D-A-D

D-A-D
D-A-D at the Roskilde Festival, 2005.
Background information
Also known as	Disneyland After Dark
Origin	Copenhagen, Denmark
Genres	Melodic rock Hard rock Cowpunk Glam metal
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Mermaid Records EMI Warner Bros. Records (US) (1989–1992)
Associated acts	Böhse Onkelz, Der W
Website	D-A-D.dk
Members
Jesper Binzer Jacob Binzer Stig Pedersen Laust Sonne
Past members
Lene Glumer, Peter Lundholm Jensen.

D-A-D is a Danish rock band previously known as "Disneyland After Dark", a name that had to be changed after a threatening lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company. Their style of music is often categorized as melodic heavy rock. They have also used the names D.A.D., D•A•D and D:A:D, each name represents a period in the band's history.

History

In the early 1980s in Copenhagen, Denmark, D-A-D started playing together under their original name Disneyland After Dark. Stig came up with the name based on the idea that when the lights are out in Disneyland, anything can happen. He thought the name reflected their music. The first lineup of D-A-D consisted of Jesper, Stig, Peter and Stig’s girlfriend, Lene Glumer. The band's debut concert was at the youth club Sundby Algaard. In December 1982 they forced Lene Glumer to leave the band, as she did not fit in, according to their opinion. The three of them kept playing together and on March 3. 1984 Jespers younger brother, Jacob joined the band at a concert at Musikcaféen in Copenhagen. They all liked the idea of him playing in the band and little by little he became a member of D-A-D.

The band wanted to make a record, so they began recording demo recordings in their rehearsal room. A friend of the band owned a record store, and helped them find contacts in the music business. John Rosing from the management bureau "Rock On" heard about Disneyland After Dark. He sought out the band in 1984, and became their booker. He took full management of the band until a year before he died of cancer in 1998.

The band released their first album, Call of the Wild in 1986.

The group made their international breakthrough in 1989 with the record No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims, which was released on the band's 5th birthday. The album became the band's greatest success, and also gave the band a million dollar contract with Warner Bros.. The band was poised for great success in the United States, but the breakthrough didn't happen. The band achieved some airplay with the single "Sleeping My Day Away", but in the end, the band gave up on the chance of making it big in the US, and concentrated on the European market.

The current lineup is Jesper Binzer, Jacob Binzer, Stig Pedersen and Laust Sonne.

The music

The band formed as a revolution against the pessimistic and arrogant attitude among punk musicians and their audience; they wanted to bring joy and life in their performances. The band's signature sound was conceived during rehearsal, when Stig tried to play a three-note riff with a different rhythm. The others joined in, the style known as cowpunk. The lyrics were made-up stories where abundant clichés were added as an ironic twist.

Band members

Jesper Binzer

• Birth: September 4, 1965
• Position: Lead vocals, guitar, banjo, and backing vocals.

Jesper is from Øsby like Laust Sonne. Jesper was one of the founders of the band, back in 1982. Jesper also plays drums for the band The Whiteouts, and has also written a song for the Danish movie Bleeder. Jesper has kept his hair long since he started school, and he says he will never cut it, which is also the theme of the song I Won’t Cut My Hair.

Jacob Binzer

• Birth: October 28, 1966
• Position: Lead guitar, backing vocal, kazoo, piano, and keyboards.
• Nickname: Cobber

Jesper Binzer's younger brother. Jacob is from Frederiksberg. He started playing piano, but when his older brother started playing in bands he switched to the guitar, as he wanted to play in bands too. Jacob has played in the band since 1984.

Stig Pedersen

• Birth: May 18, 1965
• Position: Bass guitar, lead vocals and backing vocals.

Stig is from Amager. Stig played, in the early days, in a punk band called ADS. He was founder of the band, but was eventually kicked out in 82', so he found D-A-D as a "payback". Stig also plays in a band called Hellbetty. Stig's bass guitars only have two strings or three strings. He found out in the late '80s that he only used the E and A string when he played, and made it his mark, to have funny, good looking basses. He is also seen using a one string bass at gigs (only one string away from an air guitar). Stig designs his own bass guitars based on his own ideas and imagination.

Laust Sonne

• Birth: December 11, 1974
• Position: drums, backing vocals, vibraphone, keyboards, guitar, saxophone, xylophone, and bass guitar.

Laust is from Frederiksberg. He has played in the band since 1999. Laust also plays in the bands Dear and Bugpowder. His signature mark is playing the drums on a rising hydraulic scene, even at 30 feet height or more, sometimes together with Jesper.

Line-up history

1984–1999	Jesper Binzer - lead vocals, electric guitar Jacob Binzer - electric guitar Stig Pedersen - bass guitar, backing vocals Peter Lundholm Jensen - drums
1999–present	Jesper Binzer - lead vocals, electric guitar Jacob Binzer - electric guitar Stig Pedersen - bass guitar, backing vocals Laust Sonne - drums, backing vocals

Discography

Information
"Call of the Wild" Released: February 4, 1986 Producers: Frank Marstokk
"D.A.D. Draws a Circle" Released: June 16, 1987 Producers: Mark Dearnley
"No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims" Released: March 3, 1989 Producers: D.A.D., Nick Foss and Lars Overgaard
"Riskin' It All" Released: October 10, 1991 Producers: Nikolaj Foss, D.A.D. and Lars Overgaard
"Helpyourselfish" Released: March 1, 1995 Producers: Paul Northfield
"Simpatico" Released: November 6, 1997 Producers: Nick Foss & D:A:D
"Everything Glows" Released: April 13, 2000 Producers: Nick Foss
"Soft Dogs" Released: February 20, 2002 Producers: Nick Foss
"Scare Yourself" Released: May 23, 2005 Producers: D.A.D
"Monster Philosophy" Released: Nov 10, 2008 Producers: Jon Joshua Schumann
"DIC.NII.LAN.DAFT.ERD.ARK" Released: Nov 11, 2011[1]

Live albums

• Osaka After Dark (1990, Japan Only)
• Psychopatico (1998)
• Scare Yourself Alive (2006)

Compilations

• D.A.D. Special (1989, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland only)
• Good Clean Family Entertainment You Can Trust (1995)
• The Early Years (2000)
• VA - Ungdomshuset (2005)
• The Overmuch Box (2009)

EP. 1985, Standin' on the never never,. studio ep '85

Quotes

D-A-D:s lyrics are often quite humorous, and sometimes also melancholic, resulting in funny, melancholic quotes:

I grew up in a life-size pinball machine (from the song Laugh and a Half)

Good-bye and many tanks (from the song Down that dusty third-world road)

Can't win on a compromise, I'll rather lose on my own... (from the song Point of View)

But you can't run away from trouble, Coz there ain't no place that far (from the song Jihad)

External links

• Official homepage
• Official myspace

References

1. ^ http://d-a-d.com/discography/54/