Progfest Focus: Dyssidia

Answered by: Corey Davis & Liam Weedall

Where does your band fall under the 'progressive' umbrella? With our most recent material, we incorporate a lot more textural elements of death metal. But with our harmony being strongly influenced by jazz fusion and impressionist classical, it's getting kind of hard to pin down to a certain sound!

What's your personal definition of prog? What distinguishes it from other genres? Anything that is innovative and forward-thinking, without being too derived from anything that already exists. When it comes to writing, for us, we always try to push boundaries for ourselves musically. Not overly indulgent or excessively technical, but just trying things that we haven't heard much of/at all before.

Do you feel Australia's prog scene is on the rise at the moment? For sure! I think Aussie prog has really started to become recognised internationally in the last few years especially. We've always had amazing bands and musicians here, it's just cool to see it flourish and bloom the way it is at the moment!

Is this your first Progfest? If not what's your fave memory, if so what are you expecting? We performed at the last Progfest at Corner Hotel in Melbourne and it was a killer night! My favourite memory was seeing Caligula's Horse headline to the sold-out crowd, the atmosphere was absolutely electric!

Does your band have any unique pre-show rituals? Not too unique I would think. Usually, we just do our own individual warm-ups backstage for 30-60 mins. Maybe have a beer or Red Bull/coffee depending on how our energy levels are at the time. That's usually enough to get our heads in the zone!

If you could get absolutely anything on the rider, what would you ask for? Hmmm, what a question! Maybe some good fresh food for before and a whole lot of beers for after. Nothing too extravagant, haha!

Which of the other acts are you most excited to see on the bill? Definitely over the moon about getting to watch Leprous do their thing. They've been a greatly admired band of ours for many years now and none of us have seen them live, so we're quite excited!

Do you have any advice for punters coming to see you at Progfest? Keep an open mind! We'll have superheavy parts alongside very soft and melodic sections, and everything in between! The whole festival has some of the best musicians Australia, and even the world, has to offer for this kind of music. We're amazed at how many killer bands are playing.

Website link for more info? dyssidia.bandcamp.com