It could have been the portioning off souls to some inert devil. Or it could have been an egg-headed, whisky-tongued promise made good upon and hatched into notes and chords. Whatever the origins of the pieces, they eventually settled into place as Decibully, a tag that was misnomer from go. Meekness and lack of pomp were what defined the group as far back as its inaugural performance in 2001. That first gig showcased three gents—William Seidel (gtr & vox), , Kenneth Siebert (gtr) and Nick Westfahl (keys)—struggling to be heard over the babbling of a barroom brook, cigarettes weaved between their guitars' headstock strings. Jason Gnewikow (ex-Promise Ring) was quickly reigned in to provide some slur-canceling percussive back beat. Before you can swing from the branches of the Decibully family tree, it's important to know that the band's hometown, Milwaukee, is a musical forest populated by unprejudiced, discretion-starved gnomes. In such a place, things bloom wildly. And things get tangled. Sounds and styles mix. Decibully, comprised of ex-players of everything from hardcore to twee pop, is a benefactor of the city's verdancy. They consider themselves blessed. And so members budded and fell until 2003, when a base was found in William Seidel (vox, gtrs), W. Kenneth Seibert (gtrs), Ryan Weber (keys, gtrs), Nicholas Sanborn (keys, accordion), Aaron Vold (drums), Justin Klug (bass). On steady ground, the unit holed up in various studios and attics throughout Milwaukee's Bayview neighborhood and began cobbling together what would become their first proper LP, City of Festivals. After Polyvinyl Records released that collection in autumn of 2003, Decibully immediately started cutting across the USA in support. Boosted by favorable reviews ("It's an amazing album that is almost too beautiful to listen to." – munchkinmusic) and the intimacy of the road, the band returned home with a batch of new songs coursing through their heads. After litmus-testing the cuts on hometown audiences, the group began committing City of Festivals's successor to tape. Back in Bayview's studios and attics, countless hours were spent meticulously piling layer upon layer. Eventually the seams were sealed and in March 2005, Polyvinyl began shipping copies of the new Decibully record, Sing Out America! The band once again traced America's highways and byways in support of their new album, Sing Out America! then went on to play a series of shows in front of receptive audiences throughout Europe in the late-spring of 2005, after which they slunk quietly back into their daily Dairyland routines.
We are currently putting the finishing touches on our third proper full length album, World Travels Fast, a collection of genre bending pop songs about growing old in the modern world. Added to the ever expanded family tree that is Decibully are Andy Menchal (bass) and Jim Nuemeyer (guitar) both from the late great Milwaukee band, Temper Temper. Look for our new music in late '08.
*decibully speaks!
*video for penny look down. directed by austin alward
*Live @ 400 bar Minneapolis 5/17/07 "Sing Out! Sing Out! Sing Out!"
*BOOKING WITH NICODEMUS AGENCY: feinbooking@gmail.com
*MANAGEMENT: miks34@aol.com
Hey--see you guys this FRIDAY at Turner Hall!! Tickets are available at the door and at Atomic Records. When buying at Atomic you get a free PBR Tall Boy voucher and you don't pay any ticket fees! Nice.
The Pabst Theater will be out at PBR Fest this Saturday in Bay View selling Decibully tickets for a straight $10!!! We'll also be signing people up to win a pair. Stop down!
Hey guys, I saw you last night and thought you were pretty rad. I remember watching you open for Dashboard Confessional a while back and really digging your sound but not really remembering what you sounded like so I decided to check you out again at Summerfest. Do any of your albums feature the first song that you played last night?
all right, here is what i am looking for... you playing in Louisville, KY. I miss some of you individually and all of you as a whole. I will even let you sleep on my couch (its pretty big) and take you to the track for horse racing and hot brown sandwiches....
Thanks for the add! I personally think you have been one of the best acts to grace the Carthage College campus since my coming to this school (a whopping two years). Hopefully I will see you guys at a show sometime again.
