Review Fix Exclusive: Todd the Wet Sprocket’s Dean Dinning Talks Fear’s 25th Anniversary, Tour and More

June 17, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Todd the Wet Sprocket’s Dean Dinning who discusses the band’s upcoming tour and the 25th anniversary of their iconic album, “Fear.”

For more on the tour, click here.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be celebrating Fear’s 25th anniversary?

Dean Dinning: I’m very grateful that so many people care about the “fear” album. We tried really hard to make it great, and I think for the most part it still holds up. I can vividly remember Randy recording the drum take for “Hold Her Down” when he was pissed at the 3 of us and our producer, Gavin, (probably for asking him to play it again (and again). He really plays great when he’s angry. I think about who we were then- and I think about who we are now. It’s fun.

Review Fix: How have you changed as a person since then?

Dinning: Then: Young and dumb. Now: Older and wiser. Thankful to have gotten to take part in something that is enjoyed by so many people all around the world. On a side note, I am also a much better bass player and singer than I was back then.

Review Fix: “Walk on the Ocean” has been covered by so many different artists over the years, how does it feel to have a song like that in your catalog?

Dinning: My favorite version has to be by the Hullabaloos, an acapella group from Richmond, VA. I wish they had put it out;  I actually met one of them once and he gave me the recording on a burned CD. It was a great arrangement. From the moment Todd started playing the chords that first day, the song was effortless to create- it just came to life before our eyes. Glen wrote one of his best lyrics in 5 minutes. That song really wanted to get written that day.

Review Fix: What’s going to be special about this upcoming tour?

Dinning:Since it’s the 25th Anniversary of the “fear” album, we’re playing the album straight through in several cities. We’ve only done that once before, in San Francisco, but it was very well received. The audience gets to hear several songs they haven’t heard in a very long time. We are also joined in several cities by our friends Rusted Root, who we toured with back in 1994. We’re still hanging out after all these years- I love it.

Review Fix: What’s next for the band?

Dinning:We are on tour into September, and we have a few dates in the fall. We just recorded a cover of a Roger Miller tune for a tribute album that is coming out in the fall- you know “King of the Road” right?. Who doesn’t love Roger Miller? I think it’s one of my favorite recordings we’ve ever done. Maybe we’ll play it on the tour.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13861 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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