Rocket Feature : Dischordian

1. What’s the origin of the name 'Dischordian'?
It was supposed to be a temporary name that Mel (Split) gave the project. It came from Discordianism, a joke disguised as a religion or maybe a religion disguised as a joke, which I had discovered around the time that I decided to go solo.

2. Who are the members of Dischordian?
The line-up has changed several times since I started Dischordian. I started out completely solo, then got Aviv (Split) on guitars, and later I decided to turn it into a 3-piece band. Right now it's me on rhythm guitar, lap steel, harmonica, and vocals, Agnnelo on trumpet and percussion, and Howard on guitar and backing vocals. We recently added a fourth member on a semi-regular basis - Nigel, on melodica, saxophone, and backing vocals. And Aviv's kind of a permanent back-up.

3. What genre of music do you consider your music to be? Who are your major influences?
I think genre labels tend to be either too limited or too vague. Also, it makes more sense for an outsider to describe someone's music, rather than the musicians themselves. I end up describing our music differently every time I'm asked. I guess it's folk with a strong punk and blues influence.

4. How long have you guys known each other?
I've known Howard and Agnnelo for years and years, but not too well till we started jamming together. Howard and I had a common friend in college, and Agnnelo played trumpet in the parish choir, back when I was a good little choirboy.

5. What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Any upcoming shows?
My favourite is probably the Blue Frog. The place looks lovely and sounds like a dream. Unlike certain venues I know, they've also never behaved like they're doing you a favour by letting you play there. Sure, they're expensive, but they're good to the musicians, and they're good to their patrons. We also played at the Hanging Gardens bandstand recently, and I think that's now one of my favourites. Outdoor gigs always have a lovely, relaxed vibe.

6. Who writes your songs? What are the main themes of your songs?
I write all the songs in Dischordian, except for one which was written with Aviv and another that I kind of wrote with Nikhil D'souza years ago in a band called Mr John's Banned. The themes... love and hate and death, I guess, as trite as that might sound. But it's possible to take a simple theme like that and do something beautiful and fresh with it, and I hope that's what I've achieved. Songs about love don't have to go, "I love you, please love me".

7. Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
Well... there's no fixed process that all the music goes through. Some songs have been written in 15 minutes, others have been written in bits and pieces over several months. Sometimes songs begin with a thematic idea, at other times with a melody, and sometimes with the need to get something off your chest. With most songs, I have a very clear idea of what I want it to sound like finally, but sometimes I've just played a song to the band, and taken it from there, with people adding their own parts.

8. What’s your ultimate aim for your band?
To keep making music that is beautiful and affects people deeply, I guess that's the only "ultimate" aim.

9. How can fans gain access to your music?
Right now there's a whole bunch of rough demos online. Right from the start, I wanted to keep Dischordian's music as intimate and unaffected as possible, so whenever I wrote a song and thought I was really done with it, and it was ready to be heard, I'd put up a rough demo recorded on my laptop. I've also put up a few rough mixes of the album tracks we recorded at the end of last year, but I've left all the demos up too. Apart from that, we're hoping to get the album out soon.

10. Any last words?
Nope. Or actually, yes... call up Jairam Ramesh and ask him to do something about the Dhamra port and the turtles there. The number is 011 2436 1727.


Listen to Dischordian on Facebook