The Dambuilders was an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band that began in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone on with other musical projects, including the band's violinist/vocalist,

Joan Wasser Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, a ...

, as Joan as Police Woman. Kevin March also became well known in indie circles as the drummer of the band Guided by Voices, which he joined in 2002.

Dave Derby Dave Derby is an American songwriter, recording artist, producer, and composer who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and now resides in New York City. Derby serves as a songwriter and producer foGramercy Arms a New York City musical and artist colle ...

is the leader and main songwriter of the New York City based collective of artists known as Gramercy Arms which has included collaborations from both Wasser and March.

History

Founding

The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s

rock scene. The founding members -

Tryan George The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone o ...

and

Eric Masunaga The Dambuilders was an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs (six studio albums & one compilation) and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. Members have gone o ...

, all from

- had played in a number of bands (such as the Exactones) before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and four-piece configuration. Early violin was provided by Debbie Fox. With Fox's involvement, nearly all of the band's songs had electric violin tracks. Around 1992, the "classic line-up" consisted of Derby (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Masunaga (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Kevin March (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s) and

(violin). Many of the band's early recordings were engineered by Masunaga.

Commercial success

While The Dambuilders are generally considered an "indie" band, they received some commercial airplay with the single "Shrine" from the 1994

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

release ''Encendedor''. Although the song has no traditional chorus, The Dambuilders manage to create an appealing and memorable single using a distinctly melodic verse and an innovative instrumental section used as an intro, outro and bridge. Also contributing to the song's sound is the playing of bass chords. The song tells of a cross-cultural romantic courtship between the singer and a girl who "doesn't speak much English" but is familiar with the American music scene. In the song, the singer is willing to conform to traditional religious practices outside his own cultural sphere ("...if I stay with her I'll lose track of all time, so I light a candle to the shrine..."), but seemingly manages to stay true to his roots by redefining the acts as an aspect of his own non-religious, culturally inclusive belief system ("...and call it Rock n' Roll"). Shrine was recently ranked #17 in the MTV's 100 greatest songs of the '90s: Lollapalooza list. Their 1997 album, ''

Against the Stars Against the Stars is the sixth studio album by Boston-based indie rock band the Dambuilders, and their third for a major label. It was released on July 29, 1997 on East West and Elektra Records. Background and recording ''Against the Stars'' was ...

'', was released by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

. In 1999 the band performed in Toronto."Dambuilders: Eccentric Police & Singing Angels"
''Chart Attack'', November 1995, by Chris Burland

Current activities

Currently, Derby and March are performing together as members of Gramercy Arms. Wasser has performed on both of their albums including a vocal duet with Lloyd Cole on the band's "Beautiful Disguise" single and video. The band, which also includes Sean Eden (Luna), Rainy Orteca (Dead Air, Joan as Police Woman, Lloyd Cole), Hilken Mancini (The Count Me Outs, Fuzzy, Colburn-Mancini), Sandy Smallens (Too Much Joy) as well as guest performances by Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Renee LoBue (Elk City), Lloyd Cole, Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine) released its first album, called ''Gramercy Arms'', in 2009 and is currently working on a follow up. Derby's other output includes two releases under the "Brilliantine" name, as well two solo albums (''Even Further Behind'' and ''Dave Derby and the Norfolk Downs''). Wasser is now performing under the name

Joan as Police Woman Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, a ...

and released her first solo E.P., ''Joan As Police Woman'', in June 2005. She released a full-length album with the band, entitled ''Real Life'', in June 2006, followed by ''To Survive'' in June 2008, ''Cover'' in 2009, ''The Deep Field'' in January 2011, ''The Classic'' in 2014, ''Let It Be You'' (with Benjamin Lazar Davis) in 2016, ''Damned Devotion'' in 2018, ''Joanthology'' in 2019, ''Cover Two'' in 2020 and ''The Solution Is Restless'' (with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu) in 2021. March was also a member of Guided by Voices for several years and continues to do session work and tours with various artists. He is currently putting together a new group with his old friend,

Nathan Larson Nathan Larson may refer to: *Nathan Larson (musician), American musician * Nathan Larson (criminal), American white supremacist and convicted felon See also *Nate Larson Nate Larson (born March 16, 1978) is a Baltimore-based artist and photograph ...

Shudder To Think Shudder to Think was an American alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, they released three albums on the Washington, D.C.-based label Dischord Records, and two on Epic Records. Their early work was largely influenced by post-hardcore although ...

. Masunaga now runs

Modulus Studios Modulus is the diminutive from the Latin word ''modus'' meaning measure or manner. It, or its plural moduli, may refer to the following: Physics, engineering and computing * Moduli (physics), scalar fields for which the potential energy functio ...

, a mastering and DVD authoring studio, in Boston.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''A Young Person's Guide'' (1989) - Cuacha! * ''Geek Lust'' (1991) - Cuacha! * ''Islington Porn Tapes'' (1993) - Cuacha! * ''Encendedor'' (1994) -

* ''

Ruby Red Ruby is a color that is a representation of the color of the cut and polished ruby gemstone and is a shade of red or pink. Origins The first recorded use of ''ruby'' as a color name in English was in 1572. Variations Rubine red Displayed ...

'' (1995) - Elektra Records * ''

'' (1997) - Elektra Records

Compilations

* ''God Dambuilders Bless America'' (1996) - compilation - Elektra Records

Singles

* "Pop Song = Food" (1991) * "Smell" (1992) * "Shrine" (1992) * "Teenage Loser Anthem" (1995)

Extended plays

* "Tough Guy Problem" (1993/4) -

spinART SpinART Records was a New York City-based independent record label that released recordings by The Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide, Black Francis, Frank Black, and Michael Penn. The label was started by Joel Morowitz and Jeff Price in 1991. SpinART ...

References

External links

*
VH1 page

"Joan As Police Woman"

Gramercy Arms Facebook page

"Gramercy Arms website"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dambuilders, The Rock music groups from Massachusetts Musical groups from Boston Musical groups from Hawaii Rock music groups from Hawaii Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1998