Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / LA DISPUTE: JORDAN DREYER Talks Survival, Storytelling, And Upcoming Australian Tour

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LA DISPUTE: JORDAN DREYER Talks Survival, Storytelling, And Upcoming Australian Tour · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: My name is Jordan, and I sing in a band
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: called La Dispute. And yeah, coming to Australia very soon.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: I'm like a month away for a record we released
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: about a year ago exactly. So overdue for a visit
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: down under. Stoked for it, as always. Sort of home
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: away from home for us. So yeah, pumped. Fantastic.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Jordan, thanks for joining us today.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Pleasure's mine, truly.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: As you say, bro, larger street hit Australia in October
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: for a run of dates starting in Perth on October 16th,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: then heading to Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Newcastle before finishing in
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Brisbane on October the 25th. So not that long now, mate.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Are you packed?
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Ready to go?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Absolutely not. No, it'll sneak up on me. It's already
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: sneaking up on me. It took doing interviews today for
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: me to be like, oh shit, this is less than
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a month away. So got to shift back into the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: other half of my life, the one away from home.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: So uh i'll probably be ready to go when i
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: gotta leave for the airport so i'm spiritually very ready
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: emotionally very ready uh all the logistical stuff that'll that'll
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: come at the very last minute as it does typically for.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Me yeah it's true story and i think from the
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: way i look at it you're out here last in
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: 2019 mate so what's changed with the band since you're
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: here last.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. I mean, a lot and very little.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: We're still the same five folks. I think that we,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: you know, those COVID shutdown years, the uncertainty of the
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: future of the band and the industry as a whole
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: kind of helped us recalibrate and focus on the reasons
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: we love to do this and the reasons that attract
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: us to doing it in the first place when we
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: were teenagers finding punk rock. So, I mean, the motivation's
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: the same. I think we're Sort of have a rediscovered
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: vigor for it, having had it forced away from us
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: for a period of time. So just trying to enjoy
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: every opportunity we have to be together, make music, be creative,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: perform in front of people, be a part of the community. Yeah,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: just sort of take it day by day and enjoy
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: the opportunity.
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  Speaker 3: Nice.
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  Speaker 2: One of the things I really love about it, bro,
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  Speaker 2: is six of the seven shows are all ages, which
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: you don't see enough of these days, man. Good on you.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's always been a big part of our band
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to be as inclusive as possible. And as people who
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: fell in love with punk rock when we were 14, 15,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's particularly important that people who are at
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: that stage of their lives and discovering something that has
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: added considerable value to the five of our lives are
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: able to do so. And, uh, it's, it's a, it's a,
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  Speaker 1: maybe a little bit more of a challenge in Australia than,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: than in other places, but we've got a great team and, uh,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: people put the extra work in to make it happen
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  Speaker 1: for us. And for those of those in our community
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: who are below 18 years of age. So stoked that
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: we can still make it work.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Do you find, um, mentally, like you have to, uh,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: prepare a bit differently for all ages shows like do
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: you sort of try and make sure you don't swear
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: and you know you keep it pg friendly or does
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: that sort of go out the window.
