Rising from post-pandemic ashes like a phoenix from the ashes, numerous musical outfits from across the UK are rebuilding this country’s proud alternative music scene. Very few, however, share the sheer scope of promise as Southampton-based quintet, Dissonants. Crushed by lockdowns after the release of their third EP Nescient in 2020 as well as losing their original vocalist, Dissonants have endured it all to get to where they are now: soaring high above the scene on the blazing wings of newest offering, ‘Harlequin’, with a fresh line-up to boot.
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“I’m so nervous… It’s a shift in style, so naturally I’m anxious to see how it’s going to be received” comments ex-guitarist and new vocalist Benjie Allen on the eve of ‘Harlequin’ releasing.“Everyone in the band is usually dreading releases, but I’m fairly excited for this one… Excited to get some feedback in and overall just hyped to smash it out” adds bassist, Mike Barton.
Expanding on the change undertaken to become the band’s frontman, Benjie remarks “To be honest, it was a natural progression. But initially, I was quite hesitant to do it, being self-critical and all.” A truly inspiring moment incited Benjie’s transition though. Benjie elaborates “There was this moment during Slam Dunk Festival where we were watching Holding Absence. I was watching Lucas Woodland and thinking “I want to do that”, and from then I messaged the guys to say that I would take on vocal duties.”
It wasn’t just Benjie switching roles within the band. In 2021, highly-esteemed songwriter and producer Cuba Stanley officially joined as the new drummer for Dissonants, but it wasn’t long until Benjie moving to the mic allowed Cuba to become the band’s second guitarist alongside Aaron Slater. With this change, one last piece of the puzzle remained: re-filling the drum role.
“Our new drummer, Harvey Lord, is someone that Cuba knew” Mike begins, smiling with the knowledge that Dissonants has its best line-up to date. “We found out that he went to university down here in Southampton, so he already knows the scene… He just fit in so seamlessly. Half of the battle with someone joining the band is having them fit in with the group dynamic and meshing well.” Expressing a lot of relatable honesty, Mike then comments “In the past we’ve had issues with that, but with Harvey it was just really natural. He fits in with the wavelength and we couldn’t be happier.”
With a revitalised line-up, it is only natural that Dissonants would experience changes to their writing process. “I used to write like 80—90% of the instrumentals before, but Cuba came into the band with a whole folder of demos that we just had to use” Benjie explains. Mike expands: “It’s transitioned from Benjie being the primary songwriter to everyone adding stuff in — it feels like we’ve gotten more freedom and it’s more like a collaboration between the five of us.”
It seems that Cuba brought ‘Harlequin’ to the table, as Benjie delves into the story behind it. “Initially, Cuba had the chorus lyrics written; it was meant to be a song under his solo project. The chorus in the final version is the same as it always was, it’s about clowning over a love interest. But I wanted the lyrics to be a little more than surface level. It went from a scenario of being sad over someone to being sad over a specific situation. It’s about being misunderstood, misinterpreted. It’s gotten a bit deeper.”
Going on to discuss the challenges he expected from the creative process, Benjie says “I went into the lyric writing thinking it might be difficult. I wanted to live up to the emotion Cuba had behind it. He seems like he’s happy with what I’ve written, and I’ve lived up to his expectations. Hopefully it’s something that translates to other people as well.”
With ‘Harlequin’ having been out in the wild for a week at the time of writing, now just feels like the opportune time for Dissonants to claim the crown. Mike touches on the new era of Dissonants: “With this new release, it feels like a reset for the band, and we can properly push forwards. Draw the line and say “this is us now”. It’s not quite a rebrand, but definitely a new start.”
Riding the wave of their reawakening, Benjie and Mike illuminate us with some of their future dreams. “I would love to play with Holding Absence, As Everything Unfolds and our boys Lastelle, because they’re always amazing to watch” Benjie begins. “I do want to keep playing some of our older stuff, too. Personally, my favourite record of ours is Decomposure, so I’d love to play some stuff off that.” Mike cheerfully nods at the mention of Lastelle — “I’d love to do some shows with Lastelle, plus TheCityIsOurs and Dayseeker”.
Before wrapping up, Dissonants chat about the emotional turbulence surrounding their maturing as musicians through several major line-up changes, and how the endless lockdowns of yesteryear altered the band’s perspectives. After a moment to ponder, Benjie opens up “It definitely did me some good. There have been times in the past where I’m like “can someone speak to me about something other than being in a band?”, but having that time off made me realise how much I miss playing shows and being out with crowds of fans… It’s something I don’t wanna go without again.” Mike shares Benjie’s sentiments, saying “You almost start taking it for granted, playing shows. Being on stage, that’s a feeling you can’t replicate in any other part of your life. It almost feels like magic.”
Closing out the conversation, Mike pays tribute to Nick Taliadoros, Bobby Brooks and Konnor Bracher-Walsh of Six Point Media among others. “Six Point Media; absolutely top boys. Shout-out to Oli Duncanson, he did an amazing job on our video. Aaron Finch for doing the artwork and promo material. Stef who does all our playlisting for us. Jordan from Full Stride PR.” Benjie reveals that pre-orders are now open for some gorgeous limited-edition ‘Harlequin’ tees, and encourages everyone to listen to ‘Harlequin’, which is out now on all major streaming platforms.
Please make sure to send Dissonants your love and support — you can find their social media links here. Special thanks to Benjie Allen and Mike Barton for taking the time out to chat to us. For future highlight pieces on the UK’s best alternative bands, make Boolin Tunes your go-to.