Dayroom was one of the most popular and fondly remembered bands of the ‘90s music scene in Athens. The band’s unique take on multilayered, guitar-driven pop served them well for the better part of the decade.
Throughout that decade, singer and guitarist Michael Winger, keyboardist James Riddle, bassist Ryan Kelly and drummer Brad Zimmerman developed a devoted following and issued a small but impressive canon of recorded material.
After going their separate ways in 2000, the band members have occasionally regrouped for a few one-off shows, most recently at Decatur’s intimate Vista Room. “But that was 2019, before the pandemic, which seems like forever ago at this point,” Winger said.
This week, they’ve been hard at work in the showroom at the otherwise shuttered Venkman’s in downtown Atlanta. They’ve been rehearsing the best of their classic material for two shows in Atlanta at Smith’s Olde Bar and a homecoming performance on Sunday afternoon on the main stage at AthFest in Athens.
“It’s nice being back in Atlanta,” Winger said. “I haven’t been here in, God, it’s been 20 plus years. ... It’s totally different around here. But maybe we are, too. So it all kind of fits together.”
Winger said the current reunion feels fresh because they’ve been apart for so long. “I was living out in California for about 18 years, and both me and Riddle were out there at the same time but we weren’t Dayroom,” he said.
Besides this weekend’s re-release of Dayroom’s 1996 album “Contagious” on vinyl, the band members are planning a podcast to detail their history.
“The story of the band is just filled with so much ridiculousness,” Winger said, laughing. “Well ridiculousness and tragedy, but it’s a good story. So we’re planning to capture it — at least for our kids if nothing else. We’ve got one in the can about our first tour, and we got another one that was basically about the beginning of the end of the band. ... It’s fun just to relive all of those things and and not feel that terrible pit-in-the-stomach feeling when it actually happened.”
The future aside, the four musicians have appreciated the rare musical communion this week.
“It really is like a family reunion, where you actually want to see the other people,” Winger said.
Dayroom’s intense practice schedule has included a bit of reflection too.
“I think for each of us, we have spots where we’re totally solid and then there are spots where it’s like, ‘Oh man, I wrote that part of the song and I totally don’t remember how to play it,” he said. “But we’re pretty quick about getting back on it. It’s funny hearing your old songs and working on them and being like, ‘Why is this song so long?’ ‘Why did you do this or that?’ and ‘Why did you put so many stupid chords in this song?’”
They also had a realization this week about their approach to music.
“I think we were sort of DIY before DIY was really a thing,” Winger said. “We had Kickstarter-type plans way before the internet. Friends and family invested in us and donated to the cause. They helped us tour and make great records without the help of a label. It was a tight-knit family feeling, all around.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Dayroom
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 23 and 24. $30-$35. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-875-1522, smithsoldebar.freshtix.com.
4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 25. Free. AthFest 2023 main stage, at Pulaski and Washington streets, Athens. 706-548-1973, athfest.com.
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