Discipline – Push & Profit
by Louis Hesselt-van-Dinter
MUSIC UNCOVERED, 1994
Discipline is Matthew Parmenter (vocals, violin, recorder, synth) Jon Preston Bouda (guitar), David Krofchok (keys), Mathew Kennedy (bass) Paul Dzendzel (drums). Despite their name, they don’t sound anything like King Crimson, old or new. According to Matthew, the band decided to use the name after he heard it was discarded by King Crimson.
Most of the members of Discipline have been making music together since high school. Matthew originally played keys and sang, but when David came on, he moved to vocals.
Matthew developed the “Magic Acid Mime” for their live shows. “If I was going to be up front, I felt I should make it interesting. Some of the songs naturally yielded a costume. The face paint removes me from the characters I play, and I can confront the audience. It adds a surreal element which feeds off the passion in the music.”
Yes, it can be said that Discipline is reminiscent of Gabriel era Genesis. At times they do have the Hackett guitar and the Tony Banks keys, but that is the exception rather than the norm. It is also true, that many of the songs are structured in a manner that is similar to early Genesis, but the instrumentation is radically different, at times quite aggressive, and definitely not just neo.
Also available is Canto IV (Limbo), a live to two track cassette that was recorded in 1994. It most likely gives the most accurate picture of what Discipline is all about now since Push & Project was recorded in 1993. It has 3 songs, the 14+ min. ‘Canto IV (Limbo)’ and two other songs from Push & Profit. On. ‘Canto IV (Limbo)’ Brad Buszard replaces David Krofchok on keys.