Dena Tauriello
Encyclopedia
Early life
Dena hails from New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. After seeing Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
play the drums during a live performance, she was able to meet with her. This meeting inspired her to begin playing drums. She took drum lessons as a child, and continued taking private lessons for 8 years.
Dena replaced Kristen Henderson
Kristen Henderson
Kristen Henderson is a founding member, songwriter & bassist for the band Antigone Rising. She and her sister Cathy formed the band in late 1993.-Personal life:...
(guitar/bass), who originally played drums in the band before taking up guitar. Dena was the only drummer to audition for the band in 1998, having less than 24 hours to prepare. She joined the band a short time after her audition.
Before Antigone Rising
Antigone Rising
Antigone Rising is an all-female New York City based rock band. Their music is influenced by classic rock from the 1970s such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, mixed with pop overtones and at times folk and country elements...
, Dena played drums in the all female cover band "Good Girl's Don't". GGD was a major attraction on the East Coast's cover band circuit drawing major crowds wherever they performed. The also opened for many signed artists like Korn and Fuel.
Dena was also one of the original members of New Jersey's pop/punk/rock band "From The Desk of Sally". While in FDOS, Dena recorded the bands first demo and recorded all drum tracks for the bands first official release " Everything and Nothing". Dena departed before its release in 1999.
She eventually taught herself how to play guitar, though she does not play guitar on any of the band's recordings.
She lists The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
as some of her musical influences.
Antigone Rising
The band released four independent albums before they signed with a major label. Lava RecordsLava Records
Lava Records is an American based record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated through Universal Republic Records.-Company history:...
offered them a record deal in 2003, after Jasom Flom, the founder of Lava, saw one of their shows. Their major label debut From the Ground Up was released exclusively through Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
coffeeshops, in conjunction with Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
' Hear Music
Hear Music
Hear Music, also known as StarCon is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept and record label. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.-Concept:...
series.
The band was recently released from its contract with Atlantic Records. They are now signed to Starbucks record label.They are currently recording their upcoming album tentatively scheduled for release in the summer of 2007.