DEXTRA
BALCONYTV.COM 4/07/2007
PRESENTED BY TOM MILLETT
deXtra have no one musical influence. Every band, musician and singer who has ever graced a stage may be added to deXtra's long list of influences, which already include ELO, The Beatles, and the whole "Manchester sound" of the early 90?s, as well as a healthy throwback to classic 80's rock bands such as Depeche Mode and The Cars.
eXtra formed around the summer of 2001 when lead singer Declan Grange along with his brother Peader decided to get the old band back together. They were soon joined by Gary on guitar and by Paul on keyboards. After a change of line up and a few members came and went, deXtra finally drafted in Damien on bass and Jimmy on lead guitar. -
The band got to work straight away, rehearsing and writing new songs. The music was finally coming together. The realisation hit straight away that deXtra had the ability to create raw and gutsy music and to captivate audiences no matter what the age. -
An extensive gigging campaign began, the world needed to hear the music. Following a triumph in the "Exposure" battle of the bands in Nov 02' and a runner up prize the same weekend in Da2 Club and later another runner up prize in the "Axis Battle of the Bands" leading to the new look deXtra recording a demo which caused a mass of public interest. -
In early 2003, deXtra were short-listed from over 500 bands for inclusion on the first IrishUnsigned compilation cd "Scene Unheard" alongside prestigious artists such as Sutras, The Answer, Label and Pharaoh House Crash, having previously been described in an IU review as "probably the most entertaining live band in Ireland". It was due to this cd and IrishUnsigned that deXtra would become a household name. The song chosen (Feelin' Blue) caused some interest in the industry being played on 2fm and described by Dave Fanning as "a bloody good song". -
It was in the aftermath of this that Hotpress magazine reviewed the IrishUnsigned compilation cd launch in Eamonn Dorans, describing deXtra's music as "scally-rock of the highest order" and looking favourably on the band as the "next big thing", before going on to describe them as looking like "a full monty-esque bunch of guys plucked from the streets of Temple Bar an hour before the gig". This article gained the band a considerable underground status as one of the best live acts around. -
After many appearances at local Dublin hotspots such as Eamonn Dorans, The Isaac Butt, The Temple Bar Music Centre, The Sugar Club, Whelans and a successful gig alongside Aslan in The Village, deXtra went to record their first single with top producer Liam Mulvanny. -
"Angel From Heaven" was released in march 04'. After shifting enough copies in its first week to reach number 5 but was nowhere to be seen in the official Irish charts, Seamus Kelly and The Ballymun Concrete news broke the story which was later taken up by the News of the World, The Star, The Mirror and The Irish Sun. "Angel From Heaven" was then taken as a discussion point on 98fm and The Adrienne Kennedy show on fm104. -
deXtra are currently busy working on new songs to preview at the glasgowbury festival while working on their first album to be released early next year in between doing some successful acoustic gigs in the likes of The Sugar Club, The Boom Boom Room and Radio Stations such As Near 101.6 fm, Phoenix fm, Spin fm and regular spots in and around Waterford's Beat fm.
http://www.myspace.com/dextramusic
http://www.dextramusic.com
Tune in again tomorrow!!!
