PROLOGUE
Sunny South Florida has a dark side…Deadstar Assembly; a troupe of musical
avant-gardes who float like demented seraphim and deliver a sinister sound that burns.
ACT I
The bleak and barren landscape that is the modern music scene isn't news to
America's youth… it looks, sounds and smells like commercial accountability, and there
are a growing number of alienated audiophiles that aren't buying into it. The industry
has breast-fed a generation of entertainers so enthusiastically willing to sell themselves
that any inkling of artistic integrity is muffled by the sound of their endorsements. Rap
-metal suburban warriors, Gap-tastic cloud kissers, plastic pop divas, and costumed
clowns… they make great marketing fodder, but seldom great songs. Everyone seems to
be scrambling for a hook, and the hook never seems to be the music. Enter Deadstar
Assembly.
DSA knows what they're not: the butterfly band that is born, lives, and dies within the
confines of a record label's fiscal quarter. DSA knows what they are: a primal, soul-
scorching nightmare machine built for speed, and possessing the sonic tools for
staying power.
ACT II
South Florida is notorious for its chaotic decadence, and nowhere more so than Miami's
South Beach. Deadstar Assembly looked to South Beach as their empty-headed muse…
late nights prowling its streets and clubs proved fertile ground for creative inspiration.
Lead singer, Dearborn, recalls the band's formative days, "We would usually start early
evening at the studio with some sort of chemically-driven creative session… Emerging from
the studio late night into the heart of South beach was an experience. If it's even possible,
think L.A. with less brains and more drugs. We would head to the 24 hr. Cuban diner, stepping
over scene-zombies decked out in their latest SeanJohn gear, soaked in GHB vomit. The place
is a strange kind of crazy…a tiny peninsula packed with psuedo-moviestars and wannabe
rockstars…ultimately deadstars…whence the name…it just fit." Dearborn's unorthodox formula
for the band: seek out a pioneering techno producer, collaborate on a rich 13 song demo,
package the product professionally, assemble a band of like-minded pros to breathe life into
the sound, release a track that would win immediate acceptance, and then promote. The
return has been tremendous. DSA has garnered an enthusiastic and dedicated following of
loyal fans and curiosity seekers, fueled, in large part, by the bands skewed version of the 80's
hit "Send Me an Angel" receiving significant airplay in South Florida goth, metal and strip clubs,
and a guerilla marketing campaign featuring highly visible print collateral and merchandise.
ACT III
The summer of 2001 was DSA's Big Bang; it was when Dearborn and famed techno producer
Luis Duran collided, forming a powerful creative synergy that would serve as the wellspring
for the DSA sound. Duran was riding a buzz vibe that had seen his techno black magick spun
on varied releases by artists ranging from Sandra Collins to Sasha and Digweed, to the Global
Underground Series. He is no metal keysman or push-button sampler. His orchestrations are
refined and sophisticated, sonic glimpses of something dark and transcendent, and add a deep,
textured layer to the DSA sound that lifts it beyond passé Nu Metal chord-crushing and anemic
Emo meanderings.
The summer of 2001 also marked the start of Dearborn's search for live musicians that would
complement DSA's sound and attitude. Renowned industrial synth master, MUBO, formerly of
the Basic Humans, had been high on Dearborn's list for months, but circumstances prevented
any type of meeting. That summer, the planets aligned and the two converged. Dearborn says
of MUBO, "He's amazing…the way he interacts with his keyboard -- it's violent, erotic. It's unfor-
tunate that he wasn't in on the initial recording of the demo…he has added so much more to
the songs." Realizing they shared a common creative vision, MUBO and Dearborn partnered to
assemble the remaining pieces of DSA. Driving bass for DSA is The Dro, a 19 year-old Brazilian
native with fallen-angel looks and devilish chops. At his first audition, he was immediately
recognized as a kindred spirit and asked to join the DSA family. Jay added massive riffage which
complemented Dearborn's guitar style. An old high school pal, he proved to be instrumental
in transitioning the record from a polished studio effort to a massive live sound. Gary Norton,
the latest addition to the band, is not your typical hard-rock drummer. His cool, Frankensteinian
shell belies a hard-driving skin beater with subtle sophistication. He provides the percussive
backbone that drives DSA, exhibiting a sensibility that lends much to their collective pulse.
Dearborn's powerful and tortured vocals are the anchor that keeps the cacophonous DSA crew
grounded. Equal parts undead troubadour and manic shaman, he is equally adept at bemoaning
innocence lost and delivering raw, primal screams of self-actualization. In songs like "Normal"
and "Just Like You", he creates a synapse-synch with youth lost in themselves, delivering an
answer to misguided prayers, while songs like "Breathe For Me" appeal to deeper loss and self-
loathing. The band's visual image is polished and pro, competing with or surpassing those of
well-known national acts.
Dearborn brings the same creative passion to the band's brand as he does to the music. Every
piece of marketing collateral passes through his hands and he has successfully managed to keep
the DSA look unified and true to he and Duran's original vision. The DSA mark, a stylized
pentagram and a tribute to the band's earlier influences, is becoming a badge of honor for local
music aficionados.
EPILOGUE
For a growing legion of alienated youth looking for relief from commodified hipness, looking for a
voice that won't be co-opted by Volkswagen, a teen-angst anthem that doesn't sell product,
Deadstar Assembly is a twisted savior. They are an explosive exploration in aural alchemy; sonic
salvation that is equal parts dark, metallic dissonance, early 80's synth-pop, crushing percussive
rhythm, and trance-progressive techno bombast. A genre-bending juggernaut poised to be res-
pected by disillusioned youth and emulated by future artists.
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