Pete Francis & The Dragon Crest Collective ft. The Funky Dawgs Brass Band

The latest project from Pete Francis, Dragon Crest Collective is a homespun, collaboration-fueled foray into the most groove-heavy territory the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has ever explored. Born in Francis’s self-built home studio in Connecticut, the band’s debut album Volume 1 finds the Dispatch co-founder teaming up with Danny “dbone” Golden (keyboards, drum programming), Paul Maddison (guitar, bass), and Kenny Shaw (drums) to create a joyfully hip-hop-inspired take on alt-rock. “In all my years of making music, one of my favorite things is when a concert feels like a party,” says Francis, who formed Dispatch in 1995 and fast saw the indie act gain a massive worldwide following. “I wanted to make this record feel like a party too, lighthearted and fun and rockin’ even though it’s got its serious moments.”


In bringing the beat-driven Volume 1 to life, Francis drew much inspiration from the fusion of groove-powered instrumentals and lo-fi hip-hop that the Beastie Boys offered up on their 1992 classic Check Your Head. Achieving that loose yet dynamic sound had much to do with Dragon Crest Collective’s close collaboration with a stellar lineup of local musicians, many of whom Francis connected with through his gig as co-host of the Bridgeport-based Modern Problems Radio Show. Those guests include guitarist Darian Cunning (who tears through a transcendent solo on the bass-soaked, ultra-danceable “King Kong”) and the Funky Dawgz Brass Band (who heat up tracks like the chant-along-worthy party jam “Dance Dance Dance Dance” with their fiery horn work). To further shape Volume 1, Francis and Golden (the album’s co-producer) also experimented with such vintage equipment as the ‘70s drum machine they used to lend songs like “Nosedive” a stripped-down, Sly & The Family Stone-esque feel.


When it came to crafting lyrics for the album, Francis channeled the tripped-out, tongue-in-cheek whimsy of groups like Parliament-Funkadelic, dropping references to Samuel Beckett and Miley Cyrus with equal ease. At the same time, many of the tracks that make up Volume 1 take a more meditative approach, waxing philosophical on the self-aggrandizement and egomania that often attends modern-day celebrity. “To be an entertainer these days you almost have to be a superhero,” says Francis. “This record’s partly a comment on that whole phenomenon, and on what it’s like to exist within that framework as a musician.” Such commentary gives a razor-sharp edge to songs like “God,” a funky but frenetic number built on multi-layered lyrics like “So on this quest for fame, fast cars, and wealth/You get to know god when you get to know yourself.”


Raised in Riverside, Connecticut, Francis threw himself into the music world at age 13, when he first learned to play guitar. While studying at Middlebury College in Vermont, he crossed paths with fellow musicians Brad Corrigan and Chad Stokes and soon formed Dispatch, who self-released their debut album Silent Steeples in 1996. At the start of an extended band hiatus in 2001, Francis put out his solo debut So They Say, then went on to create six more solo albums over the next decade while eventually reconnecting with Dispatch (whose most recent endeavors include the release of a double live album in 2013). “After working in music for almost 20 years, I’m more willing than ever to try a lot of different styles and work with a lot of different musicians and see what’s musically possible,” says Francis of his work with Dragon Crest Collective. “There’s an amazing sense of freedom to stretch the boundaries and go off into completely new directions, and I really love taking advantage of that.”