Dweeb World News: Did you ever dream you would be playing music for over 30 years?Papa Dweeb: Actually that's been my dream since I was very young. I was always playing an out of tune broomstick and singing to Johnny Cash records. I was truly blessed knowing what I wanted to do at a very young age --and having the raw talent and desire to go after it.
DWN: You currently have two sons and two daughters performing with you. How cool is that?
PD: It's the best. Only a parent can understand the gratification and pride one feels as their sons and daughters mature and become successful. I have the honor of sharing the road, the studio and the stage with them which makes it even that much more gratifying.
DWN: When was the band created, and how did you come up with the name The Dweebs?
PD: It was just over 20 years ago. I was producing and performing in a band called Vicious Rumor. It was a power three-piece, all cover songs: Led Zeppelin, Rush, Areosmith, etc.... We were good but didn't have many dates on the schedule. Of course like every musician I blamed it all on the agent! Then I went to see an oldies band and I realized V.R. was too heavy at the time for mainstream audiences. I decided to start a new band--one that would appeal to a wide age group. A band that would be fun for everyone. A band that would have all that including an image that people will remember after seeing a show. I had a dozen or so names on a list and none were giving the results I was looking for. Then I saw a magazine with a photo of a Nerd. That's it! We'll call ourselves "The Nerds" and play it to the hilt. The other guys looked at me like I was crazy. My agent said it's a little too far out there for him. So I fired him, went to work for a different agency and learned the ropes. Somehow I knew it would work.
DWN: The Nerds? So how did it become "The Dweebs"?
PD: The Nerds were 7 years old when I received a "Cease and Desist" letter from an attorney. There's a band from New Jersey, affiliated with 20th Century Fox and the movie The Nerds, which owns the trademark to the name "The Nerds". So I did a trade name search and discovered that "The Dweebs" name was available. I now own the trademark for "The Dweebs".
DWN: Didn't you have an older daughter singing with you? Where is Tee Tea?
We send out our LOVE as we all miss her very much.
DWN: Obviously there have been some other personnel changes, as several current members of the group were in diapers at the time the band started.
PD: I think there have been 11 different people I've shared the stage with over the 20 years this band has been in existence. Mike Jr. was four, Ben was three, and Claire was about a year old. A few of years later we started "The Nerd Babies" with Ben on drums, Mike on bass, and Claire playing tambourine and singing "Hang On Sloopy". One time while rehearsing I told Ben to pick up the tempo. He looked on the floor and said, "where is it?"
DWN: Did you know at that time that Mike, Ben, Claire and Karalee would become future Dweeb performers?
PD: Nope! Not a clue. It never even dawned on me until several years ago. It was a combination of recognizing I needed to make some changes and knowing Mike, Ben, Claire and now Karalee had developed their talents to earn the position they now have.
DWN: To what do you attribute your 30-plus years of success?
PD: I have a certain formula of many different factors of which I use as a guide line. The marketing strategy, our sales procedure, and the presentation of our show are all huge factors. Oh there were many years of struggle and I've made many mistakes. Many failures. But I recognize them and learn from them as well. You have to lose a few games to win a championship.
DWN: Sounds like you use a coaching strategy...
PD: It's funny that you say that. Several years ago I got very interested in football, thanks to the boys. I became a huge NFL fan and I read some books on Vince Lombardi. In no way am I comparing myself at all to the great one...but I did notice I shared quite a few of the characteristics of which he talked about to his players and in his motivational speeches. Determination, Dedication, Integrity, Sacrifice, Heart, Discipline, Loyalty. My favorite quotes are "What in the hell is going on out there" and "Only in the dictionary does "Success" come before "Work".
Vince also talked of how important is is to have a team with all players being all about the team. Vince would rather have a person of less talent but a total team player over a person with total talent that's all about himself. I also learned that I needed to be a leader. The one thing you need to have if you're a leader is people that will follow you. So for several years I've been the head coach. I've been grooming my team right from the sideline all the way to the stage. I can finally say...... I've got a Great Team!
DWN: What's with other groups using The Dweebs name advertising "featuring former members of?"
