Dead Copycats

When Jessica and Will found one another in 2006, there was a palpable sense of excitement. They knew they had started out on a creative journey that happens maybe once in a lifetime. New material emerged almost immediately and they discovered that they could show each other something once and never need to explain it again. Things just worked. Finding the right rhythm section wasn't easy, but when Webster and Foote joined in late 2007, the lineup was complete and the gigs began in earnest. At the end of each show they were met with enthusiastic praise from both audience members and the venue. With their confidence high, they went into Galuminum Foil Studios to record what would become the band's self-titled debut.

There were a couple of "rules" laid down at the start of recording: Everything would be tracked live using only the four instruments they played live. The goal was to recreate the experience of sitting in a room with four exceptional performers playing the music they loved.

The trend in popular music of lat has been the use of post-processing and effects to enhance otherwise lackluster material and performances. But ultimately its "garbage in, garbage out". This album would be different.

The band's name is derived from a Charles Mingus quote (around which he composed a piece in 1959), and though the Dead Copycats' music is primarily modern rock, their influences range from Charlie Parker to The Smiths to Sarah Vaughn to Radiohead. A sound engineer at a venue last year said of their music: "It's as if Elvis Costello wrote songs for a band with Jimmy Page and Debbie Harry". The band would describe it simply as what they like to hear.

"If Charlie Parker were a gunslinger, there'd be a whole lotta dead copycats" - Charles Mingus