Dali Circus a new Band with Surreal Roots
By Keri-Jade Ruddick
I attended the show at The Hype of July 15, 2006. It was fun and light, a lot of people were there to see the headliners DAME. The kids who had been relaxing outside came back in droves flooding the floor. They recognized the covers and started singing and head banging along with the band. Such a reaction is usually evoked by crowd favorites like Intensify or Armand but it was refreshing to see the crowd welcome a new band. Dali Circus may be a relatively novice band on the scene but the members have been in the musical community for quite a while in different incarnations. For Dali Circus guitarist Nick Lee and bass player, John Stephenson, it had been two years since they had graced the stage in a complete band. Two years since they felt the heat and adoration of an enthusiastic crowd. Two years of musical evolution meant they had many surprises in store for the new crowd. I asked Nick later what it felt like to be back up there and he said "here's what I'm about."
Dali Circus plays next August 4th at RAXX and August 5th at The Hype
Somewhere in the past year, Nick decided that it was time to build a band out of the ashes of his former ensemble. The Nick Lee Band (TNLB). "Forming the new band was inevitable. During the time in-between I've been growing and learning. Other factors helped me to realize where I want to go with this band and what I want to do with the music." When forming the new band, Nick knew he had to have John Stephenson (the former singer and bass player of TNLB) along side him as his right hand man. "I've known John (Bass) for almost 10 years now. He used to work at a music store I would raid as a kid. At 17, I was without a band and had a gig booked at Healey's in 2 months. John didn't need to think twice." The rest of the members came slowly but surely. Each picked carefully to help compliment the ideas in Nick's head of a specific sound and were tested well for skill and cohesion. "Mark and Justin responded to ads I put out on internet musician classifieds. I had to be really specific with those to make sure I found the right guys. Our goal is to work together as a unit and construct great songs, all while remaining good friends outside the practice room."
Dali Circus consists of four members. Mark Parsons (26) from Brampton plays heavy drums, Justin Bernard (27) a Scarborough native takes on all the duties of a lead singer, John Stephenson (27) who attended Saint Thomas Aquinas and The Trebas Institute keeps rhythm on bass, and Nick Lee (20) a graduate of Brampton Secondary School plays guitar like no one else.
Nick does not hesitate to point out that this band is very different from the groups he's worked with before. "A good thing about this band is we all have really distinctive strengths. Justin (Vocals) has very good control of his voice. We're on the same page, melodically, it's scary. John has a great ear. He can pick up on anything really quick, which is good when working with me, because I can throw a million things at you. Mark (Drums) is a great drummer. I don't know why I didn't find this guy earlier. Another great ear, and really knows control." John is quick to agree. I would have to say overall our writing style has changed quite a lot since TNLB existed. Mainly I feel it's because of the type of music we listen to now since then has widened a lot so we have a lot to pull ideas from. Justin's incredible range, Mark's ability to play to almost anything Nick throws at him makes this probably the best band I've ever been part of."
When asked to commit to a single influence, Nick smiles broadly and says he can not. All of the members of the band draw from wildly different influences it would seem. "Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Big Wreck, Tool, Led Zeppelin to name a few. I also draw influences from other genres, like Seal, Sarah McLachlan, Supertramp, Dire Straits, even Ravi Shankar." These influences directly affect his song writing and proves it by telling me he's seriously looking into purchasing a sitar. "I've always had a fascination with music or musical instruments. I got my first real guitar at 6 years old, and never looked back. I'm primarily self-taught, but I'll never be too ignorant to learn."
Learning, one way or another shapes many avenues of Nick's life right now. Nick used the break between bands to immerse himself in teaching. There he returned to the fundamental basics of what brought him to playing the guitar in the first place. "It helps to break things down. With a student, you need to take a technique or passage, and break it down in pieces to clearly show how it works. With the band, you have to break down the idea to see how it works, and then see what else you can do with it." Nick has also been an instrumental driving force behind the scenes of his sister Katee's band DAME. I see a lot of natural ability. I was pretty much self-taught so I see a lot of that in Katee. But now she has me to push her in the right direction and show her things that I should've know a long time ago. She's definitely progressing faster and faster." Now it's a case of student teaching the teacher when they now share the same stage. The turn-out for one of Katee's shows makes him very proud but he knows soon he will have a similar fan base in terms of numbers and enthusiasm. He smiles slyly. "When the crowd digs it, the energy starts."
Dali Circus debuted in June at The Now Lounge. With some time and some distance from both that debut performance and the Show at the hype, Nick can examine the reaction to the new band carefully. "We've been getting some pretty surprising reactions...but people seem to enjoy the band and it's individuals. Our last show was at The Hype, and there was a great response. We played our first original, "Unwanted", and people really liked it." Unwanted can currently be heard on their website, http://www.myspace.com/dalicircus. To me it's one of those songs that roll around in your head for days but to John it means a complete transition has been made from the old band to the new. "The music style is completely different [from what they wrote in TNLB]. When we used to write songs in TNLB they dealt more with complexity -- how many things can we do at once or how many time changes can we fit in. Now that we had that experience and are more assured in our abilities, these new songs we're writing are a little more mainstream...more radio friendly if you will. And way shorter and concise." Nick agrees, adding "I think emotion is a tool in which you can use to write a song. Theory is as well. It's imagination and creativity that drives the composition."
The current evolution of the Brampton music scene excites all of the members of the band, especially Nick. And it's a movement that he personally feels very involved in. "There has been a huge surge of bands within 2-3 years in Brampton. It's really great to see, because I sort of watched it happen. When I was in high school, there weren't too many bands. Now all these kids are getting together and writing tunes. It's awesome." John is hungry to play with all of the bands in the area, across the musical spectrum. I feel that we are going to have a big influence on other up coming bands in the area." He challenges with a laugh.
A new band needs a new name and a new sound a rechristening. Nick is the one that came up with the original name, which after some experimentation with other monikers, the rest of the band approved. The name itself seems to be creating a stir itself. John explains "Well the reaction I get from people now about the name is they seem to already connect to Salvador Dali... they know how his paintings really play with imagination and that's the type of reaction we were looking for with this name." Nick grins broadly and softly strums the guitar that sits in his lap. "The name is supposed to give a visual more than anything. Which is what the music should give you as well. Would Dali have appreciated it? Hopefully it would have inspired him to design the album cover!"
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