The D4
Encyclopedia
The D4 was a rock
band
from Auckland
, New Zealand
. Their music was released by Hollywood Records
in the U.S.
, Flying Nun Records
in New Zealand and by Infectious Records
in the UK
.
The group was assembled by vocalist
/guitarist
s David Palmer and Dustin Christmas, who put together a collection of songs and built a four-piece combo, featuring founding members English Jake and Rich Mixture, during late 1998 and started playing at the Frisbee Leisure Lounge parties along Symonds Street, followed shortly thereafter by inner city pub
gigs
. They have also played at the Big Day Out
and at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin
, Texas
.
The group's debut EP
was released by Flying Nun Records
in 1999 featuring the tracks "Girl" and "Come On!". The band was later enhanced by members Dewy Williams (Vaughn) (bass
) and Darel Pooley (Beaver) (drum
s). After the success of The Strokes
and The White Stripes
, The D4 and fellow New Zealand garage rock
band The Datsuns
became a critical and popular hit in the UK and Japan
. The D4 went on a UK tour supporting The Hives
.
As of May 2006, Breakfast announced that after eight years, the D4, would be taking an indefinite break from the music industry. After the split, Rich Mixture went on to replace Paul Robertson as the drummer of The Rock n Roll Machine, bassist Vaughn joined Shocking Pinks
, an Auckland based indie pop
act and Dustin Christmas formed the rock group Luger Boa
who have supported Shihad
on tour. Most recently, Dion has moved to NYC, formed a new band called The True Lovers and also plays bass in A Place to Bury Strangers
.
The D4's track "Get Loose" has been featured in several Bacardi Rum commercials in the United States.
Their album 6twenty is an emotional tribute to their insatiable desire to party, and is shown through their clever album name '6twenty' [(6x20)/40=3]. This is perfect because every one in the band loved to drink 40s, aside from Dewy who didn't partake in drinking, but instead was more of a social pot head. Not to say he wasn't as much as a partier as the rest, because he did have his bouts of hard drug abuse which included methamphetemines and cocaine.
and soundtrack
s since the early 2000s. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by The D4.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Their music was released by Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s...
in New Zealand and by Infectious Records
Infectious Records
Infectious Records is a record label whose bands have included Ash, Local Natives, Symposium, My Vitriol, Seafood, The Paradise Motel, General Fiasco and The Subways. Infectious was established by Korda Marshall after leaving RCA, and became part of Marshall's Mushroom Records UK operation in the...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The group was assembled by vocalist
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
s David Palmer and Dustin Christmas, who put together a collection of songs and built a four-piece combo, featuring founding members English Jake and Rich Mixture, during late 1998 and started playing at the Frisbee Leisure Lounge parties along Symonds Street, followed shortly thereafter by inner city pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
gigs
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
. They have also played at the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
and at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
The group's debut EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
was released by Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s...
in 1999 featuring the tracks "Girl" and "Come On!". The band was later enhanced by members Dewy Williams (Vaughn) (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and Darel Pooley (Beaver) (drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s). After the success of The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
and The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, The D4 and fellow New Zealand garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band The Datsuns
The Datsuns
The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 2000. To date they have released four albums and several singles, most of which have charted in New Zealand and/or the United Kingdom...
became a critical and popular hit in the UK and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The D4 went on a UK tour supporting The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
.
As of May 2006, Breakfast announced that after eight years, the D4, would be taking an indefinite break from the music industry. After the split, Rich Mixture went on to replace Paul Robertson as the drummer of The Rock n Roll Machine, bassist Vaughn joined Shocking Pinks
Shocking Pinks
Shocking Pinks are a band formed by Nick Harte and based in Christchurch, New Zealand.Nick Harte has been in New Zealand bands such as CM Ensemble, Hiatus, The Incisions, Montessouri, Laudanum, Luxor Dance Ensemble, Urinator, Solaa, The Brunettes and Pig Out. The band has been signed to New York...
, an Auckland based indie pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
act and Dustin Christmas formed the rock group Luger Boa
Luger Boa
Luger Boa is a New Zealand rock band led by Jimmy Christmas, formerly of The D4. Christmas formed Luger Boa after The D4 decided to take an indefinite break. Christmas describes the band as "pop-oriented", but with the "intensity of The D4"...
who have supported Shihad
Shihad
Shihad is a New Zealand hard/alternative rock band, currently based in Melbourne, Australia. During Shihad's recording career, they have produced four number-one studio albums and three top-ten singles in their home country of New Zealand....
on tour. Most recently, Dion has moved to NYC, formed a new band called The True Lovers and also plays bass in A Place to Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers
A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York–based noise rock band composed of Oliver Ackermann , Dion Lunadon and Jay Space . The band plays a heavy, atmospheric wall of sound-influenced blend of psychedelic rock, shoegaze and space rock...
.
The D4's track "Get Loose" has been featured in several Bacardi Rum commercials in the United States.
