For Melbourne threesome My Disco two plus two may equal four and the quickest path between points A and B may be a straight line, but music need not be an exercise in replicating the same old formulaic rock signatures. On their debut full-length of last year, Cancer, the band matched an intense disregard for conformity with an austere devotion to their own minimalist aesthetic.

Formed in the summer of 2003, My Disco consists of long term collaborators Rohan Rebeiro (drums) and brothers Liam (vocals, bass guitar) and Ben Andrews (guitar). The trio quickly built up a cult-like following on the basis of their visceral live performances which they backed up with a couple of vinyl releases, Collapse of An Erratic Lung in 2003 and Language of Numbers in 2004, amongst numerous more unconventional releases. But from dabbling in unusual formats to touring the musical hotspots of South East Asia, this is a band unafraid to eschew convention – a sentiment backed by the articulate dialogue of Ben Andrews.

“You’ve got to, I guess, or it becomes a bit static and boring,” is Andrews’ humble response to the topic of musical progression. “I think it’s just part of our nature.”

Cancer was a definite shift in trajectory for the band. Compared to previous material it was just, well, more refined. Born out of personal struggle – Liam had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease during the recording of Language of Numbers – the album title also captures the clinical nature of My Disco’s music. Its eight songs, at barely 24 minutes in playing length, revel in an acerbic intensity founded upon minimal rhythms, jarring repetition, and sparse, yet cutting vocals. The listener, like the suffering patient, is advised to make the most of what they’ve got.

“As musicians we’d kind of done the more technical mathy stuff before,” Andrews asserts, “and I guess, although we never really talked about it, we started going towards a more stripped back, refined and minimal sound instead of just heaps of distortion. It’s a bit more rewarding to leave a lot more space in the music rather than filling up every beat and every bar.”

Thankfully Liam has been in remission for about 18 months now but that is certainly no signal for My Disco to play it safe. “The newer stuff we’ve been working on post- Cancer that we’re going to record later this year is even more refined and even more simplified to having one bass idea or bass note even and then a heavy rhythm and minimal guitar; really abrasive, cold and clinical sounding,” he says.

“[The concept is] just to make it as minimal as possible, to explore some ideas that are as far away from your typical rock music as possible. We definitely don’t listen to a lot of normal rock music, if you will, and we have pretty broad tastes. I can see it drawing on influences from the late 70s post-punk sound, the no-wave kind of stuff and even Gang of Four kind of influence, but then again it has a real ESG sort of primal dance aspect to it as well.”

My Disco don’t fit into the typical name-dropping game, but one name that often pops up in reference to the band is Steve Albini of Shellac, Big Black and Rapeman fame. It helps that the band was named after a Big Black song but soon enough both parties may have a stronger connection to speak of. Andrews lets out that September or October will likely see the band head for Chicago to record album number two at Albini’s Electrical Audio studio.

“Everyone tells me he works really quick and that he’s a fast-paced engineer, which is what I am interested in. I just want to kind of bang it out and capture that kind of visceral sound that we’ve got live. I think our recordings kind of lack that live energy sometimes,” he admits. “Not in a bad way – our live show and in the studio are very different things. They’re opposite in a way; live is this sweaty, on the spot moment, where recording is such a clinical, laboured effort. This time we want to get it as close to the live thing as possible.”

That live show has taken My Disco play with such acts as Deerhoof, Mogwai and Comets on Fire and tour throughout Australia, over to North America, the UK and Ireland, as well as the unlikely destinations of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Andrews describes their South-East Asia trip in 2005 as a rewarding journey. “It took over a year to organise because not many bands go there. It was pretty full on, but it was just nice to play somewhere that was not, you know, like the US, really saturated with gigs and shit going on all the time. Some of the shows were just in really small villages. One in particular, Bandung (Indonesia), had a big volcano at the top of the village. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a volcano site but it smells like rotten eggs.”

This April and May marks a new chapter in the incisive My Disco periodical with another tour around Australia, including shows in many regional areas.

Wednesday 11th April – The Loft, Warrnambool
Shp6/ 58 Liebig St, Warrnambool
Tickets $5 from the venue or on the door

Thursday 12th April – Vic Hotel, Port Fairy
42 Bank St, Port Fairy
Presale tickets $6 from Vic Hotel, $8 on the door

Friday 13th April – Rocket Bar, Adelaide
142 Hindley St, Adelaide
Tickets $10 on the door only

Saturday 14th April – East Brunswick Club, Melbourne
Tickets from East Brunswick Club box office, 280 Lygon St, ph. 9388 9794 or via the website www.eastbrunswickclub.com

Sunday 15th April – Peninsula Lounge, Moorooduc
Tickets $10 on the door only

Thursday 19th April – Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta
Cnr Warner Street & Marine Parade, Coolangatta
With Ground Components
Tickets $10 from Coolangatta Hotel (Cnr Marine Prd &Warner St) ph. 07 55369311 or via the website www.coolyhotel.oztix.com.au, Sunflower Music (Pacific Fair Broadbeach), Head Hi Music (Burleigh Heads) Music Mania (Southport)

Friday 20th April – The Zoo, Brisbane
711 Ann St Fortitude Valley
With Ground Components
Tickets $12 from www.thezoo.com.au and Phone Sales 1300 762 545, Rockinghorse, Skinnys, Butterbeats (City & Valley), Moshpit, Music Mania and Sunflower Records

Saturday 21st April – Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Jonson St, Byron Bay
Free entry

Tuesday 24th April – Altitude Bar, Port Macquarie
Galleria Building, William St, Port Macquarie
Free entry

Thursday 26th April – Lucky Country, Newcastle
Cnr Crown and Hunter Street, Newcastle
With The Instant and Alps.
Tickets $8 from www.bigtix.com.au or $10 on door

Friday 27th April – Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Tickets $12 from www.annandalehotel.com

Saturday 28th April – Transit Bar, Canberra
7 Akuna St, Canberra
Free entry

Saturday 5th May – The Bakery
233 James St, Northbridge
Tickets $10 from 78s, Mills, Planet and www.heatseeker.com.au

Sunday 6th May – Norfolk Basement
47 South Tce, Fremantle
Tickets $10 from 78s, Mills, Planet and www.heatseeker.com.au

Thursday 10th May – National Hotel, Geelong
191 Moorabool St
Tickets $8 on the door only

Friday 11th May – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Cnr Field and Camp Street
Tickets $8 on the door only

Friday 18th May – Republic Bar, Hobart
With The Nation Blue
Tickets $12 on the door

Cancer is out now on Numerical Thief/Stomp.