This is SOUND ADVICE, a weekly destination for playlists curated by Interview’s friends, enemies, and lovers. Recently, we’ve gathered compilations from Sextile, OLTH, and Petey. This week, Ben Scott, Carl Mitchell, and Slava B. of downtown noise trio Dissensus join us ahead of their Tuesday night gig at New York hotspot The River to tell us about their favorite live music venues, and curate an ear-shattering death metal, free jazz, and grindcore playlist that inspires their own experimental sound.
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Who do you trust most with the aux?
BEN SCOTT: Slava, undoubtedly. Then Carl. I should be kept away from the aux at all costs def cannot be trusted.
Do you play an instrument?
SCOTT: Drums!
CARL MITCHELL: Saxophone and flute, although my flute is busted currently.
SLAVA B: 8-string guitar.
Name your favorite artist no one knows about:
SCOTT: Etron Fou Leloublan, a french group whose music was somewhere in-between prog and anarcho-punk. You might go so far as to describe them as No Wave. Check out their first album, made when they were teenagers.
SLAVA B.: Dissensus.
CARL MITCHELL: Been obsessed with the Leftfield electronic band Code lately. They perfectly toe the line between dark ambient and playful/romantic vocal techno. The Architect is well worth a listen.
What was your first concert?
SLAVA B.: The Impala Fuelers—a local highschool punk band playing in their mom’s basement.
SCOTT: Anti-Flag at the metro in Chicago no lie lol.
MITCHELL: This is kind of wild but mine was also an Anti-Flag show, at Starland Ballroom in NJ. Big D & the Kids Table opened.
Who inspires you?
SLAVA B.: Meshuggah.
SCOTT: Is it lame to say Derek Bailey? Legendary electro-acoustic guitarist. He changed what was viewed as possible on the guitar and never seemed out of place in any music situation he found himself in across a long and storied career….
Favorite pre-show beverage?
SLAVA B.: Borscht martini.
SCOTT: Soda bitters.
MITCHELL: A pint of Guinness.
What song do you have on repeat?
SCOTT: “In a Big Country” by Big Country. Used to stay up late and play this over and over with my late friend Danny Gallegos.
SLAVA B.: The first song on the playlist has been stuck on repeat in my head for the last year and I’m not mad about it.
What’s a music taste red flag?
SCOTT: Belief in “quality” “talent” and “truth.”
SLAVA B.: Jazz drummers playing a “funky” back beat.
What do you listen to when you’re high?
SCOTT: Honestly, when I’m stoned I prefer certain music only serves to highlight the fact that I exist, which stresses me out…
MITCHELL: The voices in my head.
SLAVA B.: I’m never high.
Best live music venue in Manhattan?
SLAVA B.: Montez Press Radio.
In Brooklyn?
SCOTT: This is a trap….
Where’s the afters?
SCOTT: The River, duh!