Without question, Dave is the voice & conscience of Changmian/Sonic Beating Productions (and most of the American psy scene for that matter). With an education in philosophy & religious studies, Dave never misses the chance to apply his background in infamous "party reviews" and commentary on the scene. He writes what Kri from Touch Samadhi has called "long winded" essays. Always rich with detail, emotion, philosophy, random quotations and Red Sox references, Dave marvelously combines all these seemingly unrelated elements into a symphony of words. Although his writing leaves him the butt of many jokes, most readers admit they wait to read Dave’s party reviews like they wait for the score of an important game or the victor of a presidential race. Jeff Whitmore had been reading Dave’s reviews for years and, upon finally meeting Dave, was surprised not to find a 50 year old Harvard professor with silver hair, penny loafers and a tweed jacket with elbow patches. Instead, he found a twenty something, hoodie-wearing, tattoo laden, truck driving Red Sox fan. With his intellectual writing and his love of the Sox, Jeff defined Dave as the "paradigmatic Boston trancer."

With a sketchy DJ background dating back to his college days, Dave bought his first set of turntables as a freshman - using money he saved from collecting empty beer cans after on-campus keg parties. Lonely early morning walks around campus with 50-gallon trash bags earned him the nickname "Dawntreader" – and it’s only fitting that an artist by the same name was the first to attract Dave into the trance culture. From there, it was an uphill battle consisting of botched parties in New London, CT clubs and a host of drunken sets for frat boys and sorority girls at post-game "keggahs." A year in Cape Town, South Africa increased his record collection, but didn’t provide as many answers as it did tracks. It wasn’t until meeting Dean Manning in the fall of 2000, and being given a copy of Atmos’s epic Headcleaner, that Dave finally found the direction he wanted his sets and his music to go. A residency at Changmian’s "Anitya" followed shortly thereafter and Dave has since become one of the most enthusiastic and aggressive promoters of progressive-psy on the East Coast. Always looking to take the music deeper and deeper – Dave’s DJ sets are the perfect complement to his writing – deep, slow-moving, and always going in one or more directions. They are, like Dave, progressive at the core.

Spending most of his years as a stonemason and now as a manual machinist/assembly technician, Dave is known for his blue-collar roots and attraction to the trades. Gavin once called Dave’s signature pick-up truck "The Trance truck" because it can often be spotted outside a venue with subwoofers, ladders, power tools, pvc, and blacklights piled in the bed. Coupled with a collection of promotional bumper stickers for labels like Iboga, Sprout, and Digital Structures – and one can see where Gavin got the name. Together with Marria, Dave also helped develop a new style of string art deco involving PVC pipes, sheet-metal screws, and various other fixtures which has since created cavernous minimal environments across dancefloors in the northeast and Canada.

Although it’s sometimes difficult to find Dave at a party because he prefers to maintain a low profile guarding the parking lot, checking Red Sox scores, or chilling in the back corner of the dancefloor; once you do find him, you will realize that he is one of the most animated, funny and devoted members of the Changmian/Sonic Beating crew. Ammon EP said it best as he glanced over at Dave convincing a group of listeners to quit their jobs and attend New Years in Mexico, "Dave is so charismatic." Full of life and love for the progressive psy sound, Dave is the deep breath that keeps the crew trucking on.

- written by Marria Kee