Chicago based progressive metal band, Dissona, have recently announced recording of their third studio album, scheduled for the release later this year. After the release of their self-titled full-length in 2012, the band opened for likes such Opeth, Cynic, Symphony X, Leprous, Unexpected, to name but a few.

Prog Sphere talked with the band about their next album, their beginnings, gear, and more. Read below.

How did you go about forming Dissona?

Dissona formed from the ashes of a previous band involving Matt, David, and Craig. Years and years of adding and subtracting members (most notable addition being Drew), refining our style, and honing our live performance morphed us into the current form. We have a fantastic professional and personal relationship and wouldn’t have it any other way.

You have recently announced through your Facebook that you started tracking the third studio album. How much of the work has been completed so far? What to expect from the new material?

Well, we’ve quite literally JUST started the process, and as of writing these responses we are about 25% done tracking the bass guitar…and that’s it. Bass will be done by the end of this week with acoustic guitar finishing very shortly after. From there it’s on to programming/tracking electric guitars and finally vocals and drums… except FINALLY finally there is the mixing and mastering. Luckily all of this work minus drums can be done in Matt’s home studio.

The new material has more electronics than we have used to date (this is a conceptual choice). Expect more extremes-we are not holding back from exploring any dark corners or new directions. I guess the word of choice would be “more”. Every artist when releasing a new album describes it as their best yet; we will leave that for the listeners to decide. We have never been more confident with material than with this stuff, if that says anything.

Compared with “Ten Masks” (2009) and “Dissona” (2012), where does these new songs stand?

Again, I think it’s just more of everything we do. Songwriting continues to refine, players are improving. With this album we have done the most “post-production” of any material we have to date. Once all of the songs were structurally complete we took another chunk of time to focus in on how everything works as a whole. We are still believers in the album as a unified whole, a journey. We wanted to make sure that this music was indeed a journey and was as airtight a tale as we could weave.

Do you have a working title of the upcoming album?

We do not currently have a title yet, but we may have one in the works.

Is there a certain concept on this new material?

Each song tells its own sort of story and together they are able to ultimately form one overall concept, but David’s lyrics are designed to be analyzed and personalized by each listener rather than to tell them blatantly what everything means. The material is meant for the listeners to decide how the words apply to their lives, as well as the emotion in the music.

When do you plan to release this recording? Do you have in plan to engage in discussions with labels in order to have it released, or it’s going to be self-released?

We are hoping to have the album ready for release by mid-spring. As far as distribution goes, we plan on discussing that with a label for the sake of maximum exposure.

What are the biggest challenges once Dissona engages in the writing process? Describe your working relationship within the band.

The biggest challenge is probably getting started in the first place. Agreeing on what we all want to do luckily isn’t too big of a problem, considering how long we have been evolving together as musicians, but deciding what we all want to do is the hard part. Then, of course, there is the occasional frustration of writer’s block, some cases lasting longer than others.

We have a very solid working relationship. Everyone understands that we are in this for the group, not for individual promotion or gain. We believe very strongly in our music, and its creation, purpose, and goals are always defined and agreed upon.

What is your way of documenting the music while it’s being formulated?

We keep all of our musical ideas/bits in Guitar Pro files. Eventually these files turn into complete songs with as much of the final detailing as the program will handle. Keeping the songs in this format also allows for quick editing and easy transfer between members. We’ve been working like this for a while now and Guitar Pro has been a fantastic tool.

Do you follow any predefined patterns when composing?

Typically before writing anything, certain emotions and concepts that we want to express through our music are laid out on the table and organized. Then the seeds of songs will be formed by one member, typically, who will expand upon it as they see necessary. Sometimes this could mean just a skeletal structure which is then elaborated upon by the rest of the group, sometimes it is 95% of the finished product, which is then edited and tweaked by the group. With any new song we write we try and make it a unique entity not easily compared to any of our past songs.

What is your view on the whole concept of crowdfunding the album release? Have you considered this option for your third full-length?

We have considered it, but we are very hesitant to ask people for money. We kind of like to do everything ourselves. We have, however, considered crowdfunding for touring, especially if it were to be overseas.

