District 97

[District97]

Hi folks,

My name is Jonathan, and I'm a drummer/compose from Chicago.  I saw a bit of discussion about my band District 97 here, so i figured I'd say hi.  Firstly, I'm a huge fan of DT and owe them an extreme debt of gratitude for all the inspiration over the years, and I can't wait to see what they do next in this new phase of their career.  D97 released our debut album "Hybrid Child" last September on Laser's Edge, and we've received a lot of support amongst the DT/Prog/Metal community.  The kicker that seperates us from any other prog band is that we feature 2007 American Idol Finalist Leslie Hunt and Chicago Symphony Orchestra virtuoso cellist Katinka Kleijn.  Here are some links you guys can check out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_qBdYgG30 (New Music Video)  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZaPUJrykAg (First Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncIPNbuwy6c (Cover of "Tom Sawyer")
www.district97.net (website/store)
https://district97.bandcamp.com/album/district-97-live-at-calprog (Download of full concert from CalProg 2010)
https://www.dangerdog.com/2010-music-reviews/district-97-hybrid-child-review.php (Review of "Hybrid Child")
 
I'll leave you guys with some quote about the band from people you may recognize:

Bill Bruford: I love the CD...the sheer skill and gusto with which they tackle it makes you laugh out loud. Great drumming. Jonathan plays and writes like a demon. Congratulations to them. (Watch Bill and me duet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGV61jdyXc and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR7VPkaA_XE)

John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia): 'Can't take you with me' is dynamite. I wish you luck, you're a good band, and deserve success, see you on the broad highway.

Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic): Your band is one of the very few I can see a real true potential in and I'm sure you have many new fabulous albums coming in the near future.

Jonas Reingold (Flower Kings, Karmakanic): Your band is great...I really dig your stuff, it would be fun to do something together in the future, keep up the good work, you´re one of the most talented progressive bands I´ve heard lately, good luck.

Jim Derogatis (NPR's "Sound Opinions", Rolling Stone Magazine): District 97 is a wildly ambitious progressive-rock group whose youth belies its accomplishments onstage and on its new "Hybrid Child" CD.

Paul Bielatowicz (Carl Palmer Band, Neal Morse): We made our way back to the hotel and I put on District 97's CD while finishing my nachos – what a GREAT album!

Hybrid Child is out everywhere, and in any case I'd love to hear the thoughts of some like-minded music fans!
Jonathan

[ClairvoyantCat]

I actually already know of District 97 well!     Nice to talk see you here, I really like your style of music.  Leslie's voice fits great! 

I've listened to Hybrid Child and I think that you have a great future ahead of you. 

Cheers!

[ich bin besser]

Jonathan, I already have and love your album. 

[Space Invader]

Great debut album! Can't wait to hear more from you guys.

[lordxizor]

Listened to the samples on your website. I'm not a huge prog-head these days, but I have to say it sounded pretty good. I'll definitely check it out more.

I have to laugh at the photos of the band. Good choice putting the women in more prominent positions towards the front and the guys towards the back. Nothing against you (you're obviously talented musicians), but your looks don't exactly scream "rock star".

[District97]

Thanks everyone, we appreciate the support.

[Nekov]

F*uckin A man!!! Listening to the album right now and already loving it!

[pain of occupation]

just checking D97 for the first time...really good stuff. could tell after one spin of one song that i'll be a fan. 

american idol. who knew.

[juice]

Just watched both those videos and it sounds very good!  I'll definitely pick up the album soon!

[ThroughHerEyesDude6]

Finally, some good Prog from Chicago. Represent!

[District97]

Thanks very much everyone!  For those who decide to take the plunge, we'd very much appreciate if you satisfy your D97 needs here, as ALL funds will go towards our future endeavors: https://district97.net/merch.html

Wherever you get it though, we very much appreciate the support,
Jonathan

[splent]

https://www.district97.net/

I was stumbling school district websites and found this gem of a band.  They sort of remind me of Morse-era Spock's Beard.

[ich bin besser]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=20504.0

[juice]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=20504.0

[splent]

Well excuse me for not being on the board that day lol

[jammindude]

I just heard about these guys yesterday.   A friend told me about it, and I looked up the new video for Snow Country, and I LOVE it.

Seriously, why aren't more people listening to these guys??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TduqAiwp89E&feature=youtu.be

[splent]

 What's sad is that I'm from the area, and I've known about them for a while, but I've never really sat down and listen to them, let alone seen them live. I'm such a horrible music teacher...

[McNugg]

It's criminal that they aren't more highly acclaimed imo.  In Vaults is easily my album of the year, just gutted I can't afford to go see them live early next year

[cramx3]

Pretty cool.  Im not as big of a prog fan as I am more a metal in general fan, but something about this is really cool.  That music video reminds me of Tool.

