screaming mimes home

Dave began experimenting with actual songs on his Atari 400 computer in the early 80's until he realized that with his bad acne he'd never get a date unless he played guitar. After one of his friends demanded he returned a borrowed Les Paul knock-off, his kind grandmother took pity on him and bought him an ash 3/4" scale Peavey, complete with the amp in the case! His first band, Saturday Knights played the inspiring local church basement circuit in hawaiian shirts and ray-bans. They played an all-original set of Dave's songs written during his first two months of playing guitar. It could only go up from there.

Cover bands followed as Dave bounced between playing bass & guitar. Soon he discovered the joys of multi-track recording on a friends borrowed Tascam 4-track. Toiling late at night on the bands' equipment, he began a love affair with the art of arranging and mixing music, writing more and more challenging material and performing all the parts himself.

Dave played in several local bands including DXM and Empty Envelopes in the early 90's. It was during this time that the Screaming Mimes standard set closer "Rex Dance" was written. He also had his first showing of his oil paintings. Dave fell in love in this period with his soon-to-be wife Renee and started a family. While raising his kids and starting his first job he kept writing and recording demos, refining a unique sound based on the influences of his past and tempered by his love for new music. Stockpiling thousands of songs Dave joined up with his best friends Randy & Preston at his new job to jam acoustically as Duckbutter. "TV", "The Man on The Phone" & "Thanks A Lot Mom" were worked into sets at local bars as the new millenium approached. He built a small recording studio in his house and began making more elaborate & finished demos.

Working different jobs, Preston, Randy & Dave began itching to play in a full-fledged band again. Placing ads for drummers, the began working with Jim Farmer fleshing out existing material and working out new songs. In July of 2002 they ventured into Sonic Arts studio where Randy worked and recorded a seven song demo. Shortly after Tom Jansing joined the band on drums and they began playing all over Cincinnati as Screaming Mimes. Response to the band took everyone by surprise, as they began to get airplay on WNKU and very positive reviews in Citybeat and the Enquirer. Feeling a need to push the band further, they parted ways with Tom and Jim re-entered the picture. During this time their full-length album was finished and they worked up even more material.

On his songwriting, Dave says: "I've been writing songs constantly over the past several years and had nothing for them to do. Getting together in this band is a perfect place to let the songs come to life and the response has been phenomenal. We put a lot of work into each tune making it sound just right and the audience really reacts to that.

"One of the great things about this band is that everyone brings something to it inside and outside the group. It's such a great group of guys and everyone works hard balancing the demands of a 'life' with the demands of the group. But I think our passion and talent really shines through to the audience, based on the response we're getting."

You can hear more of Dave's music over the airwaves and in all sorts of commercial venues, including both major sports franschises in Cincinnati. His voice has been used in major motion pictures, television, websites, as well as in numerous toys. He has also organized benefit shows for the Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati, such as the Talking Heads Tribute Show in January 2004.