We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Dum. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My band Wednesday Demonstration is the most meaningful project that I’ve worked on. When I started writing songs for it after the pandemic, I knew I wanted the music to be a punk/pop-punk it its sound, but I was struggling with what to write about. I then just decided that every song was going to address some sort of social justice issue. Several songs address trans rights and LGBTQ+ issues, especially our most popular song “For Trans Kids in Texas.” The reception to those songs has been so meaningful. We’ve had young LGBTQ+ kids come up to us after shows and tell us how thankful they are to hear songs that speak to them, and we’ve been fortunate enough to play them at Akron Pride for 3 years in a row now. We also had the great honor of being asked to play a wedding for two of our trans friends and I told myself that if that was the last show I ever got to play, I would be totally fine with it because it was such a wonderful event to be a part of. We live in a world where silence equals compliance on so many fronts, so we are proud to sing words that need to be heard in the fight against oppression.

Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been playing guitar since 2nd grade and playing the drums since 7th grade. I was in bands throughout middle school and high school, that were focused on punk, hardcore, and ska music. My parents listened to a lot of folk music as well, so that focus on social justice really rubbed off on me. Peter, Paul, and Mary’s “I Had a Hammer” has been a huge influence on me in terms of songwriting and sound. When I got to college, I stopped playing music and it wasn’t until after the pandemic, at almost 40 years old, that I started writing again.

I’m most proud of our band’s dedication to our messages about social justice. We never hold back from speaking our minds, we donate all profits from merch and music sales to local causes, and try and play as many benefit shows as we possibly can. In a scene that is sometimes very cis-het, white-male dominated, I’m happy to have a band with gender and racial diversity.

I want musicians and artists to remember that the arts have always been about expression, rebellion, pushing boundaries, and making statements. Furthermore, everything in life is tied to politics and power, and I don’t ever want people to forget that. I’m proud that we as a band are dedicated to writing great songs about important issues.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of all this for me is connecting with strangers through music. I’ve made so many great friends through going to shows and playing shows, who I never would have encountered otherwise. To have a person tell us “thank you” for singing about the genocide in Gaza, or saying that our music inspired them to write their own, that’s the greatest thing. It’s all about connection and if we can meet and connect with one new person every time we play, that’s an incredible reward for putting something out there that no one ever HAS to listen to.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I’m going to give a really strange answer. In terms of a book that has impacted my management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy? My answer is “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn because in many ways, it peels back the layers of a system that for so many entrepreneurs and certainly in the founding of our country, has been built on the oppression and exploitation of others. I think if I were ever to consider my thinking “entrepreneurial” it would be in terms of starting a project and risking failure, but not in terms of monetary failure, in terms of failure to connect with people and failure to stay true to what the band represents and stands for. So my philosophy has been inherently against exploitation, it is democratic, it recognizes the contributions of everyone, and so I recommend this book because it exposes many of the lies that we have been fed about the success of the United States and who was hurt and harmed and exploited to get where we are today and that to me, is inherent for anyone in any position where they are trying to create something and benefit from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wednesdaydemonstration.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wednesday_demonstration/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WednesdayDemonstration/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisd9679
• Other: https://wednesdaydemonstration.bandcamp.com/