01/04 - RAG Magazine

play with enthusiasm and energy. They perform great, honest music.Right after the show, I bought a CD and it has regular rotation in my CDplayer. I also introduced myself to the guys (who are the most wonderful,down-to-earth guys you’ll ever meet) and asked for an interview. This ishow it went down with Derek…Interview: Kelly MorrisseyOne night, I went to Tobacco Road to see a Gainesville band called BigSky. My friends and I got there fairly early—in time to see the openingband setting up their equipment on stage. I found out these guys wereDC-3. I was thinking, “These guys look interesting.” First, I noticedguitarist Tony Medina. He looks like a latino Jack White. Then I noticedbassist Fernando Perdomo. He looks like Krist Novoselic during a fullmoon. Then I noticed singer and drummer Derek Cintron. I noticed himlast because he’s small in stature. I thought to myself, “Lead singer anddrummer? I haven’t seen this since Night Ranger. This ought to beinteresting.” Admittedly, I was skeptical. Then, they began to play and itbecame more interesting… Derek stands while playing drums. I wonderedif this had anything to do with his stature. I have since come to find outthat this was an active choice. Allow me to give you some background…Derek had been recording music on his own. He recorded the album,Oh…The Drama three years ago. When his friends Tony and Fernandoheard it, they told Derek they wanted to play the songs live. So, theydecided to audition drummers, but they couldn’t find the right person forthe job. Fernando and Tony encouraged Derek to play drums and singlead. Derek replied, “OK—I’ll play drums, but if I’m singing lead, I wannastand up and sing like a lead singer.” So, he’s been playing drums andsinging lead whilst standing ever since.Now, a DC-3 show is not just interesting. It’s impressive. These guysare amazingly talented. The songs are dynamic and catchy. Derek wailson drums and his voice is full of passion and sincerity. Tony and FernandoRAG: How would you describe your brand of music? And howdo you feel about labels?DEREK: Our brand of music? Chris Lee from DBY (Death Becomes You)said it best: “You guys are like a melodic, punked-out Led Zeppelin!” Thetruth is, labels get a little messy for us. We have a wide range of peoplein our audience; we can’t just say DC-3 is a hard rock band, or a poppunkband, or a jam band, etc. We make rock music, and we’ve alwaysseen rock music as something that brings people together. All these littlesub-genres don’t do it for me. Overly-specific labels segregate people,and they do the same to music. They put limits on creativity. They putlimits on what a band can accomplish. Imagine if Led Zeppelin hadstayed a blues rock outfit… No “Fool in the Rain,” no “Kashmir”, no“Stairway to Heaven”… Imagine if the Beatles had stayed strictly a popband! I don’t think people really listen to music and immediately try tocategorize it. They either like it or they don’t. I guess if I had to get realparticular, I’d say we’re an old-school rock band with some new twists.RAG: In your bio, I read a comparison to Jeff Buckley? What doyou think about that comparison? What other comparisonshave you heard?DEREK: Oh yeah—that was from one of the reviews of the last album. Iwas totally flattered by the Buckley comparison. It was a vocal comparison,and I think it was more about the tone than the style.RAG: What other comparisons have you heard?Well, there’s Chris Lee’s comparison. We also get a lot of English classicrock references: The Who, Beatles, Queen. We love that stuff, and Iguess it shows. We get some punk references, mostly for the energywe put out.RAG: Who are your musical influences? And who is, in youropinion, the greatest band or musician of all-time?DEREK: Aw, you can’t do that to us! How can we pick from so many???I’ll just give you a background: We’re all old-schoolers: All three ofYou can catch dc-3 at the Culture Room on Jan 23rd.