Part one.
Lexville and Ronnie M. met in 2003 in college, and they started to play for their first time together in a band called M.A.S, which was the first band Lexville joined after he arrived from Medellin (Colombia) in 2002. M.A.S. split in 2005 because Ronnie and Lexville found that the band couldn't fill their expectations about art and music, so they decided to start writing new songs; songs that suddenly become a part of their first album called "The Young Expectations" which is still in the recording process. They reborn by playing on Ronnie M's room and recording the early B-Sides in his computer; they also created their own little indie label called ReD GRoUND MuSIC. After the pleasant results of the recording sessions (at red ground's music studio) and the conquering of a brand new sound, there was still a big void in their souls ... they wanted a full and complete band. So they got the name JOHN MERRICK and started to look for their dream band, auditioning many people for the bass and drums job. The drummer was nearer than they ever expected. Mario V. is Lexville's brother and also one of the best drummers they've ever met. His incalculable strength and fluid drumming made the guys fall in love with acoustic drums again. They found a bass player named Nicholas Isaksson and the new four boys started to rehearse. As they realized that JOHN MERRICK wasn't a unique name, they changed it to DONNA JOE RADIO, and then they soon kicked Nicholas out. The right bass player has been a nightmare to them, so they decided to call an old friend: Camilo Mahecha used to be M.A.S's bass player, and now he has come back with a new vision too. DONNA JOE RADIO's been working on "The Young Expectations" and their latest written album "Strange Kind of Yellow", as they give people more and more unexpected gigs.
Part two.
This vision didn't last long. The mentioned line-up couldn't resolve their personal issues after Wang (Lexville's old friend) joined the band to play keyboards and sing baking vocals as well; so with nothing but a single show on their backs, they decided and turned to a new future for the band once again.. and there they were 2 ... again (band creators Lexville and Ronnie).
As a duet, the guys played a couple of times for the people performing one or two songs accompanied by this sample tracks, till they found Diego Garcés, a drummer from their college, luckily available and anxious to play and carry a new blood.
M.A.S. former drummer Oscar Gómez started to play the bass on Christmas 2006, and as soon as he accepted to join the band, the new line-up got together on March 2007 and started the new run.
The Band played several gigs on 2007 all along the capital giving their new sound to both old and new fans; this gigs were mostly for an underground circle, even though they got to play at the "Festival de bandas SHOCK" second round, and they were also invited to play at "Festival Calibre 2007"which took place at Cali (Colombia) on December 1st. Donna Joe's appearance in "Calibre" was the first show out of its hometown (Bogotá), which is why it's one of the band's best memories.
2007 was the year were they recorded for the first time together at a big studio. Another "Young Expectations" single called "Crystalline", was recorded on September 3rd. and released in November at a local radio station (Radionica) where they did their first radio interview a few days from the release of the song (November 30).
On January 2008 a local T.V. show released a 4 minute clip which contains an interview and a special presentation of the song "Young Expectations", beautifully directed by Javier Sierra (a.k.a. TELEVIDENTE), making of this, Donna Joe Radio's first television appearance.
The band has found itself working on new songs, new show to come, and planning to record a live session CD to be released anytime soon.
