Dance Gavin Dance

Dance Gavin Dance

Dance Gavin Dance performing at Warped Tour in 2009
Background information
Origin Sacramento, California
Genres
Years active 2005–present
Labels Rise
Associated acts Emarosa, Tides of Man, A Lot Like Birds, Slaves, Consider the Thief, Secret Band, Strawberry Girls, Five Minute Ride, Sianvar, Hail the Sun, Stolas
Website Official Facebook
Members Jon Mess
Matt Mingus
Will Swan
Tim Feerick
Tilian Pearson
Past members Alvaro Alcala
Jason Ellis
Zachary Garren
Kurt Travis
Sean O'Sullivan
Eric Lodge
Jonny Craig
Josh Benton[1]

Dance Gavin Dance is a post-hardcore band formed in Sacramento, California in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Tilian Pearson and Jon Mess, guitarist Will Swan, bass guitarist Tim Feerick and drummer Matthew Mingus.

The band has released six studio albums and one EP thus far. Their latest album, Instant Gratification was released on April 14, 2015 through Rise Records.

History

Formation and Downtown Battle Mountain (2005–2007)

Dance Gavin Dance was formed shortly after the dissolution of guitarist Will Swan, drummer Matt Mingus and bassist Eric Lodge's previous band, Farewell Unknown. After recruiting screamer Jonathan Mess, singer Jonny Craig joined the band after being released from Ghost Runner On Third due to conflicts within the band. The name "Dance Gavin Dance" derives from an earlier band. They released a self-produced EP, Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean, which was subsequently re-released on November 14, 2006 through Rise Records.

Their debut full-length album Downtown Battle Mountain, produced by Kris Crummett, was released on May 15, 2007, on Rise Records. The band toured with Alesana and A Day To Remember in support of the album.

In August 2007, guitarist Sean O'Sullivan quit the band and was replaced by Zachary Garren. In November 2007, singer Craig quit the band, and was not allowed to rejoin when he asked to, due to extreme tensions and personal conflicts with the other band members, as stated by the band in an interview conducted by Submergemag.com.[2]

Self-titled album (2008–2009)

Shortly after Craig's departure, the band held auditions for a new singer; Nic Newsham of Gatsby's American Dream chose not to join but guested on the song "Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most", on their self-titled 2008 album. Kurt Travis, formerly of Five Minute Ride, O! The Joy, and No Not Constant became the band's new singer.

On April 20, 2008,[3] Dance Gavin Dance entered the studio to record Dance Gavin Dance with Kris Crummett helming the role of producer once more. It was released on August 19, 2008.[4]

Before the album was released, but after it had been recorded, two original members Jonathan Mess and Eric Lodge left Dance Gavin Dance. No official statements were made by the band or the departees regarding the departure. Jon Mess had recorded the album knowing that he was going to leave the band. It is generally accepted that Mess, in addition to suffering from Lyme disease, was tired of constant touring, and Lodge simply followed suit, as the two were best friends.

Following their departure, Will Swan took up screaming duties alongside playing guitar, and Jason Ellis (formerly of Five Minute Ride) replaced Eric on bass. The band filmed a music video for the song "Me and Zoloft Get Along Just Fine" with director Robby Starbuck which was released November 18, 2008. Jon Mess' voice was lip synced by Will Swan in the music video.

Happiness (2009-2010)

In February 2009, the band went into the studio as a five piece to record the follow-up to their self-titled album yet again with producer Kris Crummett. The resulting album, Happiness, was released on June 9, 2009. Bassist Jason Ellis appears on Happiness, but left the band before its release. He was replaced by Tim Feerick. The album marked a change in the band's sound. It features significantly less coarse vocals than the self-titled album, and is more in the vein of experimental rock than traditional post-hardcore. All Music stated in their review, "Happiness bristles with the kind of overachiever eclecticism that's as impressive as it is divisive".[5] A music video for the track "Tree Village" was released shortly after the album. The band embarked on tours with Emarosa, Closure in Moscow, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and others in support of the album.

On February 10, 2010, guitarist Zachary Garren was kicked out of the band due to personal conflicts with Will Swan.[6] Dance Gavin Dance played the Soundwave festival as scheduled as a four-piece with Swan handling all guitar duties and Kurt Travis playing keyboards.

Downtown Battle Mountain II (2010-2011)

Jon Mess and Eric Lodge officially rejoined the band in mid-2010.[7] Josh Benton, former guitarist and band mate of Kurt Travis in No Not Constant, took up guitar duties. In August Alternative Press said singer Kurt Travis and Dance Gavin Dance had officially parted ways and that Jonny Craig had rejoined the band.[8] Former guitarist Sean O'Sullivan rejoined the band for several home shows towards the end of 2010, returning the band to their Downtown Battle Mountain line-up. In March 2011, the band released Downtown Battle Mountain II.

In March 2011 the band began their US tour with Iwrestledabearonce, In Fear And Faith, and Just Like Vinyl, followed by a small European tour, culminating in 2 shows in London playing the original Downtown Battle Mountain in full on the first night and Downtown Battle Mountain II in full on the second night. The band also played at the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. In an April, 2011 interview with Mind Equals Blown, Drummer Matt Mingus stated the band plans to release another album with the current, reunited lineup.[9]

Second Departure of Jonny Craig and Acceptance Speech (2012-2014)

On August 20, 2012, Jonny Craig announced his departure from the band.[10]

