#diesto

By Lara Noel

Portland heavy rockers, Diesto, are unleashing their mammoth sound the last day of the Northwest Hesh Fest, being held at Dante’s in Portland on Saturday, September 2016. The band has also recorded and is ready to release a new album, which I’ve been lucky to get an advance listen to. Trust me when I say if you’ve been a fan, this new record is going to blow your mind, and if you’re new to these guys, there’s no question you’ll get on board. I spent some time talking with founder, singer, and guitarist, Chris Dunn, to explore what the band has been up to.

Diesto is:

Chris Dunn (guitar/vocals)

Captain John (bass)

Eric Junge (drums)

Rusty Powers (guitar)

High as the Sun by Diesto

Let’s start by talking a little about the origin of the band. In some brief conversations before this, I know you said that now you’re actually playing as a three-piece. So who has left the band?

Chris: Rusty Powers played guitar on our new album coming out that I sent to you. Then he played bass on the record before that which came out on Eolian Empire Records, so he’s been in the band like 4 years. Captain John, the bass player, he was on the record before that one, ‘High as the Sun’. That one came out in I believe 2011, I think. He was in the band for a long time but he stepped out of the band for ‘Isle of Marauder’ and the Eolian record, but now he’s back in the band, and he’s been in the band for like the past 10 years. He’s super solid, awesome dude. He had a little issue with the drummer we had. They got into a little altercation and he decided he needed to step down, which was agreeable. Then that drummer left to be in more of a pop band, which was more of his thing. The Captain John was available again and was like “Man, I’d kill to be back in the band,” and I was like, "Yup, done, perfect." So everything became really solid. Then Rusty, he has another band that’s more of his priority. He teaches guitar and he’s super booked out, and super stretched thin.

We originally started out as a 3 piece, for the first 6 years being more of a noise rock band. John and I decided we wanted to expand the sound, giving it kind of more of a Neurosis vibe where there were 2 guitars and a bigger sound. So we got Mark Bassett in the band who’s a good buddy of ours. He was in the band for like 6 years and 3 records and then he just kind of burnt himself out. So he was a dedicated member for like 6 or 7 years. So now we’re at this place where we’re like we don’t really even need a second guitar player. Captain John plays big, full sounding bass. He’s got a really unique, true bass player style. He kind of finger pics, doesn’t play with a pic, not really even playing notes, just riffing out really heavy which is good cause the dynamic of that makes me and the drummer way more tighter. Like way more tension, tightness, like more punk rock style. It gives me more freedom to play more notes and fill it up, so we don’t really need a second person on guitar. If they right person comes around we might consider that but for right now it’s great to have that tension dynamic back. The drummer is amazing and I feel like we can just lock it up without having that second guitar. Playing with Rusty, who’s so polished was kind of making me have to play more polished but I kind of like just doing my own thing and not having to be reserved on stage or all perfect and everything. So there you go.

The shows that you’ve been playing out recently, have you been a 3 piece?

Chris: We took a long time off playing shows to record the record. We just had to focus on the recording cause every time you stop to play a show it disrupts that process. The couple shows we played were a 3 piece by default anyway cause Mark got stuck in Guam one time when we did a little mini tour up in Seattle, Spokane, and Olympia. Yeah, so he was stuck in Guam because of a snowstorm so we had to play as a 3 piece out of necessity. Then the last show we did was with Save the Day almost a year ago and we played as a 3 piece. It was a fucking badass show. And of course we wanted Rusty’s guitar parts on the album, so we did that but we’re still able to manage pulling it off as a three-piece without him. So that’s where we’re at.

  For the new album that you’ve recorded, what release date are you looking at, I think you had previously mentioned by February?

Chris: Hopefully, but we still need to find a home for it. We’re shopping around for it but I’m confident it’ll come out around then.

  Let’s talk about the process for what led up to and recording the new album. I recall when we talked yesterday you had mentioned you were using a different tuning.

