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Brotherhood of Dae Han mashes all sounds in their music |
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Written by Glenn BurnSilver for NEXTnc
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Thursday, 07 June 2007 |
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 There is nothing bluesy about The Brotherhood of Dae Han, a Fort Collins-based band that mashes prog, emo, screamo and classic metal with a hint of southern rock into one big, tight, technical and driving sound. But if the group ever decided to make a blues song, the story of the band’s formation is the perfect fodder.
The stripped-down story goes something like this: Drummer Brett Mays hooked up with old friend and BOD guitarist Joey Barba on a trip through Colorado, was tempted to stay, but followed his heart back to Virginia where his longtime girlfriend was waiting to dump him. Too broke to return to Colorado, Mays spent a year in corporate hell, relieved only by shooting MP3s back and forth with the still developing Brotherhood and dreaming of what could be.
“We’d been together for almost seven years, all through high school and college,” Mays said about his past love. “But it didn’t work out, and I was broke and couldn’t move back. I finally realized this is what I needed to do … and busted ass out here in early 2006.”
Less than a month later the band played its first show in Scottsbluff, Neb. It was only a five-song set, but it was enough to harness the band’s energy, which grew at an astounding rate. During that first summer the band entered the studio ready to cut a quick EP for their tours, which included a Warped Tour side stage, and a slot at the Bamboozle Festival in California. Then a power surge destroyed the band’s tapes.
“We were ignorant enough not to back up what we were doing last summer as we were doing it,” Mays said. “We were going to make a four-song disc. We weren’t ready to mix and master everything, but we had everything on the hard drive. There was a power surge so we lost everything.”
It was six months before they returned to the studio, but with all that time on tour, the songs for their debut album “For The Glory Of Olde Virginia,” actually improved.
“We were so much tighter after the touring,” Mays said. “Our parts even changed a little bit. Everything happens for a reason, and everything came out way better the second time through.”
Though the recently released album has been getting some good mileage, including a positive response from Vagrant Records and a few “really small indie labels,” The Brotherhood of Dae Han remains unsigned. Band members can’t afford to quit their day jobs or get fired by being gone on a long tour. It’s a paradox Mays would like to see end soon.
“We’re struggling enough as it is, so we’ll keep struggling on our own,” Mays said of the unrealistic label feelers. “If we’re lucky that something comes along that enables us to do it full time we’re going to jump on it. … In the meantime, we’re just trying to take it to the next level.”
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TO GO TO THE SHOW
Brotherhood of Dae Han
Doors 8 p.m.; Show 9 p.m.
Friday, June 8
Aggie Theatre
204 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
482.8300
Free
With Tickle Me Pink, The Axe that Chopped the Cherry Tree and The Ghosts of Verona
www.myspace.com/thebrotherhoodofdaehan
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THE ORIGIN OF BOD'S NAME
Anyone who’s a martial arts fan may have already figured out the origin of the BOD’s name. It comes from a 1989 film called “Best of the Best,” starring Eric Roberts as an American martial arts expert. Roberts has to face off against his evil counterpart, Dae Han. Roberts is of course victorious, and in that typically cheesy movie goodwill gesture, elects not to kill Dae Han. Instead, they form a bond at the end.
“After all this tension, they come together and shake hands. That’s where all this joke of brotherhood comes from. It’s kind of sappy ending, but Dae Han was all bad ass until he loses that match,” Mays explained. “Justin came up with that. At first I thought, ‘No, what it that?’ But we’ve stuck with it.”
It’s certainly better than String Cheese Incident.
“Yeah, I guess I can agree with that.”
NOT EXACTLY THE GRATEFUL DEAD BUT....
Like so many great bands of the 1960s, The Brotherhood of Dae Han share a house together. While what’s left in the sink may raise a bone of contention, what transpires below ground rarely does. The basement holds a makeshift studio, ready for those late night moments of inspiration.
“Just yesterday that happened,” drummer Brett Mays explained. “We were sitting around drinking some beers and Joe and Justin went into the basement at 1 a.m. to start working on this song. The next song we’re going to write was pretty much born yesterday.”
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