dopamine

The Music
dopamine is an original band rooted in rock but incorporating many styles in their melodic stew. With a nod to the past and an eye towards the future, they bring an innovative take on the great music that is rock and roll.

The Philosophy
Why cover a great song when you can write an amazing one yourself? If you want to hear all covers, hire a DJ! If you want to play all covers, forget about lessons, get Guitar Hero! Okay, they do play a few covers for the uninitiated. But for the initiated, only dopamine will do! dopamine is fusion, but not in the 70s jazz-rock kinda way, that would be too limiting. If you were a chef, the list of ingredients would be pretty long: find a solid foundation of rock, pay homage to psychedelic pioneers of the 60s-today, sprinkle in some reggae and dub influence for flavor, mix fervently with some latin jazz, funk, hip hop and Motown, add technical ability for style and then you’re getting close!

The Band
dopamine is a four piece band, guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. All four members write and all four members sing. Guitar player Steve McRae negotiates his many influences, which range from Jeff Beck to … well, Beck. He brings it all together to create his own unique and exciting style. Keyboardist Brian Lauri is a master of his instrument. To say he lives and breaths music is an understatement. He sits in with several bands in the Northeast, from Vermont to Road Island to NYC to CNY. He has even jammed with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. From intricate piano lines to soaring Hammond riffs he can do it all – he is music. “The Professor” Aaron Fried is a bassist of many flavors. From playing stand up jazz bass, to Motown funk, to straight up rock and roll; he’s got a groove for anything you can throw at him… oh yeah, he’s got lyrics for that groove, too! Bob Birmingham is an extremely fiery drummer whose energy cannot be contained. He is not only a rock solid drummer, but also a prolific singer and song writer. He is a complete musician.

Together, dopamine has a synergy that covers many styles and genres of music. But don’t take our word for it; the music speaks for itself!