Thursday, August 5, 2010

Adriel's band releases first album

First album released by Whitman student band, Dabbles in Bloom

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2010

Dabbles in BloomFrom left to right: Adriel Borshansky, Rimmy Doowa, Robby Seager, Jonas Myers. Photos courtesy of Dabbles in Bloom.

The popular Whitman College music group, Dabbles in Bloom, has reached a musical milestone with the release of its first album, featuring the combined talents of band membersAdriel Borshansky ’12, Rimmy Doowa ’12, Robby Seager ’13 and Jonas Myers ’13. The album, titled, “Found It,” includes 11 original songs from the “jazz-influenced, indie-pop” band, and is now available for purchase from the iTunes Store, Amazon.com and other online music retailers.

Album cover
Listen to a track from the CD
“Greetings”
Click to buy on iTunes

The band’s new release, which features original cover art by Markel Uiru ’11, celebrates the fruitful collaboration of four Whittie musicians — and friends — who truly enjoy creating together. Though Borshansky and Doowa have collaborated musically for more than two years, Seager and Myers joined the group less than six months ago, quickly adding their own layers to the band’s unique, quirky style. “It’s been less than a year, but it feels like we’ve been playing together forever. We all just clicked right away,” Borshansky said.

Borshansky, a Ridgewood, N.J., native who plans to major in religion, is the band’s lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional piano player. Doowa, an economics major from Bangkok, Thailand, sings, develops musical concepts and plays several unique Indian and Thai instruments. On piano, keyboards and occasional bass is Myers, hailing from the Seattle area, who is still determining his major. Also from the Seattle area is Seager, the band’s drummer, who plans to study economics and mathematics.

“I chose Whitman College because of the amazingly diverse, inspired and energetic student body. I joined the band for the same reasons,” Seager said. “Adriel, Rimmy and Jonas all have such compelling, creative energy – and our different backgrounds complement each other musically and personally.

“Practicing with Dabbles in Bloom is similar to Whitman academics: One moment you're enjoying life to the fullest, and the next you realize that the whole time you've actually been getting things accomplished, too!”

Dabbles in Bloom

In short order, these bright young musicians have swiftly carved out a place in Whitman’s entertainment scene, playing lively concerts at a number of the college’s fraternities and interest house gatherings last year. Though Borshansky will study abroad in Nepal this fall, he said the band will continue making music while he’s away.

“Dabbles in Bloom will definitely storm the campus when I get back this spring,” he said, referring to future concerts, including a large show the band hopes to play in the Reid Campus Center’s Young Ballroom.

While this is the first recorded album for the group, in 2009, Borshansky, with creative support from Doowa, had the opportunity to write and record a solo song for award-winning filmmaker Dana H. Glazer. Borshansky was commissioned to create a song for the soundtrack of “Evolution of Dad,” Glazer’s feature documentary, released in May 2010, about the changing role of fatherhood.

“It was an interesting experience for me,” Borshansky said. “Especially because I had never been asked to write a song for a specific subject, let alone something I couldn’t really relate to.”

The song, titled, “I Stepped Down,” was featured in the film and released in April as Borshansky’s first single. The track also appears on “Found It.”

While Dabbles in Bloom enjoy a growing following of fans, the members work to enjoy their time performing together without putting too much pressure on the future of the band.

“Who knows what will happen? There are infinite directions for us,” Borshansky said. “We’re just waiting to see what happens, and we’re letting our listeners determine that for us.”

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Matt Solomon beats Maria Sharapova!!

Pretty funny story/video. Upon graduation Matt landed a job with IMG and has been working on the WTA Bank of the West tournament all summer. Besides his normal duties, Matt had the opportunity to play Sharapova in a point while dressed up has Bank of the West "Bear". Matt used the opportunity to ham it up a bit. Fortunately his sister took video of the event and put it on youtube.