My Dear Disco
is a musical group based in Ann Arbor, Michigan [1]. Released in January 2009, their debut full-length album, DanceThink LP
, fuses electro-pop, funk, rock, and techno into a distinctive sound the band members have dubbed "DanceThink." Named one of the most promising bands in the nation by the American Eagle New Music Union, My Dear Disco was invited to perform at the A.E. Music Festival hosted by Anthony Kiedis and rounded out the rest of their summer of 2008 schedule playing at BlissFest, Hoxeyville, Dunegrass, Feel Good Festival, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass [2]. The buzz generated by their electric stage shows and newly released techno-pop tracks have earned the seven-piece ensemble spots on the roster at 2009's Wakarusa Festival and 10,000 Lakes Festival, where they will be performing with Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Galactic, and Widespread Panic, among others. [1]
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MY DEAR DISCO TICKETS
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Beginnings
My Dear Disco evolved from founding member Tyler Duncan's instrumental endeavor, Toolbox, which developed while he was an undergraduate at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
[4] With guitarist Theo Katzman and bassist Christian Carpenter, fellow undergraduates studying in the music department at U of M, Duncan developed experimental tracks of using Irish bagpipes as the lead instrument and a laptop to mix bass music and techno drum beats. Toolbox grew into a sextet as guitarist Bob Lester, drummer Mike Shea, and keyboardist Joey Dosik joined the group, but it was the addition of the band's seventh member, vocalist Michelle Chamuel, that shifted the musical direction of the band. Chamuel, who was a classmate of Duncan's, had recorded a track with guitarist Lester independent of the Toolbox project, but her voice left an indelible impression on the members of the band. Upon hearing Chamuel's vocals, Duncan knew the band would need to change its course.
[5] The result was a name change to My Dear Disco and the solidification of the band's current line-up. Duncan switched from bagpipes to the synthesizer, but occasionally pick them up again during live performances. The ensemble's accomplished and eclectic style is a reflection of their diverse and extensive musical training at U of M, where their areas of study ranged from classical drum to jazz to performance and technology.
DanceThink
Having trouble classifying their genre-defying sound, My Dear Disco invented the category "DanceThink Music," which is meant to stimulate the feet and the brain. The band enlisted Grammy-nominated engineer
Mark Saunders, who has developed albums with
Shiny Toy Guns and
The Cure, to help hone their debut album in his REEQ Studios in New York City. There, My Dear Disco developed their first full-length album, fittingly entitled
DanceThink
.
Discography
My Dear Disco
EP (2007)
DanceThink
LP (2009)
References
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