my relationship with people I saw as acquaintances or peers. That reinforces my view of people in this scene being really cool. The same goes for all the out-of-state folks we met and became friends with on tour.
I’ve also learning about a ton of bands through a TikTok post I made about my playlist of local North Carolina bands. It blew up and so many people were giving me new bands to check out. That was like a shout in the dark that led to so many connections with new, talented people.
In what ways do the local or state-wide music scenes need more support?
Dan: That’s an interesting question because I think it all connects to the general systemic issues with music at the moment. Like streaming is a joke, you know? So if you’re an artist who doesn’t perform live, you’re not going to make any income from streaming your music. That limits people’s ability to get their stuff out their in a way that pays.
DIY venues do an excellent job of being artist-centered. But sometimes you get venues that have a ticket deal with Live Nation or Ticketmaster that needs to be fulfilled before the bands get their cut. Or they get a cut of the merch profits.
I don’t want to place blame on any single institution, especially if it’s local, because most of the time locals are getting snubbed. No matter what. The trickle down leaves scraps for the artists, but everyone is hurting.
Is there anything you want to share about your new album?
Dan: It’s about these cows. I was on a drive to New Mexico earlier this year. Once you reach West Texas, you can drive for miles, and there’s nothing but the flattest, plainest land with wind turbines everywhere. I remember stopping at a gas station and there were these cows around one, which I thought was probably very confusing for a cow. To be grazing amongst this gigantic metal object.
I started journaling about this cow, looking up at the turbine, which had become a totem for their community. One day, it stops, and the cows all form different sects, each with an explanation for why. And there’s one cow that sits and waits for it to start again.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Leave a Reply