Band watch: The Disparrows

The Disparrows. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Most gig regulars will throw a hissy fit when confronted with Daniel Weber and dismiss him as Mr Sunny Leone. Weber is a man of opportunity. Director, musician, businessman and manager of adult star Sunny Leone, the multi-tasker has always managed to make the best of every situation. Weber remembers, “Right after my previous band The Spyderz disbanded, I started the The Disparrows. Everyone said, ”˜Don’t put a band together again, bands always break-up. It’s too many egos.’ And they are right. Four grown men fighting over creativity is crazy, I admit that. But I love collaborating and for me, there is nothing better.” The Disparrows was formed in 2010 and has released two albums since: The Disparrows (2011) and Making Others Rich (2013).

Their gig at the Kasauli Rhythm and Blues festival will be The Disparrows’ first in India. The band consists of musicians who all have day jobs, much like Weber. While their bassist Stephen Tecci produces music for other bands and also handles the business side of the mixed martial arts promotion company, Ultimate Fighting Championship, their piano player, Grant “DR” Loosvelt, is a dentist in Beverly Hills. Webers laughs, “He comes into the studio and says ”˜You won’t believe who was in the clinic today!’ From Britney Spears to Slash, he has met them all.”

Music started early for Weber, who started playing the guitar at the age of 12. The self-taught guitarist recalls, “For the first two years, I knew nothing and I was terrible. Then I broke my arm while skateboarding and I didn’t play for three months. When I picked up my guitar afterwards, I had a totally different perspective because I think I appreciated it more. People think I have been taught and that I have it all together when they see me play, but I don’t.” Inspired by acts like English heavy-metal band Iron Maiden and American metal guitarist Randy Rhoads, the tall, tattooed artist has been touring and playing with bands from New York and Ohio since he was 16. Although he is here in India now, he travels to Los Angeles every month for three days, to write new music with the band. Says Weber, “It is the most productive three days, than a month we would spend together arguing over nonsense. We all write separately too and we mail each other our ideas.”

When not making music, Weber spends his time organizing and managing his wife’s extremely demanding career. Leone, who happened to be getting ready for a shoot while we were chatting with Weber, is the reason why Weber moved to India. He tells us, “I sit with Sunny everyday and tell her that these are the things that I have to get done for myself and she is totally supportive. We just assemble a team according to our needs and thanks to them we are able to manage everything. We both are creative people and it doesn’t make sense to tell each other ”˜No, you shouldn’t do this.’ Everyone needs that creative outlet.”

Weber has been in India for four years now and says that he loves it here. He adds, “There is so much opportunity here. It is the biggest emerging market. People here value music.” Although their first time here, Weber feels that his band is going to love it here and will keep coming back for more shows. Apart from their original material, the band is also planning to perform some Beatles covers.

The Disparrows will be performing at the Genesis Foundation’s Rhythm and Blues Festival 2015 on April 4th. Get more event details here.

Watch their latest video for their track “I’ll Take the Roses” here: