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Take four young-ish men: a Brit, a Canadian, a Good ol' Boy and an Army brat. Stir in an unusual mix of divergent influences rounded off by an intense affection for the perfect three minute pop song. Add richly melodic, catchy songs that transcend those influences in spades. With sensible haircuts. No bullshit. What the hell else do you need, kids?
Alan Martin, the singer
Day job: Reluctant Suit
Personality: ADD boy
Prefers to let the music do the talking... ACTUALLY! No really, I'm just extremely lazy about these things so it takes me a while to get around to it. Anywhay, I met all these guys through Dempsey and we have been working on this DBA thing and all. The Beatles would be where it all started (like our music isn't an obvious tell). Although, Dempsey constantly tells me that this or that song sounds like X musician/band when I don't think I've ever heard X in my life. XTC, The Kinks, Jethro Tull (sorry Dan) and others would be those that have permeated my meager musical brain. Lets see.... a few of my favorite things: Female body parts, longs trails of water on the window, slinkys on escalators and long walks through deserted streets. Thanks to everyone involved for their musical guidance and as always, to anyone who will listen to our music.
David Needham, drums
Day job: Professor
Hobby: drums
Personality: enthusiast
e-mail me by going to http://www.myspace.com/crstlmkr
I was born in close proximity to my mother, in a little town called Oldham, nr. Manchester, England. I started playing drums as a kid, (see Li'l drummerboy pic), and I remember telling my Mum that I want to be a drummer when I grow up! My Mum said, "But David, you can't do both!" (Ba-da bum). I also played trumpet, and gave up drums when I was about 16, --it was easier to carry on the bus. I played in Brass Bands in and around Manchester, and Nottingham whilst at college. I rose to prominence as a backrow 3rd cornet player with the World Brass Band Champions at the time, Wingates Temperance Band, from West Houghton, nr Wigan, and our biggest gig,? --the Albert Hall, London England.
I took up drumming again about 6-7 years ago, when I met a drummer at the gym, now one of my close friends, Dawson Rourke (--The Trout Band). Before DBA, I played with a few local Chapel Hill bands: Lobsterboy (music from the '90s, --the 1890's, fun olde time stuff, what the keyboardist called "White Trash Gothic); then there was Bengt, -(-alt country); The Nancy Fiator band, nice easy going blues band, gigging mostly up in Hillsboro; then a 6 month stint with Southern Edge, out of Angier NC, and my immersion into Country, Rock and Blues, southern-staayul (Merle, George Strait, Hank jr., --first time I heard this stuff was when I downloaded it off napster!); and finally DBA about 3 years ago. So, there you have it. My responsibility is to my drums, (Gretsch, Zildjan, and Anton Fig Signature Yamaha snare).
Q: What do you call a drummer who leaves his girlfriend?
A: Homeless.
Bass Guitar: Dempsey Elks
Day job: Control of Electrons
Personality: Affable
I grew up in the BBQ triangle on the costal plains of Eastern North Carolina. I made an attempt at drums and trumpet before I bought a cheap classical guitar and learned some chords. Later I discovered the joys of bass.
I met Alan through an XTC fan newsgroup and found out he had written a bunch of songs so I thought we should start a band. A friend introduced us to David and off we were. After numerous attempts at finding a guitar player I bugged Dan until he came over to jam with us and to our surprise he didn't think we sucked. We needed a guitarist for a gig so we recruited Scott and plied him with lots of after rehearsal Sushi and it worked.
Scott DeMattos, Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Ukulele, Keyboards
Day job: Making sure 1's and 0's play nice
Personality: Post Coffee-Buzz Crash
A native of Boston, I've been living in North Carolina since age 11. I first touched a guitar at age 9 but wasn't ready for it at the time and didn't pick it back up until age 14. The keyboards just seemed to happen on their own since there was a piano in the house and no one else seemed to want to play it. Dempsey mentioned his band had just finished their first CD and would be playing a festival show, so I volunteered my services for the performance. After a year of playing shows and developing songs for the second CD, I declared myself a permanent member of the band when Dan Bryk moved to New York. My years of performing in cover and original bands have put me on stage at "Festival for the Eno", Durham, NC; "Lazy Daze", Cary, NC; "Downtown Live", Raleigh, NC; "Kerr Lake 4th of July", Henderson, NC; "Autumn Arts Festival", Wake Forest, NC; to name a few. I'm happy to be bringing my years of performing experience to the band so that you may enjoy the live show as much as the recordings.
Dan Bryk, pianorganist, former member, mentor and Pop Genius
Day job: Sheet Feeder
Personality: The fat Monkee
It only took about a year of Dempsey bugging me to come and "jam" (his term) with his band. It's super nice to not be the singer. I tend to just close my eyes and play and do hard drugs and try to channel Martin Duffy and smack my leslie whenever it stops spinning. Post-rehearsal sushi was definitely an inducement, but I've come to love playing with these guys so much, I even stop dissing the remaining Beatles when I'm around them. (Still thoroughly immune to the dubious charms of the Tull, thank God.)
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