Community Sadness -- evolving along with local music scene

Band names often tell a story, even if the true origin might be a little fuzzy.

Local band Community Sadness has a story behind its name — a true one.

Lead singer Dyami Cluney said the band didn't begin as Community Sadness but rather a version of Dyami Cluney and the Secondhand Spirit. After a great show and having to write down the long name, band members decided it had to be changed to something people can remember and spell. Cluney said he had been sitting on "Community Sadness" for a while and thought it would have been a great album name.

"I used to tell people that it had this big, deep meaning. Where it was a bunch of sad people being sad together, and it still kind of is that. I think that's kind of still the ethos of the band, just like getting out a bunch of emotions together, safely and responsibly. But like the truth of the matter is, it was my Tumblr name ... and it just sounded cool," Cluney said.

The band has been together since 2017 and has four members. Cluney, who sings and plays guitar, as does Taylor Moore. Parker Bond plays bass, and Andrew McIntyre is the drummer. Cluney said he does not have a name for the type of music the band plays, explaining it as energetic and dynamic because it crosses genres.

Community Sadness band members Dyami Cluney and Parker Bond play at Shipyard Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Cape Girardeau.Alyssa Lunsford

Community Sadness band members Dyami Cluney and Parker Bond play at Shipyard Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Cape Girardeau.Alyssa Lunsford

The band has released two albums — "It's Not A Party. It's A Problem." and "Killjoi". Cluney said he wrote "It's Not A Party. It's A Problem." when he was around 19 to 20 years old. The songs on the album are about him figuring out what the band wanted to sound like and what he wanted to talk about.

"It was really over-dramatic songs about bad relationships but, in my opinion, they were kind of selfishly written. They were all like, from my side, and there wasn't really any accountability there," Cluney said.

The band's latest album, "Killjoi", was released in June. Cluney said the group now has more music experiences and the album is made in a more mature way. This album has themes of grieving, from relationships to people dying and other difficult subjects, while trying to be responsible at the same time.

"Many of the songs are kind of about grief and the process of moving on, after somebody passes away that you're really close to and the emotions that come with that. Any song that has something to do with maybe relationships in this album, there's a different perspective on it. It's very much not pointing fingers as much as just talking about the emotions that I'm feeling and kind of recognizing where I can be selfish and I can be hurtful in those situations," Cluney said.

When "Killjoi" came out, band members had the album release show at Scout Hall in Cape Girardeau, and this became Cluney's favorite venue. During the set, the group took time to pause the music and talk to the crowd about the music it was playing and have a moment with everyone in the room.

Cluney said he is thrilled about the local music scene in Southeast Missouri, saying it really does have something for everyone.

"I'm just excited for the local music scene. It's interesting. It's gotten for so many different types of bands. There's really something for everybody," Cluney said. "I think something that we've kind of started saying within this last year is like, we don't really believe that the music scene is so much made of the bands. The music scene is made of the people that go see the bands, because we've played shows for nobody. There's all this amazing art being created, and all these people deserve all the credit that they deserve, but it's the people going to the shows, and I'm really thankful for because we literally couldn't do some of this without them."

For more on Community Sadness and its upcoming shows, follow the band on Facebook @Community Sadness or find them on Spotify.