BRYCE DESSNER
CROSSING BORDERS AND GENRE BOUNDARIES IS NEVER EASY, BUT FOR BRYCE DESSNER, IT’S BECOME A FAMILIAR EXPERIENCE.
Dessner, 45, a classically trained guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer, has racked up multihyphenates over the last couple of decades of his musical career. Arguably best known for his work with indie rock band The National—where he shares lead guitar, piano, songwriting, and other duties with his identical-twin brother Aaron—he’s also an accomplished arranger and producer and cofounder of two record labels.
He’s also one of those rare musicians who have authentically crossed—and blurred—the lines between classical music and pop/rock. In a recent phone conversation, we discussed his recent projects, his process, and—of course—music.
Dessner has been working remotely on projects predating the pandemic and also on new collaborations. He’s used to traveling as he works and working as he travels. He writes and composes music while touring with The National—or did until COVID-19 put a temporary end to that. He’s pressed on.
Dessner is American, but he’s been living in Paris for the last handful of years, and he recently moved to the countryside. When we spoke in April, the City of Lights had just entered another lockdown, the pandemic dragging on. For Dessner, as for many, this springtime in Paris hasn’t been like others. “I haven’t seen my band in a year and a half,” he laments. “I haven’t seen my brother in a year and a half.” These haven’t been easy times. But unexpected opportunities have arisen. He and his brother have been working together at a distance—on Taylor Swift’s Folklore, to name one project, which won a 2021 Grammy for Album of the Year. Aaron produced and cowrote songs; Bryce arranged the orchestrations.
Dessner thrives on collaboration, “whether it be