Chris: So for this album, I went at it a little bit differently. I figured out the tuning on acoustic then wrote all the songs on acoustic at home, recording them all in a voice memo on my phone, and started sending them to other dudes. Then we actually made a little pre-production in the studio where after they learned my guitar parts, what I had written, the songs-so to speak- they wrote their parts and then we went a did the little pre-production, then we sent that up to the drummer who lives in Seattle and he wrote/learned his parts. Then we booked a studio and everyone came together. We only rehearsed one day before going into the studio and everything was sounding really awesome. I showed Eric some drum parts, places where I wanted it a little heavier sounding. I did a couple drum parts, I mean I’m not much of a drummer but I showed him a couple things and then he was just like oh, ok. So that was the only thing that really needed to be done. He had it totally down at that point. He has that Dale Crover (Melvins) kind of style where he can just do that, just no problem. That’s where we were kind of going at in style, anyway.

Then we just hit it and recorded it live. We were all in there together and just recorded it live. We’d play one song and then go into the control room, listen to it. It was all good, no issues, so that’d be a take then onto the next song. So that’s how we came up with the album. It’s 5 songs, about 45 minutes. I did go back in to do vocals and some guitar overdubs for like leads and stuff but not too much cause most we got done live. That’s pretty much what we play live anyway. Rusty went back in to record some of the solos, which sounded great. They came out perfect. Yeah so maybe it was about a few weeks after that I went in to record vocals with Adam Pike, thee engineer who’s done our last 4 albums. We lit a bunch of candles and were just chilling out, hitting the vocals. We don’t even have to talk too much. He knows what’s a take and what not. That only really took one day. It was a pretty smooth process. No stress

That sounds pretty seamless. That’s amazing.

Chris: Yeah, it was pretty seamless. Working with Adam is great. We’re on the same page, plus he’s really affordable too. It was kind of bare bones. Everyone pitched in so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nowadays it’s a little bit easier. We used to only record to tape, analog, then get everything back on tape, which was such a longer fucking process. You really can’t tell too much of a difference between analog and digital though, well you can, maybe a little bit.

Are you guys going to be putting out a vinyl pressing of the album?

Chris: Oh yeah. It definitely has to come out on vinyl. We’re more a vinyl type band. People who like our band want vinyl for sure. That’s why we also made it that length. 5 songs coming in at about 45 minutes is perfect for a record. You got to think about those things when you’re doing vinyl or else you’ll have a double album or something and we don’t really want to do that. Our last record was the same way, I think we did 6 songs and around 45 minutes, 3 songs each side with a nice 180g vinyl.

When you were working on this new album, were you using any new gear?

Chris: We ended up getting an endorsement from Allegra Drums, which is a custom drum company out of Vancouver, WA. They hit me up and I was like wow, that’s really cool. I big fan of their drums and they’re really fucking quality and very expensive. They gave me a good deal, basically getting it at cost. So we get them for what it costs to make them and they give it directly to us for promotion or whatever. So I went in there and picked out the wood and the look and everything. I’m not really a drummer but I know what I like. I picked out the color, and it’s this really awesome black stained wood, maple drum kit. So they built it and made it for me. It took about 6 weeks and I actually got the drum kit the Friday before we headed into the studio. We rehearsed on it one time and it sounded amazing. Eric was like, oh my God, these are amazing. On the record they sound super, super good. It works out good cause we can keep them down here with the other gear. The kit is here ready for him to play or jump in the van and play shows. That’s part of the reason I wanted it too so he didn’t have to lug his drums down from Seattle. I’m super stoked about it that now we have a nice drum kit for the band. 

We also got an endorsement from Emperor Cabs a few years ago so now we look cool and sound cool. But it makes a lot of sense cause now we have really high quality cabs and drums. It’s a good investment into your sound. We used to have full stacks, and I had an old 60’s Orange 810. We got tired of lugging it all around. Way too much shit so we downsized all our gear. We were happy about that. It was the same thing with Emperor out of Chicago that we pretty got those at cost. Like $66 each or something. So that’s some gear talk. I’m a super gear nerd. Oh, we did just hook up, well I’ll take a minute to plug my fucking new guitar company sponsors from my good friend, Seth, and my old buddy, Mike Swanda, who I knew from snowboarding who started this company called Black Chapel Guitars, and they’re super fucking awesome. I’m getting one built soon.

