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din's guitarist, singer and principal songwriter Graham Irwin grew up in the isolated backwater of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. He sought refuge from adolescence and his surroundings in the music of British punk and New Wave bands, most of whom had already broken up by that time. After high school he moved to Los Angeles with SunkistŠ commercials playing in his head, but wound up in the gang-infested Oakwood area of Venice Beach, where neighbors had better musical taste but an even greater propensity for gun violence than the rednecks of his childhood. Thus began a love/hate affair with the elusive promise of southern California.
After several years of performing with, quitting and/or being kicked out of numerous L.A. bands, Graham formed din in late 1997. Operating out of a stuffy garage studio in Venice, the band released its debut CD ("Greatest Hits Volume One"), produced a video ("Office Boy" - described as "Let It Be" meets "Boyz in the 'Hood" and "The Little Rascals") and developed a small but loyal following, struggling with personnel changes and seeming industry indifference. When the band fell apart one last time, Graham fled for New York in the spring of 2000.
Graham spent the summer on the east coast but all the brown leaves and the gray sky sent him back to California. Intent on San Francisco, he hoped that part of the area's legendary punk and mod scene had survived the dot-com onslaught. Feeling an immediate need to record some new material, he sought temporary refuge at his brother's home in the suburbs east of Los Angeles. With the help of a friend on drums and the tolerance of his brother's family and neighbors, Graham produced the latest din demo, titled after the classic Dylan album and a conveniently-named nearby industrial wasteland. Recorded over three months on an aged Macintosh computer, "Irwindale Skyline" outdid the humility of din's days as a garage band - it was mostly recorded in a small spare bedroom. Now, leaving the shadows of Hollywood neon behind, Graham has moved north to see if there are like-minded musicians and a receptive audience in the Bay Area for a band called "din."
As for the music? It's both very familiar and hard to place. The songs are catchy and the band's delivery is raw and energetic like many current bands, but there's more here than immediately meets the ear. din borrows proudly from bands like The Clash, The Jam and The Police with melodic vocals, incisive lyrics, rhythmic urgency, and lean, bold production. A riff-oriented, sometimes heavy guitar and mood swings from somber to furious reference The Pixies and their more famous interpreters. The band sounds timely, it belongs on the radio, but there's a sincerity and intelligence, tempered with dry humor, which rejects the trite kitschiness that a lot of music hides behind these days. Call it "New Wave with Teeth," "Modern Rock with a Brain," or "Pop-Punk with Soul" - it's an eclectic mix but it works.
Here's some of what's been said in the past:
- Lately there has been a lack of truly great music...Then 'din' arrived and the world was right again. - IndieMonkey.com
- The wonderfully moody "A Modest Proposal" with its killer chorus, and "Long Slow Burn" are both certain radio hits if there was just a way of having them heard. - Live Magazine
- ...an admirable creation a step to the left of intelligent alterna-rock-pop. - No Cover Magazine
- If you happen to see din live, prepare yourself for a fun time. And for those about to rock, din salutes you.
- Campus Circle Magazine
For a more exhaustive look at din (if you're not exhausted already), check out din's history page.
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