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Originally posted on Prime Directive blog, here's a piece I wrote about Disembodied:

Disembodied began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1995 and broke up in 2000. They released some EP's, a couple LP's, had a few songs on compilations, and did some touring - with Endeavor, One Eyed God Prophecy, Overcast and Shai Hulud among others.

They also had a monumental effect on the hardcore scene at the time. While they might tell you they wore their influences on their sleeve, most hardcore "kids" were oblivious to what those influences were. Disembodied were borrowing elements from certain metal bands, combining it with a hardcore background, and creating heavy, dark, and - most importantly for the future of metallic hardcore - seriously down-tuned music.

One of their first, if not the first, West Coast appearances was at Goleta Fest on July 19, 1996. Either through mailorder or when Justin [drums] had driven, alone, from Minnesota to California for Unbroken's last show in November 1995, a few copies of their "Existence In Suicide" CDep had reached California by this point - resulting in a palpable excitement for their set. This anticipation was somewhat shared by the band, although in a different form. As their bassist, Tara, told me: "I was fucking scared when we got there and they said we were playing last." My recollection is that she had nothing to be scared of as Disembodied absolutely slayed - even with their fill in singer. Again, according to Tara, "Aaron [regular singer] had either quit or got kicked out or both [so] Jodi from Chicago, the singer for [Everlast]" filled in. "We ended up leaving him in Boston on that tour and Justin finished the tour singing and Joel played drums."

Disembodied at Goleta Fest 1996:


3 days after Goleta Fest they played a church (!) on Orange & Cabrillo in Costa Mesa, CA with Enewetak, Endeavor, and Collapse. (Note: Immediately after this show ended, a group of us went directly to the Huntington Beach Library to see Texas Is The Reason & Gameface -- what a great combination of shows). Disembodied would return to Southern California a number of times over the next 4 years steadily becoming one of the largest out of town draws, especially at venues like the now defunct Showcase Theater in Corona, CA. After their break up in 2000 Joel [guitar], Tara [bass], and Justin [drums] formed Martyr A.D. who I had the honor of touring with a few times.

Goleta Fest

When we pulled up to the Fest and found out that we were playing last, we were pissed, nervous, scared, and confused. Why the fuck were we playing last? We had never been to California before, no one knew who we were, we felt like we really didn't fit into the show. We were scared that everyone was going to leave before we played. We asked and tried to fix it. We were so fucking freaked out, we were glad that we got there early enough to have time for it to sink in and get ready. 

It was getting close to the time we were supposed to play and of course we were all nervous. The stage looked huge, lots of people were there. It was scary. Joel was really nervous and had to shit all day. Of course the bathrooms were scary and flooded and if i remember correctly there either werent doors on the stalls or something like that. Joel used to get really nervous before we would play and always have to shit. So, i had to guard the door to the bathroom like 2 minutes before we were supposed to start. He HAD to shit so im keeping everyone out while hes shitting...

Then, we finally start playing and fuck, the stage is kinda bouncy and joel's head falls off of his cabinet, breaks my plug on my head. Shit like this always happened to us. Things always were a little off, something always had to happen to us. We fixed it, carried on and it was a great fucking show. 

We slept outside on the ground that night. It was a beautiful night. Then in the middle of the night, Joel wakes me up and has to shit. The doors to the club are locked so he has to walk like 4 blocks away to the gas station to go to the bathroom. That boy and his shitting. If you know him or us, or have toured with us, that is not anything new. We have had to stop in some weird places or just on the side of the road when he has to go to the bathroom. 

Anyways, that was a great weekend. Justin got his dick pierced in front of everyone. I don't know what he was thinking getting pierced there, it sure doesn't sound very sterile to me but I'm glad he still has his penis. 

-Tara

Disembodied's first show in OC

i dont remember much about this show, to tell you the truth. i remember being right next to tara (hence the close picture i snapped of her)
i remember them playing "feel" off of the 7" i had recently purchased, and a couple songs off of Existence in Suicide, which a kid named Marshall Lally had introduced to everyone.
i remember Endeavor and Kodiak jumping on the show, because they had played the Goleta Fest a couple days previous. Endeavor was amazing.. so heartfelt and raw.
the church was run by Aaron Stone's dad, and he had let us have a few shows there (the first hardcore formal was held there)



i asked Tara about the names of some of the songs, and she said they were working titles of some of the songs off Diablere.
notice that is NOT Aaron singing, as chronicled HERE



unfortunately, these were the only two photos i took of the show. well, i have one more of Jody but its basically the same only his hand is twisted into some sort of macabre "shaka" gesture.
maybe someone from Disembodied will expand upon this story !

I remember being really fucking stoked to play California. We had never been there before and we assumed that no one would know who we are because this was our first tour and we only had our first "demo" cd out at the time. I dont really remember much about the other bands that played. I honestly don't remember 18V playing the show but i have the worst memory so it doesn't surprise me. But, when we fucking started playing and kids knew the words to some of the songs we were fucking blown away. I remember we looked at each other and laughed. Holy Shit! We couldn't believe it. I knew that Justin had been to California and had gotten rid of some of the cd's but this was the first show (besides Goleta) that kids kinda knew who we were. I remember it being a good show, and then we heard that Texas is the Reason was playing nearby and we HAD to get into that show. We got in somehow and that was an amazing show. We met Marshall Lally and got to stay at his house. His house was fucking rad. We met his family and they were so nice. They let us stay there for a couple of days(in the apartment) and Marshall was nice enough to fucking cart us around to Hollywood. I think he got a ticket on the way because he crossed the double lines. That dude was a scary driver. 

Anyways, that was our first experience in California and we just fell in love with it. It was always our second home and our favorite place to play. Not to mention all of the friends we've made along the way.

for all who are dead

i remember the first time i heard Disembodied.
i remember the first time i saw Disembodied.
i remember when i got the idea to release all of the "rare" Disembodied songs on one disc.
i remember a lot of things about Disembodied, but not everyone was there, and there is surprisingly little information out there about this band.

this blog is going to be about preserving the memory of one of the greatest, heaviest bands ever... and it will also be about preserving the memory of the next few months. about the reformation of Disembodied, about them playing again. about them playing for people who have only dreamed about seeing them, and about seeing them again. to feel that feeling one more time.

there will be several forces behind this blog, including the band itself. this is not just some nerd sitting behind a screen, bragging about the colors of vinyl he has, etc.
this is a fully authorized fan site... but i need help. i feel the need to catalog all of the different pressings, all of the different colors of shirts and windbreakers and pictures from shows and flyers and set lists and videos and anything that has to do with Disembodied.

if you have ANYTHING to contribute, please email us at
ifgodonlyknew666@gmail.com

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