The Dambuilders never really broke up. Rather, the indie-rock band that came up in the Boston scene in the early 1990s had petered out by the decade’s end, done in by the grind of life on the road and the lure of other projects.
That made it easy for singer and bassist Dave Derby and drummer Kevin March a few years ago when they started playing again as the Dambuilders. There were no egos to soothe, no hurt feelings to mend, just a sense among the musicians that the time had come to get the band going again. Their reunion includes a pair of shows Nov. 20-21 at the Burren in Somerville — the Dambuilders’ first shows in the Boston area in nearly 30 years.
Derby and Bruno Corbo, a friend and filmmaker from the band’s early days, are also readying a new podcast series, “I Used to Be Different,” recounting the history of the group and their view of the Boston indie music scene in the ‘90s.
“I don’t think I’ve ever stopped making music with Kevin March since the Dambuilders, because he’s played on almost every record I’ve ever put out,” said Derby, who went on to release solo albums and start the New York musical collective Gramercy Arms, which has often included his Dambuilders comrades.
Though Boston proved formative for the Dambuilders, it’s not where the group actually formed. The band already had an album out on a German record label when Derby moved to Boston in 1990 from his native Honolulu with guitarists Eric Masunaga and Tryan George. Amid a shifting lineup in 1991, the band released the single “Pop Song = Food,” their entrée into the local music scene, followed later that year by a new album, “Geek Lust.” By 1992, the lineup had solidified around Derby, Masunaga, violinist Joan Wasser, and March, who joined the Dambuilders soon after graduating from Berklee College of Music.
“Meeting Dave and Eric from Hawaii, they brought a different outlook on everything, and they were really smart and funny, and approached things really creatively, and that’s what I connected with,” said March, who now plays with Guided by Voices and is the general manager for a School of Rock in Montclair, N.J. “Same with Joan: There was something really incredible about her sound and how she approached the violin as a guitar. I was like, ‘Wow, I’m in a really unique band.’”
The Dambuilders’ sound was certainly distinctive, influenced by punk and garage-rock but with violin parts from Wasser that set the band apart from many of its contemporaries, like New York band Luna or Boston’s Helium. With March and Wasser on board, the Dambuilders would put out four additional studio LPs, various singles, an EP, and a compilation of songs named for US states before burnout caught up with them following the 1997 release of “Against the Stars,” their last album. The band was always on the road, touring with acts that were breaking through to the mainstream — such as Weezer, Third Eye Blind, and Better Than Ezra — while the Dambuilders’ own fortunes were static.
“After a while, you just lose an understanding of, ‘Who am I? What is this thing we’re in?’” March said. “And we’re exhausted, and we were opening for a band that was kind of growing, so people didn’t really care about us. So that starts to take a toll on you.”
By the time the band came off the road, the musicians had other projects to occupy their time, and the Dambuilders faded away. March was playing with the indie band Shudder to Think and with Wasser in Those Bastard Souls before landing in Guided by Voices. Wasser soon started her own project, Joan as Police Woman, while Derby worked with the singer and songwriter Lloyd Cole in Brilliantine and Cole’s band, the Negatives. In the 2000s, Derby created the group Gramercy Arms, which featured contributions from March, Wasser, and other musicians, including guitarist Sean Eden from Luna and violinist Claudia Chopek, who has played with Father John Misty and Dexy’s.
“I feel like I’ve kind of been in constant touch with those guys in different ways,” Derby said.
Derby and March returned to the Dambuilders a few years ago, after a birthday party for Eden where Chopek mentioned she was a fan of the band and knew all of the songs. With Masunaga and Wasser’s blessing, they booked a couple of gigs in New York with Eden on guitar and Chopek taking over on violin. They first billed themselves as Colin’s Heroes, “the tri-state area’s premier Dambuilders tribute band,” named after a song on the group’s 1994 album, “Encendedor,” before returning to the Dambuilders name and booking a few more gigs.
“We were just testing the waters a bit and taking our time, and trying to have fun with it,” Derby said.
It’s gone so well that Derby and March have been writing new songs together, though they haven’t made plans yet to release anything.
“It’s very easy for me and Kevin because we’ve been playing together for so long,” Derby said. “It sounds like the Dambuilders when we’re playing together, and it’s really fun to make music with him.”
THE DAMBUILDERS
With Sleepyhead and Hilken & Melissa Band. At the Burren, 247 Elm St., Somerville, Nov. 20-21, 7 p.m. Tickets $25 in advance, $30 at the door. 24hourmusic.com