Dangerously In Love with The Danger Bees

 Contributing writer for Rolling Stone Magazine, Karen Bliss, shared this article on an up and coming Canadian band, The Danger Bees.

By Stacey Walker

The guys of the pop rock band The Danger Bees are self-proclaimed dorks, nerds and awkward guys. Although, after talking with front man David Macmicheal, the words that come to my mind are intelligent, adorable and, well, totally crush-worthy. The story behind their logo (a drawing of a cat created by an 11-year-old boy) is enough to make this cat, nerd and music fanatic forgive the band for naming themselves after a terrifying insect.

            “We are all super into cats,” Macmicheal tells me, “about 3 or 4 years ago, everyone in the band was in a great mood. Back in the day, it was really, really exciting to be on the road. We were driving around Fredericton looking to kill time, and then we saw a big banner that said today, cat show. It was two dollars to get in, which was also awesome.”

            As if heartfelt, angst filled lyrics combined with up beat pop melodies aren’t enough to make a girl swoon, these guys decided to spend an afternoon attending a cat show. Ladies, I give you this opportunity to stop reading now, because I guarantee once you finish this article (and hear their music), you will be hopeless and dangerously in love with The Danger Bees.

            Macmicheal tells me they spent a few hours checking out the cats before he noticed their bass player staring intently at a wall of drawings done by young children.

            “He pointed this one picture out in particular and instantly I got it. You know it was funny and weird. It had sharp claws and a pig nose. It was just a really anguished-looking beast.  We all ended up standing around and laughing. We joked about what the cat might be saying, so I snapped a picture of it with my phone,” Macmicheal explains.

            Later that year, as the band attempted to brand themselves, they held a logo competition amongst fans and hired a company to design for them. But they just simply couldn’t get their minds off the comically-anguished cat drawing.

            “It’s cool, its weird, it’s funny. It’s sort of something that you look at and think, why that?” Macmicheal describes. The drawing actually suits the album quite well. Macmicheal wrote a number of songs after a tough breakup, and although the lyrics can be strong, there is still a light-hearted feel to the music. The character on the front of their album  (Wyatt the Cat) appears to be in distress; yet, he still manages to bring a smile to those who lay eyes on him.

            After the band decided to use Wyatt the Cat as their album art, they began the difficult process of tracking down the artist. Their wild goose hunt lead them to an 11-year-old boy named Wyatt Pike. The family gave the band permission to use the art on their album. The guys of the Danger Bees are now in frequent touch with the Pike Family and have even made several trips east to perform for Wyatt the Boy at his school.

            Essentially, The Danger Bees are comprised of fun loving, sensitive, vulnerable, cat loving, nerdy musicians who have a way with children. Ladies, there is a god.