The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone on with other musical projects, including the band's violinist/vocalist, Joan Wasser, as Joan as Police Woman. Kevin March also became well known in indie circles as the drummer of the band Guided by Voices, which he joined in 2002. Dave Derby is the leader and main songwriter of the New York City-based collective of artists known as Gramercy Arms, which has included collaborations with both Wasser and March.
The Dambuilders
The Dambuilders, 1994. L-R: Eric Masunaga, Dave Derby, Kevin March and Joan Wasser.
The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members—Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga, all from Hawaii—had played in a number of bands (such as the Exactones) before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and four-piece configuration. Early violin was provided by Debbie Fox. With Fox's involvement, nearly all of the band's songs had electric violin tracks. Around 1992, the "classic line-up" consisted of Derby (bass guitar and lead vocals), Masunaga (guitar), Kevin March (drums) and Joan Wasser (violin). Many of the band's early recordings were engineered by Masunaga.
Commercial successEdit
While the Dambuilders are generally considered an "indie" band, they received some commercial airplay with the single "Shrine" from their 1994 Atlantic Records release Encendedor. The song tells of a cross-cultural romantic courtship between the singer and a girl who "doesn't speak much English" but is familiar with the American music scene. In the song, the singer is willing to conform to traditional religious practices outside his own cultural sphere ("...if I stay with her I'll lose track of all time, so I light a candle to the shrine..."), but seemingly manages to stay true to his roots by redefining the acts as an aspect of his own non-religious, culturally inclusive belief system ("...and call it Rock n' Roll"). "Shrine" was ranked No. 17 in MTV's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s: Lollapalooza list.[citation needed]
Derby later assembled Gramercy Arms, a "revolving collective of musicians and artists".[2] Both Wasser and March have contributed, with Wasser appearing on both of their albums, including a vocal duet with Lloyd Cole on the band's "Beautiful Disguise" single and video. The band has also featured Cole, Sean Eden (Luna), Rainy Orteca (Dead Air, Joan as Police Woman, Lloyd Cole), Hilken Mancini (The Count Me Outs, Fuzzy, Colburn-Mancini) and Sandy Smallens (Too Much Joy), as well as guest performances by Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Renee LoBue (Elk City) and Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine).[2] They are scheduled to release their third album in early 2023.[2] Derby's other output includes two releases under the "Brilliantine" name, as well as two solo albums: Even Further Behind (2003) and Dave Derby and the Norfolk Downs (2007).
Wasser began performing under the name Joan as Police Woman, releasing her first self-titled solo EP in June 2005. She released a full-length album, entitled Real Life, in June 2006, followed by To Survive (2008), Cover (2009), The Deep Field (2011), The Classic (2014), Let It Be You (2016), with Benjamin Lazar Davis, Damned Devotion (2018), Joanthology (2019), Cover Two (2020) and The Solution Is Restless (2021), with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu.
March was also a member of Guided by Voices for several years and continues to do session work and tour with various artists. In 2005, he formed Hot One with his old friend Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think, releasing one self-titled album in 2006.
Masunaga now runs Modulus Studios, a mastering and DVD authoring studio, in Boston.
