The Damnwells
are an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The band formed in 2001 and has released three full length albums, Air Stereo
(2006, Zoe/Rounder Records) and Bastards of the Beat
(2003, Epic Records), and One Last Century
(2009, self released). The original members of the Damnwells were Alex Dezen (lead vocals, guitar, piano), David Chernis (lead guitar), Ted Hudson (bass), and Steven Terry (ex-Whiskeytown) on drums. Over the years, they have toured most of United States and have had numerous television and radio appearances. Although David Chernis and Steve Terry left the band in 2008, the Damnwells, with core members Alex Dezen and Ted Hudson, still appear in changing formations. They garnered some attention for releasing their latest record, One Last Century
, as a free download, first from Paste Magazine's website, and later their own. [1]
|
THE DAMNWELLS TICKETS
|
Band history
The Damnwells first album,
Bastards of the Beat
, was recorded in a Manhattan Mini-Storage space and in lead singer and songwriter
Alex Dezen's bedroom. It was released on
Epic Records (
Sony/BMG) in April of 2003. The Damnwells' second full length album,
Air Stereo,
was recorded at Brooklyn Recording studios in Brooklyn, NY for Epic Records, but was released on Zoe/
Rounder Records after the band was let go from their recording contract with Epic in January of 2006.
Air Stereo
was released in stores nationwide on August 15, 2006.
The 2008 released motion picture
Chaos Theory features five Damnwells songs on its soundtrack.
[2] The Damnwells came into media spotlight in 2007, when
Chaos Theory lead actor
Ryan Reynolds and actress
Scarlett Johansson were seen as a couple at a Damnwells concert in Hollywood.
[3]
The Damnwells have shared the stage with many well known bands over the years, such as
The Dixie Chicks,
Augustana,
Cheap Trick,
The Fray,
Los Lonely Boys,
Blue October and
Cary Brothers. They have appeared at major music festivals such as
South by Southwest, and play regularly at renown clubs like the
Mercury Lounge in New York City, or
Double Door in Chicago.
A documentary detailing the Damnwells' struggles has just been completed, entitled "Golden Days." The film was directed and shot by documentary filmmaker Chris Suchorsky, and won Best Documentary at the 2007
Phoenix Film Festival in April of 2007. Suchorsky also directed the music video for the Damnwells' songs "Kiss Catastrophe" and "Sleepsinging."
On April 4, 2008,
Alex Dezen announced on MySpace that the band would most likely not appear in its original formation anymore. On his blog, he states that "The Damnwells has always been about my songs with extremely talented musicians and producers collaborating. The personnel has changed, but the essence [...] remains the same." Over the years, the band collective has included artists like
Julian Velard, Jay Barclay (member of
Ben Kweller's band), and
Alex Dezen's wife and Hollywood actress, Angela Dezen. The same year, the Damnwells posted acoustic versions of four new songs on
YouTube.
[4]
A new studio album,
One Last Century
, was released as a free download from
Paste Magazine on February 10, 2009.
[5] It was recorded together with drummer Andrew Ratcliffe, bassist Adrian Dickey, producer/guitarist Freddy Wall, and producer
Wes Kidd.
Alex Dezen had this to say: "I suppose the hardest thing to explain to people is why I’m giving this record away. 'You’re just going to give it away?' seems antithetical to the human brain. 'Is this just a bunch of b-sides or something? Some give away material you don’t mind releasing into the ether?' No. Quite the contrary. I have never worked so hard or put so much of myself into a collection of recorded songs. It is for just this reason that I want to give it away. To me it makes perfect sense. I just want people to hear this music, and I don’t want them to have to enter into some kind of contractual agreement with a third party to do so. Download the record, copy it and give it to your friends, lovers, and enemies. Whatever. It’s so hard these days just to get the actual music into people’s houses and cars, let alone their ears. Besides, I know everyone’s broke, maybe I can supply the soundtrack. So, I just want to give this music away because I want people to hear it. I should have done this years ago. I’m starting over." The album is still available as a free download from the band's own website.
[6]
Currently,
Alex Dezen is an MFA candidate at the University of Iowa's
Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he also teaches Rhetoric.
Discography
Albums
- Bastards of the Beat
(2003)
- Air Stereo
(2006)
- One Last Century
(2009)
EPs
- Heart Hazard
- PMR ("Poor Man's Record")
(2002), re-released as PMR+1
(2003)
- There's No One Left in Brooklyn But You
(2005, iTunes digital download exclusive)
Singles
Notes
- http://www.pastemagazine.com/thedamnwells
- Chaos Theory (2007) - Soundtracks
- Scarlett Johansson & Ryan Reynolds Heat Up in L.A. - Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson : People.com
- http://www.youtube.com/user/fuzzybunnies79
- http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/02/the-damnwellsone-last-cenutry.html
- http://www.thedamnwells.com/welcome/