“A new chapter” – In Conversation with Dustbunny
“A NEW CHAPTER” – IN CONVERSATION WITH DUSTBUNNY INTERVIEW By Caitlin Taylor 26 April 2026 Dustbunny were a band from Portland. Their excellent second album ‘Offerings for Weary Dogs’ will be the last output of the band as they’ve existed for the past couple years due to frontwoman Chloe Flores’s move to Minneapolis. “It has been a huge shift”, she told us over email. During a break from unpacking boxes, she spoke to us about who Dustbunny were, are, and will be going forward. Why the name Dustbunny? I came up with the band name Dustbunny in the shower; where I assume most like-minded individuals also do their best thinking. This was during a time where my music endeavors were entirely solo but I had hopes of bringing a full band into fruition. How did you guys come together to form a band? I had been making music solo for a while, releasing songs under a different name. I had recorded all of those songs on my iPhone’s GarageBand app and later, Logic and an audio interface. After doing that in Portland for my first few years living there, I met Shanea while we were both working for Sofar Sounds. Shanea would come to be bassist on the first two albums (Machinery and Offerings for Weary Dogs). But first I asked them to play bass for me on the first single I released under the new name. After that worked out, I did what any other 26 year old would do and posted on Instagram to gauge interest. Delaney (Walatka) was the only one to respond. And thank god she did because she filled the spot of lead guitar. Finally, a mutual friend put me in touch with Evan (Mason-White) who was enough of an early appreciator of the music I was releasing solo to play drums. Dan (Peterson) later came aboard to play second lead and he is present on the second album. It feels like a lot of thought goes into your visual art style, can you talk a little about your cover art and the thoughts behind it? The cover art is mostly just inspired by individual artists’ styles, if that makes sense. I never really have gone into an album with a clear vision of what specific imagery I want. The Machinery cover was done by Lydia Slocum of the band Feeble Little Horse. She used to have an art page (@the_asheley_catacombs) that I really liked and I reached out to her to do the cover as a commission. I gave her a few examples of what pieces she had done that I liked most and she gave me a few different iterations until we came to one that worked. Similarly, for Offerings for Weary Dogs, I had my friend Anthony Clementi (@anthony__clementi) brainstorm after hearing the album title. He listened to some of the unreleased songs for inspiration and painted the piece that would come to be the album art. The actual painting is massive and now hangs in my home. I prefer to give the visual artists mostly free reign, it’s cool to see what people come up with to coincide with the music. Photos by KC Jonze (@thelonius_punk) Was there a story you wanted to tell with Offerings for Weary Dogs? Did you go into the album with a particular intention? The intention behind Offerings was primarily to release one more album in Portland with the same band lineup. Dan (2nd lead guitarist) is my partner and we had decided the previous year that we would move to Minneapolis in early 2026. With that in mind and a bunch of songs in my back-pocket, it just made sense that we would try and get one more out together. Bryan Olson (@realmseeker) recorded both albums in his home studio and we had such a good time working with him for Machinery too, so it really was like a last hoorah and an accomplishment I really wanted to make with the band before starting a new chapter. How was crafting this album different from your first album Machinery? Is there anything you learned that you’ll take with you for future releases? I think we learned a lot in between Machinery and Offerings, both as a live band and in the studio. Bryan had not yet recorded any other bands in his studio when we did Machinery and we had only been playing shows for about 8 months, so it was a learning process for all of us. By the time we came back for round two, we were way more confident but also had bigger ideas and a pretty strict timeline. I think I’d have the same thought process going into a future release, which is to really just do it for the love of the game and to have fun, but I think I’d allow myself some more space so as to not feel rushed and really just take my time. As someone who lives miles away and has never been, describe the Portland music scene. How do you feel you fit into it? The Portland music scene is incredibly welcoming and supportive and fun. Or at least that was my experience with it. I am sad to leave it but find comfort in knowing the space where Dustbunny was will be filled and that my friends will still be at all the shows. When Dustbunny started, I was totally new on the scene and inexperienced and I only have fond memories of the acceptance that was shown to us. Of course, there are many different niches there, some of which I likely never witnessed. But our corner of the world was totally lush with opportunities and friendship. It was awesome. What’s a song you wish you’d written? I am going to forgo the super niche answer and go with the obvious which is that I wish I’d written Farewell Transmission. There was undeniable magic in that room when they recorded this song.
Artist Playlist: Dustbunny
Artist Playlist : Dustbunny A playlist featuring music made or selected by the band Dustbunny, plus some related suggestions from the TNAM team. TNAM.UK Playlist {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }} {{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }} {{ options.labels.newReviewButton }} {{ userData.canReview.message }} You Might Also Like Recent Posts