June's Featured Band: Daughters of Fission

Bio:

Daughters of Fission – Jason Prichard (drums/vocals), John Banks (guitar/backing vocals), Christopher Coons (bass/backing vocals), Stephanie Dilk (keyboards) – have just released their new album, entitled M.O.T.H., which is the follow up to their 2005 release, entitled Abandonatomy. Both CD’s can be found online at CD Baby.com and iTunes. You can also get information on the band, show dates, photos, and more at www.myspace.com/daughtersoffission.

Daughters of Fission formed out of the ashes of the band known as Arms of the Sun. John was the only original member remaining of the band Arms of the Sun - the original lineup included John, Derek Axeman on bass, and Michael Comunale on voice, trombone, and harmonica, with a revolving door of drummers. Jason filled the drum spot in October of 1998. The quartet released the album Flux in mid 2000, the title of which was homage to Mike and John's previous band. After the release of Flux, Derek departed from the band and was replaced by Dave Kruse. During the recording of AOTS' second album (summer 2001), Michael left the band. That fall, Dave would depart as well, leaving John and Jason with the task of reconstruction.

The New Year brought a new member. Chris joined the band adding the creativity and prowess that Jason and John were looking for in a bass player. Over the next several months the trio composed and aggressively sought a vocalist. The experience of seeking a vocalist was analogous to American Idol, just on a much more hopeless and pathetic scale.

Eventually, friends and loved ones persuaded the guys to do what they should have done all along – sing. Jason took over the singing duties with John and Chris providing various harmonies and screams. April of 2002 saw the band’s first performance at the Buffalo Exchange in Tempe, AZ. The band continued to perform under the name Arms of the Sun for much of the next year.

Early in 2003, the guys decided it was time to record so that fans could take something with them. Finding themselves financially challenged, they decided to record an album completely by themselves. Armed with a Roland 840, their Behringer mixer and PA, a computer, an assortment of microphones, and their creativity, the trio recorded ten tracks.

In the summer of 2003, as the recording was nearing completion, the trio realized Arms of the Sun must be laid to rest. The sound that was emerging bore practically no resemblance to its predecessor. Thus Daughters of Fission was born.

The guys released a limited number of their recording. They were not quite content with the outcome of their product. This new and evolving sound required one more layer. One more instrument was needed to round out the sound. The hunt for a keyboardist began.

The guys experimented with drummer Ryan Smith (formerly with Systatic). (I know they were looking for a keyboard player.) Ryan dabbled in piano so they gave it a try. This experiment evolved into Ryan becoming a full time drummer for the band and Jason being frontman/keyboardist/percussionist. This lasted a few months. Jason was actually more comfortable on the drum kit and singing, rather than just doing one or the other. After all, the goal was to find a keyboard player, remember?

July 2004 saw the departure of Ryan as the band’s fourth member.

Time went on. The guys continued writing, performing, searching, dreaming of the vision that they knew could become reality.

Finally, one day in September 2004, Jason received a phone call from Stephanie Dilk. Stephanie was responding to a flyer that had been placed in a music store at least a year earlier. “Do you guys still need a keyboard player?”

After listening to DoF’s recorded work and checking out the live show, Stephanie climbed on board and has been with the band since October 2004.

The band went into Mind’s Eye Digital Studio with Larry Elyea in January of 2005 and recorded Abandonatomy. Abandonatomy received some airplay locally on the Edge 103.9. Several of the songs were picked up by BMG/FirstCom for licensing with TV, film, and radio. The band performed in southern California and northern Arizona and was featured in and participated in the 2006 New Times Best of Phoenix Music Showcase. The band’s music was also picked up by Headcase Radio and the Podsafe Network.

Over the last two years the band has been performing relentlessly in Arizona, primarily in the Phoenix area with occasional visits to Prescott and Flagstaff.

In 2007, Daughters of Fission set to work on the follow up to Abandonatomy, entitled M.O.T.H. M.O.T.H. was recorded at Mind’s Eye Digital with Larry Elyea. DOF enlisted guest musicians Shea Marshall (saxophone) and Chris Peeler (vocals). This year, the 2008 Phoenix Music Awards nominated Daughters of Fission for rock single of the year and best production and engineering for “The Sea”, which is the first single from M.O.T.H. More information about the Phoenix Music Awards can be found at www.phoenixmusicawards.com.

The CD release event for M.O.T.H. was held on June 6th at the Venue of Scottsdale. The future is…

Check out June's Band of the Month on Myspace HERE and look for and listen to our interview on BlogTalkRadio on a Special edition of our Round Table/Debate Series this month on Sundays @ 9PM AZ/12AM EST.

Call in with your questions for the band (718.508.9456), hang out with us in chat, or leave your questions in the FORUM on the site.

You can pick up your copies of Dead End Daughters of Fission's latest: M.O.T.H.

Listen to our podcasts throughout the week to hear tracks from Daughters of Fission: Wednesday's Humpday Promo (noon AZ/3PM EST), Friday's BEER:30 (4PM AZ/7PM EST), and Sunday Night's Round Table/Debate Series (9PM AZ/12AM EST)

If you are interested in being featured on the site email 2mara@azoverload.com for more information

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Then...

Listen to our latest podcast on BlogTalkRadio AZOverload Open Mic hosted by Brian James Saturdays @ 1PM AZ/3PM EST. Here you will find clips from the weeks Open Mic at the Bashful Bandit and much more.

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