Web Exclusive: A conversation with Dance Gavin Dance's Matt Mingus

Posted by Scott Heisel on 20-Aug-08 @ 11:32 AM

DANCE GAVIN DANCE have had more lineup changes than Spinal Tap, but it's hardly slowed their momentum. After issuing the 2006 EP Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean, the band dropped a full-length, Downtown Battle Mountain, the following year and gained a swarm of new listeners (including a cranky zine writer here and there) in the process. Formerly boasting a dual-vocalist approach arguably wielded better only by the now-defunct Blood Brothers, the band are now pared down to a five-piece. Over the last two years, they have become a cornerstone of the Rise Records roster, enabling the label to rise to esteemed prominence in the new era of metallic post-hardcore. Brian Shultz recently spoke with drummer Matt Mingus, one of two remaining original band members, about their new self-titled album, notable guests and those endless personnel changes--which included the controversial departure of former vocalist, Jonny Craig.

I'm actually walking on a beach in Salt Lake City. Sorry about the breeze; I'll try to walk backwards.

It's cool.
What's going on?

Not much. How about yourself?
Nothin'. Playin' this weird rave festival thing.

Out in Utah?
Yeah, in Salt Lake City. Kinda random. It's the last show of this tour.

This was the tour with...?
It was with Lower Definition, Secret And Whisper, Four Letter Lie [and] A Static Lullaby.

Let's start with the new album. Is it actually self-titled or untitled?
We definitely said it was self-titled, but it's referred to as The Death Star [by] word-of-mouth. But we couldn't actually call it The Death Star because of copyrights... So we just decided to use self-titled. However, on the front of the CD, it doesn't even say our name, but then on the spine it does.

Is it safe to guess you self-titled the record because you had the lineup change and this is basically the new, solid incarnation of the band?
Yes, definitely. This is definitely how it is now, with the new singer [Kurt Travis, formerly of Five Minute Ride]. Well, after the record we had a few more changes; we got a new bass player [Jason Ellis] and then our screamer, Jon Mess, left. So it's just a five-piece now, and that's kinda nice.

Is Kurt handling both the singing and screaming now?
No, no. I mean, he does a little screaming but it's mostly [guitarist] Will [Swan]. And Zac [Garren], the other guitarist, he does a little bit too, but for the most part it's definitely Will.

Your first two releases were both released well after their respective recording dates, but the turnaround for the new album was much faster, about four months. Would you say the faster turnaround was due to the band being considerably more popular now than a year ago, and thus Rise worked harder to get it out?
Yeah, probably, I guess. Honestly, I've never really thought about that, but I guess it makes sense--kind of. We've paid our dues. I don't know. But yeah, I get what you're saying. I've [just] never thought about that.

The guitars seem a lot more intricate than on Downtown Battle Mountain, almost proggy at times. Was making things more complex in that department a conscious thing?
Yeah. Zac and Will just write super, super good together. They would just sit down and write all these crazy-ass trippy parts and it all worked out. And then I'd throw on the drums and shit. But I definitely agree the guitars are super proggy. If you just listen to our pre-production without vocals, it just sounds, like, super prog-rock.

How did the guest vocalists, like Nic Newsham of Gatsbys American Dream and Chino Moreno of Deftones, come about?
Nic Newsham, he came down and actually--when we were trying out singers--he tried out for our band. His vocals just didn't quite work with us [but] he ended up [becoming] our good friend. We always told him we would have him [sing] on our new record--so we kept our word, and he drove down because we were in Portland and he lives in Seattle, so it worked out good.

With Matt Geise from Lower Definition, we've been really good friends with them for a couple years and they just so happen to be touring [nearby] when we were recording, so we invited him to be on the record.

And then Chino Moreno from the Deftones, that was just a sweet hookup from our management. We're from the same town, so it's pretty sweet, especially since they've been my favorite band since I was 10 years old. That was a big deal.

How would you compare the recording experiences between Mountain and the new album?
I liked [recording the new album] a lot better. It was a lot more mellow. Instead of being in a shitty motel, we were in an apartment. We had two extra weeks, which was nice, so I had a few more days on the drums. So we were able to take our time a lot more. It was fun. We actually got evicted from our apartment three days before we were done...[Laughs.]...too much fun.

I found it interesting that the antagonist of the fictional conversation in "Rock Solid" is named Jon.
Oh, yeah.

Might it be inspired by Jonny Craig?
No, no. That's not him. That's our old screamer, the actual vocalist, doing that part.

It's just weird that at one instance in this conversation this character buys beer with money that was supposed to be used for something else...?
Oh, no, they just totally freestyled that. They just totally said whatever [they could think of], and it was supposed to make absolutely no sense.

It almost sounds like something that could have come straight out of the MySpace blog the band posted when he was first kicked out.
Oh, no. Absolutely not. No. Nothing on our new record relates to [that part of] our past whatsoever. We're not like that. That blog we did post was inappropriate, but it got taken down. Shouldn't have done that, but shit happens. Whatever.

Regarding Jonny, have you reconciled with him at all since?
It's weird. I texted him. I asked how things [were going] and shit. He wanted to come out to our show in Kentucky, but it was too awkward; we told him not to, because it would just be awkward for Kurt, singing a couple of his songs.

If I ever ran into him I'd obviously [sit] and talk to him; I wouldn't blow him off. I'm not that type of person. I mean, it's been a long time, and whatever. I met his tour manager and he told me everything's cool. So everything's good.

Say Rise Records asks Emarosa, the band Jonny joined, to go on a tour with you guys. Would you agree to it?
[Bluntly.] Uhh, no. I just don't really see that happening now. I don't even see anyone ever trying to [set] that up.

Because they know of the remaining tensions?
Yeahhh, yeah. Like I said, it's just weird. It's awkward. That's like going to your ex-wife's wedding. Same difference.

Do you believe Jonny's in a better place with Emarosa?
Yeah. He's doing great. I think it's awesome for him. The new record [Relativity] sounds great.

Can you confirm or deny the rumors that he couldn't join A Skylit Drive officially due to a stipulation in the contract with Rise?
Uh, no. I have never heard anything about that at all. I have no idea about that. I know he did a few shows with them.

Do you think bands like yourself or Sky Eats Airplane, with their use of electronics, will eventually be able to escape being pigeonholed into the "screamo" genre?
Yeah. I'm really proud of how our new record turned out. The next one is gonna be a little different, just like we all are slightly different. It's probably gonna be less screamy and stuff, and the guitars--we're just gonna keep the crazy, crazy guitars. alt

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