The Dear & Departed

The Dear & Departed rise above the noise. Like a mournful violin melody cutting through a chaotic symphony, the band’s dark aesthetic and esoteric approach to their mix of punk and new wave has more in common with The Cure, The Church and Sisters of Mercy than the increasingly pedestrian sub-par offerings cluttering up the pages of the monthly music magazines. They are a fresh breath in a room filled with stagnant air. In their short existence as a band, The Dear & Departed have built a devoted following and boast quite a story, sharing stages with AFI and Avenged Sevenfold in America and overseas and laying their hat down in their adopted Orange County home base to craft their lush debut album. Chris Vrenna, whose production resume includes U2, Smashing Pumpkins and Killing Joke in addition to his work as drummer/programmer for Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and Gnarls Barkley, is producing the band’s debut album, with additional production from AFI’s Jade Puget. There have been many triumphs for such a promising group, including patronage from platinum bands (like AFI, who invited Dan Under to sing on “Decemberunderground”) and mutual respect from cult artists alike. In a short amount of time, The Dear & Departed has won an international fanbase and developed even further into a potent outfit that mixes in disparate influences from New Order, The Stone Roses to Placebo, whilst always maintaining a sound unique to only them. Their debut full length Something Quite Peculiar hit shelves in May 2007 and continues to be causing serious waves in the stagnant waters of modern music. Now after nearly two years on the road, The D&D have found a true comfort in songwriting with the addition of East Coast imports Jimmy Walsh and Cortney Miner. After taking the last few months to secure this comfort, new songs are flowing like never before and the band has taken its sound to another level delivering four new songs and having material for their second record well underway. The D&D has alot in store for 2009. The future just got a little brighter.

Dan Smith (Vocals)
Darren Parkinson (Guitar)
Cortney Miner (Guitar)
Jimmy Walsh (Drums)
Keath Moon (Bass)