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 LA DISUPTE may still be relatively unknown in our fair country, but with a debut album as powerful as theirs, it is only a matter of time before their name is on everybody’s lips. Drummer BRAD VANDER LUGT and vocalist JORDAN DREYER chat to LINDSEY CUTHBERTSON.
The American state of Michigan: home to a floundering gridiron team, a slightly better baseball team, a motor industry in crisis, and now, hailing from the small area known as Grand Rapids, a band who have set the world of post-hardcore upon its head. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce La Dispute.
Last year’s debut album, Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega & Altair, encompassed a musical and lyrical vision that, simply put, is difficult to fathom. Along with an incendiary live show, La Dispute have been moving audiences up, down and across their home country with their music, and now it’s Australia’s turn to be graced with their presence.
But first of all, how did a band as creative as La Dispute bloom in an area that is not normally known for its musical output?
"I think that Grand Rapids has a great musical community, you just need to dig a bit," says drummer Brad Vander Lugt. "But yeah, when you’re not surrounded by hundreds of bands, it helps you focus and probably stand out a lot."
La Dispute’s song writing has always been, from day one, about cultivating confidence in each other’s abilities as musicians and songwriters. The EP released prior to their debut album – titled Here, Hear – displayed each member writing a song and vocalist Jordan Dreyer simply reading his favourite literature over the top. Ultimately when it came to writing Somewhere At The Bottom… the pools of creativity and musicianship were vast and bottomless.
"I certainly think that helped. Trying new things like the Here, Hear pieces helped us explore different aspects of this band," Vander Lugt answers.
A major talking point in regards to the music of La Dispute has been vocalist Jordan Dreyer’s immaculate use of poetic imagery, something that fans and critics alike have grasped. Dreyer’s lyrics have seen him compared to mewithoutYou’s spiritual frontman Aaron Weiss. As deep as he is on record, Dreyer is just as articulate answering the questions I throw at him.
"The stories I attempted to dictate or discuss, or the emotions I tried to represent or evoke, were, to me, so inescapably complex and multileveled that the use of imagery and the analogies came out of necessity. I so often couldn’t say something was right or wrong, or someone was at fault in a situation, or say certain things were one way or the other in personal confidence, that assigning those situations an image or presenting it as an analogy gave me the opportunity to let the listener decide for themselves."
It’s not often that a band refuse to rely on style or image to attain success – La Dispute are banking on hard work and quality music. For a band that has stayed well and truly out of the monstrous music machine of America, La Dispute are keeping their heads well above water.
LA DISPUTE play the Jubilee Hotel (18+) on Thursday Jul 9, followed by an all ages show at The Top Floor Gallery Friday Jul 10. All shows are with To The North. SOMEWHERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER BETWEEN VEGA AND ALTAIR is out now via No Sleep Records. www.myspace.com/ladispute
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