The singer is definitely awesome as well.  Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

[District97]

Glad to see we're getting talked about here! Some of you may be interested in what we've got going on at our In Vaults 2016 World Tour Kickstarter, which is now only 1K away from funding! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801575573/district-97s-in-vaults-2016-world-tour/posts/1435505.

Along with the great rewards we have going, we've got a MAJOR reward upgrade in effect. As a way to say thank you, we will be sending anyone who pledges $50 or more a download of a professionally filmed, full-length District 97 concert of the original lineup performing In Vaults in its entirety! A video preview and more info is at  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1801575573/district-97s-in-vaults-2016-world-tour/posts/1437373.

Also, tonight (Tuesday, 12/15) is the last chance to vote in the 2016 Modern Drummer Reader's Poll, in which I'm nominated in the Prog Category alongside Gavin, Marco and other amazing players. Check it out at https://www.moderndrummer.com/modern-drummer-2016-readers-poll-ballot/.

[MinistroRaven]

District 97 performance at CTTE 2017

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KHaVfNMYItk

[jammindude]

Sean Thompson from Odd Logic just showed me these guys today.   WOW!!!  JUST WOW!!!

I'm buying Trouble With Machines right now!!!

[Fritzinger]

How funny, I haven't listened to them in like 6 years but I always liked their debut. Coincidently, I was cleaning up my hard drive yesterday and rediscovered Hybrid Child! Great album, great cello and a lot of drive.

[jammindude]

Ok....I'm kindof freaking out right now.

1) District 97 just announced on their Facebook page that tomorrow at the Seattle SeaProg 2019 show, they will be playing their new album Screens in its entirety for the first time ever.  (yes, I realize several new songs have already been played live and are circulating...but still).   

2) I've traded a couple of Emails with Jonathan, and I scored and interview with him and Leslie for Jammin Dude's Neighborhood.   I'm completely terrified right now.   

[Working man]

That's pretty cool jammindude!

I met Jonathan at the last 3 Montreal shows and he is nice. Very reserved. Leslie is very cool. I am sure you will have fun interviewing them.

I bought Screens at the show a few weeks ago... their best album so far as far as i am concerned

WM

[jammindude]

It ended up being Jonathan and Tim Seisser (who is a dead ringer for Mikael from Opeth). Leslie is having a rough go tonight.

But the interview went off without a hitch. If I got the audio (always a big if) I'll post it next weekend.

[Working man]

Cool! How was the show?

[jammindude]

Cool! How was the show?

Incredible.  I'm not sure how she pulled it off.   If I hadn't heard her speaking voice at soundcheck (she sounded awful...and she told the sound guy point blank that she was vocally impaired that night) I would have thought she had made something up to get out of my interview.   But she came out at showtime and absolutely NAILED it.   And I did meet her after the show and she was extremely pleasant and answered a few more questions...though I didn't have my video camera for that.   I have lots of cool pics, but I'll have to post them later.  I'm on my way to work (going on only 4hrs of sleep). 

They also kept the set short to conserve her voice.   They played all 9 songs from Screens and then ended with Snow Country.   That was it.  They only played an hour.   But the small crowd absolutely went nuts.     I really hope the rest of the shows go off without a hitch.   I was worried about Leslie pushing herself too hard when she was obviously having an issue.     I was just amazed it didn't effect the actual show.

[jammindude]

And here is the interview I did for Jammin Dude's Neighborhood.  I was so nervous because I haven't done an interview in a long time.   Considering all the background noise, I was convinced that the final product would be unusable....but when I got it home, I found out my camcorder mic actually did a halfway decent job.  And once someone closed the door, things got quite a bit better.   

Leslie was saving up her voice, but I got Jonathan and Tim...which means I had to adjust some questions on the fly because a couple of them were supposed to be specifically for Leslie, but it turned out pretty good. 

https://youtu.be/Bg_oIg9S8NQ

[jammindude]

MEGA BUMP!!!

I was wondering if anyone had picked up the brand new album yet?

It's called Stay for the Ending and I've been meaning to pick it up. I absolutely love their first three albums, but their fourth album Screens didn't thrill me that much and I couldn't quite figure out if I wanted to pick up the new one or not.

[ProfessorPeart]

I'm a Kickstarter backer of the album and was front row at the album release show a few weeks ago. I absolutely loved Screens. This new album is growing with every listen. Tim really took the reins here and wrote some really good stuff on his tracks.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I gave the album a listen earlier this fall and quite enjoyed it.  It's too early to rank it accurately, but it was in my top 40 for the year so far for sure.  At least they have their own thread, but they're not mentioned much here these days, which is interesting given that Portnoy played with them for a cover. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS5eZMA2D8I