Friends of the GDB

The group of guys on this page is the core of the GDB. We have plenty of friends that we've played with over the years and plan on making many more. At any particular event some of our friends may be playing with us. It all depends on what kind of gig, who's available, etc. The lineup beyond the core is fluid . . .

History

"Gorilla Dance Band"? That's a funky name - where did it come from?

For this we are going to have to delve into the history of the Gorillas. Let's jump in the wayback machine . . .

BANG . . . nope, too far back

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent . . . let's move it up a bit

Ask not what your country can do for you . . . almost there

I am not a crook . . . ahhh, just one more tweak

Starting a number of years back (the state of mind of Gorilladom does not promote clear memories so sue me) Mark organized the first annual Mens Gorilla Chorus and Orchestra at Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church. Ahhh, the dulcet tones of the massive group of mellifluous voices filling the air on a quiet Sunday morning in the Woodlands . . .

That tradition continued on an annual basis with a varying set of musicians and singers getting together every year to rock NWUUC with some classic rock tunage and then soothe the audience with a champagne brunch and extended jam afterwards. This year, 2004, Mark suggested having the band continue to get together and work towards doing additional gigs. It was a challenge to continue without the power of the assembled NWUUC mens voices but we persevered through the adversity . . .

Now the Gorilla Dance Band is a full fledged band that performs in a dizzying array of configurations from a small acoustic combo to massive Gorilla Dance Band & Orchestra depending on what set of members and friends are involved in any given event. If you attend NWUUC on the right (or wrong depending on your point of view) Sunday you may get more than you bargained for, at least from and auditory perspective, as some permutation of the Gorillas contributes "special" music.

Gorilla Mark

congas, percussion and vocals you can't hear

As the primary founder and motivational force behind the GDB Mark is often referred to as "The Silverback". He takes on all the promotional activities with enviable energy and remarkable success. He drives T-shirt development, schedules practices, books shows attempts to keep the peace with the other NWUU organizations that the GDB sonically imposes on during rehearsals and generally coordinates with the outside world.

Mark thumps (or is it "whacks") on a varied array of percussion to add colorful world music flavors to the GDB stew. And he doesn't stop there. He nominally does lead vocals on the GDB interpretation of the Grateful Dead's "Ripple" (although it doesn't seem to matter how loud his mic is, we still can't hear him).

Actually we don't call Mark "The Silverback". We usually call him "Mark"

Gorilla AJ

Guitar, vocals, harmonica

AJ functions as the musical director for the NWUU Gorilla Chorus (see the FAQ page for how that relates to the GDB) and tends to inherit that role by default in the GDB as well. He's played around Houston (and the world) for a number of years in a number of different roles (drums, guitar, front man . . . ).

AJ has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock songs and a general affinity for that music. And don't get him started on Neil Young (unless you want to hear some Neil) 'cause he's got 'em all down. And personally I'd rather hear AJ sing them than Neil - kind of like how I like all Dylan covers better than the originals. But that's getting off the topic at hand.

AJ has moved (dare we say, "evolved") from a drummer to being a guitar slinging frontman. And with the recent acquisition of an electric guitar and an amp large enough to cause hearing damage to residents of Oklahoma and Louisiana the GDB, much like Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival (hmmm, two Dylan references in one bio - not bad), has gone electric (or at least "more electric"). And it's all over now, baby blue.

Gorilla David

drums, vocals and sick jokes

David always has joke for you. It may be a dirty joke. It may be a sick joke. It may be a sick, filty, disgusting joke that makes you feel like you need a shower after you laugh at it. But laugh you will . . .

A veteran of the Houston and Conroe music scene David is one of the drummers providing the sinuous, pulsating rythms that tug at your monkey brain and make you want to get down tonight and shake what your momma gave you. Or something like that.

Gorilla Craig

bass and sarcastic comments

When the other Gorillas ask Craig "What's new?" they aren't talking about current events, they are asking which pieces of gear Craig brought are new. And more often than not there's one or two things. Ebay, Craigslist and various online music gear sites feed the addiction.

Although he's mostly playing bass (and buying/selling/trading bass gear) he also plays sax and wind synth (not in the GDB) and messes around with multi-track recording for songwriting and capturing rehearsals and gigs.

Gorilla Mike

Sax, flute, vocals, various shakey things and music theory the rest of us can't grasp

Mike. Mikey. The Mikester. What can we say about Mike?

Being an actual university-trained musician, Mike is a whole different type of gorilla. And the GDB is a bit of a change-up for him, too. The complete lack of written charts, knowledge of theory and proper formal terminology ("we'll do that bit 3 or 4 times and then do this bit here, then we'll throw in a bridge and come back around to the first bit again") is something that actual music education does not prepare you for. Kind of like how a teaching degree is not going to help you when you encounter your first tribe of native people in the Amazon rain forest that have not been exposed to any outside influences, ever.