All Hail The Dignitaries

The latest up and coming band in Tacoma isn’t new to the scene at all. As what happens with bands, members flow in and out, names change and styles get tweaked. Such is the case with the Dignitaries, which are playing alongside Girl Trouble and Lushy at the New Frontier Lounge.

Here is their story, and they are sticking to it.

“We are a group of old friends that wanted a good excuse to let off steam and drink some beer,” vocalist,” Reylan Fernandez said. “If we started a band that was all about fun, things couldn’t be bad.”

The name came from the band’s twisted street sense, since real dignitaries get away with everything and, well, they follow that trend. “It was almost, and to us, still kinda is, gonna be Remann Hall and Oates, but after the first few songs, this did not work,” Fernandez said.

Band mate Elliott Kay quipped it with “Because we are important – to your mom.”

South Sound music watchers might think that the Dignitaries and the former band known until recently as the Sons of Ivan are one and the same. They would be wrong, sort of.

“Sons of Ivan is a totally different band,” said Lino Fernandez. “This is an entirely new project featuring two members of that band.” That band is on hiatus for a while, which means time is open for this new band. Songs of Ivan has effectively split between Legend of Bigfoot and the Dignitaries.

Some listeners have likened the Dignitaries sound to surfer rock with a harder edge mixed with some screaming and fedoras. Band members see it a different way.

“We play rock,” band member Ken Smith said. “Not metal. Not indie-pop. Rock. The kind of rock that gets played in garages all across the Northwest. Real rock.”

Details
Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
New Frontier Lounge
301 E 25th St. – Tacoma