Underground Lovers

Photo by Tanya Cale

My Disco make little electroclash glam boys wilt like a penis on shitty coke. Not only did they steal their name from Big Black, they took their true-til-death attitude from Señor Albini as well. They sound like the contents of a toolbox started a band: abrasive, utilitarian, and fucking cool. And they've even launched their own record label, Crashing Jets, to release their music. It all goes to show that underneath the bloated swell of sweaty, corporate musical offal, there exists an Australian rock underground resistant to the pull of ponytail guys with big wallets. These bands make the requisite twenty hour journeys in ramshackle vehicles along the overnight highways of the East coast, just to play a weekend's worth of music for a pittance and some free beer. There is no after party at the Marriott Hotel—just a floor to sleep on if they're lucky. This is the dream that My Disco are living. They do it all for love, as Peter Cetera would say. VICE: What inspired you to start your own record label?
Ben Disco: We felt it was the best way for us to put out our own material. I'm pretty brutal about wanting to have complete control over the music I'm a part of. Keeping it DIY means we can work it exactly how we want to, from the shows we want to play, the bands we want to play with, the music we want to release. The little exposure I've had to the whole rock industry in the past made me want to puke. So, is it love that propels My Disco?
For us this is not just about love or music, there is a politics that surrounds it all, and it's a whole life thing. I mean this is what I want to do with myself putting ourselves out there and showing people through our art, that you can do something more than what's expected. But do you love the endless touring?
The whole thing is about getting ourselves out to people. We operate largely without the machinations of the industry—the major labels, radio play and glossy magazines—to put ourselves forward. So we're heavily reliant on playing live in order to reach an audience. Our faith in the road is such that we invested in our own van before the band had really even started. We love our van, and that's about it.