Drowning Oliver

Without marketing or promotion, Drowning Oliver has steadily gained a loyal following in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming.  The Alternative Rock band was pleased to find out that their music is reaching outside of the area when they captured the attention of AlternativeNation.Net, who featured the band in their New Artists Showcase, Vol. 13. 

The band began as Lost Cause over 20 years ago while attending high-school in Sturgis, South Dakota.  Sharing an interest in 80’s and 90’s metal and grunge, vocalist/guitarist Uriah Arehart and guitarist Oliver Puppel led the band playing covers with a few originals mixed in until the band went its separate ways as individual members began moving on with their lives after high-school. 

Fast forward to 2010 and, in the immortal words of Jake Elwood, “We’re putting the band back together”.  Two name changes and a few lineup changes later, the band has solidified as Drowning Oliver.  Made up of vocalist/guitarist Uriah Arehart, guitarist Oliver Puppel, bassist/vocalist Dan McRae, and drummer/vocalist Tom Brown, they began playing covers at local venues but quickly felt the need to write and play original music.  “The band we have is strong, both musically and creatively, and we just felt like it was time to start moving away from covers to our own sound,” stated Uriah,  “we all like the same styles of music, but we’re all different enough to bring our own interpretation to the songs.”

Drowning Oliver has been compared to Alice in Chains with a bit of Foo Fighters thrown in.  Tom is a seasoned veteran of working bands in and around the Black Hills, and arguably one of the best drummers you will find in the area.  The band’s namesake, Oliver, gets his heavy tone playing through a Jerry Cantrell Signature model.  Uriah’s voice has gotten rave reviews, saying he “serenades the listener in each song” with varying styles from Layne Staley to Mark Lanegan.  Dan rounds out the bottom end with a straight-forward, heavy bass sound.

Currently finishing up their debut album, Scratching the Surface, the band is looking forward to getting their music out to the public.  Since all four members also hold down day jobs, this is sometimes no easy task.  “It’s exciting for us when we hear that someone enjoyed our show or loves one of our songs,” said Dan, “It’s scary to put yourself out there like that, so to have someone come back and complement you makes it all worthwhile”.