The Dominant Complex hopes to dominate Denton music scene

by Rodrigo Vazquez Mellado Rosas of North Texas Daily

The band will release their debut EP this fall.

Photo courtesy of The Dominant Complex

The Dominant Complex

A new project that will shock dubsteppers, indie rockers, and classical music lovers alike has joined the genre-breaking musical landscape of Denton.

Founded by music and business sophomore Evan Scallan in the fall of last year, The Dominant Complex is a musical venture entirely composed of UNT students.

“It all started with me sitting down on the computer with a digital piano and an acoustic instrument, experimenting and producing different sounds out of Logic-Pro,” said Scallan, who strategically rounded up band members from UNT’s College of Music to help bring his musical experiment to the public ear.

Bassist and music and business freshman Connor French has been a musical partner of Scallon since the two met in Heath, Texas, during their high school years. Guitarist and jazz studies sophomore Kent Shores responded to an ad placed on the brick walls of the Music Building.

Drummer and music sophomore Isaac T. Gonzales brings his own experience and unique sound to the table.

“He comes from a drum corps background and has got the music chops and band experience to do the job,” said Scallon of Gonzales.

Gonzales keeps a steady Latin-influenced beat with clockwork precision that is the perfect foundation for the group’s trancelike bass lines to interact with the math-rock-infused guitars. Scallan finishes the picture with heavy synthesizer sounds and moody vocals that are often reminiscent of electronic producer Skrillex.

The band members have been polishing the musical feat of combining these disparate elements throughout their time at UNT, drawing influence from a variety of sources – bands such as The Mars Volta and Vampire Weekend, classical composers, and music history lectures are just a few.

“We’ll start some songs acoustic, then end up electronic, then combine classical music with modern music,” Scallan said. “It’s all over the place.”

The band has spent most of this semester playing house shows in Denton and recording their soon-to-be-released EP at the College Of Music’s recording studios.

French said making the EP had been a collaborative process.

“Evan will usually have a basic song structure and record it, leaving spaces open for everybody to collaborate,” French said. “Then it’s a group effort from there, and we pretty much all make it our own.”

The group will be dominating the stage at Bruce Hall at about 10 p.m. on April 19 for the annual Bruce Jam, a 12-hour lobby concert that includes dozens of bands from UNT.

The Dominant Complex will be selling CD copies of a recorded song and plans to release its finished EP at the beginning of the fall semester.

“We’ve found our sound, and that sound features many other sounds that vary from song to song,” Scallan said. “You have to listen to it to know.”

French cited a desire to play as many shows as possible once the group wraps up recording its EP.

“We are in this for the long run,” he said.