Tag Archives: Dan Scheuerman

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Deleted Scenes @ Iota Club —11/15/13

Photo Courtesy of Big Hassle

There was an energy in the room at Iota Club Friday night just before Deleted Scenes took the stage. Local alt-rockers Young Rapids started things off with a performance showcasing their musicianship and Canadian rock band The Grounders continued suit with a precise performance but the crowd made it quite obvious who they were at Iota to see by the night’s end.

Deleted Scenes played a wide-range of previously released material and fan favorites like “Bed Bed Bed Bed” as well as selections from their upcoming record Lithium Burn. Closer to the end of their set, lead singer and Olney, Md. native Dan Scheuerman found himself in the middle of the crowd which ended up being one of the night’s most memorable moments. One second he’s bending over the vocal stage monitor in front of his mic stand singing as if there was no tomorrow and the next second he’s crowd-surfing in the front three rows of people being “air-lifted” back to the stage. The crowd gladly obliged as they became vicarious members of the band if even just for a moment.

Bass player Matt Dowling took a few minutes to follow up with We Love DC about Friday’s show and what it felt like to be back in the DC area.

How did it feel to play back in the DC area after some time away?

It’s always great for us to play DC. Prior to last month’s show with the D-Plan, it had been a while. Getting to do both that show at 9:30, and then this one at Iota has been a really fun/fortunate double-header in DC. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Media, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: New Video from Deleted Scenes

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Deleted Scenes, one of my favorite bands who used to call DC home, has released a new video for their song “A Bunch Of People Who Love You Like Crazy” off of their album Young People’s Church of the Air, released this summer on Park the Van records.  The album is one of my favorites of 2012, and you can read me gushing about it here. Also, over the summer I got to chat with lead singer Dan Scheuerman, and you can read that here.

This video had its DC premiere at the band’s album release party this summer at Red Palace, where they played the song live to the eerie footage. It’s dark, arty, creepy, and totally awesome.  The video was directed by DC band Pree‘s Ben Usie, and also features a cameo from Pree’s singer May Tabol.

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Dan Scheuerman of Deleted Scenes

 

photos courtesy of Deleted Scenes

Deleted Scenes is an indie-rock quartet based in DC. Their debut album Birdseed Shirt was released in 2009 to much critical acclaim. (They are beloved by Pitchfork and NPR alike.) I arrived late to this party, but I’m happy to have made it. I met singer/guitarist Dan Scheuerman by chance a few weeks ago after seeing his brother Vince play a show at The Hamilton. (Vince is also a super-talented musician- he fronted the DC power-pop-rock group Army of Me, and alt-Americana leaning River James. Coincidentally, I interviewed Vince recently, and you can check that out here!)

Deleted Scenes just released their sophomore album, Young People’s Church of the Air last week on Park the Van Records, once again to great acclaim. It is a work of complexity and beauty, dancy yet reflective, light and dark. I sang its praises last week on WLDC, and you can read that here. Deleted Scenes is currently on tour in support of their new album, and will be making a hometown stop this Saturday, July 21st at Red Palace. I got the chance to chat with Dan recently*, and here’s what he had to say!

Alexia: You come from a musical family, how did you first start playing music? 

Dan: My Mom and Dad both played guitar in church and sang, and we’d have these big family sing-alongs on Saturdays, and we all sang. Well I have five brothers, so it was actually very Von Trapp- we’d all sit in the living room and play, like, religious songs and sing in these huge harmonies. That was very natural.

Alexia: Oh, that’s really cool! Was your brother Vince an influence on you at all when you started playing music?

Dan: Yeah! Well I used to go see his band all the time- they were called Linus and they were called Cactus Patch, and then they were called Army of Me. But in the Cactus Patch days I used to go to all their shows. Yeah, it was inspiring and he kind of showed me how to do it myself, you know? I was in I guess grade school and he was older so he would teach me to make CDs in the family CDR drive, and printing CD labels, and flyering shows, and just kinda, like, showing me how to get started. That was definitely a big influence. And I used to go see his ska band all the time. I was a big fan!

Alexia: How did Deleted Scenes come together as a band?

Dan:Me and Dominic, the guitar player, and Brian, the drummer, and Matt, the bass player, we all grew up playing in bands together in high school and grade school. Then we all went off to college, and when we came back it was just natural to play with each other again. I think we’re all pretty shy dudes, so we kinda gravitated back towards one another. It was kind of like a family, I guess, since we’d started playing together so young, but it was basically a totally different band than it would have been back then. We played in like, crappy alt-bands. Me and Matt and Dominic and Brian played in a band that sounded like Incubus, back in high school. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Listen Up! 2 albums you should hear.

courtesy of These United States

It’s not super often that I come across albums I can’t stop listening to, can’t get out of my head, and just can’t stop thinking about. If I’m lucky it happens a few times a year, and it’s what I live for. So, for it to happen with two different albums in the course of one week has kind of blown my mind, and I feel it’s my responsibility to share this joy with the world, or at least the We Love DC readers.  The albums are Young People’s Church of the Air by Deleted Scenes, and These United States, self-titled.  Coincidentally both bands have DC connections- Deleted Scenes are based in DC, and These United States started here. These albums have totally distinct sounds, they live in different spots on the musical spectrum, but both are beautiful and brilliant in their own way.

I’ll start with These United States, self-titled. I first became aquainted with the music of These United States several years back, when they were first starting out, and based in DC. I saw them live at Iota, probably around 2007, and their enthusiasm and energy, combined with the charisma of frontman Jesse Elliott was exhilarating. Fast forward five years and just as many albums…the group no longer calls DC home, they are based partly in New York, and spend lots of time on the road. Their fifth studio album, These United States came out in June on Colorado-based United Interests records.

This record makes me want to stomp, holler, daydream and dance. The record is beautifully produced, a shining example of Americana- a lively blend of country sounds, folk, and rock. Jesse Elliott’s lyrics and vocals take you on a journey, weaving and winding from the fast-pasted “Dead and Gone” to the dreamy “Miss Underground” and quiet contemplation of “The Park.”  The sounds that come from J. Tom Hnatow’s guitar and pedal steel are like caramel- so rich, sweet, soulfully delicious. They add a decadence to the recordings that almost makes my ears feel guilty. It’s hard to pick favorites from a record this good (there are no bad songs on this album) but my top songs at the moment are the soulful “Miss Underground”, the classic-rock tinged “Let the River In”, and the jubilant stomp-fest of “Dead & Gone.” But don’t just track-hop this album- it deserves a start-to-finish listening. (Last week I got to ask TUS singer Jesse Elliott a few questions. Check out what he had to say here.) Continue reading →