Thursday, January 21, 2021

DJ Interviews: The Disingenious

 Hey there folks, DJ Dizzy here coming at you with a band who're called The Disingenious who spoke on their musical background & beginnings.


The band

We are the Disingenuous, we are a bunch of misfits from West Wales. We are a bit interchangeable, So you have Graylings, Jacob G- that’s me, the main architect- song writer guitar and vocals, Rej G on bass, Em G on female vocals, El G is the man on the sticks then you have Henry G on the other Guitar/Vox, and then there’s the ‘Nothing’

 

How'd you get started in music?

Jacob: Music always played at home when growing up, lots of Queen, Cream, T-Rex and Beatles playing, so always there and then a combination of hearing Def Leppard Hysteria as a kid, led onto loads of music being listened to – and then Garage Days Revisted was played to me and the love guitar sound was a game changer. I knew it was Metal and wanting to be James Hetfield that lead to the love affair.  I knew then that I wanted to make that sound – so that’s how the guitar came to be the obsession! So started playing in bands and trying to get a sound that worked!

 

Em: This is really my first musical project. I was asked if I would sing a harmony on a project the Jacob was working on, and he was so blown away – he said try this track! Before you know it, it was 18/19 tracks later. If I think about what led me here, well, it was a bit of hearing music in the house then going to various gigs. 

 

Jacob:  H is a mystery, something about seeing a Steve Vai Jem guitar, and then wanting to get a fancy guitar was probably his route! 

 

Rej: I just started plugging away on my dad’s bass and really took to it – Green Day, Nirvana and Oasis just brought it all alive. Then had the opportunity to record some stuff and before you know it I’m recording material!  

 

 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

Em: Well, metal is a key influencer for the whole sound. 

Someone who heard an early version said, it’s like I can hear Metallica, Ghost and a bit of Green Day! 

 

Jacob: That pretty much hit the nail on the head. 

Metallica are a huge influence! The attitude, but more the sound of the guitars! We would never be on the level of Papa Het on both the musicality and lyrically, but we tried. 

Ghost, without a doubt had a massive influence on the style and image in the end of the band. 

Tobius, and the way he writes all of the bits and then they record, is very much the situation in the Disingenuous. I mean the Nothing is very much in the Cardinal Copia school of mystery!

 

Em: Green Day, Foo Fighters, Wildhearts, Neurotic Outsiders, there is a punk rock influence – which I think you can hear in Shame on You… There are more songs that again didn’t make it on the album as they were more in that style. El seems to like anything with a bit of pace – huge Dave Grohl fan, likes Zeppelin and Ginger Baker- Gets frustrated if there is not enough speed!

H, is very much a thrasher – loves Slayer, Anthrax, Pantera, Slipknot..Rej, is very much an Oasis fan, so we occasionally have a laugh about that!

 

Rej : What’s wrong with that!?

 

Jacob: Being from Wales, we have the tradition of having to sing constantly in school and in the football and rugby – But bands like the Manics and Stereophonics are obviously heroes to us. Love Bullet for my Valentine, Skindred and Hondo MacLane… as well!

 

Em: We have Budgie and Badfinger as our godfathers of Welsh Rock.. and of course Lemmy, who was born in Llandudno!  In the Welsh language music scene there are few bands that are pretty good, Mattoidz and Ashokan are two that spring to mind!

  

Jacob: I mean it’s all about the 80s 90s metal scene really, Ozzy, Maiden, Crue, Def Leppard, NIN with a few bits of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam thrown in. Loud and aggressive !

 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

 

Jacob: I think the advice is to never give up and to be honest with what you play and write. Passion – never mind if you never play a gig or if you sell a million records, be yourself and authentic and give it the energy and passion. When I finally met my heroes Metallica in 2019, Lars’ passion and energy was the most amazing thing that I had encountered. He asked what I did and pretty much inspired me to push on with this project. Never give up!

Em: The message for everyone is to believe in yourself and to make up your own mind about what you see in the world.

 

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?

 

Em: I guess we are a fusion of ideas and sounds – the vocal styles vary and the sound is quite unique with a blend of male/female vocals which gives the music a variety that we think is a bit different.

 

Rej: The fact we are all Welsh speakers and actually try and bring that in to the music I think is quite unique.

 

Jacob: Our motto if you like is that we are not what you think we are – and that is because we are doing things a bit differently. Whatever you think we might be we are not… the name is based on it!

The masks and the anonymity is deliberate and allows the band/project to continue with other musicians and makes it timeless. 

 

Em: That makes the members interchangeable and will keep the collective ideal that we have! No ego’s here!

 

Any new gigs or albums in the future

 

Jacob- Well we have no plans to play any gigs as that is pretty difficult at the moment. Perhaps something online. We would like to put out an all Welsh language EP, and maybe a few EPs. I’m not really sure when yet!

We want to complete a video for each of the tracks, that’s for sure – there around 8 videos already created. Of course, we had a short run vinyl pressing of What to do What to Say/Breathe Again, and we are working on a photobook of the Parish of Uncertainty album artwork and lyrics. 

 

Em: We have ideas to add lots of covers to the soundcloud profile! A kind of influences collection! We are so thankful for anyone who will give us a listen. We are on twitter and Instagram, if you want to send us a message we would love that. 

 

Jacob: I would like to say Diolch, which is thank you in Welsh!


Special thanks to them for this interview & I wish them lots of luck in their music which you can check out in the links below. So until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!






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