Dust Cwaine
Or Just Dust.
Nearing a decade of performance experience, Dust Cwaine needs little introduction at home in Vancouver, BC. Their spell-binding performances — an electric spectrum of DIY anthems, drag bravado, and rough-and-tumble alternative rock — have drawn crowds since 2016. Now, Dust and their band have emerged as a ballideering pop troupe, as commanding as the reputation which proceeds them.
Already well-known for their drag shows, both as a performer and impressario, Dust’s songwriting project began in 2020 and channels the moody synthesizer excess of The Cure with the bare-faced honesty of Haim and Noah Kahan. Anchored with a tender sense of responsibility and truth, enlivened by a quick wit and penchant for a catchy chorus, Dust’s body of work maps out a rich array of subjects and priorities. In ballads of intimacy, longing, fatness and sacrifice, a full picture of Dust emerges.
Since their first collaboration with John Eastman of Helm Studios, Dust’s work has been celebrated by the likes of Exclaim!, the Jann Arden Podcast, and the Georgia Straight which deservedly crowned them as Vancouver’s Local Hero in 2024. Whether performing alongside artists like Hotel Mira and Young Friend or selling out headline shows across the country, Dust’s musical output has proved to be the crown jewel of their swath of performance acclaim.
Dust released two singles this past year following up from the EP 17 the year before and their debut album Arcana before that. Each release builds a distinct piece of the portfolio of what they would call nostalgia pop navel gazing for grown theatre kids. Ranging from lush top-down, blast-out-the-windows, angst ridden catharsis to sensitive stripped back confessionals, replete with references, vulnerability, and keen sense of crescendo, Dust’s sound continues to build in time for their sophomore LP expected sometime in 2025.
Read about Dust in the press
