Ever since Jonathan Graham (AKA DJ G) ended his legendary stint as Denton’s resident 80′s specialist at Hailey’s on Thursdays, there has been a void for those that respected his wealth of knowledge in regard to that beloved era.

As expected, various DJ’s have attempted to fill those knowing and nostalgic shoes, but many of them are overstretched with other varied commitments, so it’s understandable that they can’t always give the enormously complicated decade the attention it requires.

A couple of visits to the newest entry in Denton Thursday throwbacks, simply called “Disicipline,” has had me thinking that the original celebratory 80′s Night doesn’t need to be recreated at all. Rather, it was really time for something even deeper and more challenging to take place.

The members of Discipline (Andrew Haas, Kate DePetris, Shane English, Jonah Lange and Kathryn Falvo) have certainly dedicated themselves to both the deep and the challenging, and the records they play on Thursdays are often as rare as they are strange.  The group covers the more unknown entries in the dark worlds of Industrial, No Wave, Coldwave, Goth Rock and New Wave respectively.

Though it should be noted that the music isn’t always 80′s-specific, you can be certain that most of what you’ll hear at Discipline won’t be heard in its original format on most other DJ nights of any kind, and that’s by design. I spoke with founding member Andrew Haas about that design:

FrontRow: Tell us a little about how you all met and realized that you shared similar interests. I know you have been given a hard time (by me) about the number of DJ’s present, but what do you think separates your collection in particular from your fellow participants and what are the advantages and disadvantages of having so many people behind the booth?

Andrew Haas: Everyone who participates in Discipline has been a friend of mine for three or more years so I’m pretty familiar with all of our interests.  There’s a lot of music we all enjoy and then each of us tends to have some niche we like to indulge in. For example, I tend to go for the more extreme and noisier stuff as well as movie soundtracks.

There’s a lot of advantages to having five of us; It makes the night a lot more relaxed. If one of us can’t make it then there are others to hold it down, and you’ll hear a far broader range of music.  If it was just me and my record collection I think it would get stale quick.  I like to be surprised by what my friends play.

FR: Discipline seems to possess a slightly more austere approach and philosophy when compared to other DJ nights. For instance, each event is labeled an “Action.”  Is it safe to assume that this almost clinical style is derived from the equally cold nature of early Industrial record art?  What artists and artwork in particular would you cite as influences, or is it inspired by something completely different?

AH: Your assumption would be correct.  The “Action” is an homage to early industrial music. The seminal power electronics band Whitehouse called all of their shows “Actions”.  This was most likely influenced by Viennese Actionism, a 20th century art movement in which artists staged “Actions” that were generally transgressive live performances in a controlled environment.  In that way, I feel the use of the word is appropriate.  I don’t think it goes much beyond that.

FR: What separates Discipline from say 80′s Night or The Church? For people who aren’t as obsessive about collecting music, what do you think would be the main thing they would notice to indicate that this isn’t a typical theme-night along those lines?

AH: I understand how it’s easy to compare our night to the two aforementioned but I really don’t believe you would hear similar playlists at ours.  The stuff we play tends to lean towards the avant garde and the obscure.  That’s not to say we won’t play something like Ministry or Front 242, but the key difference is that isn’t the only thing you’d hear.  I like to think that a night like this would appeal very much to the older crowd at The Church; those that were interested in this type of music while they were our age in the 80′s.  The stuff we play is the stuff I wished they played at The Church.  Also, just to note, we don’t just play 80′s music but our collections tend to be 80′s heavy.

FR: In advertisements and invites for Discipline events, you see various genres listed, and then the promise of “other weirdness.” With all of the rehashing that went on in the past decade, it seems that the genuinely weird is hard to find or under attack. What do you think designates a particular artist or record as truly “weird?” Is it always a concern to “stay on message” or “stick with the program?” Would you take a DJ aside and have a talk with them for playing “Radio Free Europe” or “Just Like Heaven” back-to-back?

AH: I would never have to pull a DJ aside because it’s their night as well and they’re welcome to play whatever the f**k they want.  I also trust their taste and opinions.  A weird record is an honest record.  It wasn’t long ago that Denton was a melting pot of weirdos.  In my opinion, my generation is one of the most conservative generations to come about in a long time, and I think it makes for really dull and predictable culture.

FR: Since this event has such a focus on obscure music, I’m going to try something a little different here. I’m going to list some of the more common genres listed on your virtual flier and for each, list what you would consider too obvious and then what you would play instead [Ed note: List pulled since Haas refused]:

AH: I don’t like doing lists of bands.  It’s lazy and a checklist for cool.

FR: At recent events, I have heard Bathory, Chrome, Alien Sex Fiend, and Section 25. That’s a pretty eclectic mix, but has it been a concern so far that one genre has been overly represented? What do you think is the most common misconception or assumption about 80′s music? I still hear a lot of uninformed opinions on this subject.

AH: I’m really not concerned with playing balancing games.  If it’s good, it’s good.  There are no rules to what can and will or won’t be played.  I think when people think of the 80′s the first thing that comes to mind is new wave and punk. There’s just so much more to the decade, so many genres of music were created and fostered in the 80′s.  Every hip or new genre that come’s out is usually just people mining the decade for something to rehash.

FR: You’re probably aware of the press that Grave Wave and Witch House received in 2010, and I read a really comical and well-written rant against this modern mutation of a lot of the music you are influenced by.  It was specifically about an online mix and new bands that were labeled under the aforementioned genres, and it was posted publicly by one of the Discipline DJ’s, Shane English.  Do you agree with the sentiment in the note included here (simply titled “Grave Wave”) and it would it bother you to be associated with any of this music?-

“This branding is selling the worthwhile artists short. The mix has some great tracks but this internet faux-journalism genre-creating is definitely doing more harm than good. There’s also a lot of terrible, posturing/posing internet bands with instant influences on this list. Buy a Sequential Circuits synth and a Roland drum machine off of Ebay with Daddy’s extra holiday bonus and get your arty completely vacant girlfriend to do monotone vocals, mix in listening to mp3s of the first 5 bands that come up when you type in “industrial music”; if you have even the slightest talent and/or organization skills you’re halfway to getting one of these flash in the pan hip “grave wave” labels to put out your record.” -Discipline DJ Shane English via Facebook

AH: Shane’s completely correct. I think it’s simpleminded. Electroclash 2.0. I really dislike tastemaker blogs. How many bulls**t genres can we come up with in the next decade?

FR: If it does bother you, how much would someone have to pay you to perform a Discipline Action at a “Grave Wave Festival” in Ibiza this summer?

AH: Hah.

FR: It should also be noted that you make your own music.  How does getting prepared for a DJ night compare with getting ready for a show where you will be performing music you have composed?  A lot of people assume that being a DJ requires little work or skill.  Have you found that to be the case?

AH: The work is in coordinating the event, keeping up with the promotion and communicating with all of those involved.  DJi-ng is about as hard as carrying two turntables and a crate of records.  I tend to think it requires very little “skill.” 2/5ths of Discipline had never DJ-ed before the very first night.  Can you put a record on a turntable?  Can you slide a knob back and forth?  That’s the extent of it.  The real test is in the DJ’s taste.