"I don't make a habit of falling down, I don't want people to think I'm gravitationally challenged," says Douglas Miller, one of the members of Doug Fell Down.
A year and a half old, Doug Fell Down is comprised of juniors Andrew Kambour, Evan Chakoff, and Miller. Kambour, who is referred to as Elvis because of his formerly large sideburns, plays guitar and sings. Bassist Chakoff, a mechanical engineering major, also sings. Miller himself plays guitar.
"People see the name Doug Fell Down and are surprised that I don't sing," says Miller. So how did the band get its name? "Well it was more 'over' than 'down', but we needed the alliteration," he explains.
The band got together their freshman year after leaving other bands that they were no longer happy with. "People don't join rock bands because they're cool, they join rock bands to be cool," says Miller.
Like many groups, Doug Fell Down has had trouble pinpointing a way to characterize its sound. After rejecting several ideas, the band decided on "blues pop meets indie rock."
"We rip off a lot of bands," says Miller. "But to our credit, they are bands nobody has heard of." The band says their influences include Gang of Four, Charles Mingus, Talking Heads, Jets to Brazil, Dismemberment, Pavement, and Vanillas Fudge.
The band's first performance was at Oxfam Cafe last year, which they described as a very positive experience. They also played at last year's Naked Quad Run, an experience that was not as pleasant due to poor performance conditions.
This year, Doug Fell Down has recorded several demos, as well as a song for the Jumbo Audio Project. They will also be playing in the Battle of the Bands, will take part in an Earth Day concert at Hotung, and will play Oxfam again next month. The trio plays strictly all-original music during formal shows, as the band members deride their own covering ability.
With the on-campus exposure has come a following of loyal fans - none of whom are sane, according to the members of the band. One such fan is Kambour's freshman year roommate - he would walk across the room in a towel at some point during each rehearsal when the band used to practice in West on Sunday mornings. "It became part of the rehearsal," says Chakoff.
When they are not busy practicing, the members of Doug Fell Down are engaged in various other activites. Kambour and Chakoff both work for the Zamboni, and Miller plays "old-school Nintendo" in his spare time. But more than anything else, Doug Fell Down is a band comprised of music lovers. "Eighty percent of our time together is not spent playing music but talking about records," says Miller.
The future of the band after graduation is uncertain, but the trio intends to remain together during the rest of their stay at Tufts. Miller's vision of the future is that "we'll still be making rock and roll music, just not together."
But graduation is still a ways off, and Doug Fell Down is prepared to be whatever the music scene needs. "Tufts is ready for a band that doesn't suck, but until they come we are prepared to fill that [role]," Kambour said.
