Tortellini and eggs at Toasties Cafe in Pacific Grove is a unique dish that rhythm guitarist and vocalist Sammy Skidmore of Seattle-based Dining Dead is looking forward to during the band’s two tour stops in Monterey County.
“We’re pushing the boundaries of breakfast,” jokes drummer Bogie Pieper, originally from Pacific Grove, who may have been the one who tipped off his bandmates about the dish.
Dining Dead is also pushing the boundaries of music using off-pairing ingredients. The band formed in 2019 with a vision of playing indie-Americana music, but each of the band members’ musical backgrounds quickly sent that off the rails.
“We’re getting a little more experimental,” explains Skidmore. “We’re really into composing right now, homing in on small vignettes and moments in the music.” For this group, moments like that mean sounds from Kennedy Webb’s fiddle-esque violin, synth, penny-whistle or maracas and surfy-electric guitar sounds from Emma Hayes, all percussed with groovy baselines from Shannon Barberry. “We have a lot more instruments going on now than we did at the beginning,” Skidmore says.
Pieper, the drummer, moved to Seattle in 2018 after playing with his Monterey County-based band Bogie and the Turtles. He says that joining the band was pivotal for his musicianship.
“I was just inspired by the skill I was seeing and people who had really dedicated their lives to music,” Pieper says. “There’s a lot of great musicians [in Monterey] but I feel like I was a bit humbled when I moved to a city.”
The hodgepodge of musical influences and experimentation led the group to write a first-ever overture for their latest studio album, Is This A House?, which evolves into melodies touching progressive rock, surf-rock and major and minor violin notes, supplied by ethereal harmonies plus spoken vocals.
Pieper says the band has come through Monterey County on previous tours but this time is special because it’s the first time he’s able to perform in his actual hometown. “We haven’t got to play in P.G.,” he says. “It’s exciting now that there’s actually a venue there.”
At Henry Miller Memorial Library, the band opens for Richard Tripp.
DINING DEAD performs 7:30pm Friday, May 1 at Henry Miller Memorial Library, 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free. RSVP at henrymiller.org; 8pm Saturday, May 2 at Pop & Hiss, 215 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. popandhiss.net.