DVAS
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Origin | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
Genres | Club Pop Visual |
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels | Pop Echo Records |
Members | Darren Veres Jered Stuffco Jordan Stuffco Dan Carlyle |
Website | myspace.com/dietzche |
With a basis in Disco and Hi-NRG sound, [1] DVAS, was co-founded by Canadian samplers and keyboardists, Darren Veres (Dietzche V.) and Jered Stuffco (Abominable Snowman) in 2003 in Edmonton, Alberta. Eventually their group grew to add two more members: drummer Jordan Stuffco (Shocker) and bass guitarist Dan Carlyle (Vis-a-Vis). Although DVAS stands for Dietzche V. And the Abominable Snowman they do not consider the latter to be the bands official name.
Having known each other for over 24 years, Jered Stuffco and Darren Veres first met when they played on the same hockey team as kids. But it was not until they reunited at the University of Alberta that their mutual interest in music allowed them to team up once again. [2] It was at this point during the month of February 2003, that the duo of Dietzche V. And The Abominable Snowman came together through a mutual love of leftfield techno, late-late nights and electronic[3]equipment. Early on the music they experimented with was predominately just techno related with the two of them honing their sampler and keyboard skills[4]:
“It was mostly done on stolen gear,” Stuffco explains.
“That’s what we had back in those days.”[5]
Gear in tow they started out as a duo playing underground shows, but ultimately they did not get the response they wanted from their audience. [6] To say the least the two of them agreed, It wasn’t kicking ass. So they added a drummer (Jordan) and a bass player (Dan).[7] For the group it was apparent that they had made the right decision incorporating other instruments into the act. As soon as Jordan and Dan joined the team, the crowd response totally changed. [8] The band’s first show together occurred on Edmonton’s Jasper Avenue at Studio E, a downtown loft space sometimes used by CJSR. At that time, Smilin’ Jay, the popular CJSR DJ with a reputation for partying, was hosting his live show Smilin’ Jay’s Happy Hour from Studio E. [9] Studio E is like the band’s spiritual home. Their first show there was “a mad, private, underground party for us and our friends, and it was a blowout... It was our first show ever and a hot, sticky, sweaty day in August when DVAS really found itself." [10]
Since that first show they’ve played out to audiences in clubs, bars, and illegal squatting spaces, laid out smooth tech/house radio mixes and pumped fists with their ace live show—which blurs the lines between dance event, live show and hedonistic revelry.[11]
In a 2004 Edmonton Journal interview Darren Veres and Jered Stuffco can be found explaining the basis of DVAS:
“It’s a bit of a nod towards German Experimentalism. I wanted to “Germanisize” my name to have a go at the pretentiousness that exists in certain areas of German music. It’s also a play on the big-name techno producers Digweed and Sasha. It’s like a plane lands in Miami and the Snowmen is partying and this German guy comes to party for the winter music conference. They meet up and it’s like, (German accent) “oh you like to dance?” And I’m like “ugh, hey man!” It’s a combination of the austere German aesthetic and the brash American. But we’re not extremists. We’re hedonists” [12]
The most important thing about DVAS is that to them the music itself takes a backseat to the party. The band would prefer to not play on a stage, or even be looked at, while their show is going on. They just want to facilitate you having a good time.[13]
When it comes to putting together a good party, DVAS relies not only on the use of their computers but also the samplers, guitars, and other gear that they haul to shows to charge the audience. “Other bands are too smart to do live dance music,” laughs Darren. “The gear—the computers and samplers and everything—it’s hard to move around... What we’re think about doing is putting everything on a laptop, pushing play, and getting wasted."[16] All joking aside there is reasoning behind why they do things the hard way. Dan argues that: "You see these DJs and these guys get laid more than we do, get paid more than we do, and they don’t even spin records anymore, they just play mp3s... but I think it’s way funner to do it live because it can blow up and blow off the rails very easily.” [17]
“DVAS have retired more times than any other musical act in recent memory—except maybe for Cher... Bryan Birtles from Edmonton's Vue Weekly argues.[18] In truth as an on-again, off-again project,[19] with band mates working and studying out of the city of Edmonton and the province they all work at keeping in touch writing songs and recording new material.[20]
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