The Lowdown Dirty

Online interview for the single “The Angry Organ” - Paul Mash

Review of the album Rancor! and an interview with the band. - Indie Band Guru

The Lowdown Dirty and other acts play a farewell show to a long time, beloved venue in Greensboro, North Carolina, The Somewhere Else Tavern - Ryan Camp

The Lowdown Dirty and other acts play a Toys For Tots benefit - Holly Kozelski - The Martinsville Bulletin

The Lowdown Dirty and other acts donate their music to a fire benefit relief compilation in Australia. - Worldwide Underground

The Lowdown Dirty has their debut album RANCOR! reviewed by ISSUES Magazine - Issues Magazine

The Battle of the Bands was brought to you by Ink Therapy, Camelback Brewing Company, the Lee County Arts Council of Sanford NC. Kicking off the first Juneteenth at the local Brewery, our great competitors brought their talent to the City of Sanford. Starting with the Winner “The Lowdown Dirty” from Martinsville Virginia rocked out with their progressive rock band!
In Second Place was the Head Trip Trauma from Creedmoor, North Carolina brought a mix of hard aggression and high levels of energy.
And in Third place goes to “Danger Road” competing as a solo artists.
Also a great shout out to Orphan Riot, Audiomelt, and Fodder for performing a great show with us!
We want to thank you all for performing at the annual “Battle of the Bands” 2021 festival! We hope you all the greatest from your future endeavors and that your music will be heard by the greatest of audiences! We have enjoyed the performance by you all, with Ink Therapy and from our Sanford Community! - Ink Therapy

In what has been an interesting and difficult year for all musicians finding a way to push through has been most important. Success does not come to artists that sit there waiting for it. You need to make it happen and use your time wisely. Our friends from The Lowdown Dirty have put in the work and today are releasing their new self titled EP today as well as a video from their At Home Concert Episode 1.

We had the chance to chat with bassist Jason Mitchell about where they are at and where they are going next. Enjoy the interview below:

Hello Jason. It has been a while since we talked to The Lowdown Dirty vocalist Jordan about your last album Rancor!. How did the fans react to that one?

Glad to be here! This is my first interview so it’s awesome to get to weigh in on things. I think Rancor! was a really cool record for a lot of people. We don’t have any metrics outside of Spotify but we had 33k listeners, 52k streams, and it got played in 18 different countries which I never imagined would happen and definitely outside of the norm of the expectations I personally had when I first picked up an instrument. I never thought back in 2002 that anyone outside of the country would hear my music.

Seems like there has been a drummer change since last time. How did that come to be?

Well Rob is just a special guy. I sleep easy at night as a bass player knowing I have who I personally believe is the best drummer I’ve ever met. He’s elevated and matured what Scott and I do. He’s brought a flavor to the instrument that I think was lacking prior to him. I think with a lot of bands you can hear everyone’s voice and that’s how you get an original flavor. It’s just like cooking in your kitchen. The best recipes you can taste all the flavors complimenting one another. Some of the most original bands have that and most of my favorite bands have that.

It has definitely been a difficult year for live music. How did Lowdown Dirty handle it?

We learned A LOT about audio and video editing. We’ve started working heavily on our ability to create music for the audience at home as well as live in public. We’ve had some really great highs since we’ve been able to play again including winning a battle of the bands but we don’t want to forget anyone or leave anyone out. Plus we don’t know if it will continue to be safe to perform live music and this is an extremely necessary skill to have I think going forward. I hope this video will show our capabilities and I hope we continue to get better as we go.

What is it that drives you guys to keep creating original music?

I think we’re just wired to do it at this point. I know that each of us want to continue to evolve and push the boundaries of our instruments and our own individual abilities while respecting the contemporary form of a song. Each one of us love songs with great lyrics and meaning so we’re trying to find that perfect medium between instrumentation and emotion. I think that constant hunt is addictive all on its own when you truly enjoy playing your instrument.



We hear there is a new EP coming out today September 5th. What can you tell us about it?

Yes! So this video we brought you today is a live play-through of the opening song on the EP called Watts. It’s a six song EP with a powerful message at the beginning and a beautiful accompaniment written by Scott that really helps set off the five songs that follow it. We kept at our mission as “The Lowdown Dirty” as well writing about all the different issues we personally faced over the last year. I think those close to us will be impressed at the honesty we displayed in some our lyricism but I hope that everyone will be impressed at the musical maturity we’ve gained. Most of all I just hope it’s enjoyable. That’s all that matters.

It seems like the sound of The Lowdown Dirty has evolved. What prompted that?

