Systems Edge: An Interview with Dion Lunadon & Show # 1026

Uncompromising rock and roll is a good term to use when describing the music of Dion Lunadon. With his latest and third full-length album Systems Edge out on In The Red Records, he explores the intense and wild framework of rock music, revealing a sense of gritty rock and roll, garage and punk sounds. When describing the music, bands such as Raw Power-era Iggy & The Stooges, The MC5, Rowland S. Howard, David Bowie, Ramones come to mind, but these are only reference points. After creating music for many years in different groups, his solo efforts have been described as a “voyage through self-discovery” and the listener is along for the ride. The first single for this album arrived near the end of 2023, less than a year after 2022’s Beyond Everything. “Secrets” delivers a new sonic space within the makeup of Dion’s music. Fuzzy guitar, basslines and catchy choruses delve into 70s punk and power pop aesthetics and opens Systems Edge with something you might not expect.

“Nikki” is a noisy punk edged track with driving bass, drums and chaotic guitars as lyrically it seems to tell a horror movie inspired story of a dark romantic fantasy, “Diamond Sea” is one of the standout tracks on Systems Edge. In a press release about the song Dion had this to say about the song: “Diamond Sea is about the first time I took acid when I was about 16 with my best friends. We were the only ones on a beautiful giant beach. It was about 5am and we watched the fog disappear as the sun came up. Half of those people are alive and half are not. This song is for them!” Moving into glam rock territory, the song starts off with guitar and drums, when the bass hits glam rock vibes echo elements of David Bowie and The Spiders From Mars mixed with New York Dolls styled rock. The lyrics in “Diamond Sea” cut deep with a sense of the idyllic being contrasted with the existential. “I Walk Away” simmers with gritty intensity that you wouldn’t think was possible after hearing some of the tracks that precede it. The lyrics such as “I see the view/Sweet retribution/With no one to defend you,” and “I wanna stay/But you know I won’t,” have Lunadon wading through a world surrounded by antagonistic negativity. A one-note organ part during the chorus adds further tenseness while drums crash and guitars build with climbing sinister riffs.

“Rocks On” is a combination of body shaking bass grooves and energetic guitar work that doesn’t follow a predictable song structure. As the chorus hits, its intoxicating melodies grab a hold of you as the song exposes the cracks of a cold society. “Shockwave” is a noisy, dirtier sounding punk song. Dating back to a recording from the first album that Dion released, this song fits at home here with its thrashing drums, lethal guitars and a penetrating, yet catchy chorus. “Grind Me Down” slows down the pace a bit with yet another groove heavy bass riff in between steady drums and wild frenzied sounding guitars as lyrics such as “You grind me down to nothing/You can’t I’m already dust/Serenade to someone/Lies shrouded in love/Shake it off” and “I Couldn’t see your love,” which repeat throughout the song in a fervent fashion. This song conjures up a danceable anarchy, as the lyrics search for meaning in the embers of a fragmented situation or relationship.

“I Don’t Mind” arrives as a deep cut on Systems Edge at track nine of ten. With fuzzy basslines, crunchy walls of guitar distortion and a catchy, mesmerizing bass and a drum heavy chorus of “I Don’t Mind/If I never see you again,” Lunadon sings of a corrosive toxic relationship that he avoids for his own well being. Further lyrics such as “Don’t wanna be a low life zero/I don’t wanna be an open cut,” “I walk across the street/To get away from you/I cut my mind so deep/And stitch it up real crude” in the verses add to the universe created in this character driven song as unrelenting, wild guitar licks and bends further stress the frustration and friction of the song’s dynamics. “Room With No View” ends Systems Edge. The longest track on this album at almost eight minutes, the live and spontaneous feel of this slow, heavy dirge of a song digs into darker lyrics as it delves into blues and psych rock elements, while also being a style of its own. Throughout Systems Edge, Dion Lunadon delivers ten songs that don’t always follow a standard formulaic song structure, providing an unpredictable collection of songs that reveals something else with each listen. Systems Edge breaks from the cycle of the bland and journeys through a universe of real, uncompromising rock and roll.

Listen the interview that Revolution Rock did with Dion Lunadon here:

Systems Edge Playlist (Originally Aired On February 17th, 2024):

1.  Dion Lunadon - Eliminator (Dion Lunadon - Agitated Records - 2017)
2.  Dion Lunadon - Negative Energy (Schreien EP - Discofridge - 2020)
3.  Dion Lunadon - It’s the Truth (Beyond Everything - In The Red Recordings - 2022)
4.  Dion Lunadon - Shockwave (Systems Edge - In The Red Recordings - 2023)
5.  Dion Lunadon - Diamond Sea (Systems Edge - In The Red Recordings - 2023)
6.  Dion Lunadon - I Don’t Mind (Systems Edge - In The Red Recordings - 2023)

DION LUNADON INTERVIEW PART I

7.  Dion Lunadon - Nothing But My Skull (Beyond Everything - In The Red Recordings - 2022)

DION LUNADON INTERVIEW PART II

8.  Dion Lunadon & Kate Clover - When Will I Hold You Again (When Will I Hold You Again - Single - 2020)
9.  The True Lovers - Obsession (The True Lovers - Altra Records - 2010)
10. A Place To Bury Strangers - Straight (Album Cut)
11. Nothing At All! - Busted (Nothing At All! - Zerophonic - 1995)
12. Nothing At All! - Get Some (Nothing At All! - Zerophonic - 1995)
13. The D4 - No Antidote (John Peel Session 2002) 
14. The D4 - Exit To the City (Original 4 Track Radio Single Version) (6Twenty One (Digital Version) - Flying Nun Records - 2022)
15. The D4 - Come On! (6Twenty - Flying Nun Records - 2001)
16. The D4 - Get Loose (6Twenty - Flying Nun Records - 2001)
17. The D4 - Do No Right (Out of My Head - Flying Nun Records - 2005)
18. The D4 - Stops Me Cold (Out of My Head - Flying Nun Records - 2005)
19. Dion Lunadon - Com/Broke (Dion Lunadon - Agitated Records - 2017)
20. Dion Lunadon - Goodbye Satan (Beyond Everything - In The Red Recordings - 2022)
21. Dion Lunadon - Room With No View (Systems Edge - In The Red Recordings - 2023)

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the February 17 file to download/stream the episode.