Making music is a passion. The bands that are successful must continue to push forward through years of struggle. There will be ups and downs along the way but if the passion remains a band will reach their goals. Our friends from D2UR have been in the game for quite a while and continue to put great music out into the world.
Hailing from Winnipeg Manitoba in Canada, the five piece rock band has been at it for over a decade now. Rising from the ashes of a cover band back in 2010, D2UR found that their love for straight ahead, no frills, Rock ‘n Roll is still shared by many music fans. The lineup has refined through the years with it now set as Diane Isbister: Lead vocals, guitar, Mike Isbister: Guitar, backing vocals, Dave Sikorski-Thorn: Guitar, backing vocals, John Colburn: Bass guitar, and have utilized Brent Fitz for Drum tracks since the Tic Toc album.
Together their powerful rock sound has caught the attention of many in Canada. D2UR has been building continued steam. Their song “Not a Good Day” placed top 25 in the 2014 CBC Searchlight competition. In 2015, “Silver & Gold” had a top 10 finish in the Canadian CBC Searchlight competition. In 2016 D2UR released a single in Canada called “Losing Control” featuring fiery slide guitar work that earned 15th place in the CJIM Montreal Independent Rock Countdown for 2016. The D2UR sound continued to develop through 2017’s Tic Toc album.
Now the rock is back with a string of hard rocking new singles. The new energy grabs you right away on “Wild Ride” setting the tone for a rocking good time. Guitars grind as Diane’s vocals drip with powerful emotion.
Modern sounds meld with classic influences on “Little Sunshine”. Right from the opening the bass sets the stage and draws the listener in. The strong chorus will stick in your head and have you singing along uncontrollably. Some fancy guitar work is thrown in to show off the skills present in D2UR. This is rock as it is supposed to be.
The energy continues on “Wild Ride”. This one speeds up the tempo putting us right along with the band for their crazy antics and good times.
We had a chance to chat with the band and get a deeper look under to hood to see what fuels the D2UR engine. Enjoy the interview here:
First off, What is the meaning behind the name D2UR?
The name D2UR originated from “detour”. Detour refers to a shift from our everyday work-life as well as songs that take you on an alternative route or passage. We wanted it to have a cool factor so it became D2-UR or D2UR.
How would you describe the band’s sound?
In our music, you can hear influences of classic rock by such artists as Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, Whitesnake, Sass Jordan, The Pretenders, and Ted Nugent. Our current music is guitar driven and relies on great rhythms and solid groove.
Tell us about the transition from cover band to original band?
In 2007, our original, long time, rhythm section went in a different direction as they wanted to focus on cover material only. We had been writing a steady diet of original songs and performing them during our gigs. After a few attempts at recruiting new members, we decided to strike out and record an album of original songs instead. That led to our inaugural album Rev U Up.
How does a song come together for D2UR? What is the songwriting process?
It is usually a collaborative effort. In some cases, Diane will bring the formation of the chord structure and words and then I (Mike) will embellish. Such was the case for the “Rev U Up” album. For the second album “Tic Toc”, we wanted a harder edge direction. Mike wrote much of the music and Diane either wrote lyrics or found old lyrics I penned years ago and used them for the basis of the content with some adjustments. In some cases, we wrote lyrics together such as on “Losing Control” from that album. This same process was also employed on our 3 new singles released in December 2019.
2019 closed with D2UR releasing 3 new songs. Tell us about bringing those tracks to the world?
We really wanted to keep pushing to release better quality sounding, harder edged songs and discussed obtaining improved drum sounds with our producer, Howard Klopak. Ultimately we ended up recording each part of the drum kit, courtesy Brent Fitz (Slash, Alice Cooper, Toque), on separate tracks. Brent being the consummate professional, was able to isolate the snare, kick, toms, high hat and cymbals on individual tracks so that we could easily manipulate their levels without bleed or interference.
“Little Sunshine” was originally penned in 1992 in Mike’s band Sledgehound. Diane found the lyrics (Scott Wilkie) and really connected to them. She started strumming a few chords and sang the lyrics. Once I heard that I went immediately to our demo studio and formulated the song, which opens in a haunting dark mood with the vocals spinning a tale of deceit and lies. The chorus kicks in and unleashes no mercy. It is a rock n’ roll tale of abuse and sadness draped in bombastic rock layers. All 3 of the singles feature bone crushing beats, infectious bass line grooves and rocking guitar.
Following in the same rock vein as their second album “TIC TOC”, all 3 D2UR singles will rock your soul. “Wild Ride” is a full tilt classic rocker of hell-bent destruction. The song twists and turns at dangerous speed. The Bass pulsates and grooves while the drums pound feverishly. It’s one ride you’ll want to take over and over till the end. “Where’s the Rocket” is an up-tempo rocker about crazy antics and good times. Diane Isbister wails through the wall of guitars, driving bass and thumping drums, as the song drives to a frenzy. Howard was able to help elevate the songs to another level during the recording and mixing process which he is very good at. We hope they will elevate our band to another level and garner a positive response from our listeners and gaining new fans.
Share some advice for other bands pushing forward in the new music industry?
Never give up, keep continuing to strive to write better songs. When you get something in your head, find a way to record it and work it through till you are satisfied with the basic structure. Longevity is key, try not to get down and focus on the things you can control, moving forward and writing new material.
What does the rest of 2020 hold for D2UR?
We have a concert at the Park Theatre in our hometown of Winnipeg on January 30th, 2020, which is sold out. We hope to capture some good imagery from the show as well as some video to use in more promotion for the band. This past week we just received notification from Manitoba Music that our song “Little Sunshine” was selected as the song of the week). After that we are set to begin work in the studio on some new songs as well as looking for summer festival gigs.
Keep up with D2UR for yourself on their WEBSITE.
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