Kyle Bobby Dunn (when good artists go bad)

[Mexicola]

***So, for the record as I bigged the guy up for years...

He's been dropped like a white-hot anvil by the labels he worked with and outed as a misogynist, anti-Semitic sociopathic bully. Twitter has seen him pretty much destroyed in the past 72 hours. I'm heartbroken, but not entirely surprised given his online behaviour over the past few months. The guy clearly has major issues.

His music remains some of the most incredible drone and ambient I've ever heard. My question now, is can I reconcile that with what I've since learned about him.

Horrible.

Original post:
Been getting into his work for some time now, especially his 'A Young Person's Guide To..' double album. Not surprisingly for me, this is one for fans of drone, neo-classical etc, so all you Lid fans should find this right up your boulevard.

New album out, at the frankly obscenely cheap price of £6 on vinyl plus P&P. Limited run though so get in early.


http://lowpoint.bandcamp.com/album/frag ... sitions-of

[jcnporter]

Kyle Bobby Dunn and the Infinite Sadness also worth checking out.

[Mexicola]

Yup, love that one too. Good call JCN.

[Mexicola]

New track up on his Bandcamp. I know we have a few drone / ambient fans out there who will lap this up.

http://kylebobbydunn.bandcamp.com/track ... nnis-shoes

[niceeagle]

excellent stuff!

[1tripz1]

Funnily enough I've always struggled to get into his stuff. Not sure why, on paper I should really like it.

That's dirt cheap for an LP though so I'm going to revisit and probably get it.

[1tripz1]

Tried again but just doesn't hit the mark for me. All the elements are there but I just feel like something is missing.

[Mexicola]

Tried again but just doesn't hit the mark for me. All the elements are there but I just feel like something is missing.

It took a while for it to click with me too. He was on the periphery of my listening for some time. 'Young Person's Guide..' was the one that did it for me. Magnificent record that I keep revisiting.

[Wildfire]

I love KBD. His albums are the perfect accompaniment to driving around the Scottish Highlands I feel. So much emotion in such simple arrangements.

[Mexicola]

Lovely interview and potted history of his exceptional discography below.
The section on KBD starts about 1/4 of the way in approx.

[droid]

Kyle is a lovely guy and a brilliant producer. Hope to see more stuff from him in the future. Glad you liked the interview.

[Wildfire]

Love his music, his latest emails begging people to give him money are kinda odd though, doesn't come across very well.

[Mexicola]

So, for the record as I bigged the guy up for years...

He's been dropped like a white-hot anvil by the labels he worked with and outed as a misogynist, anti-Semitic sociopathic bully. Twitter has seen him pretty much destroyed in the past 72 hours. I'm heartbroken, but not entirely surprised given his online behaviour over the past few months. The guy clearly has major issues.

His music remains some of the most incredible drone and ambient I've ever heard. My question now, is can I reconcile that with what I've since learned about him.

Horrible.

[fujee]

Just went through Twitter. What a cunt.

[Logan71]

https://www.theredhandfiles.com/views-on-morrissey/

[Valotonin]

I've enjoyed some of his music in the past. I went through the tweets prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt because, at first it seemed like it could be a rival of his engineering outrage and making false accusations. It certainly seemed at first that the accuser wanted to get as much public exposure to their claims as possible with little evidence.

I still want to maybe see something more concrete on the claims of misogyny, antisemitism racism etc.
It seems that his peers were substantially pissed at his self-pitying and general negative attitude, but the claims of bullying, racism etc all come from one source (who was very happy to accuse publicly) without anything concrete.

Can anyone validate these claims?
This guy will likely show up dead or in hospital at some point if he has his career destroyed over this. His peer(s) throwing those accusations publicly to sabotage every facet of his life rather than a private intervention isn't particularly kind, regardless.

[Mexicola]

I saw one tweet before they were removed and frankly it was pretty fucking awful.
A direct message to another artist saying he was happy / glad their brother had recently died.

