Taking the Reins
Bassist Dominic Davi on Tsunami Bomb’s rise through the punk rock ranks and who they met along the way
2002-11-07
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Tsunami Bomb, a punk band from Petaluma, California, released their first full-length
album with Kung Fu Records, The Ultimate Escape on September 3rd, 2002.
The long road that culminated in their latest and most ambitious effort was
not an easy one to travel. Along the way the band, like most others trying to
make their way in the music business, worked hard, toured incessantly and faced
numerous rejections; however, every experience, good or bad, and the people
they met along the way were crucial in shaping Tsunami Bomb's sound and approach.
Though Tsunami Bomb now stands as a cohesive four-piece unit - Agent M on lead vocals, Dominic Davi on bass, Gabriel Lindeman on drums and Mike Griffen on guitar - the band saw its share of fluctuating members when it was first formed. "In the early days, Tsunami Bomb was kinda held together by sheer will power and duct tape," Davi says over the phone about his group's beginnings in the late-'90s. However, even without a concrete lineup, Tsunami Bomb still managed to catch the eye of older, more established punk acts, such as AFI's Hunter Bergan. Credited with discovering the band, Bergan released Tsunami Bomb's Mayhem on the High Seas on seven-inch purple vinyl on his own label, Checkmate Records in June of 1999.
"All these people were trying to help me out to get the band started, and a couple of those people ran into Hunter at an AFI show at the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma," Davi recalls of how Tsunami Bomb got together with one of their earliest mentors. "He was doing this label called Checkmate Records and he wanted to see if we would be interested in doing something with his label, but he wanted to talk about it first. While we were talking to him, Tsunami Bomb changed members and got more solid. When Agent M joined the band, that's when we really firmed up, Hunter finally said that he wanted to do it and put out a seven-inch. He's always been a really big help and a really big supporter."
Davi goes on to say that, though he and Tsunami Bomb strive to create their own sound, they have found AFI's passionate approach to their music and their fans very inspirational.
"Watching AFI when we were a young band, we saw what they put in their performance, and that's the one thing we took from them," Davi says. "We didn't take anything sound-wise from them. We were writing the music we play before we met up with them. The things they do [for their fans], and the amount of energy they put in their shows, that's the kind of band we want to be."
Tsunami Bomb followed up the release of Mayhem on the High Seas with an EP, The Invasion from Within in October of 2000 for Tomato Head Records. After that, the band shopped around for a bigger label for a while without much success. According to Davi, "We were looking for a label for a long time that would feel like a home for us - that would be a good place for us to grow as a band. Just about every punk label that you can think of had the chance to look at us and passed on us - and some of the reasons were fairly lame. There's some amazing labels with people I admire, and a lot of them helped us out, but a lot of them didn't believe in us - we have a female singer, they weren't sure about that, some would say that we were too poppy for them or too hard for them. We found ourselves in a real tough spot."
Contrary to their lack of success in finding a label, Tsunami Bomb was tearing it up live, constantly playing shows and garnering themselves a sizable following in Southern California. On May 5th of last year, the band got offered a spot to play with pop-punk veterans, the Vandals at the Glass House in Pomona, CA. For Davi and Tsunami Bomb, the show was a wild success in more ways than one. Joe Escalante, the Vandals' bassist also happens to be the owner of worldwide indie punk label, Kung Fu Records. "It was a great show - actually it was our first show without a keyboard player [Oobliette Sparks] - and that was the first time the Vandals had seen us," Davi says. From there, things began to progress much more quickly for him and Tsunami Bomb.
"A couple of months later," Davi continues, "the Vandals asked us to go out on a small week-long tour with them. On that tour, they were kind of taking a look at us, looking at how we were doing. It helped that that tour went through areas that we were really strong in. After we got back from that tour, Joe saw us at one more show after that headlining at the Glass House in Pomona, and we sold it out, and then they made us an offer."
At Kung Fu, Davi and Tsunami Bomb found the home that they were looking for: a record label where the band could continue to grow and develop. "Kung Fu was the only label that never told us 'No,'" Davi says of the band's decision. "They took this attitude that they wanted to see us, they wanted to watch, they wanted to get to know us better. It really worked out. At first it was a business decision, but once we got in there and got to know the people at Kung Fu and how they feel and how they look at things and their attitude toward music and business in general, we think we found a good home, and we consider ourselves really lucky."
The culmination of all the band's hard work is The Ultimate Escape, a truly dynamic full-length debut, blending elements of pop, new wave, goth and hardcore punk. Though the results are impressive, the process of recording the album had its fair share of challenges. Tsunami Bomb had lost the added dimension provided by their departed keyboard player, and they also had to learn how to work with a producer, Steve Kravac, whose vision for The Ultimate Escape was sometimes different than the band's.
"It was a real tough time recording the album," Davi explains. "There were definitely a lot of personality conflicts in there. It was definitely difficult getting used to having someone there who was trying to be a fifth member of the band, per se. Every member of Tsunami Bomb writes - all four of us contribute to these songs, so they come from a lot of different places. That's why they're kinda diverse and eclectic. That's something I like about us. It was interesting trying to incorporate another opinion, but he was very knowledgeable in sound."
The process of recording The Ultimate Escape was also more technical than Tsunami Bomb was used to; however, Davi admits that he and the band learned a lot as a result, and he is pleased with how things turned out. "We learned a lot of things we definitely hold on to for upcoming releases, and things that we didn't. It was definitely a learning process.
