What is The Dillinger Escape Plan?

This question proffered to the record-store clerk who hangs out in the metal/hardcore section, with his long hair and Children of Bodom t-shirt, draws the following answer – “DEP? They’re an American mathcore band. They’re pretty brutal, man.” The odds of that guy selling a DEP record just skyrocketed. First of all, what the fuck is mathcore? To those of us who aren’t mathematicians probability is confusing, calculus is a bitch and by that equation mathcore must suck. (Note: record-store guys are hardly helpful when attempting to define a band.)

Pose the same question to Liam Wilson, the current bass-player for DEP who graciously phoned in from the United States to help demystify the Dillinger myth, and he says, “Shoot your way out. I think that was the basic idea, as I understand, about where the [Dillinger Escape Plan] name came from.”

‘The Dillinger Escape Plan’ is a reference to the criminal John Dillinger who was notorious for his daring bank-robberies and miraculous prison-breaks in the 1930s depression-era America. “I think the name happened really spontaneously – they were getting ready to do a show, they needed a name and somebody spat that out. I don’t think it was even anybody in the band.” A great deal of thought may not have gone into the name but, as Liam points out, it’s unforgettable and obnoxious. “Definitely that whole ‘Shoot your way out’ attitude – it’s a great metaphor for us.”

John Dillinger was not your regular burglar. He was more a bank-heist-artiste with taste for ostentatious theatrics. One of his methods was to walk into banks claiming to be a sales-rep for a company that sold alarm systems in order to asses the security systems and bank vaults of his prospective targets. On another occasion, The Dillinger gang pretended to be filming a bank-robbery scene for a movie. As bystanders smiled and looked on, they made off with the loot.

DEP are also known for memorable shows. In fact they are an incendiary live band – literally and figuratively. Singer Greg Puciato is seen fire-breathing during a performance of the song 43% Burnt on YouTube. “It happens every once in a while, unfortunately in this day and age a lot of promoters are not keen,” explains Liam. “A lot of promoters will be like, ‘If you do that you’re not getting paid’.”

Also on YouTube: DEP kicking off a set at a Virgin Megastore somewhere in the US, and as the music cranks up Greg tries to run over the crowd. “There’s always gonna be something, venue permitting, maybe something you can climb on. I feel like Greg is always gonna try to take everything to that next level, that’s just in his nature. I would assume that it’s gonna be like that no matter where we are.”

Although Greg Puciato seems to be at the centre of the insanity, he is not the sole chaos-monger. On stage, each band member is a miniature cyclone – flinging their bodies and their instruments with spasmodic abandon, while playing note-perfect renditions of their complex compositions. “There are parts of it, when you’re playing some of these songs, where it’s just you imagining something to do with electricity, a hotwire kinda feeling like you just jumped on an electric fence.” Liam is also quick to point out that it isn’t a concerted effort to sensationalise their performance. “I think the fans kinda forget that we’re not up there to put on a show for them as much as we’re up there to do what we like to do, and hopefully they’re gonna come up and watch it.”

Post bank-heist escape was not the only type of getaway John Dillinger achieved. The most famous was from the ‘escape-proof’ Crown-Point jail. Dillinger miraculously conjured up a gun (which is said to have been carved out of wood or soap), with which he threatened prison officials, took hostages and made off with the Sherriff’s car. The odds were always stacked heavily against John Dillinger, but he was a man who never allowed himself to be shackled by the laws of common-folk.

Fast-forward to the mid ‘90s with the band Arcane in focus. Described by Liam as “more or less a typical hardcore-punk band”, Arcane consisted of current Dillinger guitarist (and sole surviving original member) Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minikakis, Chris Pennie, Adam Doll and John Fulton. “I think that’s what eventually turned into Dillinger because it was just a matter of, ‘Okay, now we’re just playing very typical music.’” It was John Dillinger-esque restlessness, a refusal to be trapped by rules and boundaries that prompted the transformation. “Ben and Dimitri were more the punk element and Chris, Adam and John were more the technical element.”

The necessary tools for the DEP’s first escape – breaking out of the ‘hardcore-punk’ gaol – were at hand. “Ben, Chris and Adam had such a great vocabulary between themselves, so I think it was just a matter of taking the more prog stuff that they were doing and making it more aggressive.”

The debut full-length released in 1999, Calculating Infinity, was lauded by the critics. The free-jazz noodling sandwiched between bursts of malevolent hardcore, the dizzying technical instrumentation and surgically precise time changes appeased lovers of aural violence as well as discerning tech-heads.

The second escape was from the pigeonholing prison came after the Irony is a Dead Scene collaboration with Mike Patton (of Faith No More, Tomahawk, Fantomas fame). The LP that followed, Miss Machine, found the aforementioned schizoid ‘mathcore’ tracks sitting next to Faith No More influenced pop-rock and brooding post-metal atmospherics. DEP’s latest album Ire Works continues to push the envelope. The glitchy, electronic Sick on Sunday plays like it was created by a black-metal worshipping sibling of Aphex Twin, while Milk Lizard finds swaggering riffs accented by horns, tailed-off by soaring choruses and tumbling piano.