PD: Oh, I guess it's flattering. Although...........never in my wildest dreams did I think there would ever be a "Tribute Band" for a cover group. Don't be fooled .... There's only One - Authentic - Certified - Original - Trademarked - Exclusive - Featuring Only Current Members Of - "Your Ultimate Party Band" - The Dweebs!
DWN: What would you say is your favorite venue?
PD: That's a tough one. There are many great places that we play but it's really the audience which separates them. Some of my favorites would be The Vulcan Victory dance, and many of our outdoor summer festivals would for sure have to be included. We Love You Detroit! Country Jam...Rutabaga Festival, Woodbury. Days.. just to name a few. Actually any show where we we really get the party going... and that's at a lot of them.
Another show which was a total hoot was in Scottsdale, Arizona. YEP! Homesteaders Insurance, of Des Moines, Iowa, flew the whole band and Herb (sound tech) to AZ. They put us up for 2 nights in the nicest hotel I'll ever stay in. That's where we had a party. Huge production complete with 3 Jumbo - Tron screens and a 2 camera shoot. Then we flew right back the next morning as we had a show that night for the US Steel Workers Union in St. Paul. That show was awesome too. A combination of playing the company parties... weddings... festivals.............make for a very nice variety of audiences. The fun we have on stage is "genuine and all the time!"
We'd like to thank Country Jam USA for bringing us to Grand Junction, Co. What a Blast to travel across the country, through the mountains, to play four days for people that had never heard of us. It was a lot of fun as we opened the concert on the main stage. It's soooo coool to look up at the Jumbo - Tron and see the kids. Colorado gave us a very warm welcome. Well.. it was 105 degrees every day.
DWN: Why do bands hardly ever start on time?
PD: It seems the bands don't start on time as the venue (mostly clubs) will advertise show times much earlier than the actual agreed upon time. There are TWO Times. The Advertised Time and the time they tell us to start. That's to get people in the room to spend money. Meanwhile the band gets the heat from the audience. I take much pride in the fact that we are very punctual. When the bar advertises the show is at 9:00 and we don't start till 10:00, It's not on us. They even tell us 9:00 and change it to 10:00 after we get there. Surprise!
We don't like long breaks, or any breaks for that matter. The only reason a break became part of the standard format is because a bar owner wants to sell product. I say...... 4 hours is way too long for any entertainment. There's not too many 4 hour movies are there. That's because it's too long for one sitting. 3 hours of music in a 4 hour period means there's 2 half hour breaks. We recommend for there to be no breaks at all of our corporate and private shows. The audience stays for the 3 hours and it's a real good party. (We're always flexible to do what the purchaser request..... after all. they're writing the check.
Many things aren't always as they seem. Show times is just one of them. I overheard a bartender tell a patron they had to put out their cigarette because of the band's no smoking policy. We've never made any such request. The same club had a smoke generator on stage of which we do object to and we had it unplugged. (It looks good on the lights but raises heck on the voices.
DWN: Do The Dweebs Lip Sync?
PD: Never. In fact I couldn't believe it when I was asked. I was asked one time at a show by a very drunk lady. She said she heard that we Lip Sync and wanted to know if it was true. My response was "you're kidding right? Have you watched any of the show?" She said she hadn't been paying attention and I could tell all of her focus was on the bottle. So I just said it's either very flattering that you think that. Or, you're really drunk and stupid.
While I was talking with the house tech and telling him of the Lip Sync question, he told me there's a group playing the main rooms in town that's getting away with using backing prerecorded tracks. Just when you think you've seen and heard it all.
DWN: What would you say is the funniest thing you've seen at the show?
PD: Maybe not the funniest, but definitely memorable. The Rutabaga Fest in Cumberland, Wisconsin is one of my favorite shows. It's always a great time had by all. Well... with the possible exception of one individual one particular year. I had announced that we were looking for a volunteer to come up and sing a song. A guy approached the stage with a full beer in hand, ready to perform. I had him set his beer down, then I asked his name and introduced him to the audience. He sang a song and not very well, either... But that's okay because I got a huge laugh from the audience, (at his expense of course) when I announced, "You Suck". He was laughing too and as he was leaving the stage I reminded him that he forgot his beer. We then performed another song and as it ended, I noticed our volunteer singer that sucked was now in handcuffs and being escorted to a squad car located right at the side of the stage. I hollered out, "Hey!!!!!!! Where you going?" Of course it was obvious where he was going! So I said,"I told you he sucked! All right--who's next? Who wants to sing real good or go to jail?!"
