Dance Hall Crashers
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| Dance Hall Crashers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin |  United States |
|
| Genre(s) | Ska punk | |
| Years active | 1988–present | |
| Label(s) | Moon Ska, MCA, Pink and Black | |
| Associated acts |
Operation Ivy, Rancid | |
| Website | DanceHallCrashers.com | |
| Members | ||
| Elyse Rogers Karina Denike Jason Hammon Mikey Weiss Gavin Hammon |
||
| Former members | ||
| Scott Goodell Ingrid Jonsson Leland McNeely Tim Armstrong Matt Freeman Joel Wing Erik Larsen |
||
Dance Hall Crashers are a ska turned pop punk band from Berkeley, California, that formed in 1988. The band was originally made up of the members of seminal ska-punk band Operation Ivy, minus their singer and drummer. Since both Matt Freeman and Tim "Lint" Armstrong were interested in playing in a purely ska outfit, they recruited original drummer and ska enthusiast Erik Larsen. Erik, being a huge fan of music on the Trojan label actually came up with the name "Dance Hall Crashers," a fact that is never noted. The band's original logo and designs were created by Jacob "Kuba" Schwartz, the older brother of later singer Karina Denike Schwartz.
The band experimented with various songs and styles until they played the very first purely ska show ever booked at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley. Although the band played ska, the feeling and the vibe was definitely punk rock.
[For example: "Skinhead BBQ" was originally written as an instrumental song for kids in Doc Martens who liked to "skank." It reached its current form with the later addition of then-backup singer Elyse Rogers.]
Immediately following their debut, Matt and Tim decided to pursue other interests, mainly a new band called Downfall.
For the first year of the band's existence, Dance Hall Crashers would not have played any shows at all were it not for persistent self-booking by Erik and his partner and friend, part-time "toaster" Leland McNeely.
DHC then spent a period of time experimenting with various lineups, finally settling with Karina Denike Schwartz on lead vocals, Elyse Rogers on background vocals, Jason Hammond on guitar, Joel Wing on bass and Erik Larsen on drums.
Following a series of gigs and the usual ups and downs of a young band, DHC finally caught a break playing at an all-ska Earth Day festival at Berkeley's Greek Theatre in 1990. Also on the bill was legendary band Bad Manners from the UK.
As of August 2005, the band members lead separate lives but still play a few shows per year. In November 2004 they played and recorded a show at the Hollywood House of Blues; the concert was released by Kung Fu Records in September 2005 as part of the popular The Show Must Go Off DVD series.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
- 1989 - Say Cheese, Self-Released Demo (Cassette Only)
- 1990 - Dance Hall Crashers, Moon Records
- 1993 - 1989-1992, Moon Records (includes most of contents of first two releases, and some single/compilation material)
- 1995 - Lockjaw, MCA
- 1996 - The Old Record (reprint of 1989-1992), Honest Don's Hardly Used Recordings
- 1997 - Honey I'm Homely, MCA
- 1998 - Blue Plate Special (EP), MCA
- 1999 - Purr, Pink and Black
- 2000 - The Live Record: Witless Banter & 25 Mildly Antagonistic Songs About Love, Pink and Black
- 2005 - Live at the House of Blues (The Show Must Go Off live DVD)
Music by DHC has also appeared on a wide variety of ska, ska-punk, and pop-punk compilations, as well as movie soundtracks.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current
- Elyse Rogers – Vocals
- Karina Denike – Vocals
- Jason Hammon – Guitar
- Mikey Weiss – Bass
- Gavin Hammon – Drums
[edit] Former
- Scott Goodell – Guitar
- Ingrid Jonsson – Vocals
- Tim Armstrong – Vocals
- Matt Freeman – Vocals
- Joel Wing – Bass
- Leland McNeely – Vocals
- Erik Larsen – Drums (original)
- Joey Schaaf; keyboard