Their album 6twenty is an emotional tribute to their insatiable desire to party, and is shown through their clever album name '6twenty' [(6x20)/40=3]. This is perfect because every one in the band loved to drink 40s, aside from Dewy who didn't partake in drinking, but instead was more of a social pot head. Not to say he wasn't as much as a partier as the rest, because he did have his bouts of hard drug abuse which included methamphetemines and cocaine.
Albums/EPs
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Charted | Country | Catalog Number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albums | ||||||
| October 2001 | 6twenty 6twenty 6twenty is the debut album released by New Zealand rock band The D4 in 2001. A limited edition vinyl version was released in 2002.-Track listing:*All Songs Written By The D4, except where noted.Original 2001 release#"Rock'n'Roll Motherfucker" 2:00... |
Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s... |
- | - | FNCD449 | |
| 2002 | 6twenty Limited Vinyl Edition 6twenty 6twenty is the debut album released by New Zealand rock band The D4 in 2001. A limited edition vinyl version was released in 2002.-Track listing:*All Songs Written By The D4, except where noted.Original 2001 release#"Rock'n'Roll Motherfucker" 2:00... |
Flying Nun Records | 28 | NZ | ||
| 14 March 2005 | Out Of My Head | Flying Nun Records | - | - | FNCD491 | |
| 14 March 2005 | Out of My Head Limited Edition | Flying Nun Records | 17 | NZ | FNCD495 | |
| EPs | ||||||
| September 1999 | The D4 The D4 (The D4 EP) The D4 is a self-titled CD-EP released by New Zealand rock band The D4 in 1999.... |
Flying Nun Records | - | - | FNCD439 | |
Featured appearances
The group have appeared on some compilationsCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
and soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s since the early 2000s. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by The D4.
- (1999) - Boss TV (Boss TV) - "Come On!"
- (2000) - StickmenStickmen (soundtrack)Stickmen is a New Zealand compilation soundtrack album featuring songs from the film of the same name, Stickmen released simultaneously in 2000.-Track listing:#"Holden's Beat" - Kirk Torrance#"Downtown Groove" - House of Downtown...
(Universal Music) - "Come On!" - (2002) - Under The InfluenceUnder the Influence - 21 Years of Flying Nun RecordsUnder the Influence — 21 Years of Flying Nun Records is a double album including tracks by various bands signed or related to the Flying Nun Records label....
(Flying Nun RecordsFlying Nun RecordsFlying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s...
) - "Joe 90" (Bored Games coverCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
) and "Get Loose". - (2002) - Head Up!!! Music From The 2002 Bnet New Zealand Music Awards (Festival Mushroom) - "John Rock"
- (2002) - Channel Z: The Best of Vol. 3Channel Z: The Best Of Vol. 3Channel Z: The Best Of Vol. 3 is a 2-disc New Zealand compilation album released in 2002 featuring the best songs played on New Zealand radio station, Channel Z.-Disc one:#Pts.of.athrty - Linkin Park#Boom P.O.D.#Prayer - Disturbed...
(Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
) - "Exit To The City" - (2003) - Red Surf Godzone Surfer's Soundtrack (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) - "Joe 90" - (2003) - Get A Haircut (Zerox) - "Rock'n'Roll Motherfucker"
- (2004) - The Prince & Me (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) - "Party" - (2005) - Big Day Out 05Big Day Out 05 (album)Big Day Out 05 is a New Zealand compilation album released to coincide with the Big Day Out music festival in 2005.-Track listing:#Rizzle Rizzle Nizzle Nizzle - Beastie Boys#Boom! - System of a Down#Stumblin - Powderfinger...
(EMI) - "Sake Bomb" - (2005) - Unleashed 2005Unleashed 2005Unleashed 2005 is a New Zealand compilation rock album released in 2005.-Track listing:#"Remedy" - Seether#"Vertigo" - U2#"Mr. Brightside" - The Killers#"Be Yourself" - Audioslave#"Beverly Hills" - Weezer#"Photograph" - Nickelback...
(Sony BMG) - "Sake Bomb" - (2005) - Big Day Out 05Big Day Out 05 (album)Big Day Out 05 is a New Zealand compilation album released to coincide with the Big Day Out music festival in 2005.-Track listing:#Rizzle Rizzle Nizzle Nizzle - Beastie Boys#Boom! - System of a Down#Stumblin - Powderfinger...
(EMI) - "Sake Bomb"
Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Charted | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Ladies Man" | 6twenty | UK #41 | - |
| 2002 | "Rock'n'Roll Motherfucker" | 6twenty | - | - |
| 2002 | "Party" | 6twenty | - | - |
| 2002 | "Come On!" | 6twenty | UK #50 | - |
| 2002 | "Get Loose" | 6twenty | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... #64 |
- |
| 2003 | "Exit To The City" | 6twenty | - | - |
| 2004 | "Sake Bomb Sake Bomb (song) "Sake Bomb" is a single by New Zealand rock band The D4 in 2004.... " |
Out Of My Head | - | - |
| 2005 | "What I Want" | Out Of My Head | - | - |
| 2005 | "Feel It Like It" | Out Of My Head | - | - |