So I might be rocking a Black Chapel for the Deafheaven show. They have a due date but they’re pretty much building as they go. Pretty high end stuff. Not too crazy high end but really nice, and to be able to grab ahold of that company is super exciting. I pretty much get to pick out what I want and they’re taking the time to go through it with me, figuring it out. With the tuning I like to use I need super low strings. So they’re getting it set up the right way and everything with the right stuff. They’re super thorough, really awesome dudes. Super excited about that. Oh, and they’re also like a skate company so they have tons of cool merch like leather straps, belts, hats, gauntlets and tons of cool shit. I’ll probably be whoring myself out with the Black Chapel (laughs). I hope those guys really do well. It’s awesome to be working with them from the ground up, being a part of it. We’re also getting a bass for John, so John will be having a Black Chapel bass made. They’re pretty badass, tough looking kind of. They’re kind of taking like old metal guitars from the 80’s like B.C. Rich and kind of making them their own. It’s all really nice wood with different stains you can put on, whatever you want.

Let’s talk about the upcoming Northwest Hesh Fest. You guys played last year too right?

Chris: Yeah, we were on the YOB show last year

 This year, the fest is September 22nd through 24th, which day are you guys playing?

Chris: We’re playing the 24th, Saturday. The promoter, Jonathon Galyon, is from Austin. He’s an old friend of mine. He does a record/promotion company called American Icon. He’s also the one who does Heavy Metal Parking Lot, which is an all day, heavy bands thing. He gets the heaviest, best bands that’ll bring crowds in. For Hesh this year it’s Red Fang, Uncle Acid & Dead the Deadbeats, Deafheaven. Last year we played with YOB but this year he kinda wanted to put us someone different, I mean we’re not really a black metal band. I know some are Austin bands like Greenbeard and The Blood Royale. They’re all buddies of Jonathon Galyon (Promoter). He’s an old friend of mine and used to live in Portland. He was really excited to get us on board with it, and I think we’re also going to play Heavy Metal Parking Lot in Austin in March. That’s really exciting.

 After Hesh Fest, do you guys have other shows planned?

Chris: Yeah. Actually we’re taking a little jaunt up to Seattle planned and then we’re going to play Portland. We have a Portland show booked. We haven’t played there in a long time so I think people will be coming out for that. We have our friends C Average, who are playing a bunch of shows with The Sword and Red Fang. I think they got their start in the late 90’s, and they’re an Olympia (WA) band. They’re some of my favorite dudes. Jon played with Eddie Vedder covering bands like The Who. He’s a really fucking awesome dude. If you don’t know C Average, you should check them out. They used to be a 2 piece, kind of like Sabbathy-Prog but like really good. He’s one of favorite dudes on the whole planet and guitar player. He might be getting a Black Chapel too but he likes to play Gibson Thunderbirds and really cool vintage shit. He’s an amazing guitar player, and I’m really excited to be playing shows with him again. They’re kind of making a return, doing some big stuff like playing with The Sword and Red Fang. He deserves to play in front of a lot of people. They’re a 3 piece now. They added a bass player. Yeah, so I’m really excited to play with those dudes.

  You’re starting out with these shows in Seattle?

Chris: 11/4 in Portland and 11/5 in Seattle. Oh, and we’re bringing this band called ‘A Volcano’ for those two shows. They’re a fucking badass kind of noise rock duo. Younger kids but they’re fucking awesome. They just invited us to go out on tour in June, a west coast tour. I’m really trying to hook up something on the east coast. We haven’t played out there since 2006 so we’re overdue to be out there (laughs). Yeah, we’re overdue for an east coast tour. We’re hoping some people will come forward and we can figure this out, network, then we can do the same for them on the west coast. They can use all our backline and the van. Makes life a lot easier cause driving across the country sucks. You just lose your whole band bank once you hit the Great Divide pretty much. There’s no way around it. We’re at the age where we don’t want to quit our jobs to be gone for six weeks, unless we got an offer to go on tour with a bigger band or something. That’s what we’re going to do in Austin too. We’re just going to fly down. One of those bands, Greenbeard or The Blood Royale, might want to go on a week long tour with us down there with the backline and make it worth our while. Yeah, so that’s kind of the plan. I’m hoping it all comes together. Regardless, we’re going to down to Austin and play the Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

  Have you guys ever done a European tour?

