I had to look your band's name up in the dictionary. It's an unusual word. For our readers without access to a dictionary, can you explain what happens during 'discombobulation'?

Terrence: When we first came up with the name, we had already split up over three times due to conflicts and band problems. The name symbolized a new start for us when we decided to get together again. Our lead guitarist thought of the name, I think it really describes what the band was like pre-Discombobulation (2006). Basically the band was constantly thrown into a state of confusion where no one had any idea of what their role was. However since then we have really tightened ourselves up and learned to compromise instead of having one person dominating the band and using others as tools. So yeah, that's where the name came from, although I personally don't really like it phonetically and aesthetically.

Man, your music is depressing and makes my nerves feel raw. Why?

T: By tracing back through our influences, Kiran and I (lead guitar) listened to a lot of doom. I personally grew up listening to the many Seattle bands like Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and Nirvana. They weren't really ‘depressing' but generally had a gloomy, bluesy, or a so-called grungy feel to it. To this day you can still tell that I draw influences from them, but through them I've gotten to know bands like Neurosis, Earth, and Tool which enabled me to explore a whole new genre of doom metal. I personally love the atmosphere of slower songs. Some use doom to induce thoughts of the depressing brutality of existence, some use doom to slowly build a banal, mind drowning experience. I just got really inspired by how you can soothe yourself of your own negative energy through crushing slow music and decided to bring elements of it into the band. With the help of a friend from then local band Molten Lava Death Massage / Queen Elephantine I got introduced to other expansions of doom like Electric Wizard and Acid King who play a more stoner/sludge infused version of doom metal. It blew my mind when I first heard those bands. They were dirty, raw and down tuned. My first impression was ‘fucking buff,' which is how we describe heavy music between our friends and us. I loved their guitar tone, if you've heard of them you will know they sound especially fuzzy, warm and bass heavy. I started to incorporate that type of sound to the band.
And lastly, your nerves feel raw. I get comments after our shows like ‘I felt like my heart was going to explode.' I was amazed because I've never felt it while playing live myself, though I wish I could. We just turn our shit up till we can block off reality with our own wall of sound and bathe in it till it ends. Sunn says ‘maximum volume yields maximum results.' By listening to Sunn, I have acquired a whole new perspective when listening to music. Instead of just listening to songs, tunes and riffs you can actually listen to the oscillations, vibrations and feedback warps of the guitar. That totally brought another meaning to ‘heavy' music for me. Many people fail to describe what heavy actually is since it is so polysemic. To me it definitely has a link with hills, earth and nature. In my opinion there isn't really anything that can match the buffness of nature. I've actually made a short film trying to document this indescribable sensation accompanied with a drone and noise soundtrack. You should be able to hear all these influences in our songs; hope this explains why.

You've managed to release a debut album. Tell us about it. How much work did it take? And the cover art is about?

T: Since we're just a high school band, we're very glad ourselves that we've managed to record even an EP, let alone a debut full length. When we started it was just for the sake of satisfying my lack of musical output after I split my punk rock band. To me the CD wraps our band up. Although feeling satisfied myself and proud for the members of the band, it wasn't the CD that impressed me the most. Instead it was the fact that through the years I have started playing guitar I have learnt much about music, DIY and experiences of being in a band, and this CD signifies the perseverance involved. It is always fun to put on your own music in the car, on stereos or wherever and enjoy the memories and the music.

The CD was recorded really quickly and cheaply since it was a friend who helped us. Most of the songs did not take more than two takes hence the little mistakes that you'll hear in the CD. It took a total of around five days including mixing. We just basically went in there and did it live because we wanted a raw, live feel to our recordings instead of doing it track by track.
The cover art was not done by us, but the concept was to have four different images that describe our music but had no real connection between them symbolizing confusion, discombobulation and lack of coherence. The pictures include a leviathan, a buffalo hunter, an abandoned rural house and a metropolis. The inner leaflet artwork was basically some of my doodles and works I've done in school. It features one of my works called ‘Roman's Melancholy' which ended up being the album's title. It was done with the magnetic tape found in cassette tapes. It was basically a buff cave of melancholy and loneliness shrouding over a man walking his dog tied up with shoelaces.

Do you like the finished product? Now that your debut record is out for all the world to see and hear, are you dissatisfied with any particular aspect of it, aspects that could have been improved upon?

