Overdrive Date Master is an original psychdelic duo from Philadelphia, PA,Using instruments such as a windup monkey wired to play electronic percussion, a theremin, and a collection of space echos, delays, stomp boxes, and "special" recordings this Guitar/synth duo whip up a frenzy of noise that defys convention yet flaunts it at the same time.
The Story thus far....
Years ago in the dusty pawn shops and rural flea markets that surround
the fair city of Philadelphia Overdrive Date Master was
born. It happened quite by accident and started in the most innocent
of ways. No one was aware at the time a new legacy of
music was about to begin...
In early 1996 A small coffeehouse gig had been booked in advance with
the idea that "something" of a collaboration between
local indie rock musicians Wayne Hamilton and David Talento would occur.
The weekend before this show was to take place a copy of a 1976 trucking
magazine titled "Overdrive" was found and purchased while scouring an open
air flea market in Lehigh Valley, PA.. This magazine had within it's magical
pages a centerfold section which contained a full figured lass in a bikini
buffing up the gleaming chrome of a giant monster truck. Glistening in
the warm sun and soapy suds the section's titled jumped off the page. This
was the "Date Master" section of Overdrive magazine. A battery operated
monkey was also purchased and it was decided that this would take center
stage as the drummer for some future project. In the car on the way back
to the city, fresh batteries were put into "Binky" the monkey and the band
was born.
Overdrive Date Master has played many live shows over the years since
that fateful afternoon and released almost a dozen
underground cassettes and CDs. Some of these contained live concerts,
some contained lofi recordings made on mono
handheld tape players, other's were living room jam sessions with children's
toys and various wollensac reel to reel decks, and
some were even (more or less) legitimately recorded tracks made in
semi-professional home studios. Wayne and David have
been augmented on stage and in the studio by many friends and additional
sound tools ranging from 8 RPM record players,
broken guitars, effects boxes, strange recording and tape playing devices,
and homebrew theremins, analog synths, as well as
dozens of echos and vintage tube amplifiers. Our own tube tech, John
Martin, has also played concerts which prominently
featured amps he has brought back to life or modified for inclusion
in the ODM arsenal.
Typical live shows include a mixed DJ set played on an 8RPM tube record player along with spaced out guitar solos, synthesized basslines, and cheesy preset drum machines. All of this is mixed with tape loops, and the occasional hint of melody making Overdrive Date Master a fun show for the whole damn family or a great place to take your date.
Binky and Cyclops the tape loop robot rock out at a gig...
Three official recordings are now available.
The first collected recording, How Can You be a Sellout if No One is Buying? is now only available as a limited edition 8track tape, Play/Record/Volume/Tone, has been released for all you truly retro maniacs. Read a review and see pictures of it here .
The annual Christmas
Show still takes place each year. During this
performance ODM uses no instruments, instead relying on thier vast collection
of record players and obscure vinyl. Everything from Leonard Nimoy Sings!
albums to a do it yourself psychoanalysis kit have been played at at these
shows, usually at incorrect speeds and with the appropriate ODM processing
and amplification. A live album of the very first concert is now
available. See what this is all about and read audience reviews by taking
this link.
NEW!!! Overdrive
Date Master - All the Damn Hits
This is the collected work of this mess so far. It contains songs,
excerpts of live shows, snippets of audience interviews, and parts of the
notorious "living room" tapes. Some of it is music, some not.
Overdrive Date Master
Here is the Song by Song, Blow by Blow account of the
new ODM album:
(Click on the highlighted
song titles to download a free stereo MP3 of each song!)
1. Who's Your Daddy? - Found recordings play a big part in the ODM oeuvre. Single sided lacquered records like this one made by families in the 1950s or so are often pilfered for their unusual content. Shows may open or close with the playback of such gems.
2. The Price of Truth - For whatever reason in the 1970s Overdrive magazine had the subtitle “The Price of Truth”. This song is merely one interpretation of that mystical theme. Featured prominently on this recording is the Effector guitar and a broken Epiphone amp with it's tremolo set to kill.
