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BIOGRAPHY

Area 51 was conceived in Los Angeles in 1994 by Douglas R. Docker (keyboards, vocals) and Mio Nakamura (vocals, guitars). It originated as a reaction to several years of efforts in trying to break into the Los Angeles music scene with various hard rock and progressive rock projects that didn’t seem to interest anyone in the bleak days of grunge and alternative music. The duo decided to write a commercial album of “intelligent pop” that would include their main influences while being as radio friendly as possible. The result was a bizarre hybrid of electronic space pop/rock with R&B melodies, a unique blend of progressive rock songwriting, AOR vocals and synth pop arrangements.

In June 1995, Douglas R. Docker and Mio Nakamura relocated to Italy where they spent some time setting up the new Planet of Freedom studio. Originally calling themselves Opera, they prepared a 4-song demo that was presented at the MIDEM Festival in Cannes (France) in January 1996. The demo attracted some mild interest from Japanese and Northern European labels, but the band decided to go ahead and release a full-length album independently on their own label (DNA Records) and to seek distribution. The album was recorded entirely on hard disc, making it one of the first CDs to be produced without any tapes.

In spring 1996, the band decided to go through a radical image change: the name was changed to Area 51 and the general look on the album cover became that of an apocalyptic wasteland with futuristic costumes. The CD was finally released on 14 August 1996 and the duo started travelling around Europe in search of distribution. This objective was achieved in Scandinavia and also online, as the album became available on Yahoo’s Audionet.

In September 1996, Area 51 developed a script to shoot a promotional video, but unfortunately this never materialized. In December 1996 the band recruited Sergio Pollone (drums), Paolo Bruno (bass), Rossano Zinico (guitars) and Roby Pretto (vocals and acoustic guitar) to start performing live and eventually to have an album release party in winter 1997. As it turned out, only one gig was ever played in February 1997 at Bastia Umbra (Italy). This very successful showcase effectively officialized the end of Area 51.

EPILOGUE

Why did it all end so abruptly? Area 51 sent hundreds of demos and CDs to record labels and distributors in dozens of countries on three different continents. Three attitudes prevailed. The local Italian music scene took offence at such a theatrical ‘80s sounding project in a period where everyone was playing “modern rock” in T-shirts and camping gear. Major labels were just as clueless as they are today, and they passed on the project in droves. Indies were much more interested about what Area 51 was trying to do, but they all agreed that the album was too commercial and needed major label support to break through the market. So Area 51 was lost in limbo. Ironically, most reviews agreed that every song in the album had “hit potential” and praised the quality of the songwriting, of the production and of the package.

Area 51 also proved to be a questionable choice for a band name. Soon, dozens of bands were calling themselves Area 51, from punk to hip hop acts, grunge and “modern rock” outfits, none of them with any connection whatsoever to science fiction. In this confusion, the band became one of many and eventually failed to emerge. After more than a year of struggling, Area 51 was shelved and Douglas R. Docker and Mio Nakamura formed Night Fever, which quickly evolved into the most famous and successful theatrical disco music act in Italy. Although the original members are not involved any longer, the band is still active and just as successful under the name Disco Inferno.

THE SONGS

The first songs to be written for Area 51 were “The Last Secret”, “Good Times” and “Mr. Mister”. “The Last Secret” was an instrumental song developed in 1991 by Enrico Gilli, a guitarist that often collaborated with Douglas R. Docker in the early ‘90s. “Good Times” evolved from a 1992 jam between Douglas R. Docker and Ruggero Catania (guitarist in Africa Unite, the most popular reggae band in Italy) and “Mr. Mister” was written entirely by Mio Nakamura when she moved to Los Angeles in 1991. Most of the remaining music was written by Douglas R. Docker in Los Angeles. “Join the River” and an early version of “Wait For Me (I Will Follow You)” were written in the fall of 1994, while “Night Time”, “The Seventh Flower” and “Turn Around” emerged early in 1995. Once back in Italy, Mio Nakamura wrote several additional sections to these songs, worked on the arrangements, the guitar parts as well as on a substantial amount of the vocal melodies and lyrics. Finally, Douglas R. Docker wrote “Area 51 (E.B.E.)” and “No More Dreamers (In the ‘90s)” at the end of 1995, and it was decided to add a classical cover, “Dido’s Farewell” from the Purcell opera Dido & Aeneas, to close the album. Douglas R. Docker took care of the keyboards, most drum programming, backing vocals and lead vocals on two tracks. Mio Nakamura handled all guitars and most lead and background vocals. The album was embellished by the presence of Douglas R. Docker’s father, Donald D. Docker, who played an amazing sax solo on “Turn Around”, as well as some sax and clarinet lines on “Good Times” and “Dido’s Farewell”.

THE LOOK

In case you wondered how the album’s look came to be, the costumes were bought at a renaissance fair in Los Angeles, and they looked futuristic enough to fit the general atmosphere. The cloudy sky is a natural photograph of a sunset in the area of Pinerolo, at the foot of the Alps in North-western Italy, while the buildings on the left corner come from the beaches of Fort Mahon in Piccardy (France). The church and the German blockhaus have now been destroyed. The sand, the UFO and the black sky were artificially created with image softwares available at the time. The CD itself was designed as a UFO seen from above as the band always fond it amusing that the CD had to “fly” from the jewel case to the player to be heard.

THE FUTURE

Area 51 has been inactive since January 1997. For now there are no plans to resuscitate the project with a second album, but interest seems to have picked up again, now that “modern rock” has become as dated as everything else. New rave reviews have appeared, and new requests to purchase the album have increased. It is therefore VERY likely that 2009 will give Area 51’s debut album “In the Desert” a second chance with digital distribution. Please stay tuned for updates. To make sure you get the latest, why not join the mailing list under the player? It’s free, with no strings attached and it will give you a chance to find out what’s going on in the strange world of Area 51.