The Duotones

The Duotones

Inception

The Duotones have theoretically, been in the making for some 6 years now. Singer Dean and Guitarist Mario met at Bar Zambra in Turre, where Mario worked. Dean had not sang before he came to Spain but was spotted singing Karaoke in a local bar and asked if he’d ever been in band or performed with a live band. Albeit on 1 occasion in the UK where he was invited on a stage once after another karaoke session, he hadn’t had this experience so it was with some reluctance that he agreed to rehearse and join in with the Jam Sessions often organised by Mario in the bar. This was the start to a musical relationship that still continues to this day, not only with the Duotones but other projects too having previously played together as a duo without thinking about it seriously on several occasions. It wasn’t until the Spring of 2017 when The Duotones finally formed and worked on a set list and set about promoting themselves for gigs.

A Solution

With both Mario and Dean already involved in other projects, it was very evident that the ongoing saga with the restrictions on volumes, times and venues being allowed to play ‘Live’ music, was making it increasingly difficult for venues and bands to play without being in breach of some bylaw. It then became clear to them that there was a gap in the music scene for an acoustic duo who could perform within all of these stipulations.

Being an acoustic duo, set up times were quicker, equipment was smaller so we could easily play inside venues when they weren’t allowed music outside and it was this factor that lead them to explore a different mix of songs too.

“If we were to be playing restaurants or inside cosy bars during the winter months, we didn’t want to play loud party music or typical covers often employed in the area by other acts so we worked on a set of relaxed, soulful and often very stylised versions of popular songs in an attempt to not only intrigue our audience but also really explore the capabilities of ourselves” writes Dean, who then continues with:- “We also like to keep our set as fresh as possible by adding new songs as regular as possible, thus creating a varied set list that is capable of changing at each venue or when returning to a venue, depending on the crowds, time of day or simply to keep it interesting”

Set list

If or when you get to see The Duotones perform, you will hear tracks by a broad spectrum of artists and genres from Jazz to Rock and something in-between. Below is an extensive list of artists covered:

Chicago – The Connells – John Legend – Peter Frampton – Jim Croce – The Who – KT Tunstall – George Ezra – Rag-n-Bone Man – Damien Rice – Snow Patrol – Radiohead – Steppenwolf – The Lovin Spoonful – The Mamas and the Papas – The Cure – Incubus – Green Day – Elbow – Nirvana – The Goo Goo Dolls – Johnny Cash – Steve Miller Band – Tears for Fears – Duran Duran – Elvis Presley – Chuck Berry – The Beatles – Crash Test Dummies – The Rolling Stones – Stone Temple Pilots – Dave Edmunds – The Kinks – The Animals – The Eagles – Bee Gees – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Cat Stevens – Pink Floyd – Jefferson Airplane + more…

Conclusion

You will see (and hear) there is a clear passion when The Duotones perform their songs and hopefully you will appreciate their much more laid back approach to live music. If you want to have a dance and sing along to a ‘Neil Diamond’ number then they are probably not for you but having seen many full venues, we here at Mojacarbands.net can see that there is an audience for their style.

Facebook            YouTube                Instagram             E-mail