Successful bands forge their defining moments from a rare mix of electric audience response, killer songs, and memorable stage performance. While the result is enough to keep any band on stage all night, the ability to sustain that dynamic beyond its gig of origin is what sets an average band apart from an outstanding one.
DFiVE9 had its defining moment on a special night opening for a major metal act in Chico, California, in 2001. Taking the darkened stage in unfamiliar territory, the band captured a crowd anxious to move on to the headliner. As the last note died away above the heads of the cheering crowd, each member looked at one another through their sweat and exhaustion, and knew that the dominion they held over their new-found fans was the beginning of something special. The band has been hard at work recreating that defining moment ever since.
The story of DFiVE9 begins with Montana natives Michael Krum (guitar) and Will Casey (drums) relocating to Portland, Oregon in 1993, where they led a former band through countless weeknight club gigs and eventually clawed their way onto weekend bills while winning over rockers throughout the Rose City. Before the band had time to relish the view from it’s ledge near the top of Portland’s hard rock heap, however, personal and family issues prevented their bass player and vocalist from making the total commitment to artistic success that the band’s potential demanded.
Undaunted, Krum and Casey recruited a number of potential replacements from other Portland acts, eventually tabbing vocalist Nic Yannariello and bassist Michael ‘YMike’ Yatabe in June of 2000. Gifted and dedicated artists in their own right, both new members of what would become DFiVE9 welcomed the opportunity to join a band for whom anything less than national exposure was unacceptable.
Gathering in a storage unit on the city’s west side, the four began working on new material and adding a darker, heavier feel to the old band’s song list. They took a new name that represented the address code of their rehearsal space and hinted at the prevalence of digital language in the modern world, as well as the role of righteous iniquity in the ancient world: DFiVE9. The band returned to the Portland club scene, exhibiting its new, muscular sound to capture new fans while pummeling old ones. But re-igniting success required more than learning existing songs and writing and performing new ones, however. As an essentially new band, DFiVE9 pushed harder than ever, playing a string of regional shows to debut their new name and new sound.
Their effort was rewarded with enthusiastic fan response throughout the West Coast. Having established themselves regionally, the band entered the studio to lay-down its new sound in the fall of 2000. The result: ‘Subjugate,’ a nine-song bolt of sophisticated and kinetic alternative metal that paid homage to the band’s musical origins while employing lyrics and rhythms that firmly placed the band along a more modern path. Response was immediate and enthusiastic. Kids and concert goers snapped up the new CD and merchandise, and the band was scouted by major label A/R reps. A phone call from one particular label executive offered the band a glimpse at the brass ring – unfortunately, follow-up discussions with the label failed to meet the band’s standards for long-term success. DFiVE9 returned to the studio to begin work on their second album. The band’s goal was simple: channel their sound in a new, heavier direction that would constitute the truest representation of the band members’ individual skills and diverse influences, while incorporating the considerable energy from their live performances.
DFiVE9 began pre-production in the fall of 2001, eventually taking up residence at several studios throughout Portland and completing ‘Measured and Wasted’ in August of 2002. Representing the band’s finest work to date, the CD’s seven tracks drive, drop, and flat-out destroy while offering poignant moments of anger, introspection, and inspiration. The disc’s lead track ‘Bukkake’ is an aggressive and pounding anthem that screams volumes about modern society’s lack of acceptance for divergent opinions and deviant forms of expression. Yannariello’s bouts with night terrors and their constant reminder of traumatic past events inspired ‘Aneurysm.’ ‘Inside’ focuses on the challenges and frustrations in trying to build a life with a woman who has experienced abuse in prior relationships, while ‘D and D,’ which closes out the disc, deals poignantly and powerfully with a relative’s never-ending battle with drug abuse.
Since their inception, DFiVE9’s music has fueled an ongoing groundswell of interest at the grass-roots level and beyond. The band is sponsored by Jaegermeister and PMC Guitars. The quest to bring more fans of heavy music under their sway continues with the licensing of all seven tracks off the new album through Rumblefish Music, Inc.