Dress for Success
Dress for Success began as a subsequent reformation of The Clean, circa 1984-85. They performed in many clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento area churches, North Bay Churches and secular clubs. Notably, a demo was picked up by Maranatha Records, and the band was introduced to Kenneth Nash (Pointer Sisters, Narada Michael Walden, Weather Report), and he agreed to produce the 4 song EP for Maranatha. However, the record company pulled funding from the "new music" project (4 bands involved), so DFS finished packaging and artwork, releasing "an e.p." in 1987.
The album was promoted by the band's management team, and got a distribution deal with a British firm that had Tower Record ties. Ultimately, the EP would get airplay in Japan, England, Belgium (western Europe) as well as on underground US & College radio stations.
It also ended up in the "Import" section at Tower Records in the US!! We thought it was cool, but at the same time, it was discouraging.
Meanwhile, DFS continued to perform and record. Appearing at venues such as "The Mab" (Mabuhay Gardens), "The Stone" (which was on Broadway, just across the street!) - headlining a show there, "Morty's", "The Vis" (vis-a-vis), in San Francisco.
"DFS", as it was affectionately abbreviated to, also maintained a relationship with area Christian Youth groups, performing at outreach events, and spreading the GOOD NEWS via their unique style of metaphorical and tongue-in-cheek delivery.
Recording sessions, again, would eventually come along. But now, real or serious "Label Opportunities" never presented themselves. The genre was getting a bit worn-out, and the band (or perhaps God!) felt it was time to make another evolution. Initially, "DFS", came to be an abbreviation for "Debt for Salvation", which opened for "Reality Check" in November of 1998 (just before RC's demise). However, we felt that it really didn't "stick", and we arrived finally at the name "Article of Faith" in early 1999, which continues even today!
(BSP: http://www.soundclick.com/articleoffaith)
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
The lineup has remained fairly consistent. The core members being Jeff Blumer (guitar, vocals), George McCuen (drums, vocals), Mark Evans (bass, vocals) and Mark Zavala (keyboards). However, there were other members worth a mention here. Early on, the band went through a plethora of keyboard players, two prior bassists, as well as two sax/reed players.
From memory - and guys, if we've left any of you out, please write - Keyboardists included: Ari Lauer, Mark Avery, Thom Kuntz, Nick Reichard. Bassists included Gerald Neil Flaherty, and Linel Williams. Sax-men were Stewart Viets and Steve Logoteta.
Many gigs and ministry opportunities transpired during the nearly 7 year lifespan of Dress for Success, and we're grateful to our Lord for that.
We've preserved some of the recordings here for your enjoyment and amusement.
Your musical influences
The Call, Depeche Mode, Howard Jones, The Cars, David Bowie.
What equipment do you use?
We used - at the time, quite "mod": Simmons drumkits, Roland GR-700 guitars, Commodore Computers, IBM laptops, Sequence keyboards, such as a Roland Juno 106, and a Yamaha DX-7 - as well as an Emu Emulator stacked sampler!