Chris: No. We would really love to go to Europe if we can. We haven’t had any offers. Our booking agent did submit to some tours but they didn’t offer us anything. That’s when “For Water or Blood” came out a few years ago. I think if I put my mind to it after this release, we could get that opportunity. I haven’t really put my efforts into that. It’s a little down the road but that would be awesome. We would totally make that out priority if we get that opportunity. Friends of ours are doing that. We’re really good friends with Mos Generator and they do it pretty much on the regular. Tony Reed has offered to help and given me some contacts and stuff. I think more bands are definitely doing that now, hooking up with other bands and co-oping. We want to do more of that, especially on the East Coast. We definitely want to do that down in Austin. Those folks are so nice. Jon is a good friend of mine so I think he’s going to hook it up. When we burn down with those dudes at the show and talk, it’ll come up and I think Jon will book it more likely than not. But with the East Coast thing, I need some hook ups yo! (laughs)

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Upcoming show dates:

9/24 Portland, OR @ Northwest Hesh Fest (Dantes)

11/4 Portland, OR @ World Famous Kenton Club in PDX

Doomed & Stoned – Northwest Hesh Fest Preview

Jonathon Galyon is my special guest for this ‘cast, which originally aired on Grip of Delusion Radio. Jonny walks us through the festival day by day.

Pem Das.

Diesto or Dies4.

Photography by Graff Hunter.

Portland, Oregon-based powerhouse DIESTO will release their mammoth fifth LP, For Water or Blood, later this month via the hometown hellions at outsider D.I.Y. label Eolian Empire.

Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Chris Dunn, guitarist Mark Bassett, bassist Rusty Powers and drummer Devon Shirley, since the turn of the century DIESTO has ravaged the lands with their pummeling riffery through a pile of releases and countless shows, their determination heralding the band as one of Portland’s hardest-working heavy acts. While their earlier days showcased a more noiserock-built flamboyance, over time the aggro has eroded a bit, the sharper edges of their rock now worn down to a smoother doom rock style, while all of the heaviness remains. The band’s four previous full-lengths have earned them respect from media outlets everywhere, with Exlcaim stating “All that gloomy weather in Portland, OR has finally found its musical incarnation,” while All Music Guide called them “heavyweights whose lumberjack physiques conveniently match the thundering density of their sound,” and revered doom/extreme blog Doommantia fearlessly dubbed them “one of the best bands to ever come out of Portland.”

DIESTO’s freshly completed fifth LP For Water or Blood — their first release for Eolian Empire, and their first album to be released on vinyl — finds the band continuing its journey West, its storied and troubled past dragged through the Cascadian forest to the Pacific Ocean, treading and crawling slowly but steadily ahead as it cuts a winding path of riffs deep into the heavy frontier with echoes of Zep III, Pompeiian Floyd, and Masters of Realitybouncing between mountains of Sleep and Yob doom boosted by heavy hooks, chiming intertwined guitars, expressive vocals, and surprising attacks of angular noise rock and dissonance. The recording by Adam Pike (Red Fang, Norska, Nether Regions) at Toadhouse showcases the band’s live prowess and love of pedal-free amplifier tone — the album’s hymns tracked live and straight up with minimal overdubs — making For Water or Blood an arduous but adventurous journey into the unknown using the wisdom of the ages, its enthralling cover art sanctioned to Sam Ford (Wizard Rifle, Black Cobra). Eolian is preparing to drop the new platter on 180-gram vinyl and digital download on August 27th worldwide,  the digital version containing a new mix of the track “Arrows” from the label’s massive KEEP OUR HEADS comp as a bonus track.

To help spread the news, revered UK-based doom/rock outlet The Sleeping Shaman has hosted an exclusive premiere of For Water or Blood’s fourth song, “Sirens,” now playing RIGHT HERE.

With a home turf record release show confirmed to take place on Friday, August 30th alongside Fellwoods and labelmates Honduran, much more is in store from DIESTO in the coming weeks, including widespread touring in support of the album, their pending first official video and all kinds of other good stuff. Stay tuned.

DIESTO Live: 8/30/2013 Foggy Notion – Portland, OR – For Water or Blood record release w/ Honduran, Fellwoods

For Water or Blood Track Listing: 1. Trail to the Sun 2. Edge of the World 3. The Road 4. Sirens 5. Adrift at Sea 6. Dirty River 7. Arrows* (digital bonus track)