Dex Ferro spent eight years in a band with a stable audience before leaving to work alone. He is candid that the decision looked irrational from the outside and occasionally felt that way from the inside.
The practical loss was immediate. An audience built collectively does not transfer to one member, and he describes the first solo shows as a sharp reintroduction to small rooms after years of comfortable ones.
The creative gain took longer to appear. Writing without four other opinions was initially paralysing, and he estimates it took eighteen months before he trusted his own judgement on an arrangement.
He is measured about whether it was worth it. The work is more his, he says, and the audience is smaller. Whether that trade is a good one depends entirely on what you want from the thing.
