John Michael Dexter Romweber is an American rockabilly/roots musician from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, best known as one-half of seminal two-piece Flat Duo Jets. He currently fronts the Dex Romweber Duo with his older sister Sara Romweber. He has been credited with "teaching Jack White how to be Jack White."John Michael Dexter Romweber was born in Indiana in 1966, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Joe Romweber was the lead singer for UV Prom, while his sister Sara Romweber was a member of Let's Active and a founding member of Snatches of Pink. Romweber's first band, Crash Landon and The Kamikazes, was started at the age of 11 while attending Culbreth Junior High, with stand-up bassist Tony Mayer (since of the Good Old Chicken Wire Gang Boys Band) and drummer Hunter Landon (now of the Bad Checks). Initial shows at the Carrboro Arts Center were impressive. In high school, such was Romweber's focus on Rockabilly that he chose to do his European History current events report on Denmark, because Rockabilly music was popular there at the time. Dexter began playing music with Chris "Crow" Smith, with material culled mainly from his family's extensive collection of 50s records. Around this time, Dexter moved into a detached garage behind the house, decorated in a manner reminiscent of The Addams Family, which he dubbed "The Mausoleum".
The Flat Duo Jets' first release, In Stereo, was recorded live in 1985 and originally released on cassette by Dolphin Records. The band was also featured in a short bit for MTV's The Cutting Edge directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Feris (who later went on to direct Little Miss Sunshine. A short stint in Athens, Georgia landed the band an appearance in the film Athens, GA: Inside Out, alongside other well-known Athens bands R.E.M. and The B-52's. Though recorded live to two tracks in a garage in the late 80s, the band's full-length debut LP, the self-titled Flat Duo Jets, was not released until 1990. In support of the album, the Flat Duo Jets went on a national tour opening for The Cramps, whom Dexter has cited as an early influence. 1990 also saw the band make an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, where they performed a fast-paced, high-energy version of Benny Joy's "Wild Wild Lover". Their second LP, Go Go Harlem Baby, was produced by Jim Dickinson in 1992, and has been acknowledged as a huge influence on Jack White of The White Stripes, not least in the Davis GuggenheimIt Might Get Loud. In the film, White plays the record for Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and U2's The Edge, playing their version of the traditional Froggie Went A-Courtin' and discussing the impact that the band had on him. The film also features footage from their appearance in Athens, GA: Inside/Out. documentary
In the late 90's, The Flat Duo Jets signed a major label contract with Outpost Records, a now defunct imprint of Geffen Records. The result was 1998's Lucky Eye, produced by Scott Litt and Chris Stamey, which demonstrated a markedly different approach from their previous lo-fi efforts. The album featured a more polished sound for the band, accompanied by horn and string arrangements. Poor album sales were met with disappointment by the band, and it was shortly after the release that, after nearly 15 years as a band, Dexter and Crow went separate ways. Dexter maintains that the primary reason for the split was embezzlement of the band's proceeds on the part of Crow, though Crow disputes this.
Dexter has said that he began to question his idolatry of self-destructive figures like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, actor Errol Flynn, and poet Charles Baudelaire. He also questioned the role that music played in his life and considered giving it up. Dexter has also said that he contemplated suicide around this time, only to find out that he was incapable of following through with it. In 2001, Dexter finally resurfaced with a new solo album, Chased By Martians, followed by Blues That Defy My Soul in 2004. Around this time, Dexter's influence was beginning to surface in interviews with artists like Neko Case, Cat Power and Jack White of The White Stripes. Dexter has referred to his influence as like being "locked away in a Gothic castle for many years" and "living in such isolation that I haven't even noticed." A major change of pace for Dex came in 2006 with the release of Piano, which consisted entirely of 13 original classical piano compositions in the style of Chopin.
Also in 2006, a documentary about Dex and The Flat Duo Jets began playing at select film festivals. Upon completion of Athens, GA: Inside/Out in 1987, director Tony Gayton began filming an untitled documentary of the Flat Duo Jets' national tour. After funding for the film fell through, production ceased and the film was forgotten. Funding the rest of the film himself, Gayton met up with Dexter in Los Angeles 16 years later and filmed new interviews with the intention of completing the film. The film, entitled Two Headed Cow, was eventually completed using a recovered VHS version of the original 16mm black and white footage, edited together with new interviews with Dexter, detailing his life and career, as well as performances in and around Los Angeles and interviews with Jack White, Exene Cervenka of X, Cat Power and Neko Case. As of 2009, the film has yet to be picked up for distribution, though it had a brief run on DOC: The Documentary Channel.
Dexter's current band, The Dex Romweber Duo, began as Dexter and drummer Crash LaResh,who performed with Dexter from 1995-2007. The original Duo toured extensively and recorded several 7 inch releases and co-wrote and recorded two full length Albums("Chased By Martians" and "Blues That Defy My Soul"), Crash LaResh has now been replaced by Dexter's older sister Sara Romweber. In 2009, the pair released Ruins of Berlin on Bloodshot Records, which featured guest appearances from Exene Cervenka, Cat Power, Neko Case, and longtime friend and fellow North Carolinian Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids. The band toured the U.S. twice in support of the record, playing support for The Detroit Cobras on the second tour.
On the 29th and 30th of April 2009, Dex and Sara were invited to Jack White's Third Man Studio in Nashville, TN to record a 7" as part of Third Man Records' new "Blue Series". The sessions resulted in the Romweber original "The Wind Did Move", featuring Jack White on bass, background vocals and the saw, while the record's b-side was a cover of 1930's blues woman Geeshie Wiley's "Last Kind Word Blues", on which Dex and Jack share guitar and vocal duties. It was released on vinyl on June 9th, 2009, and on iTunes shortly after.
Dexter also fronts Dexter Romweber and The New Romans, an ensemble of 7 musicians and 3 female backing vocalists that began in 2006. They have released one limited CD called "Night Tide" and mainly play shows in their home state of North Carolina, more specifically in The Research Triangle area of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham. The music is diverse, drawing influences from jazz, surf, early instrumentals, Bill Haley, Ella Fitzgerald, and even Chopin. The band continues to rehearse and experiment every Thursday night in Romweber's garage.
Discography
With the Flat Duo Jets
- In Stereo (1985)
- Flat Duo Jets (1990)
- Go Go Harlem Baby (1992)
- Safari (1993)
- White Trees (1993)
- Introducing the Flat Duo Jets (1995)
- Red Tango (1996)
- Wild Blue Yonder (1998)
- Lucky Eye (1998)
- Two Headed Cow (2008)
Solo discography
- Folk Songs: Solo Collection (1996)
- Chased by Martians (2001)w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
- Dexter Romweber Duo [Norton 9644]"Rolling Stones Tribute" The Dex Romweber Duo (7 inch) w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
- Blues That Defy My Soul (2004)w/ Crash LaResh on Drums
- Dexter Romweber Duo and Throw Rag - Twelve Bad Studs: A 12" Split w/ Crash LaResh on Drums(Demonbeach, released 2004?)
- Piano (2006)
- Ruins of Berlin (2009)w/ Sara Romweber on Drums
No comments:
Post a Comment