Ryan Ogren - Vocals, Guitar Matt Emburgia - Guitar Jesse Rendell - Bass Tom Parker - Drums
In a time where the musical landscape is dominated by pop punk bands that are more pop than punk, Don't Look Down has created a niche for themselves by writing catchy, driving, radio ready songs and bringing them to the scene with an old school DIY work ethic.
The band was formed in South Jersey around the nucleus of Ryan Ogren on lead vocals and guitar and Matt Emburgia on lead and rhythm guitars. The two had been playing in various bands together since the 8th grade and adopted the name Don't Look Down when the in early '98 around the same time bassist Jesse Rendell joined the fold. The members had become regulars at local punk shows, having been exposed to the music years earlier through their involvement in the surf scene and shared the common goal of making this band their life, no matter how difficult a task this might represent.
The chemistry and camaraderie of this line up was undeniable and they quickly wrote a set of material influenced by older school bands such as NOFX, and Bad Religion as well as newer bands like Jimmy Eat World, and New Found Glory. By mid '98 they had played gigs all over Jersey and Philadelphia and were recording their self-produced, self-financed debut full length. "Recording our first record gave us respect for the music because it was so hard for us do by ourselves", says Ryan, but the effort paid off as the album opened a lot of doors for the band.
On the strength of this record and their constant networking the band secured sponsorships with surf and skate companies Hurley, Arnette, Sector 9, Reef, and Dan Taylor while getting the attention of a slew of national touring bands, local philly radio station Y100 and a handul of surf video companies who synched the bands music to their latest video releases. The next two years become much busier for DLD as they began to tour beyond their local region opening for bands like Midtown and The Juliana Theory, headlining the first Hurley/Surf NRG tour and promoting shows in their own club in Vineland, NJ. "I really love promoting", says Ryan, and "It's a great way to meet bands and help out the local scene by giving kids a place to go and see some great local and national bands."
By late 2000 the band had toured around the entire country a couple of times and was ready to go back into the studio to record their new material. The result was a four song demo that while admittedly "lo-fi" showed enormous growth in their writing and their ability to self produce their own music. It was this demo that prompted New York based indie record label Iguana Records to sign the band.
Paired with producer Roger Stein and engineer Jeff Tomei (Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell, Matchbox 20, Train, COC) the band came to NYC to record their 2nd album in May of 2001. According to Ogren, "recording the Iguana CD was great because we got to work with some amazingly talented people and got to use much better equipment. We finally got to spend the time we wanted to working on the sound and we ended up with the first product we can say we are truly proud of." The album showcases the bands first real cohesive recording and their best material to date including the songs "On My Own," "Brainwashed," and the track "Get It Right," which starting getting airplay on Y100 before it was even mixed!
"Don't Look Down" espouse a lifestyle where commitment to friends, fun and hard work will pave the way on the road toward meeting their goals. Start The Show will hit the streets in February, 2002 and the band has spared no time in starting it's promotional push by booking dates throughout the country leading up to the release date. See you on the road.
For more information, including booking, contact: Ryan Ogren - ryandld@aol.com Jesse - Jessedld@aol.com Tom - Tbirddld@aol.com Matt - whats email?
