Dahlia Dell blends eclectic influences with a musical approach grounded in curiosity

The local student band performs a variety of genres from pop to rock

By TALAR KESHISHIAN — arts@theaggie.org

On Nov. 19, Dahlia Dell will perform at The California Aggie’s quarterly Couch Concert, a live music event that spotlights local bands and musicians, in the basement of The Aggie House at 116 A Street. Audience members can look forward to a blend of pop, jazz and alternative covers, along with some of Dahlia Dell’s new original songs that will debut at the concert. 

Dahlia Dell’s beginnings trace back to a year ago, when third-year music and history double major Callum Clark connected with third-year political science major Madeline Kracht through their involvement in the UC Davis Marching Band. With Clark drumming and Kracht on bass, the band blossomed from a mutual interest in playing music for recreation and enjoyment.

“[Dahlia Dell] has been active for a little over a year now,” Kracht said. “It started last year, and it was originally me, Callum and two other members.”

Last year, the original four-member group performed under the name Suits. After two members departed from the band for separate creative pursuits, third-year molecular and medical microbiology major Kylie Pinto later joined as the lead vocalist and pianist. 

“Last year, I wasn't in the band, but I came to the Couch Concert to take pictures of Maddie, and it was so fun that I wanted to go and actually play at it this year,” Pinto said. “It was a very intimate setting and everyone was having a great time.”

The band expanded this year to bring on their guitarist Jake Bellah, a third-year political science major.

“As someone who's very new to this whole ordeal here, I walked in all stressed [for my first practice] and then [realized] these guys are hella chill,” Bellah said. “My second [practice], I was just like, all right, let's play some Sublime, it's cool.”

Dahlia Dell’s sets feature a variety of genres, including pop, jazz, indie, alternative and rock. Paramore, Hayley Williams and Gin Blossoms were listed as some inspirations for the band’s sound.

“Right now, [we play] a lot of indie slash pop rock with some more jazzy stuff incorporated in there,” Kracht said. “We love playing Laufey and Olivia Dean.”

While the band has their favorite artists, the members are always challenging themselves to explore different music styles.

“We're trying to shift to more rock and alternative, because it seems fun,” Pinto said.

Part of their creative approach includes writing and composing original songs, three of which may be debuted at this fall’s Couch Concert.

“We're working on some originals right now, but we did all covers for our last show, because we're trying to rebuild our repertoire,” Pinto said.

The band says that their rehearsal environment is relaxed and collaborative, emphasizing a safe space to experiment with different genres and ideas.

“I feel like each of our experiences speaks for itself, and because of that, when we get to rehearsals, we're all able to build from a good starting point and bounce ideas off of each other,” Kracht said. “It makes our process a lot less stressful. We all just really work well together and have fun making music.”

Dahlia Dell has recently performed at venues such as Comasocial and House of Bass, the latter of which was a collaboration with Aggie BATS, an inclusive goth, punk and alternative social club for UC Davis students. 

“We also did a show at the women's rugby house, which is really awesome,” Pinto said. “We had a whole eight piece band, because we got a bunch of our friends. We got two trumpets, a trombone and a saxophone. That was a really fun set to play.”

Following their appearance at Couch Concert, the band is planning to release more original music.

“I really want to record some stuff, put it online, do some work on mixing and try to perform as much as possible,” Clark said. 

One of Dahlia Dell’s goals as a band is to perform in different cities and interact with new audiences.

“I think we want to work on releasing originals officially, at least an EP, on Spotify or YouTube,” Kracht said. “We're trying to perform outside of Davis, too, like in Sacramento and Santa Cruz.”

To stay updated on the band’s future shows, you can visit their Instagram page @dahliadelldavis. Dahlia Dell will perform at The California Aggie’s Couch Concert on Nov. 19 at the Aggie House at 116 A St. alongside local bands Purslane, Static Ave and Vacerra. Doors open at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Written by: Talar Keshishian — arts@theaggie.org