David Hickson:guitar-vocals; Dustin Shivers:drums-vocals; Eric Friendly:bass-vocals; Nolan Void: vocals
Influences
Where to begin: Start with Tad, and go on to The Melvins, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Crackerbash, Satan's Pilgrims, Billy Childish, the Dharma Bums, Slayer, Ozzy, Joe Satriani, The Pixies, Dead Kennedys, Violent Femmes, Queens of the Stoneage, Probot, Dave Grohl, Stone Roses, One Way System, Long Tall Texans, Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, Anti Nowhere League, New Model Army, The Addicts, Stranglers, Adverts, Chaos Baby, Captain Sensible, The Macc Lads, Gonads, The 4 Skins, Chelsea, Cock Sparra, Sid Vicious' sense of moderation, The Stooges, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mudhoney, Fecal Matter, The Fluid, The Fastbacks, Brown Towel, Fireballs of Freedom, Starantula, Morgan Grace, Jett Harris and the Road Rockets, Ween, Suicidal Tendancies, Morphine (RIP Sandman) Black Flag, Social Distortion, Millions of Dead Cops, Jesus Lizard, Fear, Shane McGowan, Steve Earle, Louder Than Love Soundgarden, Krist, MC5, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, Priestess, Scorpions, B-52s, Stiff Little Fingers, Undertones, The Damned, Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, Token Entry, Youth of Today, Minor Threat (although not the straightedge bit), Lemonheads, Beatles, Primal Scream, The Verve Pipe, The Wailers, Babyshambles, Pete Fuckin' Doherty, Kim and Kelly Deal and the Breeders, Matthew Sweet, not Everclear or arrogant Art, used to be good, but, nope, yes to LKN, Ovulators, Dead Milkmen, Scandanavians, Sniper, Drunktank, The Piss Shivers, Thermals, Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, Black Sabbath, Wolfmother, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Fuckin' Hendrix, Ash, X, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Flipper, The Mentors, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Floater, Kleveland, firehose, Rush, Neil Young, Flaming Lips, Green Apple Quickstep, Mother Love Bone, The Who, Green River, Stone Gossard and his damn basketball shoes, The Cure, The Smiths, The Police, 8-Foot Tender, Sublime, The Ramones, The Vaselines, The Muffs, Jack Endino, Big Black, The Minutemen, Porno For Pyros and Janes Addiction, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Therapy?, Busholini, Van Halen, Kurdt, Greg Sage, Sam Henry and The Wipers, Velvet Underground, Bitch Machine and Tyrone, The Black Market Babies, Mötörhead, Scorpions, The MC5, The Dirtbombs, Orange Because I Said This, Eugene's Own Springfield Meth Moms, Drecxia, Mike Banks and UR, Octave One, Scan 7, Jeff Mills, Model 500, Suburban Knight, Quidity, The White Stripes and Radiohead. Then there is Captain Kicked, a guitar deity who taught DD how to play guitar and also refused to sell out and pursue a corporate music career of his own. If he won't, though, we will.
Sounds Like
We sound sort of like a cross between the Lemonheads, Dead Kennedys and all the Northwest sludge rockers who made our region desirable to the UK music press.
The Decliners were formed in the spring of 2005 in Portland, OR. by lead singer nolanvoid and guitarist David Hickson. They have been supported since then by many talented local musicians.
Current members include:
Mr. Eric Friendly on Bass and Dustin Shivers on Drums
Contributors include:
Jack Shit on Drums (Broken Bodies, Scratch) Tommy Shivers on Drums (The Plushies, Orgent Ange, Operation J) Joey Steelhead on Bass (Plaid Pantry Project, FOREHEAD)
The Decliners sound is soaked through with Pacific Northwest influences from the Wipers to Dead Moon and even obscure bands such as Creeping Meatball and Mudhoney.
They range from sparce and delicate at times, to thick, pounding and difficult to fathom. And there is never any mistaking the band's enraged political message, as we will be among the first to be dispatched for thought crimes when Richard Bruce Cheny formally opens the new re-education camps in America! Welcome to a new era of Northwest sludge rock: (From the May 10 2006 Willamette Week:} "Political punk need not be the stuff of flag-burning, ranting paranoiacs and Mohican-haired, spike-donning crusties. Portland's own masters of the "thumbs-down"a much more powerful insult than the tired old middle fingerthe Decliners prove that the machine can be duly raged against both with a sense of melody and without tuneless screaming. The quartet's debut, Thanks, But No Thanks, utilizes effect-laden guitars and grim vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Wipers and late-period Gang of Four. DAVE CLIFFORD"
(From the Dec. 7 issue of Willamette Week:} "The act of declining is a rather polite refusal, particularly for a punk band. But, the Decliners aren't a typical punk group. Vocalist-guitarist David Hickson sings like a ghost gone a-haunting while his distortion-ravaged guitar oozes over the rhythm section. Composed of members of the Piss-Shivers, Drunktank and Death By Tire Iron, the Decliners are a group of experienced musicians who are ushering in a new era of politically enraged Northwest sludge rock. Rather than constantly waving its middle finger, though, the Decliners opt for the far-more-insulting thumbs-down."
DAVE CLIFFORD.
Fucking RAWK!!!!! The Tour is going to BUST SOME FUCKING HEADS!!! Hope Cali is still connected to the states when its all said and done... ahh, fuck 'em. Decliners rawk like Lee Harvey Oswald takes the fall... "who pulled the trigger?"
Thanks for your friendship and support. We really appreciate it. Our album has officially been released. Pick up a copy or download it from our many sites. Stay tuned for some upcoming shows! We're headlining the R3 Festival on August 15th. It's ALL AGES!!!
