1.       Howdo Dave ye strumming minstrel - introduce thyself, inform us of thy musical journey thus far - from the womb to the present day!

Hi I am Dave, guitarist of Dischord. First there was the bright light, well there was a light, lots of screaming I imagine and there it was from womb to ……..Glasgow! From there it was an uphill slog towards the day of my 16th birthday and my first guitar. It was a white Fender Squier bought from my ma’s (mothers) catalogue. I formed a band with some mates called Fluid (terrible name) which was interesting and without it I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. The next step was a huge change of lifestyle for a Glaswegian………..a move to BLACKPOOL! A few years later I met my lovely wife Zowie, who supported me musically, and she managed to get me to join a band with some of Blackpool’s finest freaks (including Chris) and Danse of the Dead was formed. Gothic, gypsy, punk, folk rock apparently. This continued for a few years with a few gigs, a few E.P.’s and an album. After the joys and well, other feelings, the band split and Chris went on to create the mighty Terrornation. There was a musical break for me and Zowie, we occasionally helped out our friend Charlie as session musicians in Black Orchid but we hungered for more. Thankfully in 2011 we created Dischord (actual Dischord) with Chris and from there it has been nonstop. We have played more gigs than ever before, released our album with some great reviews (especially from a certain Mr Fungalpunk) and we will continue in the same vein next year.
  
2.  Your present band - a lot of artistry came through via that amazing first album - was this a conscious things and what inspired you to take this approach?

Well this is easy…….we all really appreciate the level that our favourite bands go to, to create a piece of art. Not just a musical piece but also a visual experience with an album booklet with lyrics and little snapshots of what the song is about or what inspired it. 

3.  Blackpool - surely many angles and facets must help in the song writing process - tell us about it and how you construct songs without mentioning breast doorbells, penis pens and chocolate fannies?  

The writing process for us seems to be weirdly easy. Chris normally writes some lyrics and a basic rhythm that he has in his head (he is a drummer by nature) and that then gets translated to guitar and bass by myself and my wonderful wife Zowie. We write the melody, riffs and rhythm and then the drums are laid on top and the song seems to just write itself. It’s a very strange feeling when you play a song in progress and it manages to finish itself.

4.   Kwango Cluster is claiming money from Blackpool council claiming he has been left with several miniature Blackpool Towers after the famed structured walk out in him following a torrid 6 year affair.  Mr Kwango states that the Tower's behavior has been totally unreasonable and left him with numerous mental scars as well as a few scratches on the old wobbling weapon.  The question - would you try to fit Blackpool Tower up your rectal entrance so as to raise money for the aforementioned offspring and also would you beat Canon and Ball to a pulp just to add a bit of sanity back in the world?  

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, and there is the Fungalpunk question! Would not like to try anything up my rectal entrance never mind the tower. Ha, ha. Not arsed about beating Canon and Ball around a bit though.
 
5.  Best and worst gigs to date and your thoughts on the whole circuit - the good, bad, rotten and rancid?

Best Gigs:  Our first real gig with Parker supporting Subhumans was a big high for us, Playing with the amazing Senton Bombs and CSOD in the Tache, Blackpool and The two Alma gigs which were amazing!

Worst gig: A couple of disappointing gigs (Salford Music Festival, we turned up and there was no equipment and no organizer (but it was saved by the lovely Pot Vics taking us to an open mic night down the road in another town, completely impromptu but fun) and Elsecar (“Do you know any screwdriver!” eh no!).

Scene: The punk DIY scene is incredible. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing the bands and people we have met so far really are. From day 1 we have been welcomed in to it and they have supported and pushed us ever since. Everyone involved just wants to hear music and have a bloody good time doing it which for us was most evident at the 3 chords festival which was out of this world. Massive thanks and congratulations need to go to the bands, the reviewers, the pubs and most importantly the crazy fans!

6.  What are your personal ambitions for the band and what are the greatest achievements had so far?

 Our biggest achievement is making ‘The Wakes’, which to us is the album we have always wanted to create. Inspired by the loss of our favourite band and the pain at watching the country fall to ruin, it is amazing to see so many people enjoying what we have created. On a personal level, I would love to move forward in the same vein and just make the second album bigger and better than the first!

