Out June 9, 2025
The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me is the first full-length solo album by Grammy winning American songwriter Dave Gutter. A concept album about the darker, often absurd side of being a starving artist. Gutter’s struggle to reconcile his love for music with the brutal reality of what it means to be a musician in a system that is often indifferent to the artist’s well-being. The concept behind the album came during an existential crisis that stemmed from conversations Gutter had with Dave Godowsky and Evan Smith while lobbying for musician’s rights in Congress.
The reality was worse than he thought and Gutter pictured the character from the lyrics of Bread’s Guitarman. Blissfully ignorant to the shrewd politics of the industry, it suddenly occurred to Gutter that the very thing he had dedicated his life to was out to get him…. and every other artist too. It sounded like the plot to a broadway musical. As the frontman and founder of Rustic Overtones, once the industry prodigy of Clive Davis and having written songs with more than a hundred artists including David Bowie, Imogen Heap, The Roots and Aaron Neville. Gutter was the poster child for this story: The music industry is trying to kill me. Self-produced with additional production help from Evan Smith (of Bleachers), Matt Perry and Anthony Gatti, the album’s creation blends raw, honest songwriting with bold experimentation. Gutter aimed to step outside his comfort zone, sometimes fusing musical styles he had previously dismissed, or even disliked.
“I want it to sound stupid” he repeatedly advised the session musicians.
This genre mash-up is to intentionally underscore the album’s themes of contradiction and self-exploration. Gutter wanted to make a rock opera as eclectic as his own journey. The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me takes full advantage of Gutter’s musical range, and offers a candid, satirical look at mental health, the dangers of decadence, the perils of ego, the brutal standards of beauty, and the sacrifices demanded by the seductive yet unforgiving world of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” – Hunter S. Thompson
Dave Gutter will be appearing with his band Rustic Overtones on June 20th at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine as a part of their anniversary weekend along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, John Brown’s Body, SeepeopleS, Zeme Libre and more. For more information and tickets check this out.
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