"A long time ago in a midwestern town far, far away, the boogie began. And it hasn't stopped since.
"Iowa City-based band Dagobah takes its name from a sunny day meditation concerning Jedi master Yoda's weed-choked home planet. This six-man group's spaced-out, funky sound, goofball stage presence and tongue-in-cheek humor seem to flow naturally from the same source...
"'Blending the space-pirating, hopping-across-the-galaxy raucousness of Han Solo with Yoda's Zen-like teachings, Dagobah's "pfunklectic' music takes you on an emotional roller coaster. It runs the gamut of introspection to all-out psychedelia...
"'It's a matter of taking quality music seriously while poking fun at music in general,' said bassist Todd Fackler."
- from the May 4th, 1995, edition of Rebel Yell
"With a unique blend of horns, percussion, and "Star Wars', Dagobah, the latest local band to take Iowa City by storm, will have fans tearing down the walls...
"Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Pat Willis said Dagobah's sound is indescribable...
"'I know that sometimes I suck, but it's all part of the unique flavor - staying true to one's self and not caring about a specific formula,' Willis said.
"Adding to that flavor is the duo of Les Miller on trumpets and David McCray on saxophone... the hillbilly horn section...
"...Dagobah may be the only band to use the 'Star Wars' trilogy as a metaphor for its songwriting style.
"'Yoda, he's kind of like a figurehead, someone to look up to in a way, and the whole Force thing, the training, the Jedis, ya know, the dark side and the light side of The Force - it's all very applicable to us,' Willis said...
"Good or evil, Dagobah is definitely not boring...
"'I think our strength is our absolute unpredictability.'"
- from the Oct 24th, 1994 edition of The Daily Iowan
"'It's a lot of fun, a lot of dancing; it's a good workout as well as good partying.' (said guitarist Pat Willis)...
"Dagobah is a strange mixture of people that produces a proportionally strange brand of music.
"Coyly described by Willis as 'lots of dancing, lots of funky beats, it just goes every which way and loose.' Dagobah throws innumerable influences into its stylistic blender to create a sound that doesn't even remotely resemble ingredients.
"'We do sound collages: we do... more somber, introspective stuff; we do reggae,' said Willis. 'I guess the main gist is eclectic funk. "Funklectic!" How about that?'"
- from the Feb 2nd, 1995, edition of The Daily Iowan
Lineup:
Pat Willis - vocals, guitar
Todd Fackler - bass
Les Miller - trumpets
David McCray - saxophone
Carey Steward - percussionists
Brad Engeldinger - drums
To download the podcast, right click on the link below and hit "Save as...":
https://archive.org/download/IowaMusicShowcaseEpisode47/Iowa%20Music%20Showcase%20-%20Episode%2047_.mp3
Labels: 1990s, 1994, Brad Engeldinger, Carey Steward, Dagobah (band), David McCray, Ep 047, funk, Iowa City, Iowa City area, Les Miller, Ones (song), Pat Willis, Star Wars, Sunshine (song), Todd Fackler, world music
