About D-A-D

D-A-D is a danish hard rock band, formed in 1982 by Jesper Binzer, Stig Pedersen and Peter Lundholm Jensen. Jespers younger brother Jacob Binzer (nickname Cobber) joined in 1984. Originally the band was named Disneyland After Dark. The first album was released in 1986 (Call of the Wild) and mainly consisted of songs that one might categorize as "cow punk". Simple bass rhytms and drumplay with catchy guitar tunes and storytelling lyrics (blended with humor!) gives strong associations to country-music. As did their liveshows. At that time many country-fans actually saw Disneyland After Dark as the savior of the country-genre. The members of the band however, never had these ambitions; their music was meant to be funny and ironic. Partly because of this and partly because of more serious ambitions in the band, their second record (D.A.D. draws a circle) was more of an experiment with different genres in hard rock and (cow) punk. In 1989 Disneyland after Dark realeased "No fuel left for the pilgrims" and the album is considered by fans to be their best. The album, no longer experimenting with "cow punk", but more of a pure hard rock (although still storytelling) and the very popular hit single "Sleeping my day away", gave the band worldwide attention. Warner signed with the band, now named D.A.D. (due to threats of a lawsuit from the Disney Company). The following album was released in 1991 (Riskin' it all) and musically not as rough as "No fuel left...". It was a succes in Europe, but not in the US. Warner therefore decided to cancel the contract with D.A.D. in 1992. The following years from 1992-1995 was rather tough for D.A.D. The band had a hard time making songs, they wanted to add something new to their next album. In 1995 they finally released Helpyourselfish. The spelling of the name was changed to D:A:D along with the album. Some claim that this is inspired by a fan-drawing, others that it is an attempt to underline the change in the style of the bands music. No matter what, the music really HAD changed. From being a hard rock storytelling band, the music on Helpyourselfish is best categorized as metal. The aggressive guitar riffs and hard beats does not invite fun stories on the lyrics, and the lyrics are therefore much more serious and angry and not as obvious and simple as on their previous albums. The serious style from Helpyourselfish inflicted the next album as well. In 1997 D:A:D released Simpatico which features the same style of serious lyrics, although they are more sad than angry (some would even say melancholy). The speed of the music is tuned down to match the lyrics and can best be categorized as melodic rock. In 1999 the original drummer Peter Lundholm Jensen, quits the band. The three remaining members of the band were prepared for this and presented their new drummer, Laust Sonne together with the release of Everything Glows in 2000. Once again the band changed name along with the release, this time to D-A-D. The music is very similar to the one on Simpatico, although not as sad. There is also twists from the past, both from the heavy style found on Helpyourselfish and a bit of storytelling from the early albums. Everything Glows is also defined by reviewers as one of the best albums by D-A-D. In 2002 D-A-D released Soft Dogs which, once again, experimented with the style of their music. Being extremely soft, the album was a disappointment to many fans but was well-recieved by critics. The music is best categorized as soft rock with lyrics mainly about love and to some extend about getting older. The next album was released in 2005 and is called Scare Yourself. The soft style from Soft Dogs is completely removed and is a mature hard rock record. Once again it was well-recieved by reviewers. Some fans believe that the "spirit" of D-A-D disappeared after the release of Soft Dogs and that Scare Yourself is a desperat attempt to reclaim lost fans. In november 2008 the band released their 10th studio album called Monster Philosophy. November also saw the feature-length D-A-Documentary True Believer open in select danish cinemas. The film is the creation of Torleif Hoppe, long time friend of the boys and often referred to as the fifth D-A-D member. DIC·NII·LAN·DAFT·ERD·ARK is the eleventh studio album by D-A-D. It was released on the November 14, 2011 on Mermaid Records. In March of 2013, D-A-D toured in the United States - the first time the band had done this in over 20 years! At this time, only 8 shows are on the schedule (2 in NY, 4 in Texas, 2 in CA) before they have to return to Europe to continue their 2013 tour over there. D-A-D is well-known for their intense live performances, and plays on many danish & other European festivals in the summer. The line-up remains intact after Peter Lundholm Jensen left in 1999. D-A-D still consists of: Jesper Binzer - Vocals, guitar Stig Pedersen - Bass, backing vocals Jacob Binzer - Guitar Laust Sonne - Drums