La Dispute with Pianos Become Teeth, Mansions
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids
April 13, 7 p.m.
pyramidschemebar.com, (616) 272-3758
The Division Avenue Arts Collective (DAAC) had a significant role in the formative years of Grand Rapids’ La Dispute. As the organization collects funding for a new building after taking a contractual boot from its former location, La Dispute will return to GR as a kindred spirit.
The band celebrates the release of its third full length album, Rooms of the House, on March 18. The album is the first released by the band’s self-controlled label, Better Living, born from the amicable contractual endpoint with No Sleep Records, but more from the band’s desire for creative control and a refined identify.
“We are using it as a tool to help really great causes internationally and locally, and donating some money in the process, so it’s exciting,” said Jordan Dreyer, La Dispute vocalist, on Better Living. “It’s a lot of work, but a lot of really great people are helping us make it function. ... It’s fun to finally see that dream realized and I’ve always thought of it as a pretty big long shot, but nowadays, more and more a possibility.”
As most of the La Dispute members still reside in Michigan but in separate regions, Rooms of the Housewas recorded in a rented cabin near Menominee: an isolated environment in Michigan’s upper peninsula, necessary to gather the band geographically and creatively. The album’s conceptual theme, via cross-referencing songs, reflects on similar matters of distance and gathering through loosely based realism.
“The record started off about two [fictional] characters in one space specifically, and over time, it became apparent that it needed to be spread out and develop additional themes. So, there are songs that are, for lack of a better way to describe it, historical fiction,” Dreyer said. “From my side of the songwriting, there’s a shift from these catastrophic events [in wildlife] to tell stories that involve more self fallout, anxieties and unease that everybody feels throughout the course of the day, depending on who they are and where they live.”
The band’s milestone success is accompanied by sold out shows to its upcoming tour for Rooms of the House at the Pyramid Scheme, where the band hopes to gather charity funds for the DAAC, and to UK dates well before the band has even started its North American tour. Fans that missed tickets for the GR show can try for the tour stop at the Crofoot (Pontiac) one week prior, but it is expected to sell out by the show date.
