Irradio

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Greg Sudor: Drums | Rick Blare: Bass guitar | Steven Welker: Saxophone | Jim "Guitar God" Hughes: Guitar (electric) | Dan Dasher: Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), Vocals | Andrew Heine: Piano

Genre: Alternative, Blues & Soul, Rock

Sound description: The band's MySpace page calls their music "global rebel music."

RIYL: Talking Heads, Yovee, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Led Zeppelin, Wishbone Ash, John Frusciante, Gorillaz, Goodbye Blue Monday

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Synoposis

Inception: San Diego, 1999

Ex-Band Members: Paolo C. Zuniga, Guitar (acoustic), Guitar (electric), Vocals Collin Tuthill, Drums, Percussion Anthony Rogers-Wright, Bass guitar Chad Tuthill, Bass guitar Edgar "DJ GarGar" Alminar, Bass guitar

Influences: Jaguares, Queens of the Stone Age, James Brown, Jane's Addiction, Kool Keith, the Mars Volta, Explosions in the Sky, Ted Leo, Iron and Wine, Garbage, Coldplay, Fugazi, AFI, Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Pink Floyd, U2, Joy Division, Jeff Buckley, Dead Kennedys, the Clash, Hot Snakes

Background:

When your band has two lead guitarists, it's a safe bet you're gonna attract more metalheads than mopers. When the members of indie/psychedelic/soul band Irradio were asked to describe their music, singer/guitarist Dan Dasher -- the only member to survive all Irradio incarnations -- said "blues-punk."

Formed in 1999, Irradio recorded 2002's Semantic Noise at Sweet Sound Studios with Ruben Montoya, and 2004's Make-Up for the Inaugurated, with Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Rocket from the Crypt) at Signature Sound. The Sexy Wolf demos were released in 2006 on Lola Records. Their music has appeared on the Discovery Channel's Urban Explorers and on compilation CDs (Insound, Magnet, Amp).

Former Irradio bassist Anthony Rogers-Wright says producer Alan Parsons mixed three tracks on their 2006 album One Sound, and invited the band to his home in Goleta, just outside of Santa Barbara.

"For a guy worth 50 million dollars, he had a real modest two-story house. His wife Lisa served us wine and cheese.... When I went into the kitchen, there was his platinum award for doing [Pink Floyd's] Dark Side of the Moon just sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall."

Rogers-Wright says the band then went out to dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Parsons. "Every car in the lot was a Beemer, a Humvee, or a Lamborghini.... [Alan's] wife is a real wine connoisseur, and every time another bottle got ordered, we'd all look at each other and be thinking, 'How are we going to pay for this? Are we gonna end up doing dishes or going to jail?' The bill was adding up to around $2500!" The band lucked out when Alan Parsons palmed the check. "He just said, 'Let me take care of this. You can pay me back after your first Grammy.'"

Edgar Alminar went on to play with the Kneehighs, where -- as DJ GarGar -- where he was joined by three MCs: Talls, DaDa, and Dalton.

After a 2006 split, Irradio announced it was reforming in late 2007. Frontman Dan Dasher chose to finish writing the songs that became Irradio's third album. The band added saxophone player Steven Welker, bassist Rick Blare, and new lead guitarist Jim Hughes (Transit War).

In 2009, Irradio released I Am the Horn, on local Blindspot Records (Staring at the Sun, etc.), produced by Mitch Wilson (No Knife). It won Best Rock Album at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards, and the band played the annual SXSW music fest in Austin, Texas for the first time.

After a few gigs in October 2010, the band essentially went on hiatus for around a year. A reunion performance happened September 4, 2011, at the Casbah.

Discography

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