T: Personally I am very grateful to have the help from people like Ross, Arthur and our families through the short life span of the band. I am also glad that we have the opportunity to record both an EP and a debut full length. I really can't ask for more. However personally I can never be satisfied with anything. I believe there is always room for improvement in anything and every time I think about it, look at it or listen to it I think of a new way to improve on the final product.

The cover of Discombobulation's debut album, 'Roman's Melancholic'

Which songs in the record do you think are going to last?

T: I think I dig each song equally although I would think the song ‘Thought' would be thought of as a filler since it is to me abit too generic, however it was one of our older songs where hardcore and metal/deathcore was more dominant in our influences. It is hard to name a favorite song since each song has its own character and appeal even the noise track ‘Roman's Melancholia' means a lot to me personally and has a short film to go with it.

Did the recording process and additional expenses burn a hole in the band's pockets?

T: Yeah, being a vinyl collector myself I haven't been buying any new records for a few months now since we are still struggling to even out the costs of producing the album. It cost around 8,000 HKD to record, print and all other additional expenses. Let alone we don't really promote ourselves that much in Hong Kong so we're currently having some problem selling the CD. However it was worth it as it marked a point in each of our lives that we have accomplished something worth remembering as we carry on.

You consider yourselves progressive?

T: I would think so, although we are not extremely technical in our instrumentals, our progressiveness lies in our attempts to make each song shine out a different character rather than having songs of the same style throughout the whole album. Our progressiveness could also be seen in our song structures. We rarely play the same riff twice in all of our songs. I personally dislike the verse chorus verse format of songwriting. However I always get a feeling that our songs sound like a series of riffs mindlessly sewn together forcefully to eventually spawn a song. That's up to you to decide. One of the reasons we play progressive music is because it is so much more entertaining when you practice or play live, although it may be hard sometimes to remember all those riffs, links and parts, it is challenging and satisfying to play. We do have some typical conventions of progressive music such as experimenting with odd time signatures, dramatic tempo changes, genre merging and 16 minute songs, hahaha.

Are there Discombobulation diehards among your audience already?

T: We are pretty much a very low-profile band. I consider people fans only if they know our shit and dig it, not those who like us because I'm in her/his physics class. With that being said I guess it is safe to say that we have a fan base of about 10 people. I think it is due to the lack of promotion of our band and the lack of communication between the band and the crowd during shows. Although we kind of expect no one to like our music either cause were amateur or they don't understand our music, it is however always flattering to have someone come up after a show telling us that they like our shit. We really appreciate that.

What kind of musical pedigree do you have? Which bands did you grow up listening to?

T: My roots have always been punk rock music. To this day I still like bands with a punk crust edge like Kylesa or Bikini Kill. However I have explored many other genres too throughout my years in high school like metal, hardcore, blues, death, math, prog, doom, stoner, ambient, drone, post rock/metal and noise. A major turning point for me would be when I went through my Nirvana phase where everything sort of went blurry, however it opened up many other genres for me and contributed much to the band's sound.
Kiran was a typical metalhead listening to bands like Lamb of God and Black Label Society until he found his passion for brutal tech metal which he creams over every time he hears a spine crushing buff riff. He also listens to other shit now that we share a lot of music together. I think with the introduction of sites like myspace, megaupload, and mediafire it is really easy to get fresh music these days, as long as you can be fucked to actively explore and look for bands you may dig. Don't get me wrong I am not a freeloader/download freak. I firmly believe in supporting a band by buying their CD or Vinyl if I am impressed after a download.

When did you start learning to play an instrument?

T: I got my first guitar when I was 12 after watching a Green Day video clip of the song ‘When I Come Around,' taught myself how to play for three years before I decided to try playing on a lefty, which I did for two years before changing back to the right handed as I couldn't get a wide range of guitar choices. I first played drums back when I was eight years old and it was a great help to my guitar playing as it facilitates me as a rhythm player. The other members respectively picked up their instruments around a year later. It was not until 2005 before we started a cover band playing Metallica and Nirvana songs and jamming nonsense.

What kind of practice regimen has brought the band's chops to the level they're currently in?

T: Due to workload and other shit I don't practice as much as I do back then when I would skip school to practice guitar, but I do play almost everyday for at least 20 minutes. Kiran definitely follows more disciplined practice sessions than me as he aspires to play songs like ‘Dead' and ‘Grotesque' by Spawn of Possession perfectly. I wouldn't consider our band to be very tight. The guitars are tighter than a dude's tight ass as we play through our songs every recess, but our weakness lies in the rhythm section where I feel improvements could definitely be made. Sometimes I feel the guitars mask the un-coordination between the bass and drums, which is undesirable, people can tell the difference between a solid rhythm section and a dingy one. We try to jam every week to prevent us from getting too rusty.

