Dismissed Take The Good With The Bad for 19 Years

It’s hard to believe that 19 years have passed since a young 24 year old Brandon connected with a band of youngsters that nobody outside of our very small small population of Orange/San Diego counties had heard. I remember eating some tasty tex-mex food at Chevy’s (remember that place?) here in Laguna Niguel, CA. back in early 2003 and through the talking noise of fellow patrons with full bellies of perfectly formed machine made tortillas, I discussed the future of IVM and a band, Dismissed. It changed my life, quite literally. The release of “Taking The Good With The Bad” not only cost me an arm and leg to print on CD and advertise but it propelled a new IVM label forward in ways I didn’t expect, regardless of whether or not there would be worldwide acclaim or some sort of financial success for those involved. I would have to say to both of those aforementioned prospects (I have a penchant for going broke and spending more than I will EVER bring in with this website/former label). It really didn’t matter in the end because I had some brief fun and the band got their voices heard. That album while not some huge mainstream success story, propelled a mostly unknown band forward and put IVM on the map at a time where it was live or die on the internet, jump ship and swim for shore or paddle through the rapids of life. I love that time period because it was my youth, love it or hate it, and I lived (survived) through it. I can’t believe I launched a website at 22, started a label at 24, and through these past 22 years, I am still swimming, some might say – treading water. Watching the band open for Fall Out Boy in San Diego at The Epicenter Club right after they put out “Take This To Your Grave” (Fueled by Ramen) in a sweat-filled yet seemingly vacant and oddly uneventful evening, was a highlight I’ll never forget. Getting them on a billing at Sonshine Festival in summer of 2003, sending them to Kauai to perform, and watching various local shows around town (CORE BOARDSHOP!, Chain Reaction, Coach House, Churches, etc.) was a thrilling time indeed. Dave Arthur (Lead Vocals/Guitar) had such a commanding, smooth, and alluring voice that truly led this band in different ways than their contemporaries. Heck, he was even asked to do the singing vocals on the As I Lay Dying “Shadows Are Security” album. This Love Juice Labs produced full length along with their final self titled EP (produced at same studio) in 2004 will go down as some of the finest early 00’s “emo/post-hardcore/punk” songs that most still never heard. Hey, I made a lot of mistakes, still do, but what I tried to do was share this sliver of hope I hold deep inside my somewhat wounded, with scar filled holes of a still beating heart inside this aching middle aged body of mine. God knows I tried to keep this all inside (oops, sorry Nate ;). Jesus can take a sinner like myself, with all his brokenness and naive, yet enthusiastic over-achieving, at times manic and most certainly bipolar mind to use it in some oddly strange manner that hopefully spelled hope on a stranger or two. Thank you friends for supporting Dismissed (those of you that did discover them) and most of all thank you for supporting Indie Vision Music for over 21 years now. It’s been a ride and if I still have that fire flickering inside for a few more years, then I’ll continue typing and sharing the only way I know how. Happy 19th Dismissed!