My peak interest in post-hardcore dates back to a period between 2010 to 2012. I was in the loop with all of my favorite bands, like The Color Morale, The Plot in You, and Dance Gavin Dance. I’ve never been a fan of band drama (or drama in particular), but I understood that member changes would have to happen for some reason or another from time to time. When Jonny Craig returned to Dance Gavin Dance in 2010 and released what would be my favorite album from the band, Downtown Battle Mountain II, I was confused by the sudden change, but looked past it.

Recently, I got to thinking: what if Kurt Travis had never departed Dance Gavin Dance after their fantastic Happiness album? Kurt wasn’t exactly kicked out, but amicably left at the behest of the band with their opportunity to reacquaint with Craig. Kurt would go on to join A Lot Like Birds and enjoy five years of success finding his niche with them, before forming Royal Coda in 2018 and creating even more great music.

I would surmise that if Kurt remained with Dance Gavin Dance, we would have gotten quite the different album than Downtown Battle Mountain II. While Kurt and Jonny had quite talented performances, they were distinct in their own right; Jonny derived his delivery from soul, whereas Kurt is as funky as funky could be. The follow-up to Happiness would likely have leaned towards the latter in musical composition to mesh with Kurt’s distinct voice.

The further trajectory also comes into question. Would Jonny have gotten a headstart in launching Slaves? Who would A Lot Like Birds have added for vocal duties? Would Tilian Pearson have found a different band to front? There are so many hypothetical questions that stem from this one change. It would be a butterfly effect that surely would have sent swancore down a different direction, as this was a critical timeframe to inspire the bands of today, like Wolf & Bear, Coletta, and more.

For more reasons than one, I am thankful that the current state of events transpired. I have been a fan of Tilian for a decade, and he’s flourished with Dance Gavin Dance, making them my current favorite band by a country mile. Slaves has gone down a road to be one of the hottest bands in the genre, going four for four with their recent singles ahead of their new album with Matt McAndrew. Royal Coda also honored Kurt’s time with DGD, entitling their sophomore effort Compassion.

Dance Gavin Dance’s compelling and turbulent past has led them to release their ninth LP Afterburner, reaching the top 20 in the Billboard charts with their last three releases. The vocalist shake-up was quite fun to watch in the early part of the decade, but they’ve stuck to their concrete line-up once Tilian joined the band in 2014 and are still going strong, as are Royal Coda. Now, what if Kellin Quinn’s tryout for the band was a rousing success and he joined the band instead of Sleeping With Sirens? The possibilities are endless with Dance Gavin Dance!

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