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Tuesday, April 25, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Alexander stages a comeback
by Mario Talkington
Kansan staff writer
D. Alexander was this close to making it big as a soul musician.
He flew to Los Angeles, recorded a two-song demo and made a music video in 1986. Alexander even had help from a handful of heavyweight session musicians, who were in the same studio working on LeVert's debut album
"Somehow, their stuff went this way and mine were that way," Alexander said, pointing at the floor beneath it.
but now D. Alexander's going after it again — his way.
Alexander, a Lawrence resident and former KU student, has assembled a four-piece band that has developed a growing regional following. The band, originally named West First Street but recently changed to the current name for its popular soul band the Deele. It also has just released "Paintings," an independently produced cassette that has attracted major label attention.
"It may not be the best in the world, but it's a true picture of the heart." Alexander said.
D. Alexander distinguishes them from other bands by its energetic, danceable blend of funk, reggae and rock, a heavy use of synthesizers and one other notable difference — no acoustic drummer on stage.
"A lot of guys have the bass, piano, drums and guitar concept," said Luis Olart. "the band's bass player." Why
generate ones of R.E.M. and U2 bands? We're different, and we like it. Now people are checking it out and liking
Alexander started getting the band together in March 1988, after meeting Olart at a blues gig. Frustrated by bands with strict play lists and entertainment agencies that tried to force them into a top-40 mold, the two decided to get a band together and play Alexander's original music.
"He resurrected me from the musical graveyard." he went to go back to KU and get my old degree.
Rather than searching for technique-oriented musicians, Alexander decided to enlist two flashy, energetic musicians willing to play it his way - guitarist Doghua Kuo and drummer Chris Cussion along with Alexander's pre-programmed drums.
Within a few months, the band was playing its first gig alone in one in Minnesota that did not pay well, Alexander said.
"We played for $20," he said. "Not $20 for each person, but $30 total. But from that gig, we got to be the opening act."
"That was four months after we began playing. At that point I said, 'Something is happening that needs to be done.'"
Since opening for the Deele, the band has been performing from two to five nights a week and has won many awards.
The group D. Alexander
material. Alexander said the cassette, a mixture of funk
reggae and jazz, was difficult to categorize.
"I categorize it as good," he said. "A good song can be in any style. You could say we're a dance band, but Glenn Miller is a dance band."
People are becoming more comfortable with the band's use of programmed, electronic drums. Alexander said that he wants to learn to play it.
machine," he said. "It's a tool, not something to hide behind. Some of the heaviest cats in music use drum machines."
Alexander said that having electronic drums didn't make the music sterile or keep the band from grooving.
make the music aseble or keep the band from grooving.
"You just have to look good and act like you're making a million bucks before you'll make it, even if you're getting $500 or $20," he said.
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