The Story

as told by Patrick Calnan

A Tale Of Five Singers

Over the time that dyssia performed together, it was an in-joke with the band that we were suffering under an ancient Slavic curse condemning us to play instrumentals forever. I think it's an interesting story, especially since we never lost a singer due to "irreconcilable differences" or similar problems.

Martin Vyroubal

Our first singer was also our only male vocalist, Martin Vyroubal. Martin was a very happy and hyperactive individual who due to his Czech heritage, left me feeling lost and alone while outnumbered by Slavs. Sadly, poor Martin contracted a rare skin disorder which left him overly sensitive to the effects of the sun. Following many painfully bad jokes about vampirism, Martin departed for his homeland and a health spa to recover, becoming the first of our singers to leave us under friendly but unfortunate circumstances.

Libid Zyla

Our second singer was Libid Zyla who also left me feeling outnumbered by Slavs as she was of Ukrainian descent. But she was our first female vocalist and one who also brought Ukrainian folk songs and a violinist (Christina Linklater by name) into our repertoire. Band solidarity was not to be, however, as Libid was accepted into a theatre school in New York and had to abandon the group for her acting career. But our loss was her gain and quite probably a wise move on her part considering that the band's now permanently on hold and she's made a successful career for herself in the theatre.

Trina Michalek

The saga continued with the recruitment of our third singer, Trina Michalek. Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of her as she's one of our singers of whom we have no photographic evidence. As you might surmise from the name, the Slavic trend continued unabated as Trina's heritage included a significant Polish influence. Trina was the first of our recruits from the Black Triangle talent pool as she sang with them for a number of years. We talked her into joining us and even managed to get some recording and gigs completed before "the curse" raised its ugly head again. Trina came to us with the sad news that she was moving to Switzerland and we suddenly noticed the common element of distant travel associated with former dyssia singers! The Czech Republic, New York, Switzerland... coincidence? Unable to change the band into a travel agency, we nonetheless continued our struggle to find a permanent vocalist.

Holly Jones

Singer #4 was the lovely and talented Holly Jones who managed to stay with the band longer than any other. And, much to my relief, she was of Anglo-Saxon blood and was able to help me resist the insidious Slavic influence in the band. In case you haven't figured it out already, being in dyssia was similar to a crash course in United Nations diplomacy. Holly stayed with us for quite some time and even helped us record songs for the Rogers Community 22 TV production "cyberpunk.live" for which we provided the theme music (it helped that I was also co-hosting and co-producing the show at the time so we had an inside edge). But our doom was inevitable as Holly departed for the lofty academic halls of McGill University in Montreal.

Chantal Roach

Which brought us to our last but definitely far from least singer, Chantal Roach. Chantal also came to us from Black Triangle and was part of our very final public performance as a musical unit. Our newfound lineup with Chantal had only a few chances to record or perform as this time it wasn't the singer who left town, it was the guitarist and the drummer.

So Where Are They Now?

Following the first decades of the 21st century, we find the previous members of dyssia scattered across the globe. Some of us have kept in touch, more or less, and a few of us even managed to get together a few times for some nostalgia-filled jam sessions. Holly and I seem to have swapped hair styles lately although that certainly isn't voluntary on my part.

To a degree, the tale merely dwindles to a whisper rather than coming to some dramatic conclusion. No real lessons to be learned or morals to be taught. Simply some good times enjoyed and some creative energies expended.

Ciao!