On August 21, 2012, Dance Gavin Dance announced Craig's departure via Facebook saying "When Jonny rejoined DGD, we were about to call it quits. Tired of touring and being away from home for 8 months of the year, we wanted to shake things up. We thought it'd be fun to do a dbm sequel with Jonny and go out on that. We recorded dbm2 and felt it would be a disservice to our fans not to let them hear the new record live. We did a tour and felt rejuvenated but Jonny wasn't in a good place. After trying to convince him into getting help over warped tour, we canceled a headliner in November/December 2011 and told him we wouldn't tour until he sought out real help for his addiction. We got our good friend Matt Geise to fill in for a short run we did earlier this year while Jonny was in rehab. He was released and wanted to be out on the road immediately. We weren't sure how things would go so we only booked a small portion of the all stars tour to see if Jonny could still function as our lead singer. After a week and a half things were not going well. Everything came to a head when Jonny was publicly scolded by the owner of Sumerian Records for multiple offenses. It was then that we realized that our time with Jonny had reached its end. We wish Jonny the best In his future endeavors but he will no longer be a part of DGD. We however will continue playing and writing music because it's what we love doing."[11]

Tilian Pearson, formerly of Tides of Man, was asked to become the new vocalist during the making of his solo album. Pearson, along with guitarist Josh Benton and bassist Tim Feerick, were confirmed as official members by Jon Mess. The band's fifth album, Acceptance Speech, was released in October 2013 with Rise Records. The album was produced by Matt Malpass. Shortly after the shooting of their music video for their single "Strawberry Swisher Pt. 3", Josh Benton parted ways with the band in order to focus on his career as an audio engineer and producer. Aric Garcia from Hail the Sun filled in for The Acceptance Speech Tour and The Rise Records tour. On September 17th, Dance Gavin Dance released a b-side from Acceptance Speech entitled "Pussy Vultures".

Instant Gratification (2014-present)

On October 29th 2014, producer Kris Crummett announced that the recording for the band's upcoming 6th studio album had been completed. In place of departed member Josh Benton, Strawberry Girls guitarist Zachary Garren, Secret Band guitarist Martin Bianchini, and Hail the Sun guitarist and touring member Aric Garcia contributed to the recording of the new record. On February 6, 2015, Rise Records and Dance Gavin Dance released a teaser for the new album Instant Gratification, with a release date of April 14. On February 12, 2015, the band released it is lead single, "On the Run" on the official Rise Records YouTube channel.

On February 19, 2015, the band's guitarist Will Swan posted on Facebook that his guitar pedalboard he uses to perform live with Secret Band, Dance Gavin Dance, and Sianvar was stolen at a February 14 show on The Blue Swan Tour. He launched a Go Fund Me account and asked fans to donate $2,500 to help purchase a replacement pedalboard.[12] The fund reached it's goal within 3 hours of its launch.

Dance Gavin Dance will be touring the US as support for Memphis May Fire, along with Crown The Empire and Palisades on the Take Action Tour from March 10 to April 4, 2015.

In support of Dance Gavin Dance's studio album, Instant Gratification, the band announced the Instant Gratification Tour, which will embark from April 14 to May 8, 2015 across North America. Supporting acts include Polyphia, Hail The Sun, and Stolas.

On March 12, 2015, a second track, "We Own the Night", was released via the Rise Records YouTube page. On April 2, 2015, an official video was released for the track, "Stroke God, Millionaire".

Musical style, influences and side-projects

Dance Gavin Dance's music has been described as a blend between post-hardcore, jazz fusion, progressive rock and screamo[13] and critics have since the band's inception drawn comparisons to fellow post-hardcore peers The Fall of Troy, Alexisonfire and Circa Survive.[14] Though the band's early releases would typically embrace elements from the emo genre, the band would eventually start to incorporate more experimental elements later on, starting with their album 2009 Happiness. Their 2011 release Downtown Battle Mountain II is said to feature “the same structuring as The Mars Volta album The Bedlam In Goliath in that it never lets up”.[15]

The band has personally cited bands Glassjaw, Earth Wind & Fire, Deftones and Temptations as influences.[16]

Former vocalists Jonny Craig and Kurt Travis currently sing in bands Slaves and A Lot Like Birds respectively, whereas former guitarist Zachary Garren has started his band Strawberry Girls, and lead guitarist Will Swan currently operates his own record label, Blue Swan Records, and plays guitar in the supergroup Sianvar and Dance Gavin Dance side project Secret Band, which also features Jon Mess and Matt Mingus. Departed member Josh Benton also works as a record producer and has produced a majority of the releases on Blue Swan Records.

Band members

Current members
  • Jon Mess – unclean vocals (2005–2008; 2010–present)
  • Tilian Pearson – clean vocals (2012–present)
  • Will Swan – lead guitar (2005–present), rap (2009–present); unclean vocals (2008–2010)
  • Tim Feerick – bass (2009–2010; 2012–present)
  • Matt Mingus – drums, percussion (2005–present)
Former members
  • Jonny Craig – clean vocals (2005–2007; 2010–2012)
  • Kurt Travis – clean vocals (2007–2010; live 2012)
  • Alvaro Alcala – rhythm guitar (2005–2006)
  • Sean O'Sullivan – rhythm guitar (2006–2007, live 2010)
  • Zachary Garren – rhythm guitar (2007–2010)
  • Josh Benton – rhythm guitar (2010–2014)
  • Eric Lodge – bass (2005–2008; 2010–2012)
  • Jason Ellis – bass (2008–2009)
Touring members
  • Matt Geise – clean vocals (2012)
  • Dan Snook – rhythm guitar (2010)
  • Aric Garcia – rhythm guitar (2014–present)
  • Tony Marks – bass (2010)
  • Jordan McCoy – bass (2011–2012)

Timeline

Discography

Dance Gavin Dance discography
Releases
↙Studio albums 6
↙Live albums 1
↙EPs 1
↙Singles 18
↙Music videos 6
Studio albums
EPs
Live albums

External links

References