Damone

Tagging themselves after a character from the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the punk-pop quartet Damone consists of Dave Pino on guitar and vocals, Noelle on vocals and guitar, Vazquez on bass, and Dustin Hengst on drums. Pino had already begun composing material and building a local reputation around his native Boston in the late '90s, penning numbers inspired by a former girlfriend. Before long he joined forces with Hengst and Vazquez to rehearse in basements around town. A mutual acquaintance’s sister was likewise developing her own punk-flavored songs at the time. After Pino, Hengst, and Vazquez encountered the reserved yet assured vocalist Noelle, the group coalesced fully. Blending skatepunk aggression with heavy guitar riffs, Damone secured a contract with RCA in 2002. Coinciding with that arrangement, the band shared stages with the Juliana Theory, the Ataris, and Further Seems Forever around the spring 2003 arrival of its debut album From the Attic. Soon afterward Pino departed and the label dropped the act. By 2004 guitarist Mike Woods had joined, prompting Damone to begin work on new material. The group issued the self-released Out Here All Night EP in fall 2005. Its second full-length, the arena-rock-oriented Out Here All Night, appeared in 2006 as the band’s first release on Island/Def Jam. Subsequent live dates included runs alongside Bullets and Octane and the All-American Rejects.