MY DISCO on the perks of touring South East Asia, defunct venues and new music obsessions

February 9th 2017

MY DISCO

  • My Disco :: Ben Andrews interview on Dead Air 6.2.17

 

Melbourne’s MY DISCO make intense, dark yet danceable post-punk. Currently touring off the back of their fourth album Severe and its recent remixes, Dead Air snagged some time with guitarist Ben Andrews ahead of their Sydney show. Alice and Dean asked Ben to choose two tracks to program during the show, based on specific themes: ‘favourite show at a now-defunct venue’ and ‘favourite new thing’.

During the interview, Ben told us about living and touring in South East Asia, recording and watching movies with analogue tape guru Steve Albini in Chicago, plans for a new MY DISCO record, and a few of his favourite mixed bill line-ups.

Listen to the whole chat above, and find Ben’s track selections and gig details below.

 

Favourite Show At A Now Defunct Venue

Einstürzende Neubauten – ‘Die Betindichkeit Des Landes’

Recalling the 2013 ATP sideshow at The Palace in Melbourne: “It was a beautiful venue. And that venue’s gone through many different elements. It was a multi-tiered, multi-faced nightclub for many years, but it also would host punk bands in this little upstairs room. That was how we first found out about it in the late 90s, early 2000s … Now I think it’s been bought by international investors and they’re trying to put in like, a shopping complex. Which, you know… There’s a lot of them. There’s more of them than there are venues.

“The show itself was great, they’re a really fantastic band. I’ve seen them a few times. I actually recorded some stuff with Alexander [Hacke], the bass player, midway through last year in Berlin, which was quite an experience. It’s just a little bit of a shame that that venue’s just sitting there, doing nothing, becoming idle.”

 

Favourite New Thing

Emptyset – ‘Body’

“We’re all kind of obsessed with that group at the moment, Emptyset. Before they put out this record on Thrill Jockey, they did a few little EPs on Alva Noto’s Raster-Noton label, a German experimental noise/electronic label. Our drummer Rohan saw Emptyset at Berghain in Berlin a couple of years ago and was really obsessed with it, he started listening to it a lot. I think it’s interesting that we have no idea how they’re making the sounds, what instruments they’re using, what the recording process is. That lack of knowledge is really quite extreme, because it’s not very often you hear a record and go, “I wonder what that sound is coming from!”

“It’s really interested us over the last couple of years, and especially this new one being put out on Thrill Jockey is quite a bold move for a predominantly indie/indie rock label. It’s great … I still like guitars and big drums and all that sort of thing. I also like guitars and drums that don’t sound like guitars and drums anymore.”

 

On Saturday’s show

“We wanted to play with different, non-rock or non-heavy related bands because I think it’s more interesting from an audience point of view. If you’re going to see a MY DISCO show, I don’t think you want – well if it was me anyway, I wouldn’t want – two or three or four similar set-up bands that might have a similar aesthetic. I think a diverse show is a good show in any form. Then, by the time we play, people’s ears are still fresh and they’re not exhausted from an onslaught of noise or sound or volume or all of the above.”

 

———

WHO: MY DISCO, Hviske, Marcus Whale
WHEN: Saturday 11 February
WHERE: Newtown Social Club
HOW MUCH: $25 – get tickets here

 

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Dead Air is your weekly fix of all things heavy, with Alice Gifford and Dean Crowe. Hear it live on 945.fm each Monday night from 11pm-1am, or listen on demand.

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