Musician Spotlight: Discourse

Lucky for you this week brings you two whole musician spotlights! Today's spotlight is with the local band and curator of haunting rock tunes-Discourse-a three man assemblage consisting of brothers Jordon and Chase Dawes, along with brother in harmony Mike Henderson. Lucky for me, I got to spend some time with these guys and I can tell you they are as genuine as they seem. Mike grew up down the street from me and I wasn't surprised at the least to see such awesome things come out of him. Vocalist, Drummer and Keyboardist he is one talented man and compliments Jordon on the guitar and loops and Chase with the base making this band a winning combination. I can't wait to see where they go.

Check out a preview of their new CD Sparks with our Hands and see them live on Thursday December 16th at Kilby Court for the release party!

Oh and you know what else is awesome. The boys saw fit to offer up a free download of their single "Giving Up".  How cool are they? You can download it HERE.

Jordon, Mike and Chase

Where do you draw the most inspiration?

The majority of our inspiration comes from wanting to create music that moves us like an emotion, comforts us when we need it, and is enjoyable like a good conversation.

The freedom of our artistic expression is enough in it self to be inspiring.

Tell us about your writing process.

Usually a song will start off with a melody from Jordan on guitar or a sample. Then we layer with different elements to expand on what we hear. We all can be fairly picky on what we do with a song but, luckily we understand each other well enough to create something we all like.

What are your go-to tools?

What does an average day in the life of Discourse look like?

Anything we can get our hands on, we have experimented with different effects and instruments throughout our writing and we love finding new ways to make a song sound unique.

Our average day usually ends up with work or school and when we can find the time we sit in a room for a few hours and do what we love most. We do all of the work together and it can become a bit overwhelming to be serious about making music and still fund everything ourselves. But we all know it is important enough that we have to keep doing it.

How do you keep the creativity juices flowing?

What happens when you have a block?

We tend to push ourselves to do better than we did on the last song or album. When we have a block we move on to something else. We have written an entire collection of songs and just trashed them to start in a new direction.

What are some of your favorite songs you've produced/written?

Each one of us has our own favorite songs over the years. Voice up, Reboot, Great Escape, Steady Hands.. We usually play the ones we like at shows! haha and the other ones we kind of forget how to play.

Who do you look up to most in the music world?

Anyone who has made a difference in the music industry in a positive way.

Other than making music what else would you say

influences or defines your band?

Art and Humor we usually are joking about something all the time and the friendship we have gained by playing music together comes through in the music we create.

If you could have a cup of cocoa with any person (dead or alive) who would it be?

We would love to have a cup with anyone who has heard our music and it affected them in some way. One of the reasons we play music everyday is we had a artist move us and if we could share that with anyone it would be a really positive thing.

Who are your favorite bands?

Oh man, too many to list. Mike likes a lot of great indie/experimental and folk bands. Jordan gets on kicks of listening to only one band for three months. Chase is looking for the most technical metal and solo artists he can find.

Where can we find you?

Best Place, discourseband.com also look for us on Facebook.com/discourseband and twitter.com/discourseband

Hopefully at a show very soon!