Are there ever misunderstandings between the members? You know, relationship bullshit.

T: Fuck yeah, we've been banned and kicked out of studios before for rampaging inside. There could be lack of commitment and motivation in members sometimes. There are also creative differences, which I always get stigmatized for since I always bring shit into the band whether they like it or not. I used to make all the songs and just get them to play it regardless if they liked the song or not and that caused problems. It is important for each member to be clear of their own individual role and yet have a common goal in the band. We've learnt that the hard way. Compromise and open-mindedness is another very important thing we've learnt. Now we're comfortable with giving each other's ideas a try before making any further decisions and we now have a more well rounded output between the members although having at least two driving members is very important, I think.

What goes down during band practice? Which songs do you usually jam? Are late arrivals fined and made to do humiliating things?

T: Nothing really goes down anymore during band practices, now we're a pretty relaxed band. Only things that may cause shit to go down is when individuals have their own emotional issues and decide to bring it in the studio, but it's all good. Our drummer is shit (nah), and I shout at him but he is easy going and he understands, so whatever. Late, we don't really give a shit, cause we can just jam other shit while waiting. During practices we basically run through our songs, have a bluesy jam, attempt to make a beat down of the century riff, make fun of generic riffs, make fun of our own songs and basically experiment with cover songs. All songs are made in the classroom or back at home then ideas are jammed in practice.

Aside from the band, are you all busy with day jobs or studies? What other dreams do you have beyond music?

T: We haven't started working yet because we just recently graduated high school and are in the phase of going on to further studies. Kiran aspires to be a brutal technical death metal surgeon therefore studies hard to get into the field of medicine. I don't know about the others but other than playing music my other main interest lies in making short films and movies. I wish to travel the globe and look at shit everywhere, or see myself working in the field of audio production, or being a director making enough to survive or something in a similar field and someday maybe complete a snuff film.

If you have plans to create a musical legacy, how can you manage to achieve this in a place like Hong Kong? The music industry there must be a tough nut to crack?

T: When we started this band we all knew that we couldn't make a difference to the industry in Hong Kong built with canto-pop and other shit. To me Hong Kong is a very conservative place when it comes to ‘loud music.' I've made an amateur documentary vaguely explaining the situation in Hong Kong, you can check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QqOSmPhyjY. You can't really make a living playing as a band in Hong Kong, it is also hard to make a living as a distro in Hong Kong although there are a few exceptions such as White Noise Records and Trinity Records, which both have a very niche market.

So, you have a Filipino member? What other nationalities are in the band?

T: Our Drummer Darryl is of Pinoy-Chinese mix, our bassist Kenji is a Japanese-Taiwanese mix, Kiran (lead guitar) is Indian and I'm Chinese.

Do you all live near each other?

T: We all live in Hong Kong SAR but then some live on the islands some live further up in Kowloon and New Territories separated by Hong Kong's harbor.

Which places do you dream of playing shows in? Where would the band rather promote its music: Mainland China or Southeast Asia?

T: I've always wanted to try touring or playing over seas. I don't mind which country, because anywhere would be great opportunity. If I had to choose from the Mainland or Southeast Asia I would pick Southeast Asia because I prefer to be in a place where I don't understand the local language. It makes the whole experience more exotic and authentic. Darryl has a house in Manila so if we ever play there we can dock in his place, hahaha.

Now which places do you actually play shows in? What's the bar circuit like in Hong Kong?

T: Well, we don't get much shows, but the regular show venues are bars in Lan Kwai and Wan Chai, this warehouse where Filipino metal band Intolerant just played, a ferry pier in Central rented out to host shows, industrial buildings and many other self-hosted venues.

Who are the Hong Kong bands metalheads from abroad should keep an eye out for?

T: For Black Metal / Sludge there's Sedlec; Experimental you have Spermatic Chord; Black Metal is Saedus Darknight; Doom and Post-rock has Bereavement; Brutal Technical Death is Hermetic Silence; Traditional / Post-Rock / Hardcore is Chock Ma; Hardcore has Shepherds the Weak and King Ly Chee; Stoner/Psychedelic is Queen Elephantine; Post Rock you've got Slept in Spray; Evocation is Blackened Melodic Death; Death Metal there's Thorn Slaughter; Experimental Noise/Doom has Decay.

STAY HEAVY