Dirty on Purpose
04.24.05
Profile
words:
Amy Wagner
photos: Michael Rothfeld
It was late one Sunday night. The sky began to spit out drops of rain as I weaved my way through the hustle and bustle of Manhattan’s Lower East Side for a sit down with indie band Dirty on Purpose. With some time to kill, I decided to duck into the closest Dunkin’ Doughnuts that simultaneously called out “gimmie shelter” and “snack time.”
A crazy guy in a ratty old sailor’s coat, who introduced himself as Harry, had the same idea. After picking out his doughnut, he plopped down next to me, got one look at the
Rolling Stone Legends issue I had in tow and proceeded to share his love of all things musical. In a matter of a few seconds, he decided that we were more simpatico than Lennon and McCartney (pre-Yoko). So there I was, talking rock n’ roll with a guy whose knowledge of music and a lot of other things stopped somewhere in the late 1970's.
After traveling through the music world according to Harry, beginning with Jackie Wilson and ending with the Jackson 5 (thank God my new music friend was spared the knowledge of what became of little Michael), I asked him what sort of images came to mind when hit with the band name
Dirty on Purpose.
After beating out a fragmented manic drum solo on the table, he whipped his head around and asked, “Was them at Woodstock?” I shook my head. “’Cause it sounds like they could like getting dirty in all that mud they had up there. I know them,” he grinned.
“They’re the dirtiest sons-a-bitches!”
The images called to mind by the words "Dirty on Purpose" must have struck a chord with Harry because he quickly bolted a second later without so much as a goodbye. So much for making sweet music together!
Hopefully, I’d have better luck with the band.
A few minutes later, I was sitting down in a funky apartment with four out of the five members of Dirty on Purpose: Doug Marvin (Vocals, Drums), Joe Jurewicz (Guitar), George Wilson (Guitar) and DJ Boudreau (Bass). The missing link, Erika Forster (Vocals, Keyboards), would join us a short time later.
This local band, with a steady buzz growing around their brand of psychedelic-yet-melodic mood tunes, may call themselves Dirty on Purpose, but they were the cleanest band I’ve hung with in quite some time. They even comb their hair and tie their shoes. We chatted over a round of Red Stripes and Stellas, covering just about everything, but first things first...
So, where did the name Dirty on Purpose come from? The possibility of calling the band Monkey Knife Fighters was kicked around, but they choose instead a moniker that jabs at the uber-hip, slickly stylish scene that has sprouted up in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. But they’re not too quick to bite the hand that feeds them.
After all, as guitar player Joe Jurewicz explained, “We live there. We’re part of the scene. Everyone just takes the scene too seriously. That’s what the name is about, and in another five years, there’ll be another scene, and someone will have a band name about that.”
Fighting the dirty image even further, the band gets along so well that they get their biggest high--in a strictly emotional sense, of course--from writing songs together.
“You play [a song] for the first time, where you don’t screw up your part. Everyone else plays their part and everything works. That feeling will never happen again,” offered guitarist George Wilson, who turned out to be the most vocal member of the group. In fact, being able to reach a compromise is how they define success as band. But then again, if you can get five people with an artistic bent to come to a single understanding about anything, it’s definitely a victory in a long series of battles.
And just how do they keep the love flowing? Erika Forster summed it up by saying, “We didn’t aim to be a collaborative band. It’s just no one has a combative personality.”
But just to make it clear, outside of all the group hugging, these guys really do rock, and while they may still be babies by musical career standards, they’ve spent a good amount of time developing their musical chops.
George spent his formative years listening to Blue Oyster Cult and seems to have emerged virtually unscathed. Drummer/Vocalist Doug started on piano at a young age, but moved to drums at age 12. He sheepishly admits to having attended... band camp! Thankfully, there are few lingering signs of geekness.
Erika Forster’s father was a bluegrass musician. This afforded her the chance to soak up an extraordinary scene until the requisite teenage rock rebellion hit. From then on, it was goodbye bluegrass and a loud “HELLO” to more mainstream music. She even made trips to scream Beatlemania-style for Paul McCartney when his tour stopped in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado.
Bass player DJ has his eye on the more rowdy side of rock n’ roll. Over all, he thinks touring is “pretty boring,” but when asked about a dream tour slot, he was quick to mention hardcore players like The Rolling Stones and Motley Crue, because “you wouldn’t have to take the shit. You’d just be there when it happens.”
Definitely rock n’ roll!
Before the band hits the big time, and they’re forced to deal with the potential pitfalls that come when you mix success with excess, there are other concerns: girlfriends who are nervous about having rock star boyfriends; coming up with creative excuses to skip out on day jobs; and just standing out from the crowd.
Each week the New York music press seems ready to anoint yet another local band as the next big thing. Subways are cramped, with every other passenger hoping they’re a member of the next "it" band. There’s a feeling permeating through the music scene, a sort of electric current of belief that everyone and anyone could be just a few minutes or gigs away from their big break.
Dirty on Purpose takes these possibilities in stride. They refuse to be spooked or even pay attention to the “buzzing” sound that has surrounded them since the release of their
Sleep Late for a Better Tomorrow EP. They consider themselves to be a “grassroots” sort of band. As DJ puts it, “We’ve gotten success without spiked hair or the look of the month.” Erika agreed, adding, “We separated ourselves from that, and wanted to avoid knowing who’s on the cover of what.”
Those are good and noble goals for a band to hold true, but with an expanding network of fans, DOP may not be able to ignore the rat race of the music scene for too much longer. I think they’ll be okay, though, because this is one band that knows how to stay focused on the real prize: making great music that reaches out and touches you, but not in too dirty of a way.
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