No. 13 | Poetic and artistic self-portraits of creative women | Poetic, artistic and feminist interviews | Poetry, music and audiovisual art

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Interview with the artist

Stallion Dunquis

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Interview by

Dina Sahyouni

Poetician, eco-poet, publisher,

founder of SIEFEGP and its periodicals

Interview with

​Stallion Dunquis

Independent musical artist

Page : Spotify

© Picture credit :  Portrait of the artist Stallion Dunquis reading in the blooming garden.

Hello ! Would you like to introduce yourself to the readership of this journal?

Stallion Dunquis (SD) – Well hello!  My name is Stallion Dunquis, and I’m an indie rock musician living and working in Brooklyn.  My main instruments of choice are my voice, as well as guitar and piano.  

© Picture credits :  Portraits of the artist Stallion Dunquis reading in the blooming garden.

Do you have any feminist or feminine musical influences?

SD – Many of my musical influences are feminine, especially vocalists.  When it comes to music, I actually prefer the female voice over the male voice.  This is not to say that I don’t admire male singers, but there is something extra moving about a female voice for me.  Some of this comes down to the timbre of the female voice itself, but I also think that women — being at a massive disadvantage in most situations as compared with men — are often singing with more hurt, more struggle, more sadness and therefore more defiance, more strength and more attitude.

© Picture credits :  The artist Stallion Dunquis.

My favorite genre of music (vocally) are R&B ballads sung by women.  The song “Love” by Keyshia Cole is my favorite song of all time.  My two favorite singers right now in today’s industry are Tems and SZA.  Around the time I really fell in love with music (age 18 or 19), my main album on rotation was 19, Adele’s first record.  I listened to this album all day for a year straight and just walked around alone all of the time with it in my headphones.  It’s funny — I’m obviously a male singer, but there’s so many female singers that really inspire me and move me deeply.  Hayley Williams (Paramore), Amy Winehouse & Lauryn Hill are other singers I admire.

© Picture credit :  The artist Stallion Dunquis.

I noticed that some of your songs are made of a well-balanced mixture of joys and sorrows like “New Morning” and “Sunday’s” Gone. Does this come from your artistic vision of music or from a pragmatic philosophy modeled on daily life, or both?

SD – It’s rarely pragmatic.  I’m an extremely moody person.  Very few people have seen this side of me, because I’m also a very private person.  My emotions kind of drive my daily life, and I’m working everyday at sort of mitigating or at least controlling this better, except when it comes to art.  When it comes to my music, I let my emotions take the wheel.  I allow my emotions to guide the music wherever my feelings want to take it.  This is when I feel the most like “me”, which is why I love making music so much and it feels therapeutic or medicinal for me.  “Sunday’s Gone” was created from sadness and grief; “New Morning” was created out of longing.  “New Morning” of course has a second movement that is more victorious, but there are also feelings of vengeance and rebellion in that victory.  None of my music or career is carried out pragmatically — that would ruin the fun.  I just follow my heart and what I like.  I always have a plan and overarching sense of the narrative, but I’m constantly revising my roadmap.  If the songs seem to you to have a good “balance”, this is probably a reflection of my sense of the grander picture.  I’m a macro thinker more than a micro thinker, but the whole story starts with some feeling I have inside of me that’s driving everything.  Yes, I’m definitely a slave to my emotions sometimes, which benefits my music greatly but makes practical life more difficult than it could or should be.  I’m at peace with this.

© Picture credit :  The artist Stallion Dunquis.

What are your current projects for the year 2023-2024 and where can readers listen or view your songs?

SD – I’ve just released two singles in April and May, and the plan is to keep putting out singles throughout the summer!  My songs are on virtually every streaming platform, Spotify and Apple Music included.  YouTube is also a good source to listen to my music if you don’t have a streaming app.  Thanks so much for having me.

Thank you so much Stallion Dunquis for answering my questions, my best wishes for your artistic projects!

© DS.

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About Stallion DUNQUIS

Born outside of Chicago and raised in Massachusetts, Stallion studied English Literature (Shakespeare focus) at Villanova University before moving to NYC.

Stallion DUNQUIS (born Colin KEANE)​ is an independent musical artist based in Brooklyn who has garnered a rapidly growing social media following thanks to not only a run of viral Spotify releases, but a distinct flair for mystery and metamorphosis. Having forged unique skills as a rock performer in the late 2010s on NYC’s indie circuit, Stallion spawned an entire album’s worth of independently produced SoundCloud singles at the end of the decade, giving birth to significant online buzz.  

Post-pandemic, Stallion opted for quality over quantity, restricting his Spotify offerings to the gorgeous, underwater ballad “Freeling” and the irresistible indie bop “Demingo”, while performing only periodically, though memorably, at a handful of New York City’s indie hot spots alongside his live band, The Dreams.

In April and May of 2023, Stallion added two singles to his discography with the release of “Sunday’s Gone” and “New Morning”.  “Sunday’s Gone” is a stripped-down, piano-driven track with lyrical and emotional delicacy drawing comparisons to Tobias Jesso Jr. and John Lennon, whereas “New Morning” is an epic and shockingly dynamic rock adventure revealing Arctic Monkeys and Muse influences.

See also 

Spotify

Instagram

Twitter

To read the French version of this interview:

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To quote this interview 

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Dina Sahyouni, « Interview with the artist Stallion DUNQUIS », photos provided by the artist, Le Pan poétique des muses | Revue féministe, internationale & multilingue de poésie entre théories & pratiques : N°13 | PRINTEMPS 2023 « (Auto)Portraits poétiques & artistiques des créatrices », mis en ligne le 29 mai 2023. URL :

http://www.pandesmuses.fr/no13/ds-interviewwithstalliondunquis

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