Dappled Cities (formerly "Dappled Cities Fly") are an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

History

1997–2003

The band came together as teenagers in the northern suburbs of Sydney in 1997.

Dave Rennick David Wiley Rennick (born 8 January 1983) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Rennick is the co-front man and songwriter for indie rock band Dappled Cities and is also the founder and songwriter for indie super-group The Curse of Company. 201 ...

and original drummer Hugh Boyce were joined by Alex Moore on bass and Tim Derricourt on guitar. Keyboards were added occasionally by Mark Bradshaw, and after 2006 more regularly by Ned Cooke. The band started out playing at all-ages shows and charity benefits before they reached legal age to play in the licensed venues in the Sydney CBD. They performed at the

Hopetoun Hotel The Hopetoun Hotel, colloquially referred to as The Hoey, is a historic Sydney hotel and live music venue in Surry Hills. It was built somewhere between 1836 and 1839, originally under the name of the Cookatoo Inn and then in 1901 revamped and n ...

(now defunct), the Excelsior and The Bat and Ball. The band members moved to the inner suburbs of Sydney and after various name changes settled on Dappled Cities Fly. The band made several tours of Australia and also toured

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 2004. In 2006 Dappled Cities Fly performed in London, England and at shows in the United States, including

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

, where they played again in 2009 and 2010. From 2006 to 2009, the band did a number of tours of America and Canada, including performances at the Crocodile Club in Seattle, Mercury Lounge in New York and the Troubadour in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

2004–present: Recording career

Dappled Cities Fly's first album, '' A Smile'', was released in late 2004 and was featured as album of the week on radio stations FBi and Triple J. and reviewed favourably in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''. In 2006, Dappled Cities released their second album, '' Granddance'', recorded at Sunset Sounds and Senora Studios in Los Angeles. The album's cover artwork has the band's name as Dappled Cities, without the word "Fly"; while this was done for artistic reasons at the time, by 2009 the band were calling themselves simply Dappled Cities. In 2007 the band toured with Sydney band

Red Riders Red Riders were an indie rock band from Sydney, Australia. After releasing two EPs and a single, the band released their debut album, ''Replica Replica'' in October 2006. The band announced that they would be splitting up via their Facebook pa ...

, and later recorded and released a cover version of "

November Rain "November Rain" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, the power ballad was released in February 1992 as the third single from the band's third studio album, '' Use Your Illusion I'' ( ...

" with them. In February 2008 Boyce left the band, and was replaced later that year by drummer Allan Kumpulainen. Dappled Cities' third album, '' Zounds'', was released in Australia in 2009 and in the United States in early 2010. The album received many positive reviews. Pitchfork gave the band 7.8 and noted that "Dappled Cities haven't quite acquired a big reputation outside their homeland yet, but it seems likely they will". The band toured during this period in New York and London while also doing a number of tours around Australia to positive reviews. The band recorded their fourth album, '' Lake Air'', throughout September 2011 at Megaphon Studios in St Peters, following recording sessions in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The recording was done with the assistance of

Jarrad Kritzstein Jarrad Kritzstein, (born September 9, 1987) also known as Jarrad K, is an American record producer, songwriter, filmmaker and actor. He is known for co-writing/producing Ruston Kelly's debut album '' Dying Star'' and Elohim's self-titled album. ...

and the album released in July 2012. In 2013, the band collaborated with the

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO) is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music. Founders The orchestra's founder and artistic director is Paul Dyer. In 2013 Dyer was ...

and members of the

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on chamber music based in Sydney. History The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''T ...

for "The Future is Baroque", a

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney, that runs for three weeks every January since it was established in 1977. The festival program features over 100 events from local and international artists and inclu ...

exclusive event pairing Dappled Cities' music with Baroque instrumentation. The band played as the supporting act at

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

's "Codes and Keys" tour at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The band returned from hibernation to play a sold-out show at Sydney's Newtown Social Club on 5 February 2016. The show featured a number of new songs from the band's upcoming fifth album, '', , , , , '' (pronounced "five"). In May that year they released a new single, "That Sound". In early 2017 the second single, "Stone Men", was released along with an accompanying music video. '', , , , , '' itself was released on 5 May 2017, the date intentionally mirroring the album title. The title was chosen to reflect the fact that the band had made five albums, had five members and had not put out an album in five years. '', , , , , '' was properly launched with a show at the City Recital Hall in Sydney. At the show, it was announced that bassist Alex Moore would be leaving the band. He was later replaced by Mark Harding. Following another five-year hiatus, the band released a three-track EP entitled "Be Here" in late 2022, followed by a live performance in Sydney, Australia in January 2023.

Members

;Current members *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(1997–present) * Tim Derricourt – guitar, lead vocals (1997–present) * Ned Cooke – keyboards, sampler, backing vocals (2006–present) * Allan Kumpulainen –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2008–present) * Mark Harding –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals (2017–present), keyboards (2017, touring) ;Past members * Hugh Boyce – drums (1997–2008) * Alex Moore – bass (1997–2017) * Mark Bradshaw – keyboards (2004–2006)

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Awards

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, ''Zounds'' , Best Independent Album , , - , themselves , Independent Artist of the Year , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are annual awards, which recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ! scope="row",

, ''Zounds'' , Best Independent Release , , , - ! scope="row",

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, ''Lake Air'' , Best Independent Release , ,

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Australian post-rock groups New South Wales musical groups Australian indie rock groups Dangerbird Records artists