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The Dazzling Strangers is a loose affiliation of noise makers centered around the musical whims of Chris Streng. We make sounds that we don't hear elsewhere and attempt to stretch the boundaries of minimalism without being pedantic about it. The Strangers are going for a sort of aggressive ambiance which can be taken either consciously or as background music. What we're doing exists in parallel with contemporary underground music without sounding like anyone else that's out there. Our inspirations are taken from the worlds of film, art, nature, literature and fashion with an intentional debt to the primitive and deceptively simplistic sounds of early field recordings. We purposely sound how we sound and we're in a constant state of flux involving different band members and a rotating cast of inspirations. The debut Dazzling Strangers CD the Stars Are Ours is completed and available at our shows or you can write me here for a copy. Our second disc, An Hour of Frogs is just that: an hour long field recording of the deafening frog revelry that happens in the early Winter in the Sierra Foothills. This record will be available as a bonus with our upcoming third album Home On The Strange which is due for release in the summer of 2009 with a supporting tour of the Pacific Northwest to follow. My previous band was the Stratford 4 which were one of the few American bands to acknowledge the British shoegazer sound in the beginning of the new Millennium and we scored a minor indie hit with the song "Telephone." Our final album, Keep Your Crazy Head On Straight was shelved after Elektra records went under and, like many other people, I'd like to see it released in one format or another someday. Before that I played in Wave with Pete & Robert who went on to become the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. We threw a rather spiffy rave at the Purple Onion once which Robert was almost kicked out for being underage. We actually played quite a few raves & usually got on pretty well. Other bands I've played and/or recorded with recently include the Parks & Recreation and Cat Fancy! both from Portland as well as the Hospital Kids from Nevada City. I'm presently also playing drums (& recording) with Sasha & the Shamrocks and we've been rocking the all-ages venues from LA to Portland and beyond with a debut ep slated for 2009.
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