Darediablo's distorted melodies speak for themselves
by John Sewell
Rock quandary No. 37,845: Name 10 all-instrumental rock 'n' roll bands.
Stumped you, didn't I?
Of course there have been hundreds of instrumental bands in rock's varied history. Nonetheless, the music-only paradigm is an anomaly. In most cases, rock is as theatrical as it is musical, a performance-based form that emphasizes style over substance and personality/sex appeal/sass over sonic exploration.
NYC's Darediablo is an exception to the rule. Unlike most all-instrumental bands who jam or adopt a post-rock approach, Darediablo is as pure, fuel-injected, meat-and-potatoes rock as you can get.
"Our songs are pretty much arranged around riffs," explains keyboardist Matt Holford. "When we first started playing, Jake (Garcia, guitarist) had the ideas for most of the songs. The music had a strength of its own. None of us could pull off singing anyway, so we just developed as an all-instrumental band. It's kind of like the chicken and the egg concept—none of us can sing, so we'll keep it the way it is unless we meet a singer who is undeniably perfect for us."
The band's recent release, Feeding Frenzy (Southern Records), is a wire-taut, thoroughly rockin' affair that brings to mind '70s rock stalwarts like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. That said, the band is not pushing some kind of clichéd, stoner-rock agenda. This is music created by three versatile musicians intent on tweaking their distortion-infused melodies to the purest form.
"When people ask us what we sound like, we usually go for the simple explanation and just say it's rock 'n' roll," opines Holford. "We prefer for people to just come to the shows and see for themselves. Of course, the organ sound lends itself to the Deep Purple comparison. We've even had people tell us that Jake's guitar playing is like Ritchie Blackmore's. He always likes that."
Together for about five years, Darediablo is composed of three well-schooled upstarts making their way in the big city. Holford and Garcia are computer programmers, while drummer Chad Royce supports himself as a jazz and session musician.
Though they prefer to perform live, the trio have also collaborated on a number of soundtracks and film scores. Darediablo's rough and tumble sound conjures up images of, among other things, car chases, shootouts and earthquakes—so it only makes sense that the band would be chosen for this kind of work. The band has reaped some lucrative deals through soundtrack work, including creating music for ESPN and MTV programs The Real World and (oddly enough) Sorority Life.
"We love doing soundtrack work, and it actually pays pretty well," says Holford. "But it's not a steady business. I could see us continuing to do soundtracks, either as the band or just as the three of us on our own. But we love to perform, and we want to do that in the rock setting. That's why we're a band.
"Most of our songs come from visual and stylistic concepts anyway," he says. "Movie and television editors love our sound because it builds on visual imagery. For example, when we wrote the song 'Feeding Frenzy,' we actually thought about sharks. That might sound kind of stupid, but it's fun."
At present, the band is on its longest foray in America's seemingly endless tour circuit of underground clubs. "It's tough to tour, and right now we're breaking our personal records insofar as the sheer amount of time on the road. We plan to do as much touring as we can afford."
After the current tour, the band plans to recoup in New York, preparing music for a new album. Then it's off to the South By Southwest festival and another U.S. tour.
Darediablo's hell-bent-for-leather sound belies the cerebral nature of its members. Holford describes the band as "total geeks," who are in a constant search for Internet connections for their laptops.
"It's really funny. It seems like we're the only band on this touring circuit with no tattoos," laughs Holford. "We're like three Mr. Rogers or something. We walk into these bars we play at, and people think we're there to fix the phone or something.
"The music sounds kind of tough, but we're definitely not tough guys," Holford continues. "So it's kind of strange that we've had venues reject us because they said our music was too macho sounding. And macho is totally not us."
November 20, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 47
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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