Episode 73: Dan Didier of The Promise Ring and Maritime

Vinyl Emergency

Through four distinctively different albums, The Promise Ring became a staple of post-punk independent rock in the late 90's and early 2000's, with each of their records going on to influence bands worldwide that proudly consider themselves part of today's emo revival. In the 15 years since their break-up (aside from some 2012 reunion dates), singer/guitarist Davey von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier -- who already had another group together, Vermont, with fellow Milwaukeean and Volcano Choir guitarist Chris Rosenau -- carried on to form Maritime, whose upbeat power-pop never toured as vigorously as The Promise Ring yet has thankfully sustained a longer life-cycle (Maritime's fifth and latest LP is 2015's "Magnetic Bodies/Maps of Bones"). Currently, Dan has been focused on "Don't Break Down: A Film About Jawbreaker," the recently-released, feature-length documentary on the seminal Bay Area punk trio that he co-produced. This week, we cover the fandom around Jawbreaker, how a Monty Python sketch caused Dan to accidentally destroy his first Promise Ring test pressing, a debate about Men At Work records, and how he strikes a balance between avoiding his previous albums but appreciating the nostalgia and memories that they hold. Dan's latest musical project Dramatic Lovers can be found online at dramaticlovers.com, and though Maritime remains on hiatus, you can grab their music at maritime.bandcamp.com. Learn more about the Jawbreaker film at dontbreakdown.com. SPONSORS: Table Turned; Pinwheel Records; Vinyl for a Cause; flipbin.