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'''Dope''' is the best [[hard rock|hardcore rock]] and [[Industrial metal]] band originally from [[New York, New York|New York City]], [[United States]]. The band was founded in [[1997]] and continues on to this day.
'''Dope''' is the [[hard rock|hardcore rock]] and [[Industrial metal]] band originally from [[New York, New York|New York City]], [[United States]]. The band was founded in [[1997]] and continues on to this day.


The band received some level of success in the late [[1990s]] and early [[2000s]]. They have released four, full-length studio albums to date and are planning to release a fifth in [[2007]].
The band received some level of success in the late [[1990s]] and early [[2000s]]. They have released four, full-length studio albums to date and are planning to release a fifth in [[2007]].

Revision as of 15:40, 5 September 2007

Dope

Dope is the hardcore rock and Industrial metal band originally from New York City, United States. The band was founded in 1997 and continues on to this day.

The band received some level of success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They have released four, full-length studio albums to date and are planning to release a fifth in 2007.

Biography

The band was founded by song-writer and lead singer Edsel Dope in 1997. As a child, Edsel and his brother, Simon Dope were separated when their parents divorced. When the two were adults, they reunited and Simon joined Edsel's band, playing keyboards. The pair then recruited Tripp Eisen as bassist, Preston Nash as drummer, and Sloane Jentry as guitarist.

Unlike many of the popular bands from the 1990s, Dope derived their sound from influences taken from hard rock bands Guns N' Roses, Kiss and Mötley Crüe and fused that with the sound of Industrial rock acts which had made waves earlier in the decade, such as; Nine Inch Nails, Ministry as well as Industrial music act Skinny Puppy.

In their earliest days, the band sold drugs to survive and purchase instruments.[1] Furthermore, the name "Dope" refers to drugs and drug culture, as shown by their early T-shirt designs which prominently displayed hypodermic needles.

The band also had some early connections with fellow Industrial rockers Marilyn Manson; drummer Ginger Fish shared a flat with Edsel Dope in Las Vegas during the earlier 1990s, before either of them were in their respective bands.[2] Also guitarist Zim Zum allowed the band to claim that they were "currently being produced by Zim Zum" on the cover of their promotional discs to help them gain a record deal.[3] It was originally planned that Zum would produce their debut, however he was busy recording the album Mechanical Animals at the time. Lead singer, Edsel, is also good friends with ex-Manson guitarist Daisy Berkowitz.

Felons and Revolutionaries

See; Felons and Revolutionaries for more information.

After exploding onto the New York City club circuit, and releasing several promotional cassettes[4] the band was signed by Epic Records. For the album's recording Sloane Jentry had left the band and Eisen moved to guitar, Acey Slade was brought in on bass. The album featured fourteen tracks including two covers, which were; Fuck tha Police by N.W.A. and You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by English new wave act Dead or Alive, which featured in the movie American Psycho. Debonaire was also featured on the Scream 3 movie soundtrack and the 1st Fast And The Furious movie during the raid on the house.

Dope put everything into touring in support of the album, taking part in several national tours with various acts ranging from Alice Cooper to Kid Rock.[5] This helped "Felons and Revolutionaries" SoundScan more than 250,000 units in total.

A live video for the song Sick was recorded to capture the energy of the group's live show. The first single and non-live promotional video released by the band from the album was Everything Sucks, which failed to chart. The second single saw the band gaining more attention, it was the cover of You Spin Me Round; it received radio play and reached #37 on the US Mainstream Rock charts.

File:DopeLifeEra.jpg
Life-era Dope: Virus, Racci Shay, Simon Dope, Edsel Dope, Acey Slade and Sloane Jentry

Life

See; Life for more information.

After the relative success of their debut album, Dope decided to record a follow up entitled Life. Several band changes had taken place once more; Tripp Eisen left the group to join Industrial metal band Static-X. Acey Slade was moved up to the position of guitar, while Sloane Jentry (who had remained friends with the band) rejoined this time on bass. On drums Preston Nash was also replaced by Racci "Sketchy" Shay.

The two singles from Life; Now or Never and Slipping Away reached #28 and #29 on the Mainstream Rock charts respectively. The album itself reached #180 on the Billboard charts and #6 on the Top Heatseekers, which up until that point was the band's highest charting. After the album's release, Simon Dope left the group to pursue a career as a video game producer.

Debonaire from the first album was used in the movie The Fast and the Furious. More soundtrack work was done by Dope in 2002, as the band recorded WWE chairman Vince McMahon's theme song for the WWE Forceable Entry audio release. Previously Dope's music had been used as the background theme in ECW, also Rhino used their song Debonaire, as his entrance theme.

