Bands from all over the country, and around the world, showed up this past weekend for one of Dewey Beach’s largest and most talent-filled free shows: the Dewey Beach Music Conference. Headed by event coordinator Vikki Walls, the conference had a turnout that hit record numbers as 150 bands played throughout the Dewey Beach area for three nights of nonstop entertainment.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Days Difference jams out on stage during the Dewey Beach Music Conference last weekend. The conference featured around 150 bands from all over the world.
“This year’s conference was by far the best yet,” said Walls. “I was stopped by a number of people who told me that this year, the music was tops and the parties were even better than they had been before. We had more panels, and the venues were all much more crowded than they have been.”
Noted music VJ Matt Pinfield interviewed several bands for airing on his HDNet music channel. “Having Matt [Pinfield] here was really wonderful,” said Walls. “The bands all loved him and enjoyed talking to him. Our BMX performance helped to bring in more people, too.”
Show-goers from the surrounding area, as well as from outside the beach perimeter made it a point to return to Dewey for their sixth annual conference. “A lot of people who come to the area regularly in the summer make it a habit to come here for the Music Conference,” said Walls, but it’s not just the crowd who gets into it, by any means. “The conference really helps to unite a lot of bands together,” she added. “They all became friends this weekend. The Primms were always hanging out with City Riots all weekend. Members of Tenspoke Indies and Jealousy Curve have met each other through the show.”
Jealousy Curve, a band from Philadelphia, has even played shows in Florida, home state to the Tampa-based Tenspoke Indies, and visa-versa.
Of the 150 bands who were booked, many of them had their own ambitions, though enjoyed their time, regardless.
Philadelphian and classically trained cellist Daniel DeJesus used the Dewey Beach Music Conference as a platform for both his solo career and his band, DeJesus.
“We have a growing number of fans, and this conference helps us to make even more connections and promote our name,” said DeJesus.
While providing lead vocals and playing cello, he is often backed by bass, guitar and drums, sometimes even putting on acoustic performances.
“It’s a lot of fun, and I’m teaching myself how to become more professional with my music,” he added.
His styles stem from his classical and modern talent, a passion that began when he was only 14 years old. Inspiration stems from Tori Amos and Radiohead vocals, while the sound mixes Bjork, Jeff Buckley and David Bowie.
“The conference is a wonderful resource for artists,” DeJesus said. “We’re trying to ground ourselves in the industry, but we also just want to enjoy ourselves.”
For Days Difference, formed by two pairs of brothers, the conference was a great way to delve into the business aspect of the music industry.
“We’ve been to a couple of panels and conferences, and met some people with connections,” said bassist Micah Ricks. “Some of them came out to see us play tonight, which is cool. It was a great experience.”
Though the members of Days Difference have been playing together for three years, they’ve taken the “professional” approach in just the last year and a half.
“As far as style,” explained Micah Ricks, “we go for what we like to write. Coldplay and John Mayer have been some of our inspiration, but we all like the same type of music — Deftones, Muse, Mute Math, Switchfoot.”
Jeremiah Ricks provides guitar, while Jeremy Smith fronts with vocals and keyboard, and his brother Jonathan plays drums. The band members have recently put their talent and education together to form Days Difference LLC, as well.
“All the venues are really nice and there’s some great food here, too,” said Micah of the Dewey conference.
Local favorites Lloyd Dobler Effect have been featured in the conference several times, as well as toured the country, playing at venues and college campuses throughout New England, down to Florida, and even to Texas.
This year, in addition to their own band’s performance, frontmen Chris Bruno and Phil Kominski teamed up with friend and fellow songwriter Elizabeth Coyle. The trio, which plays under the simple name Elizabeth, Phil and Chris, has performed a handful of times each year for the past three years, gelling their sounds of folk, popular rock and vocal harmonization.
“It’s a lot of fun when we can coincide with another artist like this,” said Bruno. “This conference is a good change between doing the ‘band’ thing. There’s a lot of music within four blocks.”
“It’s a great way to hear new sounds and find out about new bands,” said Coyle. “Plus we enjoy people coming to hear us.”
For some of the bands, the travel to Dewey was a breeze; for others, nothing but an adventurous road trip. For City Riots, representing the land down under, it was another story.
“We doing a lot of touring in Australia,” said bassist and vocalist John DeMichele, “but it’s different from the U.S. in that you take a lot of plane trips versus van tours. This is sort of a larger version of what we do back home.”
Trekking along on a 28-hour plane ride, City Riots made the most effort out of all of the 150 bands to make it to the conference. While in the U.S., they also played a show in Atlanta and opened at numerous venues for alternative punk band The Academy Is...
Ricky Kradolfer provides vocals and guitar for City Riots while his brother, Dan, plays drums. Matt Stalder backs up the band with organ and sythnesizer.
“We’re stoked,” said DeMichele. “I had heard great things about this conference, and we’ve finally been able to come here. We’ve met some great people here.”
The band used the time on the road to establish their following, rather than look for a big break.
“It’s not a moneymaker for the band,” DeMichele admitted, “but it’s a lot of fun. Everything we do is goal-oriented. We really just want people to find out about us. We’re an independent-label band, so we book everything and organize everything ourselves. Shows like this help us expand our fan base. It’s silly to come into a place like this where there’s so much talent and automatically expect to get signed by a manager. If somebody wants you, they’ll come get you.”
Drawing their name from a piece of graffiti in New York City when they began about a year ago, the group uses whatever they think of as motivation for their music.
“We grew up with The Cure, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Depeche Mode,” said DeMichele. “We draw inspiration from anything we can.”
On Sunday, following the show, organizer Walls was already sitting down to discuss a potential music festival in Seaside Heights, N.J. next spring. She is also currently placing the finishing touches on Dewey’s Americana Festival, set for the third weekend of this month.
“It gets hectic, but I couldn’t ask for anything else,” said Walls. “This is what I always wanted to do — a free show that caters to the bands. It’s a great formula.”