* En anglais uniquement
After witnessing the power of her brother's band,
Engine Down, vocalist
Maura Davis decided she too wanted to try her hand at rock & roll. Joining her for
Denali in spring 2000 were brother
Keeley Davis (synth/bass), ex-
Lazycain member
Cam DiNunzio (guitar), and Jonathan Fuller (drums). Within months,
Denali made its stage debut in Baltimore after an illness within
Engine Down's ranks forced
Denali to take the band's place. In January 2001,
Denali recorded a five-song demo and ended up selling 700 copies. Such momentum caught Jade Tree's attention, and they signed the band before the year's end.
Denali's trip-hop-influenced sound was ready for a studio and as luck would have it,
Sparklehorse's
Mark Linkous produced
Denali's self-titled debut album. The dark, lush electronic layers of
Denali appeared in spring 2002, while a tour with
Clinic followed shortly thereafter. The band's sophisticated second album,
Instinct, appeared in August 2003, but it proved to be their last. Just one month after
Instinct's release,
Keeley Davis and Jonathan Fuller announced their departure from the band, both opting to focus more of their energy back to
Engine Down.
Denali carried on, replacing
Davis with
Pinebender bassist/keyboardist
Stephen Howard and Fuller with
Euphone drummer
Ryan Rapsys, but lasted only until April of 2004 when the band issued its public statement declaring their breakup. ~ MacKenzie Wilson