Around this period, Edsel Dope also had a public rivalry with the band Murderdolls (particularly vocalist Wednesday 13). An early version of that group had featured Racci Shay on drums; and under the name Murderdolls, it featured Tripp Eisen. Dope guitarist Acey Slade then left the band to join Murderdolls in mid-2002.[6]

Group Therapy and American Apathy

See; Group Therapy for more information.

Disappointed with the label's perceived lack of promotion for the album, the band left Epic and joined Artemis Records a New York independent record label. Rhythm Guitarist Virus, would now act as Lead Guitar in Slade's departure, he would contribute to the songwriting significantly.

Dope's third studio album was titled Group Therapy, it was innovative in that it also featured a video for each song; meaning in total those who purchased the album received thirteen audio songs and videos. One song from that album, Today is the Day served as the official theme song for WWE's pay-per-view event No Mercy in October 2003. The songs Falling Away, Bitch, Motivation, Burn, and So Low were featured in the video game; MTX Mototrax, in both full and instrumental versions.

File:American Apathy.jpg
American Apathy-era Dope: Racci Shay, Virus, Edsel Dope and Brix Milner
See; American Apathy for more information.

By 2005 Dope had regrouped once more, the band had a new bassist; Brix Milner. For their new album entitled "American Apathy", the band returned to a harder sound similar in some respects to their debut, in an Industrial metal style. Amongst the 14 tracks present was a cover of Depeche Mode's People Are People.

Although released eight years after the band formed, four albums in and on an independent label, American Apathy performed well in the charts. It was a #1 hit on the Top Heatseekers chart, for the first time in the band's history and it also saw the band's highest charting on the Billboard chart to date.

Ironically, Ben Graves of the Murderdolls joined Dope as the live drummer on a tour of Japan. In fact that wasn't the only inter-group mixing between the two bands; in 2006 Brix Milner filled in for the injured Kid Kid on bass, in Murderdolls front man Wednesday 13's solo band. Though Brix remains in Dope currently, long serving Dope drummer Racci Shay joined 13's band on a permanent basis.

Edsel Dope and Virus became involved in an Alternative pop rock side-project with Edsel playing drums, called Makeshift Romeo. This also saw Edsel removing his dreadlocks which he had worn all throughout his time with Dope.

Current and future events

Dope just finished their spring tour of the United States, the tour, which took place over two months, included 22 dates. Tripp Lee played live on bass with the band (although Brix currently remains a member of the group) and a new drummer named Angel, formerly of The Undead and The Genitorturers has joined.

The band are currently working on their fifth and currently untitled album that is tentatively due out in Summer 2007. The band also recently recorded audio and video during a live performance in Evansville, Wisconsin which is to be released as a live CD/DVD set later this year. The band will start touring sometime around August.

Lineup

Current members

Former members

  • Simon Dope - keyboards, samples, percussion (1997-2001)
  • Sloane "Mosey" Jentry - guitar (1997-1999), bass (2000-2004)
  • Preston Nash - drums (1997-2000)
  • Tripp Eisen - bass (1997-1998), guitar (1999-2000)
  • Acey Slade - bass (1999-2000), guitar (2001)
  • Adrian Ost - drums (2000-2001)
  • Racci "Dr. Sketchy" Shay - drums, bass (2001-2006)
  • Ben Graves - live drums (2005)
  • Lil Dan - live drums (2005-2006)
  • Tripp Lee - live bass (2007)

Discography

Albums

Album Cover Title Date of Release Billboard chart Top Heatseekers
Felons and Revolutionaries 1999 - #25
Life 2001 #180 #6
Group Therapy 2003 - #16
American Apathy 2005 #128 #1

EP

Singles

Single Cover Title Date of Release Mainstream Rock
Everything Sucks 1999 -
You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) 2000 #37
File:DopeNowOrNever.jpg
Now or Never 2001 #28
File:DopeSlippingAway.jpg
Slipping Away 2002 #29
I Am 2003 -
Bitch 2003 -
Always 2005 #38
Survive 2005 -

Videography

  • Dope: The Videos - (2004)

Pigface

As with many Industrial music stars, Edsel Dope has been involved with the supergroup Pigface. Here are some remixes of the Dope track "Bitch" that have featured on Pigface releases.

"Bitch (Mattress Mix)"
"Bitch (Defrag's Extraordinary Skipping Glitch Mix)" and "Bitch (Passive/Aggressive Remix)"
"Bitch (Bitch & Scratch)"
"Bitch (Where's My Bitch Edit)"
  • Pigface Presents Crackhead: The DJ? Acucrack Remix Album - (August 2004)
"Bitch (Own Your Own Edsel)"
  • ''8 Bit Head: Complete Remix Of Easy Listening + Other Stuff - (October 2004)
"Bitch (Defrag's Extraordinary Skipping Glitch Mix)" and "Bitch Dance H@xORZ $###"

References