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Dambuilders news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for music Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources The Dambuilders news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu Hawaii USA in 1989 and later relocated to Boston They released seven LPs six studio albums amp one compilation and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998 Members have gone on with other musical projects including the band s violinist vocalist Joan Wasser as Joan as Police Woman Kevin March also became well known in indie circles as the drummer of the band Guided by Voices which he joined in 2002 Dave Derby is the leader and main songwriter of the New York City based collective of artists known as Gramercy Arms which has included collaborations with both Wasser and March The DambuildersThe Dambuilders 1994 L R Eric Masunaga Dave Derby Kevin March and Joan Wasser Background informationOriginHonolulu Hawaii United StatesGenresIndie rockYears active1989 1998Labels Cuacha ElektraPast membersDave Derby Tryan George Eric Masunaga Kevin March Joan Wasser Debbie Fox Contents 1 History 1 1 Founding 1 2 Commercial success 2 After the Dambuilders 3 Discography 3 1 Studio albums 3 2 Compilations 3 3 Singles 3 4 Extended plays 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditFounding Edit The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene The founding members Dave Derby Tryan George and Eric Masunaga all from Hawaii had played in a number of bands such as the Exactones before moving to Boston in 1990 The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three piece and four piece configuration Early violin was provided by Debbie Fox With Fox s involvement nearly all of the band s songs had electric violin tracks Around 1992 the classic line up consisted of Derby bass guitar and lead vocals Masunaga guitar Kevin March drums and Joan Wasser violin Many of the band s early recordings were engineered by Masunaga Commercial success Edit While the Dambuilders are generally considered an indie band they received some commercial airplay with the single Shrine from their 1994 Atlantic Records release Encendedor The song tells of a cross cultural romantic courtship between the singer and a girl who doesn t speak much English but is familiar with the American music scene In the song the singer is willing to conform to traditional religious practices outside his own cultural sphere if I stay with her I ll lose track of all time so I light a candle to the shrine but seemingly manages to stay true to his roots by redefining the acts as an aspect of his own non religious culturally inclusive belief system and call it Rock n Roll Shrine was ranked No 17 in MTV s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s Lollapalooza list citation needed Their final studio album Against the Stars was released in 1997 by Elektra Records In 1999 the band performed in Toronto 1 After the Dambuilders EditDerby later assembled Gramercy Arms a revolving collective of musicians and artists 2 Both Wasser and March have contributed with Wasser appearing on both of their albums including a vocal duet with Lloyd Cole on the band s Beautiful Disguise single and video The band has also featured Cole Sean Eden Luna Rainy Orteca Dead Air Joan as Police Woman Lloyd Cole Hilken Mancini The Count Me Outs Fuzzy Colburn Mancini and Sandy Smallens Too Much Joy as well as guest performances by Doug Gillard Guided By Voices Matthew Caws Nada Surf Renee LoBue Elk City and Chris Brokaw Come Codeine 2 They are scheduled to release their third album in early 2023 2 Derby s other output includes two releases under the Brilliantine name as well as two solo albums Even Further Behind 2003 and Dave Derby and the Norfolk Downs 2007 Wasser began performing under the name Joan as Police Woman releasing her first self titled solo EP in June 2005 She released a full length album entitled Real Life in June 2006 followed by To Survive 2008 Cover 2009 The Deep Field 2011 The Classic 2014 Let It Be You 2016 with Benjamin Lazar Davis Damned Devotion 2018 Joanthology 2019 Cover Two 2020 and The Solution Is Restless 2021 with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu March was also a member of Guided by Voices for several years and continues to do session work and tour with various artists In 2005 he formed Hot One with his old friend Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think releasing one self titled album in 2006 Masunaga now runs Modulus Studios a mastering and DVD authoring studio in Boston Discography EditStudio albums Edit 1989 A Young Person s Guide Cuacha 1991 Geek Lust Cuacha 1993 Islington Porn Tapes Cuacha 1994 Encendedor Elektra 1995 Ruby Red Elektra 1997 Against the Stars Elektra Compilations Edit 1996 God Dambuilders Bless America Elektra Singles Edit 1991 Pop Song Food 1992 Smell 1992 Shrine 1995 Teenage Loser Anthem Extended plays Edit 1993 Tough Guy Problem spinART References Edit Burland Chris November 1995 Dambuilders Eccentric Police amp Singing Angels Chart Attack Archived from the original on February 19 1999 a b c Gramercy Arms About Gramercy Arms Retrieved January 5 2023 External links EditThe Dambuilders at AllMusic VH1 page Joan As Police Woman Gramercy Arms Facebook page Gramercy Arms website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Dambuilders amp oldid 1131886777, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
