The Duskwhales began in January 2010, comprised of school friends Seth Flynn, Chris Baker, Brian Majewksi, and Austin Mee. The band, hailing from Northern Virginia, started out playing cover songs mostly from groups like The Cure, The Pixies, Nirvana, and The Strokes. After about a year of refining our sound and getting some really solid original material together, we started breaking into the local music scene, playing at cafes, clubs, and band battles. As word spread, more and more people started coming to our shows and by default we got a lot better at performing in front of an audience and playing together as a band. In summer of 2012, we finally had the chance to head up to Blue Sofa Studios in Greensburg, Pennsylvania to record our debut album Cutpurse with RJ Dietrich. The 10-track album was recorded in 5 days and released in August 2012. The Duskwhales have plans to tour the East Coast and record their second album in summer of 2013. Our influences are quite diverse, as we each come from a unique musical background. Some of our most influential groups, ranging from oldies to grunge to jazz, include The Beatles, The Who, The Velvet Underground, The Strokes, Radiohead, St. Vincent, Nirvana, The Pixies, Charles Mingus, and Dave Brubeck. Our album Cutpurse is dedicated to the memory of Brendan Majewski, who passed away in January of 2011. Brendan, older brother of Duskwhale Brian, he was a member of the bands Quix*o*tic and Orphan. Our song "You Live In Houses" particularly highlights our influence from these two groups. We also used images of young Brendan for the front cover of Cutpurse, conveying one of the album's prominent themes of "Light and Dark." The name Cutpurse likewise comes from a short-lived group Brendan formed. People have described our music in a variety of ways, such as “Gypsy Rock,” “British Invasion,” and even “Video Game Music.” Really we don’t fit into one specific category, and never wanted to be defined by a single genre. One reason that our sound is so unique is that we are made up of four multi-instrumentalists and can thus change our line-up numerous times during live shows and recordings. While Seth is consistently the lead vocalist, both Chris and Brian have taken turns singing lead, while all four of them sing back up. Seth and Chris both play guitar. However, Chris is also the primary drummer, so when he’s on guitar, one of the other four guys will get behind the kit. Austin is the primary bassist, but Brian also dabbles in the low end, when he’s not singing or playing keyboard. Essentially, we can create an eclectic blend of sounds simply by shifting instruments, while still remaining a tight unit with one overarching “sound” as The Duskwhales. As soon as we started playing together as a group, we always wanted to push ourselves to make really awesome and inspiring music that would affect people. Unlike a lot of young bands, we were never in it for the fame, the money, or the girls; it’s always been about creating spectacular music with each other and continuing to push the borders of our creativity to make something new. Our mission has always been first and foremost to praise our Creator by using the talents He gave us. In essence, we believe that’s what all art is: simply God working though His servants, the artists, and we’re happy to play the part. Finally, people always ask us where we got the name “The Duskwhales.” The short answer to that is just that it sounded cool. The long answer is a complex tale involving a medicinal textbook, a bowl full of matches, the backlight of a copy machine, and possibly aliens... but I won’t bore you with the details. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.