For Clay Dudash, frontman and songwriter of Tucson-based indie band The Manor Born, the road to releasing the project’s latest EP, see you next year, has been anything but straightforward. After more than a decade of musical exploration, line-up changes and the long shadow of the pandemic, this EP marks the band’s first original release since 2014. Moreover, it arrives with the weight of personal transformation behind it. Written and recorded in the intimate setting of Dudash’s mother’s house in northern Arizona, this six-track collection carries both the urgency of a long-awaited return and the vulnerability of an artist reclaiming his voice. From the jangling energy of ‘good goals’ to the bittersweet tension of ‘too late too bad’, see you next year channels post-punk revival grit through a distinctly personal lens. For On The Record, Clay Dudash opens up about loss, risk-taking and the renewed freedom in this bright new chapter.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with The Manor Born, can you introduce yourselves?
Yes, hi! I’m Clay, I sing and play guitar in the band. I have three other bandmates now, James (guitar), Jeff (bass), and Nick on drums.
Your EP, see you next year, is your first release since 2014, so what was the turning point that pushed you to finally bring this project to life?
Well, I didn’t fully give music up within that time frame. My original band broke up, I put out a mixtape, and then joined a band with some other friends. While I was doing all of that I was finishing up school, so my overall schedule was pretty terrible. Once I graduated and the band was building momentum, I was getting ready for a solo run with this EP title in mind to promote. It was early 2020, and I went on my first regional tour and put out a single that did pretty well (for me), and then as soon as I came back from the tour the pandemic hit. Since then I’ve been trying to rebuild
Last summer, a friend of mine who I met when I first moved to Tucson and who I met through music passed away, and around that same time I played two shows with another friend of mine, Jeff, who is now in the band. The show was one of those shows where you just play as background noise, but that pays well, which was somewhat of a wake up call for me, like, I can get paid to do what I love to do. So, within that month I had played again after years of a break, went on vacation, and realized that life is too short to not be doing what I love. While on vacation I told my girlfriend that I need to leave my job and she just went “yeah, dude.”
After that, I applied for an arts grant that I didn’t get, and decided that I was going to quit at the beginning of 2025, after all my remaining projects at work were finished. New-year-new-me type of thing.
Can you share what the title, see you next year, means to you personally?
I wrote the title years ago. Originally this EP, or some form of it was supposed to be released in 2020. Obviously that didn’t happen, but I always liked the mixed emotions that it conjures up. If you said the phrase to someone in conversation it could be happy or sad, or even hopeful. I have a list of titles that I go to every once in a while to see if I still like them, and that one stuck.
How did recent life experiences like losing a friend and feeling stuck in a corporate job shape some of the themes?
Hmm. Well the combination of those two made me realize that I wasn’t going anywhere at that job, despite my best efforts, and that I was under-appreciated and that I needed a change in my life to feel some real purpose. Even when I’m not playing or writing music I’m constantly thinking about it all the time. The combination really helped me reframe what I think is important to me.
Do you think the environment you wrote and recorded the EP in has formed its sound and mood?
I tried my best to have the environment help shape it, but truthfully I don’t know if it did as much as I would’ve liked. I recorded the EP at my mom’s house in northwestern Arizona, and I did it to be able to spend time with her and also just remove myself from my current environment to concentrate on the work. I don’t know if it sounds like whatever that could sound like, but I got it done and was able to focus, so I feel good about that.
What challenges and freedoms came with taking on the production role?
The challenging parts were having to relearn how to use the computer in a creative way. I always told people that I don’t really like recording myself, but in this day and age you have to be everything all at once, and I had put that learning process off long enough. I had a few technical mishaps and moments where I forgot how to do some pretty simple stuff, but in all I remembered important things, and then if I needed to I’d hit Google or YouTube for help. Freedoms would be that there wasn’t anyone else in the room suggesting changes to the songs, which I am always open to, but because I was alone I just did whatever I wanted. In the past with old bandmates and producers we would make lots of changes to stuff, and this time I just left it. Whatever “it” is.
How do you incorporate your love ‘00s indie and post-punk in your music to make it fresh and relevant for current listeners?
I don’t even know if I do keep it fresh and relevant, but I hope so! It’s hard to escape your influences, so I just hope that the EP doesn’t sound entirely like all my favorite albums and songs. The one thing I do take the most from post-punk stuff is the style of lyric writing. I try not to fully tell you what the song is about and leave the listener to connect the dots, whatever those dots are for them.
If you had to describe the sound of this EP in one sentence to someone who’s never heard you before, what would you say?
See you next year! Whatever that could mean for whoever I’m talking to. When people ask what the music sounds like, I usually just say indie rock and most people just nod their head in agreement. I did try to sequence the songs that would flow with mood and a story, but that’s up to you to see if I did that well or not.
How did the GoFundMe campaign change your perspective on community support as a part of the music industry?
It helped me realize that I’m not alone, and that people do really want to help others succeed. I had tons of people from my past donate and share, like people from high school and college would reach out and wish me luck with their donation. It was really dope. New friends, family members, all that. I realized that if you’re open to it, that some people do want to help you out, and that was really nice.
Following the release of your EP, what will be next on the horizon for you?
Well, me and the band just played one of the biggest venues in our town, the Rialto Theatre, and we’re playing DUSK Music Festival in November, as well. It’s like Tucson’s Coachella, kinda. Other than that, we’re working on an album together and writing as a band. So far everything has been really fun, and I’m really lucky to have my bandmates. So, recording an album and hopefully tour al within the next year!
You can find title-track ‘see you next year’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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