Articles of 2010 Part IX: The Dillinger Escape Plan

Yeah so I'm cheating with the alphabetical thing now. This should really have been further back, as should The Chap. Still, who cares. I'm not in a record store.

The Dillinger Escape Plan mesh brutality and finesse...and then crush them both. But with Option Paralysis, the winding, waltzing jazz flecks became more than just mere flourishes and the compelling evolution that came with Ire Works continued into their most fully formed work so far. Frontman Greg may be a compact powerhouse, but his mind is working overtime constantly, proving DEP to be one of the most forward-thinking, passionate bands in existence. Plus various members hang from ceilings while playing on occasion. Undeniable. "There has to be intent in everything", indeed.

The Dillinger Escape Plan

Almost nothing can prepare the uninitiated for the aural ferocity of The Dillinger Escape Plan. It truly is something to behold. Mere moments into their fourth longplayer, Option Paralysis, you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security with slinky, sleazy, clean chords. You’ll never trust anything ever again. The blazing intensity and complexity of the unexpected warring guitars, scattershot drums and Greg Puciato’s terrifying vocals all consume you immediately. Within a minute you’ve been tricked at least three times more: frenetic turns to hammering power chords which melt into clean tremolo strumming which lurches into eerie voices upon sweep-picked jazz scales. By the end of the fifth minute of Farewell, Mona Lisa, you’ve got an indelible choral refrain painted in your head and your expectations will never be the same again. You may have to take a breath before going any further. If this all sounds like hyperbole, try and remember the first time you heard something you’d never heard before; something so audacious, brave yet completely convincing in its power. You’ve just imagined what you’ll feel when you hear Option Paralysis for the first time.
“We’ve tapped into some creative artery that we need to fucking mine as much as we can because we feel like little kids right now,” says Greg, sitting opposite Playmusic at the unseemly hour of noon in the Camden Barfly venue where, later today, the band will play two shows: one in the afternoon and one in the evening. “We’ve had so much stress and inner turmoil. We started to believe the lie that we had to be fighting with one another to make something good and I do believe there has to be challenge and conflict but it shouldn’t have to be between us.” You’d give anything not to be the challenge or conflict in Greg’s way. He’s a striking figure, a short but stocky powerhouse whose figure can be seen throwing itself upon audience’s heads and hanging from light riggings by its legs. A man possessed by the pure energy of the music this quintet have somehow formulated against the odds.
“We’ve never had the same lineup between records. It’s crazy. Well, this is the best we’ve ever felt. This is the first time we haven’t been fighting a lot. This is the first time there hasn’t been some kind of stress on the horizon,” explains Greg. Dillinger’s potted history is renowned. Greg stepped into the vocalist role after a self titled mini LP, The Running Board EP, their debut proper Calculating Infinity and the Irony Is A Dead Scene EP with the inimitable vocal virtuoso Mike Patton. The result was Miss Machine, where Greg admirably altered the tone of the band for the better. 2007’s stunning Ire Works was marked by the departure of founding member and co-constructor Chris Pennie, leaving guitarist Ben Weinman as the only remaining original DEP conspirator. Though Gil Sharone stepped into his shoes for their third album, he was never considered a permanent member. “We knew that Gill wasn’t the permanent guy going into it. Even when we went into the tour we knew there would be an end we just didn’t know when it was going to be because he knew we knew everyone knew it was temporary.” Billy Rymer however has already earnt his stripes, collaborating with housemate Ben in the early stages of Option Paralysis. “They would wake up in the morning and start working on songs everyday so they formed more organically. They went in directions on their own instead of forcing yourself to write something. We actually ended up writing the record much faster than normal and to me I think its better. I think in the past we’ve been stuck on this thing where we need to take forever to write records to justify to ourselves that we worked hard. People being in a room together and listening to a million different variations on the fly, seeing what works and what doesn’t, instead of being in a bedroom by yourself thinking of how something will sound loud makes a big difference.”
These directions are both surprising and wholly welcome. After the electronic experiments that underpinned Ire Works in sound and writing process, we hear a greater sense of space, string arrangements and real tugs at the DEP signature sound. Yes it has those extreme time signatures, that incomprehensible fret work and Greg’s impassioned roar. But it also contains some of Greg’s most touching vocal performances and some exceptional ivory melodies from pianist Mike Garson. With these sonic lattices co opting the airwaves, it’s inconceivable how Greg still manages to make such a striking and integral impact within the songs, both lyrically and vocally. Part of it is down to an honest approach to writing words and melodies, as he explains.
“I have to have an emotional attachment otherwise I might as well just yell syllables and consonants and vowels. When I’m writing vocal parts I’ll write patterns before I have words. Kinda like scatting you know? And sometimes I actually get stuck on some of the vowel sounds so I find words that sound like gibberish that come out of my mouth but for the most part even if that’s the case the lyrics have to mean something to me. It’s my one chance every couple of years to really dig deep and get something good out of myself. It’s good for me to find more out about myself artistically to figure out what’s going on.”
For a band so replete with nourishment, to be able to express yourself vividly through a vocal performance must be an eye opener. Greg’s free-writing is often a “revelation” to himself. “Every time we’ve written an album, I’ve kinda peeled back layers of myself that I wasn’t aware of and it’s a good thing. That to me is the point. If there’s no honesty then art isn’t that interesting to me. If there’s no soul to something, what’s the point? That’s why I’ve never really understood trying to pick a certain topic and writing about it, especially in a style of music that is inherently very emotional. It seems to make more sense to give a shit about what you’re saying.”
Weirdly, this 'style of music' is often criticised by those who don’t really listen to it as being overly dramatic and that lyrics are lost amongst the noise of the delivery. It’s also what makes a lot of metal sound so awfully generic and throwaway at times. Yet, with torrents of emotion pouring forth from each element of the band, DEP never fall into that category.
“I’m less afraid of my own voice than I used to be and I think when you’re a kid it’s very easy to yell and scream. It’s what you want to do; you’re full of piss and venom. I think as you get older you start to realise you can be extremely effective in other ways. Way heavier and way more impactful than yelling all the time. Because when you start off screaming there’s really nowhere to go, you’re already at 10 so you can’t do anything but drop down and when you drop down its underwhelming so I’m starting to realise that if you keep your average around seven, it’s still pretty intense but you have room to go down to two or up to 10 and that’s way more interesting to me. I love screaming honestly but to me it’s not about trying to make vocals fit. Like I don’t wanna force screaming I don’t wanna force singing. As long as you’re comfortable with every tool in your arsenal it should all flow freely.”
It’s a far cry from composing, yet while Greg is insistent that thinking corrupts the original idea, there’s still a lot of work that goes into it. This isn’t ‘do what you feel’, this is ‘expell what you need to express’. There’s a difference.
“I try to write as fast as I really can then go back a day later and then be critical because it’s important to have that initial block of output to be pure and then later on you can refine it but that initial thing has to be to be like shooting it out of yourself.”
There’s so much to discuss – self-releasing their new record via their own label Party Smasher Inc., their dedication to the band meaning each member knows every detail from finances to t-shirt material, the need for perspective on work/life balance, their European tour of small venues as a treat for fans, reaching your thirties – but sticking to the core and heart of DEP is perhaps where we learn the most.
“The key for me now is to make sure things are honest,” says Greg. “Because I don’t ever want it to become consonants and vowels and not even know what’s coming out of my mouth. There has to be intent to everything.”