The Airwaves

A few years ago, a friend of mine played a CD from an obscure, independent Seattle band called "Diamond Fist Werny". It was AWESOME! I immediately went and got the CD and dubbed them my second favorite band (behind Concrete Blonde). Unfortunately, at that time in my life, I never seemed to be able to get out and catch the band play live. This was a bummer because the band seemed to disappear shortly thereafter. I figured they broke up.

But then, back in 1998, I noticed that Diamond Fist Werny were playing at the Sit & Spin. I was all over it. Checking around, it turns out that DFW had just re-emerged/unretired and released a new CD (their second). Some friends who are long-time DFW listeners tell me that this is typical for the band.

Diamond Fist Werny consists of Todd Werny, Tim Soba and Kevin Tone (Tone was added to the band for the new CD replacing Axel Mundi, bass clarinetist). They play a very unique Indian/Native American flavor of alt.rock that I find a refreshing change from the MTV-cloned bands. In fact, I can't think of any other band that really produces the same kind of sound and music that DFW does (except, perhaps, Sky Cries Mary, although their sound is much more mellow) which makes it hard to describe, but is one of the reasons why I like them so much. Their live performances sometimes incorporate interesting visual effects and artistry as well.

So now it seems that DFW are being relatively active, having released their third CD recently and playing at a number of venues here in Seattle. I've had the pleasure of seeing them twice in the last year, though they've played more often than that (and have a couple more gigs lined up in the next month).

Interestingly, there seemed to be a number of concert-goers at the last two shows I saw who didn't know anything about Diamond Fist Werny (a by-product of having so many small clubs around town, I think many people just hop between clubs on Friday and Saturday nights to see who's playing). Both times, the uninitiated were heard complaining about the lyrics (or lack thereof).

Each time I felt irritated with and sorry for those poor people who couldn't appreciate the simple beauty of the music. But I guess I'm not surprised. I mean, Diamond Fist Werny is to mainstream rock as a heap of crumbled cheddar is to a slice of processed American cheese food. And certainly, when I was growing up, I probably wouldn't have understood or appreciated their style, either. But now I'm at a point in my life where my soul craves art. And while the neat and tidy formula music that the mainstream media pumps out is amusing and sometimes even interesting, with few exceptions I find it's not satisfying anymore.

Enter bands like Diamond Fist Werny, Critters Buggin', Sky Cries Mary, Soul Coughing, TchKung and others.

Primal. Tribal. Spiritual. Shamanistic. These are words that I'd use to describe how I hear Diamond Fist Werny's music. It hits me at a level just below consciousness or rational thought. It's more about feeling and animal instinct, the droning and nonsense syllables reminiscent of some Far Eastern mantra or aboriginal spirit dance. That is not to say that there aren't any lyrics. There are. And don't be fooled -- as 'new age' as this description might sound, the music seriously rocks!

This is not to say that Diamond Fist Werny is "better" than, say, Britney Spears, Eminem or Kid Rock or that people who like Diamond Fist Werny are better than fans of those other performers. It, and we, are just... different.

In any event, the band has released three albums, though some friends have told me that they released some stuff on cassette earlier. While I've not had the pleasure of hearing these earlier tracks, I think DFW has played a few of them live at the last couple of gigs. Hopefully they'll release them on a future album!

DISCOGRAPHY

	Diamond Fist Werny Mercury All She Never Kills Spiders Stethoscope Viking Winter The Man Who Lost His Dreams
	Enchanted Parkway Fountain Head Enchanted Parkway Golden Plato's Cave Planet Claire Shining Moment
Image Coming Soon	Long View to the Sky Snowfallingthrusmoke She Never Kills Spiders (remix) Clouds the Clouds Plato's Cave (remix) Eagles Enchanted Parkway (remix) Shining Moment (remix) Golden (remix) Mercury (remix) Goddess (live) Planet Claire (remix) Fountain Head (remix) All (live)