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  Speaker 1: Oh i'm i'm like functionally incapable of keeping things pg
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and i think that people are uh capable of being
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: discerning with what they hear from me so even with
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: uh bandmates children in attendance i have a hard time
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: i catch myself on stage saying fuck and going oh
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: wait i'm not supposed to do that there's a nine-year-old
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: here but uh no i mean it's it's it's effectively
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  Speaker 1: the same maybe the engagement's a little bit different i
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  Speaker 1: think if you feel it particularly powerfully when you're when
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: you're young and and uh in that respect i think
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  Speaker 1: it's maybe a little bit different than playing for an
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  Speaker 1: older audience but i think really no matter what age
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: you are you're you're in the process of trying to
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  Speaker 1: understand something about life particularly in the year 2026 so
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: i don't know that i see like a measurable difference
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  Speaker 1: in how shows go if they're all ages or not. So,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, maybe the rooms are a bit different. So
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  Speaker 1: you got to like figure out how to prepare yourself, uh,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: when you're playing somewhere smaller, I guess, but for the
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: most part now, you just, just, uh, do the thing
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: that you'd love to do. Yeah. Cool.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: And you've got our Brisbane band special features as national support.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: So what do they bring to the night musically?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they're an awesome band. We, we, we have like, uh,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: we have boots on the ground in Australia. So we
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  Speaker 1: have a bandmate who are the drummer in our band
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: lives in Australia. So we, we, uh, we, uh, it
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  Speaker 1: can be somewhat challenging, I think, to find supports that
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  Speaker 1: you love and that, that like represent a broad demographic,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: which is important to us when you're touring in a
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  Speaker 1: region that you're not as familiar with, because you don't
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: get the rotating cast of local bands coming through where
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: you live. Um, so yeah, Brad's really good at keeping
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: his ear to the ground and special features is another
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  Speaker 1: great Brad pick. So, and there's a bunch of other
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: great bands on this tour. So, I mean, I think,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I think it's really important to us to have diverse bills,
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  Speaker 1: both sonically and as far as who, who's in the bands,
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  Speaker 1: you know, like to give people an opportunity they may
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  Speaker 1: not otherwise have in an industry that's fairly dominated by
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: one specific group of people. So, I mean, it brings
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a lot in just, what the audience is capable of
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  Speaker 1: taking if they represent a smaller demographic, a marginalized community. Um,
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  Speaker 1: but ultimately we want to pick bands that like are
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: fucking good. And, uh, I think we didn't, we did
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  Speaker 1: it again, not just with special features, but all the
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  Speaker 1: bands playing other shows on this tour. It's, it's, it's a,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the lineups are all really, really awesome. It's something that
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I've been looking forward to since the tour got announced. Um,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: so yeah, I don't know, just like a little variety, but, but, uh, uh, similar, uh,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: ethos and intent in making music. I think that's important
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: to us. So, yeah, every show on this tour is
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: going to be, I think, a pretty awesome build. Yeah, fantastic.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: The tour is called No One Was Driving the Car Tour,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: which was named after your latest album that came out
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  Speaker 2: about a year ago, as you say. How's the reception
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: been to.
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  Speaker 1: It, mate?
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  Speaker 2: Was it what you hoped?
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Far exceeded it, honestly. You never know. I mean, we're
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: fortunate in that we've always had a pretty loyal fan base.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: People stick with us and they connect with us in
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: a way that I think we connect with them as well. So, um,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I think you always kind of assume that some of
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: those people are going to come back, but truthfully, you know,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: after five years and not doing a record or a
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: little more than five years, there's, there's a degree of
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: uncertainty with how people are going to, if people are
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: going to even hear it, the industry is busy and, and, uh,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: it's hard to keep your finger on the pulse in
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: any genre. So we were pretty surprised at, how well
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: it's gone over in the sense that we had a
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: long absence beforehand. I think we were also in the
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  Speaker 1: same breath, very proud of the song. So I think
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: we did kind of anticipate that the people who it
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: would come across would, would engage with it. Um, so yeah,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: it's been, it's, it's, I think it's ultimately it's pretty
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  Speaker 1: far exceeded our expectations in a, in a really cool
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  Speaker 1: way and in a way that like really lines up
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: with the way that we felt about the record and
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the way that we felt about coming back. Yeah.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: I think, A lot of Latest Feud's catalogue deals with
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: profound grief, tragedy and heavy human experiences, mate. So as
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: a performer, does singing and screaming those lyrics every night
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  Speaker 2: feel like a continuous purging or a catharsis? Or does
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: it feel like you're actually reopening old wounds sometimes?
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: I think in an earlier era of our band, I
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: think there were times it was taxing to... you know,
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  Speaker 1: like you said, just sort of like tear the scab
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  Speaker 1: off and rehash over and over again traumatic events from
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: my personal life or from the personal lives of people
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: in the environment around me. But I think as we've
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: gotten older, I think you maybe start to not disconnect
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: from the subject matter that inspires the song so much
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  Speaker 1: as the emphasis on performance and on playing the songs
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  Speaker 1: well and engaging with the audience as a musician and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: as a band. I think you sort of find different
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: ways to connect to the emotional vein that runs through
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: the song or the album or the set list. And
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  Speaker 1: generally speaking for us, that's being able to look out
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  Speaker 1: at people who are connecting to the songs for a
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: more immediate reason. And you sort of just like learn
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: to feed off the dialogue you're having with people in attendance.
