Feature / Interviews
La Dispute / Native

Words: Chad Raynard • February 1, 2012

La Dispute / Native
La Dispute / Native

ladispute1.jpg

We sat down with Michigan-based post-hardcore band La Dispute to chat to singer Jordan about touring, new albums and split releases.

Scene Point Blank: So you guys are almost finished this current tour which you've headlined. How's that gone?

Jordan Dreyer: It's gone amazing, the shows are really great. We got to travel with three of our best friends, and watch them play as a band. It’s been pretty unreal. 

Scene Point Blank: It's a big line up, have you felt any added pressure this tour?

Jordan Dreyer: Ah no, you know, doesn't even really feel like we are headlining it to me. It feels like we're all kind of co headlining it, ‘cause you know, they're all good friends of ours. I don't think I felt any pressure at all anyways. It's been pretty easy going.

Scene Point Blank: Any speed bumps along this way this tour?

Jordan Dreyer: No, not really. We had a flat tire on our trailer but other than that. That's been the worst thing that has happened to us. 

Scene Point Blank: You just released an EP with Koji, how did that whole thing come about?

Jordan Dreyer: Uh, we got to be pretty good friends with Koji a couple years back. Actually his manager is a friend of ours who books shows, in Michigan, so we got to meet Koji through him. And we kind of hit it off pretty quickly because we have pretty similar ideologies, so it was a pretty fast friendship. And we have a lot of respect for what he does and he has the same respect for us so it made sense to do something together.

ladispute2.jpg


Scene Point Blank: Was the EP recorded separately or was there any interaction between you guys?

Jordan Dreyer: Completely separately other than brad, our drummer helped out a lot on production and playing other instruments for Koji, but he recorded in Chicago and we recorded in New York so it was pretty separate. 

Scene Point Blank: It's been over two years since your last full length, were you anxious at all to get another one out there?

Jordan Dreyer: Yeah, anxious and a little nervous. It's a big under taking, especially going three years without having done anything that substantial. We're pretty excited about it. 

Scene Point Blank: You guys finished up the new album before you started this tour, how did the proccess go?

Jordan Dreyer: Really really well, stressful and exhausting. We did two recording sessions; we recorded in Chicago in the fall, and got some things done. We went back this past month and finished the songs we had started and finished the ones we wrote after the first sessions. So it went really well, we're all really happy with it. 

Scene Point Blank: You said on your site the new album is different, what is so different about it?

Jordan Dreyer: I think it's inevitably different. It's been roughly two and a half years since our last release so we've all grown a lot, we're basically a new group. The bands we play with, the things we've seen change who you are as a person and shift your direction as well. It's still familiar, it's not like we're a whole new band. It’s still the five of us right but a lot of the time it has that effect.

Scene Point Blank: Do you have a favorite song off the new album?

Jordan Dreyer: I'm pretty happy with every one, it's one of those things where you just got done and we went on this tour so we haven't really had time to let it all sink in.

La Dispute / Native
La Dispute / Native

Related features

Mike Huguenor

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • July 8, 2025

Mike Huguenor Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien? Read more

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

Unseemlier

One Question Interviews • June 27, 2025

Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more

Dollar Store

One Question Interviews • June 26, 2025

Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass) SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together? Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a … Read more

More from this section

Arms Aloft

Interviews • June 23, 2025

Remember Election Day 2024? Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you've blocked it out. That's fair, but there was one pleasant surprise that day: a new EP from Wisconsin's Arms Aloft. It took a while to claw out of the darkness in November, then Year End 2024 coverage took over the Scene … Read more

Ilya Arbatman (Rotary Club)

Book store co-owner

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • May 13, 2025

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money. How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative … Read more

Chuck Ragan

Fly fishing tour guide

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • April 14, 2025

How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape). In this edition, we caught up … Read more