"We're not trying to sound like anyone else - we're trying to discover our own sound," Davi says of the band's latest effort. "And I think The Ultimate Escape is a step in that direction. You listen to all of our stuff, and everything sounds pretty different. I'd like to think [the new album is]one more step in evolving as a band. I hope it shows where we're headed, but I think we'll probably surprise everyone with our next release anyway."
Though Tsunami Bomb now stands as a cohesive four-piece unit - Agent M on lead vocals, Dominic Davi on bass, Gabriel Lindeman on drums and Mike Griffen on guitar - the band saw its share of fluctuating members when it was first formed. "In the early days, Tsunami Bomb was kinda held together by sheer will power and duct tape," Davi says over the phone about his group's beginnings in the late-'90s. However, even without a concrete lineup, Tsunami Bomb still managed to catch the eye of older, more established punk acts, such as AFI's Hunter Bergan. Credited with discovering the band, Bergan released Tsunami Bomb's Mayhem on the High Seas on seven-inch purple vinyl on his own label, Checkmate Records in June of 1999.
"All these people were trying to help me out to get the band started, and a couple of those people ran into Hunter at an AFI show at the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma," Davi recalls of how Tsunami Bomb got together with one of their earliest mentors. "He was doing this label called Checkmate Records and he wanted to see if we would be interested in doing something with his label, but he wanted to talk about it first. While we were talking to him, Tsunami Bomb changed members and got more solid. When Agent M joined the band, that's when we really firmed up, Hunter finally said that he wanted to do it and put out a seven-inch. He's always been a really big help and a really big supporter."
Davi goes on to say that, though he and Tsunami Bomb strive to create their own sound, they have found AFI's passionate approach to their music and their fans very inspirational.
"Watching AFI when we were a young band, we saw what they put in their performance, and that's the one thing we took from them," Davi says. "We didn't take anything sound-wise from them. We were writing the music we play before we met up with them. The things they do [for their fans], and the amount of energy they put in their shows, that's the kind of band we want to be."
Tsunami Bomb followed up the release of Mayhem on the High Seas with an EP, The Invasion from Within in October of 2000 for Tomato Head Records. After that, the band shopped around for a bigger label for a while without much success. According to Davi, "We were looking for a label for a long time that would feel like a home for us - that would be a good place for us to grow as a band. Just about every punk label that you can think of had the chance to look at us and passed on us - and some of the reasons were fairly lame. There's some amazing labels with people I admire, and a lot of them helped us out, but a lot of them didn't believe in us - we have a female singer, they weren't sure about that, some would say that we were too poppy for them or too hard for them. We found ourselves in a real tough spot."
Contrary to their lack of success in finding a label, Tsunami Bomb was tearing it up live, constantly playing shows and garnering themselves a sizable following in Southern California. On May 5th of last year, the band got offered a spot to play with pop-punk veterans, the Vandals at the Glass House in Pomona, CA. For Davi and Tsunami Bomb, the show was a wild success in more ways than one. Joe Escalante, the Vandals' bassist also happens to be the owner of worldwide indie punk label, Kung Fu Records. "It was a great show - actually it was our first show without a keyboard player [Oobliette Sparks] - and that was the first time the Vandals had seen us," Davi says. From there, things began to progress much more quickly for him and Tsunami Bomb.
"A couple of months later," Davi continues, "the Vandals asked us to go out on a small week-long tour with them. On that tour, they were kind of taking a look at us, looking at how we were doing. It helped that that tour went through areas that we were really strong in. After we got back from that tour, Joe saw us at one more show after that headlining at the Glass House in Pomona, and we sold it out, and then they made us an offer."
At Kung Fu, Davi and Tsunami Bomb found the home that they were looking for: a record label where the band could continue to grow and develop. "Kung Fu was the only label that never told us 'No,'" Davi says of the band's decision. "They took this attitude that they wanted to see us, they wanted to watch, they wanted to get to know us better. It really worked out. At first it was a business decision, but once we got in there and got to know the people at Kung Fu and how they feel and how they look at things and their attitude toward music and business in general, we think we found a good home, and we consider ourselves really lucky."
The culmination of all the band's hard work is The Ultimate Escape, a truly dynamic full-length debut, blending elements of pop, new wave, goth and hardcore punk. Though the results are impressive, the process of recording the album had its fair share of challenges. Tsunami Bomb had lost the added dimension provided by their departed keyboard player, and they also had to learn how to work with a producer, Steve Kravac, whose vision for The Ultimate Escape was sometimes different than the band's.
"It was a real tough time recording the album," Davi explains. "There were definitely a lot of personality conflicts in there. It was definitely difficult getting used to having someone there who was trying to be a fifth member of the band, per se. Every member of Tsunami Bomb writes - all four of us contribute to these songs, so they come from a lot of different places. That's why they're kinda diverse and eclectic. That's something I like about us. It was interesting trying to incorporate another opinion, but he was very knowledgeable in sound."
The process of recording The Ultimate Escape was also more technical than Tsunami Bomb was used to; however, Davi admits that he and the band learned a lot as a result, and he is pleased with how things turned out. "We learned a lot of things we definitely hold on to for upcoming releases, and things that we didn't. It was definitely a learning process.
"We're not trying to sound like anyone else - we're trying to discover our own sound," Davi says of the band's latest effort. "And I think The Ultimate Escape is a step in that direction. You listen to all of our stuff, and everything sounds pretty different. I'd like to think [the new album is]one more step in evolving as a band. I hope it shows where we're headed, but I think we'll probably surprise everyone with our next release anyway."
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