3. 3 in 3 - A comment on a certain individual's love life. To be perverse musically this song begins with one of the most desirable analog synthesizers in today's collector market, the Roland TB303 bassline. That might have something to do with the title as well. We don't know.
4. Interview with a Bartender - Kind of self explanatory. ODM usually approached many audience members or recorded thoughts before and after a gig. Sometimes during as well.
5. Let's Pretend It's Friday - This recording was taken from a live show played at a club ODM used to almost call home, Upstairs at Nick's. ODM frequently played the deadest time available (usually Tuesday evenings after midnight). On this particular night we played on a Monday opening up for some national band other people had actually heard of. The place was filled and the sound man (an ODM ally) Scott contributed as much to the set from the mixing board as the band members did form the stage. His delay loops can be heard at the end of the song. Also of note is the only known recorded example of the Chordorama. The Chordorama uses pre-recorded tape loops made on an 8-track tape cartridge and a series of foot switches to add bass parts, key changes, and various drum fills. It never works right but then again neither do we.
6. Living Room Intro/Rubber Duchie - Like the funk band WAR, jamming is a way of life for ODM and it's friends. This recording was made in an apartment living room using various found tape loops, reel to reel and mono record players, and a children's toy megaphone.
7. 'Da Casino - An ODM live staple. This is the original recording made in the same living room sessions as the previous track. No one knows what this song means.
8. Like King Crimson - A live excerpt from a show at the Trocadero's Balcony theater in Philadelphia. the full title is buried halfway through the song and came from a candid audience interview during the show.
9. Living Room Part 2 - This song would be longer but it was cut short when the neighbors knocked on the door and told us to cut it out. This recording is notable because it not only features guitarist extraordinare Bob Andreano playing the wild jazz parts but it also features Wayne playing a Casio rubber stringed toy guitar which supplies all the organ sounds.
10. ODM Theme - This song was written and played before ODM had booked a legitimate show by Wayne's other band the Suffacox. It soon became our theme song. This recording is from another show at Upstairs at Nick's and features the wonderful Casio DH100 plastic saxophone. In the beginning of the song you can hear David asking for the stage mixer to be turned on even though the show had already begun. We always are on top of our game live.
11. Binky Wears a G-String - Binky is the battery operated monkey and resident sex symbol of ODM. No joke, for some reason the ladies go wild for him. During this live sample and hold/sax solo women were coming up on stage and putting dollar bills in his red satin shorts. Since we don't have a video of it you'll just have to imagine what that was like.
12. Flight 9000 - The very first ODM intentional recording. This was made and submitted for a Halloween record to be put out by a novelty company. It features dueling theremins, a pitch shifted Linn9000 drum machine, and the text is, again, from Overdrive magazine. As far as we know this songs exists on some children's compilation album. Maybe not.
13. Free, Four (almost Five) - Sometimes we were booked strictly for our indie street credibility. Here a pumped up ODM bashed its way through a version of a Pink Floyd song at one of the many the Silk City tribute nights. Notable here is the only use of an actual drum kit in an ODM show (played by Chris Dipinto, this was added a few minutes before we went on stage over chilli at the American Diner.) ODM was a sloppy four piece rock band with a two guitar, bass, and drum lineup but we still added the sonic "boing" sound using an old Korg synthesizer which was triggered by a foot switch that only sometimes worked. This recording has been mercifully edited down from it's original 12 minute live performance for your enjoyment and sanity. A full 45 minute tape of this evening's one song performance and subsequent audience and band interviews was released under the name "The Pinky Tape". We have since burned the original.
Finally, there are hours of recorded concerts and "rehearsal" tapes available for trade. Email for more information.
Contact:
Help Wanted Productions - PO Box 39808 Phila., PA 19106
http://www.helpwantedproductions.com/
Wayne@pil.net