Meet DSCO, a four-piece band from Chula Vista, California. DSCO is a newer addition to our San Diego scene, along with many others that came during the resurgence of music once venues opened back up after COVID-19. DSCO has stood out to many local listeners with their unique and catchy sound and is playing increasingly more as time passes. Let's see what the band has to say about the local music, getting the band together, and what they have in store for the future!

BAND MEMBERS' NAMES, WHAT EACH PERSON PLAYS, WHERE YOU ARE FROM, AND WHEN THE BAND ORIGINATED.

"Nathan Magers, lead guitar and vox. Andrew Domingo, bass. Mauro Rocha, drums. Cruz Alarcon, rhythm guitar. DSCO HQ is based in Chula Vista."

WHAT MADE YOU GUYS CHOOSE THE NAME "DSCO" FOR YOUR MUSICAL PROJECT?

"I, Nathan, liked the idea of DSCO looking like an acronym for something, but it means nothing. It's kinda like how Dave Grohl thought Foo Fighters was a good name because it sounded like a group, but in reality, it was just him. I dig the sense of illusion."

HOW DID THE BAND FORM? WAS IT CHALLENGING TO FIND A GOOD FIT FOR BAND MEMBERS?

"It was difficult finding committed members at first. DSCO's current iteration resulted from an Instagram post-Nathan put up looking for a bassist that Andrew ended up replying to. Nathan and Andrew practiced with a different drummer and guitarist but felt something was missing. Then they recruited their friends Mauro and Cruz to play drums and guitar."

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LIVE SHOW MEMORY?

"Collectively, our favorite live show memory so far is from earlier this year. We played a house show at SDSU thrown by Salsa Verde Club, where we were playing in a packed corner of someone's backyard on a wobbly wooden pallet stage. It was the perfect stage setup for the energy that was going on between us and the audience."

"Honorable Mention: Our very first show last year that we ever got to play together. It was at SOMA and kind of symbolized a new chapter for each of us musically. Nathan was finally able to perform a bunch of different DSCO songs live for the first time, Andrew and Cruz started routinely playing live shows, and Mauro was finally warming up to the idea of playing drums again with a new group of people."

WHO ARE SOME OF DSCO'S INSPIRATIONS?

"Arctic Monkeys, The Frights, Foo Fighters, Muse."

LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR SELF-TITLED ALBUM THAT CAME OUT IN DECEMBER OF 2022. WHAT WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS LIKE? WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES IN GETTING IT FINISHED?

"Before the current lineup was established, Nathan started writing and recording our latest album over the span of about a year. Nathan and his buddy, Dylan, from Valle Verde Studios, set out to record together and try to reel in some new sounds for the album. This resulted in some darker tones, both lyrically and sonically. The only challenges they faced during that time were procrastination and time management. This was super apparent during the mixing process. It can get pretty overwhelming when you have 10+ songs, all with very different personalities."

WHAT IS (IF THERE IS ONE) THE OVERALL THEME/MESSAGE OF THIS ALBUM?

"The album doesn't really have an overall theme or message. Musically, we want to have killer energy that can get the listener up and dancing. The songs in themselves are stories that convey their own individual messages."

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SD MUSIC SCENE? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU PERSONALLY THINK THE SCENE EXCELS AT OR NEEDS TO WORK ON?

"We'll let Mauro answer this question since he has been involved in the music scene for a while: In the SD music scene, you can be whoever you want to be, and play whatever tunes your heart desires. I haven't seen any one genre dominate in these past couple of years. Shoegaze, indie, metal, it's all bubbling together. Right now, we're in the middle of a new wave of musicians that are working hard to establish themselves."

"What I feel is lacking lies within venues and promoters. I HATE seeing all-ages shows with $20 entry fees. It makes no sense to me. Especially when there are no more than four acts. Having such a high cost reduces accessibility and the chance that a pedestrian could stumble across our marvelous world. I'll definitely be diving back into booking shows this year and return to curating shows that I would want to attend."

WHAT ARE DSCO'S PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

"Playing more shows around Southern California and outside San Diego to try and grow our sound, but we are also aiming to come up with some new material together to hopefully put out in the near future. We are very excited to work on some new songs since we haven't really had the chance to since we started performing as DSCO. Also, we want to start spicing up our setlists as well with songs from our discography that we've never played before."

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COME TO OUR SHOWCASE THAT DSCO IS PLAYING AT FRIDAY THE 28TH!

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