DC3 (band)

DC3 (also known as D.C. 3) was an American rock and roll band formed by singer, songwriter and guitarist Dez Cadena in 1983 and active until 1988.

Cadena had been a member of California-based punk rock group Black Flag from about 1980 to 1983, first as singer, then as rhythm guitarist.

1982 was the beginning of a record distribution problem that severely curtailed Black Flag's activities. During this hiatus, Cadena formed DC3 with keyboardist Paul Roessler (formerly of LA's infamous Screamers), and drummer Jeff Dahl. Paul's younger sister, Kira, also practiced with the band early on before joining Black Flag.[1]

Their debut album, This Is The Dream, was released in 1985 on SST Records and featured a major Black Sabbath influence with very little of the hardcore or punk stylings of Black Flag. The album is particularly notable for the songs "I Believe It" and "Ain't No Time Here Now", which were originally written and played live by Black Flag and are also present on that band's The Complete 1982 Demos Plus More as "Yes I Know" (identical lyrics to the DC3 version) and "What Can You Believe" (different lyrics than the DC3 version, but nearly identical music).

Later albums found DC3 reducing the Black Sabbath influence, but there was still a prominent 1970s hard rock sound, with the band doing a cover song of the Jack Bruce/Mountain song "Theme for an Imaginary Western" for an SST compilation.

Despite the name "DC3", the band was only a trio for their first LP. Bassist Ceasar Viscarra and drummer Louie Dufau (both formerly of The Stains) joined Cadena and Roessler after the release of the first album and the band remained a quartet for the until their break-up.

DC3 split in 1988. Vida (1989), a collection of live recordings, was DC3's last album.