Revolution Above Disorder

Chris Peters
30 Jun 2022
After his involvement in a number of Dublin and Vancouver based bands over the years, Stephen Nicholas White realised that there was a different path for him to walk. In 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic when most bands were waiting to get back together, Stephen conceived a new solo project that would allow him the complete creative freedom he needed. 'I've gradually grown a little sick and tired of the arduous process of trying to align the lives of multiple people around a shared creative endeavour', he told Superfan News 'I struggle with the decision-making process in a band, and I’m not a huge fan of compromise either!'. Fortunately there was an easy way to avoid all these struggles by going at it solo which is exactly what he has done with Revolution Above Disorder.
Thankfully shedding all that extra weight has not come at the cost of any of the music's depth or variety. In fact upon first listen, you would never guess this was a one man project. Revolution Above Disorder's debut single, Illuminate, is a psychedelic shoegaze tune with a nice mix of guitars in the foreground, background... and underground! The lead vocals are dreamy and tired but layered nicely with angelic backing accompaniment to lift it up and add to that ethereal atmosphere.
Illuminate was released in October of 2021 along with a synthy electro-pop inspired club version and an acoustic rendition. This year two further singles have been released on Stephens own label Skinner Box records. Scream Quietly trades some of that blanket of guitar for some more sparing and thoughtful electronic effects taken from the adolescent years of the synth-pop movement. The most recent single, Annihilator, returns more to that layered sound but with the bonus of some really interesting and unexpected instrumentation. Occasional strings, a solitary piano key, wild psychedelic effects riddled throughout. It's a real parade of some of the influences that have shaped the final product of Revolution Above Disorder.
With such a dense and diverse sound it's important to get that right in the live setting and unfortunately the last year has not exactly been the heyday of Vancouver's live scene. 'It’s been a tricky start for the live incarnation of this project because of Covid. It's been pretty stop/start lately in Vancouver. Our debut show got cancelled due to a provincial lockdown, and then our scheduled opening slot for BJM also got cancelled.' Fortunately the tides are now changing and several shows have now been played as a three piece and a five piece band. 'The second show we got to play was opening for Modern English. That was more fleshed-out than previous show[s], a five-piece with live drums and keys. It’s interesting to feel it morphing and finding its feet in the live setting, the response has been super enthusiastic.'
So with three singles out and a list of live dates for the summer the next step would be to get out something a bit longer and luckily there is something in the works. Revolution Above Disorder are currently working on an EP which is aiming for release this Fall. The breadth of sounds displayed across the catalog so far suggests we can expect an exciting record with a veritable soup of instrumentation and effects touching on countless genres from the last four decades. Find Revolution Above Disorder on all major streaming platforms and be sure to follow so you don't miss the release of that EP. Find everything you need at linktr.ee/revolutionabovedisorder
