Dananananaykroyd

Profile: Dananananaykroyd
Words: Rev. Shoo

Pink Rock

It’s fair to say that things have gone a little weird in Dananananaykroyd-land. That’s weird in a good way; take new single ‘Pink Sabbath’ for an example. It was recorded in the legendary Southern Studios, where such luminaries as Sonic Youth had previously set their squealing mulch down to tape. But as guitarist David Roy of the self-branded ‘fight-pop’ band explains, even that experience wasn’t quite what they expected.
“You show up,” he says incredulously, “and it’s just some guy’s crappy house that’s been soundproofed – it’s awesome and bizarre at the same time.”
A bit like being in a band, really, if you’re doing it right. The single itself, says David, was written to be straightforward.
“I just wanted it to be one riff, cos I don’t think there’s much of that around at the moment. I just wanted it to be one chord, rock music’s a bit studied at the moment and I wanted something that sounded like a bunch of idiots rocking out really fast – ‘Pink Sabbath’ sums it up perfectly.”
OK chief, we’ll give you that one; subsequently, however, the ‘crappy soundproofed house’ became a shit-hot studio in NYC for the recording of their debut album, due out next year – a typical lurch between extremes in the sextet’s scrawly career to date.
“It was a proper studio,” continues Roy, “with a proper obnoxious producer who shouted at us til we got the drums right.” That desk-twiddler is the notorious Machine, responsible for making the likes of Lamb Of God, Fall Out Boy and Fly faves Johnny Foreigner sound good. Surely the latter, as tourmates of the Danananans, should have warned their pals what to expect?
“They did warn us but nothing could prepare us for how psychotic this guy was – I’m just glad I wasn’t there with Calum Gunn when he was recording his vocals cause that’s when Machine really shines: gets people to run round the block, and hands them a mic when they get back to the studio, puking – he’s quite an intense guy.”
The band only got to see ‘bits and bobs of New York in fleeting drunken moments’ after working studio-ward for 13 hour days, though that short experience has given the band a taste for more. To that end, the group hits the road constantly from now til Christmas, touring also with Foals, to bring their noisy bastardry to audiences throughout the UK.
“People can expect a bunch of guys giving their all,” says Roy, rather predictably, “then feeling like zombies the next day. But that adrenaline carries over to every gig and it feels awesome.”
‘Pink Sabbath’ is released on Best Before on October 6th.