The band, originally called Periwinkle, came together in the suburbs in 1997 when 15-year-olds Dave Rennick and Hugh Boyce were joined by Alex Moore and English-born Tim Derricourt. The line-up has occasionally expanded on stage to include keyboardists Mark Bradshaw and later Ned Cooke who is now a permanent member of the band. The band played at various all ages shows and charity benefits until they reached legal age to play in the licensed venues which are the focus of Sydney’s live rock scene. The band members moved to the inner suburbs of Sydney and after various name changes settled on Dappled Cities Fly, chosen because its inappropriateness as a band name made them laugh at the time although the band ‘have regretted it ever since’. Their frequent live shows drew a regular following of fans and the band became popular supporting international acts touring eastern Australia. The band also regularly headline their own shows, very often at the Hopetoun Hotel, with bills showcasing new local groups. Dappled Cities Fly have enjoyed and helped foster the revival since 2000 of Sydney’s live music scene and the opening of several new venues. The band have made several extensive tours of Australia and toured New Zealand in 2004. In 2006 the band performed in London and at various shows in the United States, including SXSW. Dappled Cities Fly’s several early single and EP releases were critically well received and played Australia-wide on various radio stations. Their first album, A Smile, after several years in the making, was released in late 2004 and featured as album of the week on radio stations FBi and Triple J, in most of the Sydney street press and in various other media. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Bernard Zuel wrote of A Smile that it “weaves between lo-fi indie rock, oddly bent pop and a kind of big-emotion, big-gesture music that seems refracted through a vaguely hallucinogenic mirror”. Their second album Granddance was recorded at various studios in Los Angeles, California. The album’s cover artwork is noteworthy in having the band’s name as just “Dappled Cities”, minus the word “Fly”; however as Tim Derricourt explained to The Drum Media magazine, this was done mainly for artistic reasons, and does not amount to a formal name change for the band. The band recorded a cover version of “November Rain” with local Sydney band Red Riders, a song which the two bands played together when they toured in 2007. They have also dropped the “Fly” from their moniker, simply calling themselves “Dappled Cities”, though the band remains elusive as to why they have truncated the name. On February 27th, 2008, a bulletin was posted on the band’s myspace announcing that Hugh Boyce had left the band to pursue a career in bio-mechanical engineering. In the following months, the band announced the arrival of their new drummer, Allan Kumpulainen. |
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