The Dambuilders


The Dambuilders is an indie rock band that began in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, in 1989 and later relocated to Boston. They released seven LPs and a number of EPs before breaking up in 1998. The band performed its first concert since 1997 at Drom Fest in August 2025, featuring Dave Derby on bass and vocals, Eric Masunaga on guitar, Sean Eden on guitar, Claudia Chopek on violin and Brendan Canty on drums.

History

The Dambuilders was a band in the early 1990s Boston rock scene. The founding members—Dave Derby, and Eric Masunaga, all from Hawaii—had played in a number of bands before moving to Boston in 1990. The band began as the Dambuilders in Hawaii in a three-piece and four-piece configuration. Early violin was provided by Debbie Fox. With Fox's involvement, nearly all of the band's songs had electric violin tracks. Around 1992, the "classic line-up" consisted of Derby, Masunaga, Kevin March and Joan Wasser. Many of the band's early recordings were engineered by Masunaga.
Their final studio album, Against the Stars, was released in 1997 by Elektra Records.
The band toured with Lush, Weezer, Jeff Buckley, Better Than Ezra and others in North America, Europe and Australia.

Musical style and legacy

While the Dambuilders are generally considered an "indie" band, they received some commercial airplay with the single "Shrine" from their 1994 East West Records release Encendedor. The song tells of a cross-cultural romantic courtship between the singer and a girl who "doesn't speak much English" but is familiar with the American music scene. In the song, the singer is willing to conform to traditional religious practices outside his own cultural sphere, but seemingly manages to stay true to his roots by redefining the acts as an aspect of his own non-religious, culturally inclusive belief system. "Shrine" was ranked No. 17 in MTV's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s: Lollapalooza list.

Other projects

Derby later assembled Gramercy Arms, a "revolving collective of musicians and artists". Both Wasser and March have contributed, with Wasser appearing on both of their albums, including a vocal duet with Lloyd Cole on the band's "Beautiful Disguise" single and video. The band has also featured Cole, Sean Eden, Rainy Orteca, Hilken Mancini and Sandy Smallens, as well as guest performances by Doug Gillard, Matthew Caws, Renee LoBue and Chris Brokaw. They are scheduled to release their fourth album in early 2024. Derby's other output includes two releases under the "Brilliantine" name, as well as two solo albums: Even Further Behind and Dave Derby and the Norfolk Downs.
Wasser began performing under the name Joan as Police Woman, releasing her first self-titled solo EP in June 2005. She released a full-length album, entitled Real Life, in June 2006, followed by To Survive, Cover, The Deep Field, The Classic, Let It Be You, with Benjamin Lazar Davis, Damned Devotion, Joanthology, Cover Two and The Solution Is Restless, with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu.
March was also a member of Guided by Voices for several years and continues to do session work and tour with various artists. In 2005, he formed Hot One with his old friend Nathan Larson of Shudder to Think, releasing one self-titled album in 2006.
Masunaga now runs Modulus Studios, a mastering and DVD authoring studio, in Boston.

Future Plans: Reunions, Documentary & Upcoming Shows

In addition to the Dambuilders reunion at Drom Fest, original members of the "Young Person's Guide" era Dambuilders performed with Dave Derby and friends at in November of 2025 to perform their 1989 debut album in its entirety for the first time ever. Consisting of original members, Tryan George, Daniel Glass and Deb Fox, the band was joined by longtime musical collaboraors Sandy Smallens, Carl Baggaley, Mike Potenza and Alex Emanuel.
The performance was recorded as part of an upcoming documentary on the band's early years, tentatively titled "I Used to Be Different" directed by and .
The so-called "classic lineup" featuring Derby, Masunaga, March, Chopek and Eden are planning more shows for 2026.

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1989: A Young Person's Guide
  • 1991: Geek Lust
  • 1993: Islington Porn Tapes
  • 1994: Encendedor
  • 1995: Ruby Red
  • 1997: ''Against the Stars''

    Compilations

  • 1996: ''God Dambuilders Bless America''

    Singles

Extended plays

  • 1993: ''Tough Guy Problem''

    Videos