 band
members...Donnie Hamby – vocals Troy McLawhorn – guitar Joshua Sattler – bass Mike Froedge – drums
discography . . . facts...doubleDrive got one of its big breaks on WJRR. The Rock Station was one of the first to play their single, “Tattooed Bruise,” helping propel both the song and the band to the top of the charts and people’s attentions. The
title of the album and title track, 1000 Yard Stare, comes from a
term coined by Walter Cronkite to capture the dazed, faraway look in the
eyes on U.S. servicemen returning from Vietnam about the band...
Much of
doubleDrive's story is magical. Following the 1998 Atlanta Music
Conference, the then-unsigned band's buzz reached a crescendo,
doubleDrive were fielding a half-dozen calls a day from interested
labels. A song off their demo, "Tattooed Bruise," was also at
#1 on influential Orlando radio station WJRR. As "Tattooed
Bruise" began getting radio play, the response from the listeners
was conclusive: the single has been added to the playlists of 117 radio
stations across America.
On 1000
Yard Stare, the songs chronicle Hamby's last couple of whirlwind
years. "It’s the transition I was going through," the
frontman muses, "from being on the road for six years... It was
hard, there were endings, but beginnings, too, like with doubleDrive."
Indeed. And with doubleDrive and 1000 Yard Stare, it's clearly an
auspicious beginning with no end in sight. Since
this time, doubleDrive has been on the road non-stop, touring with such
groups as Powerman 5000, Vigos Merlot, Drain STH, and have just
completed playing with Queensryche on their "Q2K" tour.
Beginning November 30th, a new tour began with Megadeth. What's in store
for these guys in the year 2000? "Steady touring is not out of the
question. We're a rock band. That's what good rock bands do, stay on the
road and cover some ground. There are people out there who have this
record and need a fix." |
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It
took a while for the band to form, although Hamby and McLawhorn gigged
together in another lineup for six years, coming close to a record deal
before the band imploded. Hamby returned to his North Carolina home, but
spent much time in Atlanta recording and jamming with friends, including
McLawhorn, who he hooked-up with again in 1996. The guitarist had been
playing in an R&B band with Sattler, who grew up in Los Angeles,
hanging at clubs like Raji's and grooving to Thelonius Monster, X and
Jane's Addiction. Froedge "was playing in a band that rehearsed
next door to [doubleDrive] and they stole me.” In fact, his first gig
was the very Atlanta Music Conference that garnered doubleDrive the
intense industry interest. Through the bandmembers’ years of toiling,
they'd earned many fans in the business, including several who proved
"instrumental in helping us beat the bushes and create a buzz and
let people know about us." 
It
was time to sign with a major label, and plenty were ready to add
doubleDrive, but the lineup turned the tables on all interested parties.
doubleDrive knew how hard they were willing to work and wanted to sign
with an equally committed company. "So we did little tricks, like
buying our own tickets and flying to the label's doorstep, calling at
the end of the business day to say we'd be there in the morning,"
chuckles Hamby. "And if they were like, 'what, huh?,' we decided
quickly who had sincere interest." MCA made the cut. The end result
of both side's hard work is found on 1000 Yard Stare, recorded at
Atlanta's Audio Arts and produced by Hamby and the band, with
engineering and mixing courtesy of such luminaries as Kevin Shirley (Silverchair,
Aerosmith), Jack Joseph Puig (The Verve Pipe) and Jeff Tomei (Smashing
Pumpkins, Matchbox 20). 