Artist description 1-4-3 is the brainchild of Clay Dooley, a longtime veteran of the San Antonio music scene. Now calling Houston home, he has put together a project that makes effortlessly accessible pop-n-roll, a music that calls as its influences much of the cutting edge music of the 80’s and 90’s, combining them with enough pop hooks to win over a wide variety of audiences in today’s fragmented music world. “My Favorite Fire” is 1-4-3’s outstanding debut album, on which he sums up more than a decade of making music. Using synthesizers and guitars as his main instruments, he blends sly takes on personal politics, pictures of people, subtle psychology, and strange spirituality into an irresistibly modern music that transcends the genre-crazed alternative musics of the 80’s and 90’s to create an utterly original sound. Clay counts as influences many of the bands he played with in the last decade, who were in turn influenced by the international art-wave scene in the 80’s. Such bands as Year of Wonders, Wailing Wall, Red Square, and Platform of Youth were in turn influenced by contemporary favorites such as Joy Division and New Order, Hawkwind and U2, the Chameleons and Echo and the Bunnymen, on back to seminal bands such as Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground and King Crimson. Clay took these influences and put them to a synthesizer-oriented sound that sounds contemporary while avoiding faddishness. Joining him in the studio were local San Antonio legends Dan Tellez, whose eerie psychedelic guitar propelled Year of Wonders, and Dan Garcia-Lara, whose has gone from his earlier artistic success with the Peptodicts into a creative solo career. Their guitars punctuate the album, overlaying the synthesizers and adding freshness to an already fresh sound. Tellez’s style is eerie ear candy, adding surreal mystery to such songs as “Jheribel” and “Call Me, I Will Go”, while Garcia’s style is more earthy and funk-influenced, gracing such songs as “1-4-3 No. 1” and “Do the Right Thing”. With Clay providing keyboards, drums and drum programming, bass, and rhythm guitar, 1-4-3’s sound is very full, yet leaving plenty of room for the listener. Clay foresees a bright future for 1-4-3, as the fledgling solo-project-turned-group takes to live performances, touring, and future albums.

Music Style Rock, Synth Rock, Synth Pop

Musical Influences Joy Division and New Order, Hawkwind and U2, the Chameleons and Echo and the Bunnymen, on back to seminal bands such as Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground and King Crimson

Similar Artists A whole bunch of synth-dance and folk-rock bands that are popular right now (I know, this is a weird combination, but it fits)

Artist History Clay Dooley started out in his musical life as a drummer. After graduating high school in 1982, he played heavy metal for a while before getting his musical life changed when he started playing with San Antonio’s pioneering goth-punk band Platform of Youth in 1983. That gig lasted only a 6 months; however, it changed his musical perspective completely. He subsequently joined Wailing Wall, a band that changed its name to Year of Wonders later on. This band lasted seven years, from 1983 to 1990, playing an eerie psychedelic rock that paid homage to leader Mark Champion’s influences and lead guitarist Dan Tellez’s not-of-this-world guitar noisemaking, and ultimately had a lasting influence on Clay, who began trying to write songs professionally in 1986. While maintaining Year of Wonders’ edginess, he wanted also to try performing a more pop-oriented music. By 1987, he enlisted the help of local folk-rock guitarist Todd Hendrix and formed the Mojo Filters, the name taken from the Beatles song “Come Together”, while continuing to play in Year of Wonders. Clay took on playing the bass and singing, and then added keyboards. Early on, the Mojo Filters played definitive 80’s guitar pop; however later on, the addition of synthesizers technologized the group’s sound, taking on urgency when the group’s drummer quit in 1988. Using his drumming experience to program a drum machine, Clay made the group’s sound more contemporary, even while keeping the Mojo Filters’ roots in guitar pop. All this changed in 1990, when Clay was forced to leave San Antonio. He kept his music under development while his life underwent upheaval, moving first to Chicago, then to Houston. He finally got his college degree. He got married, then divorced. During all this, his musical tastes grew and matured. He began making tapes in his home studio, putting as much effort into his demos as he would later in the professional studio. After being out of the scene for several years, Clay finally broke back in by conceiving of 1-4-3, a group that would sum up all the learning experiences he had with pop and rock. In 1997, he recorded “My Favorite Fire”, releasing it in 1998. With this project, Clay hopes to recapture the promise of alternative pop made during all those years in the San Antonio scene, keeping its roots in a new decade.

Group Members Clay Dooley - Vocals, keyboards, drums, bass, rhythm guitarDan Tellez - Lead guitarDan Garcia-Lara - Lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Instruments Synthesizers, guitars, drums and drum machines, bass, vocals

Albums My Favorite Fire

Press Reviews (none)

Additional Info New album coming out this summer!!

Location Houston, Texas - USA

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