Dusker - Lethal, Leicester, Noise Rock
- peter martin
- Apr 25, 2023
- 5 min read
Dusker - Lethal, Leicester, Noise Rock
From Left to Right: Todd, Joe, Jordy, and Rory are Dusker
A cold autumn evening out on the streets of Cardiff led us to independent venue The Moon on Womanby St. To our delight the band playing that night were Dusker. We assumed, probably from the similar name, that we'd watch a slow rock concert inspired by Duster, we were mistaken as Duskers set was full of energy, noise and character. I spoke to a couple of the band members after the set and they were all lovely too. A couple months after their gig Dusker's Jordy agreed to talk with me about the band.
I’ll start with a simple question, how was Dusker formed and what was the original plan for the band?
Well, we formed in 2018, as a second band for all the members, we were all playing in other acts, and we formed the band to explore different things to the music we were each playing at that point. It was a fun experiment with all of us playing our secondary instruments. I was a drummer before Dusker, and Rory the other guitar player was a bass player and on and on
That’s cool that you switched instruments between bands
Yeah, I think we were keen to try new things, even if the skill level wasn’t quite there at that point.
What was it like coming up through the Leicester scene and what is the view of Punk and Noise Rock acts throughout that scene?
It’s a strange scene and has had ups and downs. We’ve been very lucky to be warmly received at every stage we’ve been at. There are some similar bands to us to play with and form a community with. But to be honest, we’re glad to play in other places. Leicester’s fine but there’s a fairly low ceiling you hit quite quickly with the venues and kinds of gigs you can get, esp since covid. We’ve been very lucky to play in a fair few different cities and that’s what we want to continue doing.
Are there many bands like yourselves in the Leicester scene?
There are a couple, and more in the midlands area, especially in Nottingham down the road. But it is slim pickings in Leicester. And to be honest, as I said it’s been different since covid, bit less going on, and therefore there’s a bit less cohesion and not as much of a ‘scene’ between bands as there could be.
I was lucky enough to see Dusker play Cardiff last November at the penultimate act of tour, what was touring the UK like and how have live shows shaped the band as it is today?
Playing live is huge for us in terms of continuing to shape the band. Gigs fuel us as every single one is a little bit different, giving you a slightly different energy. Which is refreshing and spurs you on. There’s a level of energy and urgency in our music that makes it hugely gratifying to play live, certainly for me at least, and I know we all share that. Playing live also shapes us in a sense of we try different songs and ideas live and if they feel good, we continue with them, if not we move on to something else. The stage is kind of the amphitheatre where everything is road tested, and in turn, shows us how to proceed based on how each show goes. That show in Cardiff was great, lovely folk! Touring is fantastic though tough. But it’s the reason we do it, it’s hugely gratifying
You guys are truly one of the best bands I’ve seen at The Moon.
Fuck me, thank you
Are there any more gigs coming up?
Yes! We played last night in Leicester Road where we tested our gear for a Central European tour we are departing on in just under 3 weeks. We are linking up with a great Warsaw band named Hanako, and touring Poland, Czechia and Germany. 8 shows total I think. Playing abroad is great, only had great experiences and lots of love from folks out there. We will have some downtime after but surely be out around the UK probably in autumn time. Will be back in South Wales!
The Maker was released in 2019
I want to talk about your top song, The Maker, a song that uses chaos and anarchy to shape the instrumentation and the lyrics, what was writing the song like and what is it like to perform this song live
That song was the second or third song we ever wrote years ages ago and has shape-shifted countless times. But stood the test of time! It’s a good example of the angular jank combined with Melody and math-related rhythms that is at the nucleus of a lot of what we write. Lyrically it’s about all sorts of things, some of the words are different now. But it’s a big track for us, it’s the one people know and it’s a lot of fun to play.
The Maker is one of 7 songs released over 2 eps between 2019 and 2020, what was the recording process for these EP’s like and are there any plans for more projects?
EP I & II were both recorded with our 5th limb and great friend Liquid Tony at his basement studio in Leicester. We recorded each of them in a couple of days, and it was quite a speedy process. We’re proud of that music but have also moved along a lot, we have a new bass player now as well who has impacted the band positively in a new way. So we’re keen to show everyone a more updated Dusker. After working on those Eps we decided to undertake a full album ourselves. So over the last year, we have recorded 9 or 10 tracks in our studio and slowly built them all up. One or two you might hear soon, some others require a bit more work. But there will be a full debut album out in the next months. We’ve recorded and mixed it all ourselves and that process has been a dream, a positive challenge and we’re so happy with the results. Can’t wait for others to hear it
Dusker have supported large bands like Fresh and Petrol Girls, how different was playing shows of that size and did it affect that band in general
Yeah, those shows were a lot of fun. We played with both of them at Handmade Festival a few years ago and that was a great pleasure. Petrol Girls in particular are certainly a band that I look up to and admire their work ethic and everything they do really. Playing shows of different sizes all have ups and downs, but certainly playing with great acts usually leads to great shows. And it’s great when you find bands you have common ground with
Final question, what is your guy’s drink of choice?
Well, we’ve graduated from the days of White Ace and Frosty Jacks…. I’m a boring Lager enjoyer, and we all appreciate a good Guinness. A couple of us have served coffee for many years and appreciate a stellar black coffee.
