Dntel
Occupation:
Producer/Musician
Background:
Dntel (aka Jimmy Tamborello) produces music that merges the worlds of indie rock and electronica. Tamborello was formerly a guitarist in the emocore group Strictly Ballroom and also a member of techno-poppers Figurine. In addition, he has done time in the SoCal groups Further and the Tyde. Tamborello originally started working as Dntel in 1994. Tracks he produced between 1995-1997 were released on the Phthalo label in 1999 as Early Works for Me If It Works for You. This was followed by the 2000 release of an EP that had been recorded back in 1994 called Something Always Goes Wrong. The melancholy, often haunting, and electronica-heavy effort Life Is Full of Possibilities arrived in 2002 on Plug Research Records. It featured contributions from Chris Gunst (Beachwood Sparks, ex-Strictly Ballroom), Rachel Haden (that dog.), and Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), among others. Tamborello moved to Sub Pop—also home of his other very successful project, the Postal Service—for Dntel’s 2007 album Dumb Luck, which featured Gibbard, Jenny Lewis, Conor Oberst, and many other indie stars.
Dntel
Jimmy Tamborello first began creating music in 1989, when he was in Junior High School in Santa Barbara, California. His father — a jazz saxophone player and flutist — bought Tamborello a drum machine, a sequencer, a keyboard and an eight track recorder, primarily for the possibility to create music on his own. His mother, Joyce Menges was an actress in the late 60s and early 70s and starred in To Rome With Love starring John Forsythe, Kay Medford, Walter Brennon,Susan Neher, and Melanie Fullerton and later in Now You See Him Now You Dont. Jimmys father was a key songwriter for many Santa Barbara bands including Skillet, Chia Band, and Monkeydogg (with David Figurine, Lael “Scraps” Waqeneck, and Marc Hawthorne of the Onion A/V Club). He recorded an album under the pseudonym Antihouse in 1993, and released it in 1994. He began work on the first Dntel EP in 1994, which was not released until later. During these years, Jimmy was a DJ and music director at KXLU, and engineered on several albums recorded at the station including “KXLU LIVE: Volume 1,” for which he also designed the album artwork.
Around 1994, Jimmy Tamborello was also the bass player for a band known as Strictly Ballroom. The band was often described as “Emocore,” short for “emotional hardcore.” Strictly Ballroom recorded one album, titled Hide Here Forever, which was released in 1997 on the Waxploitation Records label. They released a single in 1995 titled “Dear XXX” on the Chou Chou records label.
A collection of the demos during the period of 1995-1997 titled Early Works for Me If It Works for You (1999) was released on the label Phthalo. The work on the first Dntel EP was released as Something Always Goes Wrong (2000), also on the Phthalo label.
As a pioneer of contemporary glitch and electronica, Dntel gained a cult following. After writing a track for the Voices In My Lunchbox collaboration for the Plug Research label, he was asked to work with them. He first released Anyone Anywhere (2000), a 12-inch EP.
He released his full-length album Life Is Full of Possibilities (2001). The album featured several guest artists on vocals, guitars and other instruments, including Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Mia Doi Todd, fellow Figurine member Meredith Figurine, Chris Gunst of Beachwood Sparks, Brian McMahan of Slint and The For Carnation, and Rachel Haden of That Dog. Probably the most well-received song was the Ben Gibbard collaboration “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”, which led to a single in 2002, and later, the forming of the band The Postal Service with Ben Gibbard. Tamborello is also credited for programming “Take It Easy (Love Nothing)”, a Billboard chart topper for Bright Eyes.
On April 24th 2007 Dntel released his third album Dumb Luck on Subpop Records to generally positive critical reception. This, coinciding with Death Cab For Cuties latest release, Narrow Stairs has moved any future plans of The Postal Service recording past the end of decade.
Tamborello is also the host of a regular music show called “Dying Songs” heard on the internet radio station dublab.
