Band Biography | David R | Sarit | Pai

ON THE ROAD…

David R Black have gigged extensively throughout the UK, Europe and the USA and have played shows with Three Colours Red, New Model Army, Living Colour, The Tubes, Spin Doctors, Elbow, Hanoi Rocks, Fishbone, Breed 77, Hugh Cornwell, The Mission and more.

RELEASES…

‘Trinity part 1’ mini album – 1000 Watt
‘Trinity part 2’ mini album – 1000 Watt
‘Empire Building’ CD and digital download single – 1000 Watt/Mighty Atom
‘Hearts and Stars’ CD and digital download album – 1000 Watt/Mighty Atom

WHAT THE PRESS SAY…

“This Mancunian three-piece hone a unique combination of Undertones, Husker Du and Pixies influences. The statuesque, pop-tastic melodies, mature introspection and Who-esque riffs are simply intoxicating.” - CLASSIC ROCK

“It’s rare these days for rock bands to make it big on the merit of great songs alone, but David R Black may just do that. The Manchester trio recall a simpler time when raw, edgy, energetic guitar music had the power to impress without the aid of gimmicks or a six-figure marketing plan. Think Skunk Anansie or Feeder.” – ROCKSOUND

“An emotive debut from UK art-rockers!” – METAL HAMMER

“… the combination of song-writing, arranging, playing, singing and production, all wrapped up in an unstoppable adrenaline rush of rockin’ proportions, that stops you in your tracks and leaves you jaw-dropped in amazement as song after glorious song just erupts into your consciousness” – DEAD EARNEST

“A level of musical integrity that gives me the confidence to truly define them as art-house rock…a genuine sound – a real band for real people, with a frothy layer of grit on the side.” – CMU MUSIC NETWORK

“Hurrah! This Manchester act remind me so much of Husker Du and Sonic Youth which can only be a good thing. The music they create is just what this country needs” – FFRUK

WHAT THE BAND SAY...

David R

You have to start somewhere - with David R Black, it's not the usual musician-seeks-band scenario. Sarit, Pai and myself were all in our own bands but our like-mindedness made it inevitable we would join forces at some point. In hindsight it could be seen as opportunistic for us to quit the bands we were in and form a new band - maybe that's why David R Black works so well, but we just did it because it felt right not really knowing whether it would actually work.

A lot of people such as musicians in our scene and fans of our separate bands were surprised and shocked, but as I said, it just felt like we had to do it.

It didn't just fall into place either, not quite a leap before you look sketch - we kind of knew we had the right parts but it was just a case of putting them together. I think circumstance moulded David R Black very quickly; I'd personally played three tours back to back with my old band and had another ten UK dates booked. My band at the same just didn't want to do another tour so I needed a band that did. There was a two-month gap between that last tour and the new tour and the option to cancel or jump ship and play the dates with a new band - deadlines will pull it together or pull it apart. I got lucky but perhaps you make your own luck in this world.

Sarit Black

We all have our own views on how David R Black came to be, mine tries to fill in the detail:

Dave was already in a band (Kings Of Hong Kong), which was on the verge of splitting. He had asked me if I was interested in taking up bass in case I was called upon to replace their bass player. I had always been a drummer before this, but I had recently left my last band and I was kind of in limbo so being a lover of challenges, I decided this would be an opportunity I had to take even thought it meant playing bass rather than drums. However, it was more complicated than even this. To cut a long story short the original David R Black line-up ended up consisting of Dave playing bass and singing, Lee (out of Kings Of Hong Kong) on guitar and me - still on drums.

We played a few gigs like this but it never felt entirely right. There was a certain lack of commitment from the guitarist and he left. This came at a band time though because we had a number of gigs coming up and no band. We would sit in the rehearsal room trying to figure out what we were going to do and after looking at our options we decided it would be easier to find a drummer than a guitarist. I was quite happy to pick up bass as it had been part of the original plan, and Dave didn't mind reverting back to guitar.

I had seen Paul play drums in Obsessive Compulsive and had always admired his expression and creativity on drums, and as his band had recently split he, like I had been, was also in limbo. It just made sense to ask if he was interested in doing this tour with us. It was only ten dates that we played in October/November, but during that time we really clicked as a band and the chemistry felt right - we finally had our band.

Paul 'Pai'

David R Black, to me, came about at a critical point in all of the band members' careers. Dave had gone through a split with the band he'd spent the last four years working with, because of internal politics and aggravation that eventually cost the band its existence. I had gone through a similar incident with my last band at the same point in time, and coincidentally so had Sarit.

We seemed to then be quite depressed and weary of the music business, but its not in Dave's character to quit playing and trying. So he decided to give it another go. He saw lots of talent and potential in Sarit and wanted to see if they could team up and work together. After four weeks of writing and jamming (temporarily with KOHK guitarist Lee), they decided they actually wanted to do something with this but a drummer was needed.

Dave knew I was available and seemed to dig my playing but was cautious to ask me to join because he knew what I had gone through with my last band and thought I might not want to commit to another band so soon. But he asked me anyway and I joined. So, David R Black was created! Our internal policy now is to have as little politics and bullshit as possible - it seems to be working!