I think having Rob come through and add a new flavor really allowed Scott to step up his early songwriting game and push us into new territories. Scott always starts the writing process on each song and I think you can hear so much spice in these guitar parts on this EP that I can’t wait to see what’s said. He’s my dude, he’s my brother, I think he’s criminally underrated and I think this is his time. Also how can I not mention Jordan? His range allows all this to happen. We couldn’t have these ideas and actually execute them without his abilities.

Share some advice for other bands keeping their music fresh?

If I had to give advice to that I’d just say know who you are. Everyone in your band needs to know who they are. I think, especially in metal, some really cool ideas inspire a certain culture around them and we’re all trying to pay respect to that while adding our own attempt at it, such as a breakdown or a guitar solo. We have to be careful how we go about that and just make sure you do the things you like to do and don’t let people tell you it’s stupid. I know so many incredible musicians who have these guilty pleasures that if they would embrace would really give them not only a special flavor but a genuine opportunity to bare their soul and they don’t because they’re worried about what people will say. I literally play a fully slapped funk song that’s followed by arguably our heaviest song ever on this record and give zero f#[%’s what anyone thinks about it.

How do you plan on getting this new album out there?

Well by the time anyone reads this it will have already been on every streaming platform and this time we’ll be doing our own CD distribution. We feel the last representation wasn’t as cool as we could do it ourselves so we gambled on ourselves and we hope everyone will want to pick up a copy from us! - Indie Band Guru

Jason Mitchell (BASSIST) of The Lowdown Dirty interviews with Mazement on his podcast. - Music Monday’s with Mazement

No music scene is complete. There are cliques. There are subsections. There are scenes within scenes, microcosms with torrents so strong, they will convince you that you are experiencing everything there is to experience.

So, what is strong enough to escape that microcosm? What can swim against the current and reach those other parts of the sea, where ships fly flags of varying shapes, colors and sizes?

The answer? An octopus.

As I sat down to video chat with Scott, Jordan, and Jason, I felt nervous. They are sonic behemoths. Massive guitar sounds, explosive-yet-precise drums, and searing vocals… hugeness is the mainstay of their musical footprint, like a tidal wave encroaching the beach.

I felt like a child standing before a canyon.

Nervously, I fumbled through my first question: “if your music were an animal, what would it be?”

Jordan, their vocalist, smiles. He says he loves the question and has been thinking it over.

“An octopus,” he says. Just like his singing, his speaking voice is confident and unwavering. He explains: octopi are expressive, adaptive, and have incredible reach.

“We express ourselves however we feel necessary. We don’t want to be boxed in…”

With multiple arms and the ability to blend in with its environment, the octopus is indeed powerful. Unlike the animal, however, this group does not change color as a means to survive; they change color because they can, because they want to. Like a mood ring, they express what’s within themselves simply because that is what’s there.

“Why do you play music?” I later asked.

Scott’s answer stuck out the most here. “I play music because I have to,” he stated.

It’s an inherent part of who they are; expressive beasts capable of escaping microcosms as well as creating them.

And how do you escape the ever-looming vortex? In the age of social media, shameless emulation, and the blurring lines between musician and influencer, it’s easy to get sucked in…

Jordan leans against the car. Cigarette smoke wafts in and out of frame. I’m not sure which member it’s coming from.

“Social media is a fucking cancer,” Jordan laments.

“But it’s necessary,” Scott adds. He doesn’t deny the soullessness of social media, but he admits that the modern age is incredible in terms of what it offers independent musicians. “It’s great for distribution… promotion.”

“Fair enough.”

“Personally… I want to do this professionally.” His face pops back into the camera’s view. He appears both weary and determined – a man full of creativity, a man with a wellspring so deep that it must be tapped into, sometimes to the point where it becomes absolutely dry.

“Even if I’m making the bare minimum,” he continues, “making just enough to eat some ramen before the show – that’s fine. That’s why I play. I want to do this for a living.”

Of course. This is the dream of many musicians. It is respectable, romantic.

In the background, Jason is nodding. “Music has always been there for me,” he adds. “Breakups, bad days, love sickness… it’s always been there, replenishing the well.”

“It used to be,” Jason is smiling as he looks directly into the camera – “you’d hand someone a CD, and you knew exactly where your art was going.”

But now?

“It’s a vast emptiness.”

Every musician faces unique, nearly dystopian obstacles. The industry has a new face; it is an everchanging, grotesque monster. A harpy. A siren with teeth. A microcosm. Scylla beneath the surf.

But The Lowdown Dirty is an octopus. And they will do continue to do what they do best: express themselves in colorful ways and use their powerful arms to become a force so fucking strong that no current in the world could ever hold them back.

The Lowdown Dirty is currently recording a new album. Stay tuned and keep your eyes on the current. - Dead Spy Magazine