band

Ajay Coletta – Drums & Percussion
Favorite SD Tunes: Babylon Sisters, Gaucho & Dr. Wu

Ajay teaches graphic, web and multimedia design as well as courses in digital media, project management and communication.  Check out Ajay’s online portfolio here: www.eastsidemedia.com
The website for Hey Nineteen, the logo (inspired by the original Steely Dan logo), branding (colors inspired by the Aja album) and many of the videos were produced & created by Ajay.

“I was fortunate to grow up in the 70’s in a household where my mother would listen to great music; I remember watching her make dinner and grooving to Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips and many of the great Motown artists…

As the 70s turned into the 80s, I started to find more influences including the progressive rock of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the amazing vibe from Bob Marley, the artistic interpretations of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel and of course the undeniable sounds of Steely Dan.   The late 80s introduced more favorites including The Police and Paul Simon; when I heard the high hat intricacies of Stewart Copeland (Walking on The Moon), and the polyrhythmic interpretations of Steve Gadd (Aja, Late in the Evening), I knew that drum set and percussion would be my musical voice.”

In 2013, Dale Dejoy (Hey Nineteen band leader) met Ajay at the Ocean Mist in Matunick, RI and joined Dale’s acoustic act “The Yewts”- performing as part of the Thursday night Summer dinner series. The sets includes many popular tunes from artists like The Eagles & James Taylor, but Dale could not resist including his favorite Steely Dan tunes into the setlist. The affinity for Steely Dan inspired the “two yewts” to start Hey Nineteen.

Ajay’s other bands include – Santa Mamba, Planet Groove, Fat Buddha, The Yewts, Harambe’ (West African), Regatta, Ghost In The Machine (A Police Tribute Band), What’s Up Bach, Wilson Blue & The Blue Roots Reggae Band, The Ignitors…

Dale DeJoy – Vocals & Guitars aka “Steely Dale”
Favorite Dan Song: Deacon Blues

Dale began his professional music career as a guitarist/vocalist at age 13 playing for his middle school dance with his band Pegasus, managed by Bruce Clark a well known Jazz Saxophonist. He won a number of awards as a guitarist and played in a number of bands throughout his High School career most notably with Noel Paul Stookey, (of Peter, Paul and Mary) and David Mallett, best known for his song, “The Garden Song”.

Dale attended Berklee College of Music where he studied Music Production and Engineering with Guitar as his major instrument and graduated Cum Laude in 1984. In his second year at Berklee he built, owned, and operated a recording studio, The Sound Loft, which became popular amongst many Boston standouts. Peter Wolf of J. Geils Band, Stu Kimball guitarist for Bob Dylan, Greg Hawkes, keyboardist for the Cars, Reeves Gabrels, guitarist for David Bowie are just a few. He recorded, played and produced his own music there and maintains a large library of original music. Dale has subsequently recorded 2 CDs of original music with multi-platinum award winning Engineer and Producer, Phil Greene.

Dale has always been inspired by the works of Steely Dan, placing their music and lyrics at the pinnacle of his musical aspirations. Thus, Hey Nineteen, a Tribute to Steely Dan, is the culmination of his music career. Dale also played in Pegasus, Emerald, Sigmund Larney Quintet, Breakwater Band, Chinese Cooks, Mission of Joy, Kuliana, That New Guy, 3D Joy, The Royal Scam, The Yewts.