 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Dambuilders" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The Dambuilders | |
|---|---|
 The Dambuilders, 1994. L-R: Eric Masunaga, Dave Derby, Kevin March and Joan Wasser. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Honolulu,Hawaii, United States |
| Genres | Indie rock |
| Years active | 1989–1998 |
| Labels | ¡Cuacha!,Elektra |
| Past members |
|
The Dambuilders is anindie rock band that began inHonolulu,Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated toBoston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. The band will be performing its first concert since 1997 at Drom Fest in August 2025, featuring Derby on bass and vocals, Sean Eden (Luna) on guitar, Claudia Chopek (Dexys) on violin and Brendan Canty (Fugazi) on drums.
The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990sBoston rock scene. The founding members—Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga, all fromHawaii—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) andJoan Wasser (violin). Many of the band's early recordings were engineered by Masunaga.[citation needed]
Their final studio album,Against the Stars, was released in 1997 byElektra Records.[1]
The band toured withLush,Weezer,Jeff Buckley,Better Than Ezra and others in North America, Europe and Australia.[2]
While the Dambuilders are generally considered an "indie" band, they received some commercial airplay with the single "Shrine" from their 1994East West Records releaseEncendedor. 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 inMTV's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s:Lollapalooza list.[citation needed]
Derby later assembled Gramercy Arms, a "revolving collective of musicians and artists".[3] Both Wasser and March have contributed, with Wasser appearing on both of their albums, including a vocal duet withLloyd 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 byDoug Gillard (Guided By Voices),Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Renee LoBue (Elk City) andChris Brokaw (Come,Codeine).[3] They are scheduled to release their fourth album in early 2024.[3] Derby's other output includes two releases under the "Brilliantine" name, as well as two solo albums:Even Further Behind (2003) andDave Derby and the Norfolk Downs (2007).[citation needed]
Wasser began performing under the nameJoan as Police Woman, releasing her first self-titled solo EP in June 2005. She released a full-length album, entitledReal Life, in June 2006, followed byTo Survive (2008),Cover (2009),The Deep Field (2011),The Classic (2014),Let It Be You (2016), withBenjamin Lazar Davis,Damned Devotion (2018),Joanthology (2019),Cover Two (2020) andThe Solution Is Restless (2021), withTony Allen andDave Okumu.[citation needed]
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 formedHot One with his old friendNathan Larson ofShudder to Think, releasing one self-titled album in 2006.[citation needed]
Masunaga now runs Modulus Studios, a mastering and DVD authoring studio, in Boston.[citation needed]
| Release date | Title | Chart Positions | |
| US Modern Rock[4] | |||
| 1991 | "Pop Song = Food" | ||
| 1992 | "Smell" | ||
| 1994 | "Shrine" | 13 | |
| 1995 | "Teenage Loser Anthem" | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