I've not seen the main ones that seem to be referred to, but it's coming from multiple sources, many of which I've known a while and seem reliable. Successful artists in their own right, including some that have worked with him in the past. He's also offered zero defence or explanation whatsoever, instead reverting back to the 'I'm being persecuted, I'm so sad' line with occasional bouts of ranting and name-calling.

I've personally become increasingly uncomfortable with many of his messages via Bandcamp etc over the last year, where he lays on the emotional blackmail line pretty thick in an attempt to sell his material, or outright just beg for money. Called him out last year when he accused his Bandcamp followers of ripping of his music, and leaving him in poverty etc etc. The very people most likely to buy his music!!

Although I couldn't really afford it, I bought a copy of Infinite Sadness from him direct, on CD as he wasn't selling vinyl. I could have bought the vinyl elsewhere but wanted to buy direct as he seemed to be struggling. He moaned at me because it was a pain for him to post it and was suggesting I should buy it digitally, or his entire back catalogue digitally. As soon as I explained I couldn't afford to buy his whole back catalogue, he posted the CD a day or two later. So not that much hassle then....

It's been hard to take, as I adore his music. I also do believe he has real issues which I hope he gets help with. But I've also come to believe that he plays the woe-is-me card time and again and I'm afraid I've become less inclined to believe him as time has gone on. As someone with a long history of significant mental health issues myself, I don't say that lightly and I've tried to give him every chance. That was before this week's furore. Now, it's all I can do not to skip his work in the bin.

[Valotonin]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

The tweet referring to his being glad that someone's brother had passed away was absolutely awful. It appears that he wrote that after this person had made the public accusation, though, so it might not be an indication of his character and could actually play more towards the indication that someone has had enough of his attitude and decided to throw him under the bus. In the most distasteful way possible "I am glad your brother is dead because he doesn't have to deal with the fact that you betray people" seemed to be the theme of the message. I find it strange that the accuser was so quick to share that message but not provide evidence of any of his other claims, it shows that the privacy or details of these statements are of no concern to him.

My instincts could well be wrong, there is just a part of me that feels that this person threw them under the bus by making those claims, knowing that due to his constant self-pitying and self-obsessive behavior that it would be believed and then posted Kyle's response to the potential betrayal and destruction of career as evidence.

Imagine a situation where someone made a libelous claim in reference to you that would destroy your life, your career etc. At your lowest moment realizing that you are now effectively unemployed you message the person with something hurtfully describing how much of a betrayal it is, and they then use that message as proof of their previous claim.

He seems to have some real flaws in character and, from what I can read and also from what you have described, I do think he is stuck in a constant victim mentality and somewhat of a strange loner in ways. There are lots of sources as to the content of his character in this regard and he certainly doesn't seem like the most pleasant person to be around, but the nails in the coffin using the "racist/antisemitic/misogynist" witch hunt (in the fact that they can be used in such a way as to make someone guilty until proven otherwise) buzzwords that are sure to destroy a career are all from one source. It is plausible that there was already tension with the record label due to Kyle's personality and that someone saw it as an opportunity to strike a blow against his career, again, according to Kyle this person had repeatedly harassed him in the past but that has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Its like a lot of cases, I have no real interest in the outcome, but I have a persistent sickness in regards to false accusation dismantling someone's life and trial by (social) media. Despite not liking Michael Jackson's music particularly, I stood up for him on numerous occasions for the same reason. I know that is an unpopular opinion, though. I can't say for certain either way in either instance, but I recognize the traits of a witch hunt trial by media/social media and in Dunn's case there are a few of those traits present.

[fujee]

I think being dropped by his label is pretty indicative of his general behavior. As you say, he may or may not have said some of things he said (though the evidence stacks heavily against him), but to be left essentially unemployed by the people who give him his primary means of income is telling.

[Mexicola]

Dropped by three labels within 72 hours.

Pastinsidethepresent
LowPoint
White Sepulchre

As I say, I'm inclined to believe those calling him out based on my own experiences and things I've seen myself. He's said nothing to counter those claims. Not one thing. Very sad.