Any claims to DEP going ‘soft’ can also be laid to rest. “On this record I went into the studio and the producer was like, ‘What sound are we going for?’. Instead of saying I wanna sound like Jaco Pastorius or Cliff Burton, I was kinda like, ‘I want my bass to sound like a fuckin’ chainsaw.” Sure enough, the heavier tracks on Ire Works are as vicious as ever. “There’s that one section in that song 82588: it’s really a stabby staccato, where for us it’s kinda like a Latin clave-ish kinda part, that’s set up to this pretty aggressive point. To me even that sounds like a stab theme; imagining stabbing someone in the chest.”

Dillinger legends past and present are fraught with danger. John Dillinger was constantly on the run, narrowly avoiding death in the numerous shootouts with police and the FBI. Personnel within his gang changed constantly – either shot, or arrested and executed by the authorities or removed by Dillinger himself.

DEP have not had an easy passage to their present, somewhat stable state. Only Ben Weinman remains from the original line up. The casualties include Adam Doll and Brian Benoit through injury while Jeff Wood, John Fulton and Chris Pennie departed citing the usual “creative differences”. Liam joined in unfortunate circumstances, replacing Adam who was paralysed from a car accident. He acknowledges the tough initiation. “I remember when I joined, I was one of the first ‘rookies’ and Dimitri was really hazing me pretty hard. There wasn’t a minute that I felt like I wasn’t gonna be kicked out or something. Now I know better than to think that’s gonna happen, it wasn’t really ever the case, but your self-consciousness sometimes gets the best of you. I felt like this band was so volatile, and that hasn’t changed.”

The latest additions to the family, Jeff Tuttle and Gil Sharon, are being introduced to the DEP lifestyle in a similar manner. “On these last couple of tours we have been breaking Gil and Jeff in a lot. We’ll be throwing them in a van – ‘Alright, let’s go play some shows and drive all night’, or ‘Okay, this show got cancelled, so we’re gonna make a bulletin on MySpace and book a show at some community rec centre. You’re not always gonna get a sound check, you’re not always gonna get monitors, you’re not even gonna get a stage sometimes – deal with it, this is how the Dillinger Escape Plan rolls’. More often than not it’s not the case anymore. More often than not we get a legit venue, with soundchecks and good staff, but there are definitely times that we try to break them or at least try to give them an element from the past.”

John Dillinger was also somewhat of a philandering ladies man, a trait that ultimately contributed to his demise. On 22 July 1934 John Dillinger attended a movie at the Biograph theatre in Chicago, accompanied by a pair of women, Polly Hamilton and Anna Sage. Sage had made a deal with the FBI and played a crucial role in tipping them off about Dillinger’s whereabouts. In the ensuing gun battle, Dillinger was killed. Anna Sage is said to have worn a red dress on that night and is now mythologised as ‘The Lady in Red’.

“How are the ladies?” Liam laughs. “These days there are definitely more of them, but unfortunately we’re in our late 20s early 30s and most of them are like 18. So it’s awesome to see them there, but most of us have some sort of serious or semi-serious relationship – as serious as you can be when touring this much. Y’ know, we’re not Motley Crue,” concludes Liam, dismissing any possibility of a woman derailing the progress of DEP.

However a betrayal of sorts did threaten the existence of the band. Chris Pennie, one of the two surviving original members of DEP, at times appeared to be at odds with the rest of the band. “There were times when we’re on stage and Chris would be in a bad mood and deliberately play things wrong or fast or whatever, just to fuck with us, y’know? Like he was kicking us in the balls, trying to steal the show in his own way.”

Pennie left DEP just prior to the recording of Ire Works to join Coheed and Cambria, but the band persevered, finding a replacement drummer in Gil Sharon and recording their strongest album yet. “For better or for worse we do get along a lot better than we ever did and without Chris in the band there’s a lot less interpersonal drama or lack of communication. We are a lot more willing to open our mouths when we need to. Chris was always so serious and now there’s more of a sense of humour.”

A number of fans were worried that the defection of Chris would be the shot that killed DEP. They can rest easy. There were no reports of Chris Pennie wearing a red dress the day he quit the Dillinger Escape Plan.

The Dillinger Escape Plan tour has arrived. Don’t miss the band with all guns blazing at the following shows.

Tues, May 13 – Capitol Theatre, Perth

Thurs, May 15 – Live on Lighthouse Square, Adelaide

Fri, May 16 – The Palace, Melbourne

Sat, May 17 – UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney

Mon, May 19 – The Arena, Brisbane