New Dreamers Bio:

 

 

Left to Right: Byron Lai, David Lassiter, Rudy Trubit, and Beano Shots [Poster from Matt Miller's collection]


The New Dreamers were myself, Rudy Trubitt (guitar/vocal), Byron Lai (Guitar), David Lassiter (drums/vocals) and Beano Shots (bass/vocals). The band was formed by Rudy following the completion of earlier one-off band projects (Rolling Mango Review and The Rabbits), in either late 1978 or early 1979. This group was lacking a bass player until Beano volunteered. (In a couple of previous bands Beano and Rudy played in, it was Rudy who covered the bass playing). At one point, visual artist Alan Lietner was in the group (sax/keyboards).

The band's material was an amalgam of original songs, some by Rudy (Space Patrol, 666 The Anti-Christ-lyric by Kevin Carr). Space Patrol had one of my personal favorite lines (all modesty aside): "He will eat and sleep-with radioactive aliens. He is without fear, a space-age Father Damien. Spaaaaa-aaaace Pa-trooooool!")Other New Dreamers songs were by Beano who had already begun a fecund collaboration with Rollo P. Banks. "Black Gold" was an example of their early work ("Oil and Water-super spill. Prices going higher, while asshole foots the bill! War with the arabs, what a fucking choice. I'd scream it to the world, but the fumes attack my voice.")Bryon Lai contributed at least one original number. There were also an assortment of cover tunes-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Cars, other assorted New Wave tunes.

The band played a handful of gigs. A self-produced debut show took place at the cabinet-making shop Beano worked at. Another early show was at Little Orphan Annie's out by the airport, where the audience sat stoically until we played the one song they knew. It was by the Cars, probably "Just what I needed." Suddenly, the dance floor was packed. This was my first experience with that phenomona--people will often ONLY dance to songs they already know. It was pretty interesting,because I don't remember ever having people dance at any of my gigs, and I hadn't been to enough club shows to realize that was what happend. Ah, youth.

The band dissolved shortly thereafter when drummer Lassiter anounced his departure to join a band being formed by Sean Thibadeau that promised to play more familiar material ("The Letter," "Happy Together," what would eventually become baby-boomer staples). In retrospect, the lesson of the Little Orphan Annie's show was not lost on Lassiter, as he was always pushing for familiar covers and less of the weird shit I was trying to make the band play, having just heard the first B-52's album.

I was very dissapointed, but it wasn't too long before Beano and I were contacted by Kit, mastermind behind that band that would become the Squids. Byron went on to Hat Makes the Man, the cover band Lassiter joined practiced like crazy, played one gig (if memory serves) and collapsed. He returned to the fold, joining the Squids as the sixth member, doing lights and sound and filling in on drums during the "Porky Star Set," when drummer Frank Orrall came up to sing a few songs every night.

A tiny foot-note: The New Dreamers were briefly known as the Diamond Heads. There is a very cool black and white flyer we made up, with a photo by a friend of Beano (Shuzo?), the same photographer that would later take the picture used for the slik-screen of the Squid's EP
cover.

Rudy Trubitt
August, 2003
Oakland, CA