7.   The DIY ethos is close to my heart and I believe that a scene can only be healthy if everyone is pulling together - thoughts please and name any DIY dogs you have uncovered and duly admire in this rhythmic shitbowl?  

The DIY ethos for us is the best way to make yourself heard and allow for complete freedom to create an album the way you want to. We have been very lucky to have such amazing people around us to help with the artwork and printing side of things. As far as any band on the scene that has been inspiring in the DIY, well there are way too many of them to mention them all. I would have to start with the main 2 people who have pushed us to where we are today. Gordy from the wonderful Mayhem Freak without whom we would definitely not have had such an amazing ride this year. He gave us our first DIY gig and has plugged and supported us ever since and Jak Pot Vic’s(Daddy Dischord) who has helped get us on at 3 chords festival and constantly tries to get us in and around the gigs.

Bands / people I would like to thank personally for your help and inspiration are Mayhem Freak, Potential Victims, Better than Jesus, No Decorum, Eye Licker, CSOD (My favourite DIY album this year), The Senton Bombs, Drop Out Wives, Crackshot, Dysphonia, A Victory at Sea, Manifest, Kalum Ollerton (Dischord’s No1 fan)……I must stop but there are so many great bands we have played with and you have all helped make this year the amazing one that it has been.

8.  Following on - give us your thoughts on the word 'punk' and how you see its relevance (if any) today?

PUNK is definitely relevant today with a country that has lost all sense of its language and sense of common love for man. When we wrote the album we never set out to make it a “PUNK” album but when you are all into punk and you see the energy that comes from punk bands then it is hard to not want to be in the scene.

9.  Clara Cracksmacker has a buttock width of 8 feet, 6 feet of this is the gap from left to right cheeks (the crevice of crapulence I think it has been named).  Apparently Mick Mudguard is going to try and jump this gaping slit using nothing more than 4 feathers, a strip of chewing gum and 2 3 watt light bulbs - elaborate please and also confess if you would rather swallow a pigeon whole or live in the underpants of David Bellamy for a year - reasons a necessity of course? 

Both of these sound a bit hard to swallow! I suppose if you lived in David Bellamy’s pants you would see places in the world you haven’t seen before.
 
10.  Best Dischord song - why, who wrote it, what is it about?  

This is the toughest question so far. I would have to choose either ‘Seaside Suicide’ or ‘The End: Blackout’. Seaside Suicide is the first song we created as a band and addresses the way that this fairground full of scum and grime makes you feel. ‘The End: Blackout’ holds a special place in my heart as I wrote the chorus a few years before whilst thinking about a war hit world where we are pawns left waiting for the end. It was an amazing feeling when we were able to use it in this song and a personal high for me.
 
11.   The pains and pleasures of being a musician in this arena and also just for the hell of it what is the best album you have heard this year? 

The only downside to being a musician is poorly organized gigs where you turn up to find that there is no equipment for anyone to play which could have been saved by just telling us. The pleasure is playing anywhere were people enjoy what you are playing and getting to stand alongside some amazing bands who do everything they can to make the night the best it can be. My album of the year is very difficult. In a more commercial sense I would have to pick an album that actually came out at the end of last year and that is ‘Koi No Yokan’ by Deftones – It’s just an amazing masterpiece of an album and everyone should listen to it. In a DIY sense I have been lucky enough to listen to some amazing albums from Drop Out Wives, No Decorum, The Fornicators, Eye Licker, A Victory at Sea, Manifest and Senton Bombs. My favourite however would have to be ‘Beginning of the End ‘(first of the 666 trilogy) by the mighty Blackpool bastards of noise – Constant Source of Disappointment.

12.   Finally push the Dischord name - convince us this is the band to support and see - go get em' man.

Dischord will continue to work our arses off to make sure we are worthy of being part of this wonderful punk scene and we hope to collect some more of you beautiful people along the way. We look forward to playing loads next year and will be looking to release album number 2 in the first half of the year! Check out our website at www.musicisdead.co.uk  for music, pictures, the video for Seaside Suicide or just give us some words of wisdom in the contact section. SEE YOU ALL SOON!

 

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