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.

Since their inception, DFiVE9’s music fueled an ongoing groundswell of interest at the grass-roots level and beyond. The band was sponsored by Jaegermeister and PMC Guitars.

We look back at a Pacific Northwest band full of fire and fury that took the region by storm before moving onward to new paths. Catch up with Nic, Will, Mike and YMike as we get deep inside DFive9!