An Article for Whoa Bro Awesome

This is an article I wrote for a magazine that my friend Josh Flynn is starting up. Feature Story on Dave Segedy's band Whoa Bro Awesome


The first time that I really had an interaction with Dave Segedy, we were both in This Story, and driving back from a show in Chicago. Dave was the comedic entertainment of the car. Some time around one in the morning he broke the exhausted silence from the back seat. “Hey Justin, do you have the ‘Doo doo doo’ song? You know, that one and it’s like…you know…’doo doo doo’?’ Justin, who played marimba and xylophone, was driving that night. He laughed and found a mix he had. We listened to Mariah Carey’s “You Will Always Be My Baby”, or what we now know as “the Doo Doo Doo Song” half a dozen times that night.
It’s hard to believe that was two and a half years ago. Recently Dave found himself driving back to Indiana again. This time he was in the driver’s seat. "I think the reason this tour went so well is because I had no expectations going into it." His voice is often light-hearted, but he was very matter of fact now, "I expected to lose a lot of money, and I didn't expect a lot of people to come to shows."
The skepticism is that of a seasoned performer who is best known as the drummer of Arrah and the Ferns. For the past few weeks Dave has been on tour with his solo effort, Whoa Bro Awesome, a minimalist experimental band whose focal point is Dave’s drumming. On this tour he brought a long a good friend and co-worker from SC to play the keys and guitar.
This tour was different for Dave. Rather than be limited behind his drums, he was behind it all. He booked all of the shows. He drove to most of them. He spent his own money and sold his own music.
Despite all of these accomplishments, some things never change. Dave still doesn't hold himself like a front man. His tall lanky frame and quiet disposition blend him into the woodwork at his shows. But when he grabs his sticks and gets behind his drums, he shines.
"At first I can tell people are like, 'whoa, is he really doing this?' and then as the songs continue and they catch on, they see that I'm really trying to write good songs and they're like, 'yeah, this is cool."
The music of Whoa Bro Awesome is different from what Dave has played before. He started off as a very aggressive drummer when he joined the original line-up of Muncie’s This Story. At the time the anti-folk band was an amalgamation of 10-12 high school musicians playing everything from a violin to a xylophone. All of the melodies in the air made it impossible to drum aggressively. Dave had to adapt.
By the time he broke the ranks of This Story along with Arrah Fisher and Carl Stovner to form Arrah and the Ferns, Dave had transformed. The once heavy-handed drummer was now a minimalist jazz percussionist. He began to navigate his way between his snare, cymbals, bass, and toms as precisely as a cartographer. He was becoming quite the fan of experimentation.
It came as a surprise to everyone when Dave decided to no longer play with the Ferns. The band had just finished recording their second full album, and had come off of the road with one of their most successful tours.
The decision to break rank with the Ferns is still an adjustment he feels was necessary. Friends that he had known from previous tours didn’t really bring the disbandment up in conversation. “Most of the people I stayed with either are good enough friends with us or have paid enough attention that they know what happened.” Dave is avid to vocalize his support of both Carl and Arrah’s solo efforts, Council Idaho and The Woodlands. “I was part of Woodlands when it first started, and I really liked what they were coming up with. I really enjoy what I’ve seen of their performances. And I really like Council’s stuff. Honestly, I wish the best for both of them. I really hope that they stick with it.”
The feeling of coming off of a successful tour entirely of his own making is a sensation that he wouldn’t trade for the world. When he set up the shows he couldn’t have cared less who he played with as long as he was playing. The result often had him sandwiched between hardcore acts and emo bands, hardly an environment encouraging of Whoa Bro Awesome’s music.
For the rest of the summer he will be interning at Secretly Canadian in Bloomington, an experience that is allowing him to see a different of the industry that makes up so much of his life. Dave plans on hitting the road again eventually, although he will make some adjustments in how he goes about booking everything.
“Honestly, I just want people to hear the songs,” he says, “and most of the time people are really encouraging. It seemed to go pretty well. I’ve met a lot of great people.” Dave’s performances have become more than an experiment in rhythm, they are celebrations of sound. The overall effect is as hypnotizing as being able to watch Gustav Klimt work magic on a canvas.