Local Band Music Box Dynamo Playing Thursday Night in Manayunk

Last year at the North Star Bar, a band called Music Box Dynamo (MB Dynamo for short) decided to put on quite a show. Lead singer/guitarist Drew Bacon from Mt. Airy, bassist Nick Natalicchio from Chestnut Hill, lead guitarist Henry Jaffe from Rittenhouse Square and drummer John P. Hogan Jr. from Fairmount conspired together to surprise Bacon’s girlfriend with an on stage proposal. In the midst of their alternative rock and blues song, “Dirty Water,” they stopped cold and Bacon proposed.

“I told her it would come one day when she least expects it,” he said. “She was a ball of emotions and answered, ‘Absolutely!’”

The band had practiced stopping for the big moment, but for a split second, the band thought Bacon had changed his mind.

“He told us beforehand he was going to do it. He waited an extra second longer than we planned on to stop playing and the bandmates got scared for a minute, but then he did it. I threw in ‘Here Comes the Bride’ in the correct key. My girlfriend was crying, to," Jaffe said.

Celebrating the one-year anniversary of their first show Wednesday, the band began as two friends jamming after meeting at a friend’s party. In 2008, Bacon and Jaffe began playing for fun. Natalicchio came into the scene in 2009 through a friend of a friend who casually mentioned he played bass.

“We found John (Hogan Jr.) through the internet,” said Bacon.

“Through Craigslist, we were very lucky,” continues Jaffe. “We met another drummer before him and thought 'Why see the second guy?' But within five minutes, we knew!”

Each musician has an array of influences including The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam and Radiohead. Their music reflects the array of interests with some soft melodies that lead into harder jams reminiscent of Pearl Jam. Some of the melodic singing of The Beatles is also strewn into some songs.

The band’s name has been a progression from Snowguin (snow and penguin combined).

“It wasn’t working. No one liked it,” said Jaffe.

So instead they went with the catchy Music Box Dynamo.

“I read it in a publication from when the ‘96 Women’s Olympics won the gold metal. In an article, they had music playing in the background and a journalist referred to them as music box dynamos and I thought that would be a great band name,” he said.

The crew enjoys their band as a part-time endeavor and are regrouping after a summer of overlapping vacations for the past two months for their third show at The Grape Room in Manayunk on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 9:30 p.m. MB Dynamo will be giving out free demos as well.

Check out the band’s website, built by Bacon, for more information, music and the YouTube video of the onstage marriage proposal.