Dink (styled DINK) was an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

band formed in

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...

in 1992. The band combined elements of industrial music,

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

, and

electronic dance Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

. Dink's members included Sean Carlin (

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 ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

), Rob Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Jer Herring (guitar, vocals), Jeff Finn (

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 ...

), and Jan Eddy Van Der Kuil (

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 ...

History

Dink initially released 3 EPs in the early 1990s. These EPs were exclusively printed on cassettes. The band eventually released one self-titled album, also mostly self-produced, in 1994 on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. The release peaked at #31 on Billboard's

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart. It featured one song produced by

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...

Dave "Rave" Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician based in Vancouver. Ogilvie started his recording career as a mixing engineer at Mushroom Studios. He frequently collaborated with industrial band Skinny Puppy a ...

(although he also mixed 8 out of the 10 songs). The song "Green Mind" was a hit, featuring some play on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and in the films ''

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

'' and ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game '' Double Dragon'' in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight again ...

'', and was also remixed by

Sascha Konietzko Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fat ...

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...

on the promo single. "Green Mind" also charted on the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart in early 1995 at No. 35, staying on the chart for 6 weeks. It also reached the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart at No. 18. The band's next two singles, "Angels" (which was featured in the film '' Bad Boys'' during the Club Hell scene) and "Get on It" also were released. Dink toured briefly with bands such as

Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorpo ...

, and

Lords of Acid Lords of Acid is a Belgian electronic music group, originally formed in 1988 by Praga Khan, Oliver Adams, and Jade 4U. The band is known for their provocative lyrics, blending techno, acid house, and industrial music with themes of sexuality, dr ...

to further promote their debut. The band toured with Pop Will Eat Itself and

Compulsion Compulsion, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to: Psychology * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compul ...

from November 17 to December 17, 1994. The band also contributed the song "USA Sex" to the mid-1990s compilation ''It Was Made in Northeast Ohio''. Dink recorded a follow-up album, also on Capitol in 1995, and some of the songs would be released on the limited edition EP ''Blame It on Tito'', which was released in 1996. The EP included a cover of the

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

song "Ohio" as well. The band then recorded additional songs for a second album to be released in late 1997 or early 1998, but was dropped by Capitol due to the changing musical climate. This led to the band's break up in 1998. In 2014, film director Jorge Delarosa released a Dink documentary both on DVD and online, titled ''Gangrene: The Dink Documentary''. 4 out of the 5 band members were interviewed for the documentary. Also around this time, the full length version of the scrapped album ''Blame It on Tito'' was leaked/released online, consisting of 13 songs. Sean Carlin, Jan Eddy Van Der Kuil, and Jeff Finn created a new band named K.I.N.D. (Killer Instinct Never Dies), along with long time friend Steve Gang. A few songs were released on the band's official ReverbNation page. Dink's frontman, Sean Carlin, died of cancer in 2023.

Members

*Sean Carlin – lead vocals, guitar, programming *Rob Lightbody – lead vocals, guitar *Jer Herring – guitar, backup vocals *Jeff Finn – bass *Jan Eddy Van Der Kuil – drums

Discography

Studio albums

*''Dink'' – 1994 *''Blame It on Tito'' – 2014 (recorded in 1996 and 1997)

EPs

*''Angels'' – 1993 *''Cops Are Baffled'' – 1993 *''Smile Honey'' – 1994 *''Blame It on Tito'' – 1996

History

Members

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

References

Categories