If a band asks for money to create a product for its fans and the fans pay for it to the tune of the band’s financial goal, is there a problem? With the amount of music being publicly created and released these days, the fact that there are supporters gracious enough to give something back to their favorite artist in such a personal and direct manner is great.

Dissona previously opened for likes such Opeth, Unexpect, High on Fire, Cynic, Symphony X, to name but a few. What were reactions of the audiences like on your music and performances? Are you satisfied with the reception?

The audience has always reacted wonderfully for shows when we open for bigger bands and the reception has always been great. Metal fans are some of the most supportive and whole-hearted fans on earth. We hope for more opportunities to share the stage with great, well established bands after the album is done.

What kind of gear do you use in studio and live?

STUDIO: We are lucky enough to have a full-service recording studio that Matt runs at our complete disposal. We run Pro Tools HD and the outboard section includes gear from Avalon, Grace Designs, FMR, ART, Allen & Heath, Yamaha, Mackie, etc. Not including a plethora of microphones.

LIVE: Craig uses an Ibanez SR505 live through an Ashdown ABM500. We were able to get our hands on a Warwick Thumb Bass for the tracking of this album. Matt uses a Schecter C-1 Elite through a Peavey Valveking 100 for live performances. He used a PRS Custom 24 through a Peavey 6505+ for the album.

Drew’s kit is outlined as follows:

Custom maple shells

10, 12, 14, 15, 16″ toms

Pearl masters maple 6.5×14 snare

Pearl presidential 6.5×14 snare

22×18 bass drum

Cymbals: Paiste signature 21″ dry heavy ride, Paiste signature 14″ dry crisp, Zildjian A custom 18″, 19″, and 20″ crashes, Zildjian 18″ K custom dark crash, Zildjian 6″ A custom splash, Sabain 18″ john blackwell jr china, Sabain 8″ china splash

Custom built double bass pedals

Roc n soc throne

Evans and remo drumheads

Puresound snare blasters

Vic firth extreme 5a wood tip sticks

Dave, of course, uses completely his own voice for live and studio performances!

What is your view on technology in music?

Familiarity and proficiency with technology is becoming an increasingly crucial facet of being a musician in today’s industry. With the exception of purely electronic music (where the music is created almost entirely through computers and synthesizers), technology can be both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, it allows for unparalleled ease of recording and editing within a DAW (as compared to cutting tape for old school edits). Modern pedals, plugins, and synthesizers can add fuel to the creative fire and allow the musician to create soundscapes that would otherwise be impossible to construct. The problem, however, is that it seems that the over-reliance on technology is leading many musicians away from the organic side of things. Being able to play your instrument is still much more important (in my opinion) than having a massive arsenal of space-age effects at your disposal. You hear flawless recordings but live performances are less than stellar. It should be essential that a proper balance is struck between using the wonderfully creative and esoteric functions technology brings the table. Using technology as a crutch, however, can be an Achilles’ heel.

What is your viewpoint on the struggle bands are facing today as they try to monetize their output?

Unfortunately the fact is that today there are a huge amount of bands striving for a minimal amount of spotlight. If they’re looking to get massively big and financially steady, especially in the metal world that is quite the tall order. However, the freedom of the individual to pursue their specific niche in the world has never been more prevalent. People are absolutely free to find their bands and their styles to support. We, personally, have made almost all of whatever trifling amount of money we have made as a band from direct contributions and purchases from fans, be it through merch sales or from our bandcamp site, and for that we give a huge THANK YOU.

How do you see your music evolving in the future? What do you hope to accomplish at the end of the day?

We have no idea where our music will be until the day we start writing it. That in itself is exciting, and we like to have the road as open as possible for our future creations. Ultimately we want our fans to connect with our music as we have. We don’t think we are going to change the face of music history or anything, but to have someone listen to our stuff and get the deepest sort of emotional connection with it, that’s the aim.

Visit Dissona online:

https://dissona.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/Dissona

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Google

Pinterest

Reddit

Digg

Email

LinkedIn

StumbleUpon

Tumblr

Pocket

Print

