Members of the band are happy to have a place to play loudly as their CD debuts with a Friday night party at Box Awesome.
MICHAEL McHALE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, January 15, 2009 12:00 am
The members of Defunct Generation can prove their dedication with their homes.
Several of the guys used to jam together in a Lincoln house. Then the neighbors complained the music was too loud.
So the metal/progressive rock band moved to another base. They practiced in a garage and churned out dozens of songs.
Their new neighbors, however, wanted peace and quiet.
So the guys bought all the electronic equipment they could afford and filtered their sounds into headphones.
But the band could only be so serene. The neighbors wanted them out.
For the past year or so, the group has set up in a small house south of Lincoln. The members renovated it when they moved in, and they spent the first weeks sleeping on couches.
Immediately they built a recording studio in the basement, a place where neighbors couldn’t be bothered and an area where the band could escape in its tunes.
Being a member of Defunct Generation has been a hassle at times, but the guys don’t mind. They’ll be showing off their work in their debut CD-release party at Box Awesome Friday night.
“Right now,” Mason Favinger (bass) said, “we just have to make this happen.”
Favinger grew up in Minden dreaming about playing music for a living. By the time he reached sixth grade, he was jamming on drums and guitars with his best friend, Todd Garrison. The kids got older and moved to Lincoln to attend college. They kept playing music.
In 2006 they ran into Brent Docter, a local singer/songwriter with a similar music style: a heavy metal base with a dose of rock, blues, reggae and whatever else could fit.
The trio formed Defunct Generation and made the rounds to the local bars. But they wanted more. So the guys took a trip to the West Coast in the summer of 2007, performing in California, Arizona and even Las Vegas.
And they did it all without a percussionist.
“We played the drum tracks over an iPod,” Garrison said. “That really turned some heads … but we didn’t care. We were just three kids from Nebraska trying to play with recorded drums.”
When they returned, they got a call from Skye Stinson, a junior at Milford High School with aspirations of drumming in a band. Defunct Generation accepted Stinson with open arms, on the condition that he learn the band’s songs note for note.
“We found like minds,” Docter said. “We had the same dedicated goal.”
The band members fed off one another’s work ethic. They gave up their weekends to spend hours in jam sessions, and they kept working jobs and attending classes.
For now, their 10-song debut CD, “A Forgiving Sunday,” will have to do. But about 20 more tracks are ready for recording, and dozens more are waiting for finishing touches.
The Defunct members plan to spend upcoming months hibernating in their basement, where they say they’ll play anything but country.
The music will be a blast — but it will be hard work.
“Once you dive in, you might as well stay there,” Docter said. “If you come up to breathe, you’re wasting time.”
Reach Michael McHale at 473-7254 or mmchale@journalstar.com.