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  Speaker 2: And along those lines, man, like, because your music is
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  Speaker 2: very emotional and very immersive. So how does your stage
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  Speaker 2: show reflect the music? Like, is it hard to come
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: up with a, with a stage look and a stage
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  Speaker 2: performance that matches that?
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  Speaker 1: Uh, no, I mean, I think that like, we're, we're,
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  Speaker 1: we're really, from the process of writing to recording to
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: performing live, very intent on immersing ourselves in the songs
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: that we've written and recorded. So I think that having
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: that as sort of your North Star as a band
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: helps you just like fully encompass the inspiration that set
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: things off from minute you walk on stage to the
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: minute you walk off even if you're doing it every
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: night it becomes a sort of autopilot at a point
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: because you've spent so much time throughout the from the
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: earliest seed of inspiration to the end product really trying
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to embody those songs i think performance comes kind of
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  Speaker 1: second nature.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah and a lot of those lines do matter like
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: you guys you've always had a lot of crowd participation
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  Speaker 2: in your shows like they're always singing That's the words back.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: You're probably often louder than what you're singing them on
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  Speaker 2: stage so when that's happening does it does it change
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: the way you connect with what you're actually saying like
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: hearing people screaming it back.
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  Speaker 1: At you like that yeah I think inevitably I mean
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  Speaker 1: even if you know there are nights that maybe the
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: response isn't exactly what you've grown accustomed to throughout the
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: course of the tour you can find ways to focus
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: on with the fact of what you're doing and, and,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: you know, there are festival shows we play that we're
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: playing maybe not for the audience. We would at a
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: headlining set who maybe don't participate in the same way, but, uh,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: it's easy to remember that ultimately you're five people playing
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: music together and that's what you love to do. So
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: you can focus on just being with your friends on
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: stage and having the opportunity to live out your childhood
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: dream professionally. Um, But having said that, the nights that
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: you can tell that people are really, really connecting or engaging,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: it does make it a little bit easier to feel
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: that energy and to reflect it back to the audience. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think, you know, the more people there are singing along,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the more people there are connecting with it, the easier
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  Speaker 1: it is to kind of shift into the best version
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  Speaker 1: of yourself performance-wise. But it really only takes one person
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  Speaker 1: to connect. be invested to feel as invested as, as
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: you want to be ideally.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Very cool, man. Do you remember the first time you
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: heard one of your songs on the radio, mate? And
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: what song was it? And where were you?
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: The first time that I think we ever heard our
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: songs on the radio or in Australia.
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  Speaker 3: The first tour that we ever did in 2000, 2009,
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: when we were, it was the first trip we made
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: outside of our home country, uh, accepting.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: For probably the outro and, in Canada. Um, and we
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: came over cause we met a band on the internet
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: who wanted us to come over and it was pretty
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: surreal experience to be there and find out, you know,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: the week before we were that, uh, we had an
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: interview lined up with, with Stu Harvey and we're going
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: to talk to Triple J late at night. And we
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: stayed up with friends in Brisbane and listen to, listen to,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: stew on the radio talk to us and and play
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: some songs so i honestly think that was the first
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: time that we ever heard a song on the radio
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: which is not a thing that we uh hear terribly
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: often still to this day i don't know that we
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: qualify as a.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: Radio band maybe maybe not quite as palatable as most
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: of them it's played for a broader audience but every
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: now and again you know we have a community radio
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: station back where we're from they'll play our music so
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: it happens every now and again, but triple J is,
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: is the first time that I remember, uh, ever actually
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: hearing us a song of ours on the radio and, uh, still,
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: still see, see Stu.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Every now and again when we, when we come over.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: So it's a lasting friendship. Fantastic.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: Well, thanks very much for your time. Roller dispute hit
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: Australia from October 16th in Perth brother. So best of
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: luck with it and hopefully see you at the British show.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, appreciate you, man. Thanks for taking the time to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: talk to me. It was a blast. And see you
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: in Brisbane.