On our break I talked with a police officer and asked him what the story was on our singing friend. The officer said he thought he recognized the guy earlier as someone with an arrest warrant. He approached the guy and was shown an ID with a different name than the one on the warrant. So the officer thought he had the wrong guy. But when I asked his name on stage, the guy gave his real name.... not the one on his fake ID!! The officer said B.I.N.G.O. Then there was a welcoming committee waiting for him when he got off the stage. It turns out he was underage for drinking, too.
I have no clue who this individual is. But if you're the guy, and you're not incarcerated during the next Rutabaga Festival, I'd love to have you join us on stage again. You can sing "Jail House Rock" .... With feeling this time.
DWN: What are the future plans for the group? Any particular goals?
PD: We're a cover band. A party band. Not one of the songs we perform live is ours. Up until now. We renovated our studio in the fall of '07. We're currently working on several original songs, along with a couple of re-makes. We're already performing "Broken Promises" by The Dweebs live and it's getting great reviews.
It's kind of funny how the lyrics came about. I had the melody and the instrumentation but nothing for lyrics. I asked for Claires help. I grabbed a guitar and played the song and hummed the melody. She said she's got nothing. I told her to pick up a magazine and see if maybe that will trigger an idea. There was a magazine sitting on the table right in front of me. On the cover was a photo of Brittany and underneath....... "Broken Promises". I said "That's it! I then wrote the lyrics in about 20 mintes.
We were hoping to have a full project to release early summer of '08. It looks as though there will be an EP release of just a few songs at that time with the full project now slated for release the summer of '09. Most recording groups have the luxury of not performing live while writing and recording. We on the other hand, have to eat every week so the process takes a bit longer. You can't force creativity if you want it to be any good anyway.
In the mean time......Our plan is still.......... and always has been,......... to be the best "Ultimate Party Band" out there.
As a result of our schedule filling with corporate, company, private parties, weddings and festivals, (thank you very much) were forced to be more selective and will be appearing at fewer night clubs.
There's also some new upcoming talent direct from our family talent farm. My youngest daughter Karalee, 18 years old, has joined us on the the stage this past summer. My 2 granddaughters, Alyssa and Casey, 12 and 11 years old, and my grandson T. J. 5 years old, are currently in training and are very excited to join the group in the near future.
DWN: What are the future goals for MBP?
PD: We're excited as we're in our new office which was constructed the summer of '05. We also expanded and remodeled the studio as the office and studio had been sharing the same space for the past 10 years. MBP will continue to be the exclusive representative for The Dweebs.
DWN: So when is Papa going to retire?
PD: I'm not sure yet if I'm going to come back and play next year or not..... wait a minute That's Favre's answer. I guess now that Brett has retired, I can no longer say that.
Actually, I was ready to quit a few years ago. But then I realized I wanted out for the wrong reasons. So after 30 years of playing bass guitar, I switched to lead guitar. All of a sudden there was a huge challenge in front of me. My sons and daughters are developing their talents and I, being just a little older, still developing too, and all at the same time together. I don't know any other way to say it other than the magic seemed to come back. Their youthful passion has affected my desire and motivation in a huge way. They keep me young.
I really like the traveling we're able to do. "Join A Family Band And See The Country!" Grand Junction, Co / Chicago, Il. / Springfield, Il / Duluth, MN. / Brainerd, MN. / Marshall, MN. / Wausau, WI. / Milwaukee,WI. / Green Bay, WI / Des Moines, IA. / Souix Falls, S.D. / Brookings, S.D. / Watertown, S.D. / Scottsdale, AZ / Tulsa, OK / and just about every town and city in Wisconsin and most of Minnesota and many many more..................
You have to have something to wake up for every morning......... so I'll just keep doing this....... until I don't wake up.
DWN: Certainly with 30 plus years under your belt, you must have a few stories of which you'd like to tell?
PD: I have a few I won't talk about.........but here are a couple I will tell..
Click here to read some of Papa's favorite stories.
