Meet Milwaukee's Dorydrive

Two worlds rarely co-exist so effortlessly as music and fashion. (Only peanut butter and jelly, glitter and drag queens, dogs and bones even come close.)

Summerfest introduced me to the latest manifestation of this killer combo in Milwaukee-bred band Dorydrive.

Hailing from Menomonee Falls and Door County, local rock fans may recognize members from their previous projects, Echovalve and Marashino.

Currently on tour opening for Hinder, Dorydrive is heading east to push its blend of active rock, pop, metal and country sonically across the country.

I dare you not to shake it to the rocktastic cover of Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" or not become a "DD" fan with the soaring "Never Easy."

I had the chance to interview singer Mathieu Nevitt regarding Dorydrive's onstage look and learn more about the band's Milwaukee roots in person, but a catchy cold kept me home sick, (the rock wife in me couldn't expose guys at the beginning of a tour to getting sick – I know all too well how tough life is on the road) so he graciously answered my questions via email.

Check it out and gain some insight into the cool duds rock bands get to "rock," and the gracious attitude of this band that I am highly advising you to get familiar with – if you want to be in the "know" before they surge into their impending hugeness. (Yes, I am totally predicting Dorydrive's super radio friendly sound is going to be Milwaukee's next big band to be proud of!)

OnMilwaukee.com: How did you all get together to form the band?

Mathieu Nevitt: The merger of two very prominent bands, Echovalve "Rockridge Warner Music" and Marashino, a powerful regional act hailing from Milwaukee (having toured with such acts as Crossfade and Shinedown.) Me and Zak first caught interest for Dorydrive while touring on the "Echos of Red Tour" featuring Echovalve and Joan Red. After the final date of the tour we kept in contact and decided to have a writing session with myself and the former members of Marashino. Within the first 12 hours we had already written three songs and knew the 
chemistry we was bound for success!

OMC: What is the Milwaukee connection with Dorydrive? Did you go to school here? Grow up here?

MN: Tom, Nick and Henry all attended Menomonee Falls High School and grew up together in Menomonee Falls. Joey (who is also a Wisco native) grew up further north in Door County. After high school, Joey pursued a music degree at MATC "Milwaukee Area Tech." The four of them met through the local music scene and have been best friends ever since.

OMC: Is this Dorydrive's first big tour? Bus or van?

MN: We have been very busy since our inception. Dorydrive has already covered most of the Midwest and are now planning to push the market further East this Summer. We love to envision a tour bus in our near future. But, for now we are happy and willing to tour even in a cramped passenger van.

OMC: Is Dorydrive signed to a label? If so, how did that happen?

NM: We are not signed at this time. We have a great core group representing the band spanning from management, endorsements, promoters and radio program directors. The band is being pushed hard at the moment and has had major label interest along with showcases in New York City this coming August.

OMC: Describe Dorydrive's music in one sentence. What genre would you classify it as?

NM: We have taken from all aspects whether that be from active rock, pop, metal or country, making up our sonic assault of melody, power and truly human lyrics.

OMC: Tell me about the eco denim line you are endorsed by, "Reuse Jeans."

NM: We have just recently started working Reuse. Having a company that is making strides to show the importance of environmental awareness by recycling material in a very fashionable and posh manner is extraordinary and we are all proud to wear the product because of that!

OMC: Please tell me about the "Love Gone Apparel" T-shirt endorsement.

NM: This is also one of our newest clothing endorsements. Love Gone contacted Dorydrive via Facebook, leaving a simple message that caught our attention. Love Gone Apparel is a clothing company based out of Vero Beach, Fla., started by the idea of 11-year old Megan Kent after the separation of her parents.

The idea of Love Gone theme was based on Megan's feeling that "the love was gone" between her parents. Megan's mother Tricia then decided she would help Megan realize her dream of having the Love Gone T-shirt clothing line. Inspired ourselves, Dorydrive was more than honored to be a part of the Love Gone Team and will proudly continue to wear and promote Love Gone Apparel.

OMC: You guys have a guitar endorsement already, too, with Greg Bennet "Samick" guitars.

NM: We feel extremely fortunate to have already landed an endorsement of this caliber. We met with our rep after a recording session in Nashville. Tom had worked with Samick in the past and we all knew it would be in our best interest to see what would come of our visit. We used our newly mixed but very rough demo to our advantage landing the endorsement. Dorydrive now plays and promotes all Greg Bennett "Samick" guitars at all performances.

OMC: What's your favorite thing about Milwaukee?

NM: We love our ever building fan base, friends and family. The boys would also include the Brewers but I am a Cardinals fan, and I am the one doing the interview.

OMC: What inspired the "Dirty Diana" cover? Are you huge Michael Jackson fans? Were you inspired by Alien Ant Farm's Cover of "Smooth Criminal?"

NM: I have wanted to give new life to "Dirty Diana" for many years. The opportunity came and everyone agreed it would be a killer match for the band and producer. We are extremely proud of our remake and we have gotten rave reviews from it. We are definitely not the first to cover the King of Pop, and you are right to mention Alien Ant Farm. They did an incredible version of "Smooth Criminal" as well did Fall Out Boy with " Beat It." But neither remake inspired us towards our decision. We all love the song and hope Michael Jackson fans find a love for our version, as well.