A Dirty Dozen with DUSTIN CLEARY from BLACKSTAFF – July 2026

Photo credit: Kristen Cleary

According to a recent press release: “Everything Is Noise is currently streaming Drowner from Seattle blackened doom metal solo project, BLACKSTAFF, in its entirety. The premiere comes in advance of the EP’s official release Friday, July 10th. Born in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State in 2022, BLACKSTAFF is the passion project of multi-instrumentalist and dark fantasy nerd Dustin Cleary. Inspired by thirty years of reading and writing horror and fantasy books, a decade of practicing Germanic heathenry, and a lifetime of video and tabletop roleplaying games, each record is an exercise in storytelling, world building, the occasional homage to other worlds dear to the writer’s heart.” We get Dustin to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

This EP is something I’ve had on the back burner for some time. It’s more about texture and atmosphere than anything else I’ve done. I was playing with ebow and feedback, and made something that to me sounded like a burst of dazzling light, and that sound – which became the intro to the EP – led me to the concept of the album.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

As a child, my dad was a house framer. I would ride to his job sites with him, and he would quiz me about the classic rock songs on the radio, asking me to match the band with the tune. I only guessed at first, but eventually I began to know the answers. He was 100% my greatest musical influence and supporter, and bought me my first guitar, got me my first lessons. Without him I would be a very different person.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

My first concert was at age 13, and the lineup was Morbid Angel, Satyricon and Suffocation. When I saw Trey Azagthoth shred through a lead, toss his hair back and throw up his horns with a grin on his face, I thought to myself, “what a fucking legend.” I knew that I wanted to play extreme music then.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I would love to write a song with Tom G Warrior (Celtic Frost, Triptykon). He loves to get weird and his writing style which prioritizes power and feeling over technicality for its own sake would be a great fit!

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

My wife and I have become farmers in a very rugged and remote place, and I love hanging at home with my animals and just being in awe of the nature around me. Beyond that, I love to be immersed in a story, and often read and play deeply nerdy games such as Magic: The Gathering and very crunchy RPGs.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I don’t know that I have ever cringed at someone’s assessment of my music – I think too that it can be polarizing, as “doom” flavored music often is. Some people like slower, riff-heavy music – some people want fast and relentless, all the time. I think my music is eclectic enough that two people with very different tastes could find something they liked in my discography. To answer the first question, though, I would describe my music as “Dark, heavy, extreme rock and roll. Not quite death metal, not quite black metal, not quite doom, but also somehow all of them at once.”

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Ha! As a one man project, I guess I am all of these things!

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I don’t often get star struck – but I admire some people very, very much, and speaking to them was very cool. Recently I have spoken to Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel / I Am Morbid, and he gave my daughter some drum sticks – also I spoke with Tom Warrior and got his permission to cover “Aurorae,” which is something I am taking my time with because I treat it with extreme gravity.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Being a musician is not my job – I am a bridge builder – but it is my absolute passion. I prefer it this way because I do not necessarily sell my art to make money, often my hope is just to break even and then I am happy. The best part though, strangely, is the relationships i have formed along the way. I interact with fans a lot, and have built solid friendships in the metal community worldwide.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I don’t know that I have a great answer to this question, sadly!

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I would use different art for my first EP, and will likely re release it with something else.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Absolutely Monotheist by Celtic Frost. When I first heard this album, it dragged me completely into its atmosphere of darkness and despair. Not the campy corpse paint variety of darkness, but something bone deep that lived in the souls of the people that brought it to life.

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Category: Interviews