Datum Point Takes the Stage in Cincinnati-by Jeff Bell 2/8/2011

by Jeff Bell

    Datum Point, second place winner of Cincinnati’s Battle of the Bands and formerly of the Mid-Ohio Valley area, blasted the walls of the Cincinnati Underground Club during a concert on Saturday, Jan. 22. Playing in front of three record company executives, Dusty Murphy, stage name Rev. Dred and lead singer, is fighting for a possible record deal. “This could finally give us enough money for the Datum Diesel, the tour bus we have been saving for,” Murphy said, laughing.

    Nerves were on edge as one of the record executives took the microphone at the end of the concert and said, “Wow, I have never heard an amateur band sound that great! You were all able to stay together with that amazingly fast beat, the double bass drum sounded amazingly professional, and the lightning guitar licks almost melted my face! Then I remember this is a Christian band and thought, WOW, WOW, and WOW!” The band had their first big break at a concert last year.

    Datum Point had the opportunity to open for Brian “Head” Welch, formerly of Korn, at a concert in Ashland, Ky. in August 2010. “I used to jam to the monster guitar works of this guy in my wild years and now I’m playing in his concert! It is awesome,” Murphy said. This was a great first step to the realization of an impossible dream.

    Less than a decade ago, a felony conviction of arson had left Murphy sitting in a prison cell, charged as an adult at the age of 17. He spent his days contemplating his life, options and crime: the burning of a church. “I was a Satanist and had been drinking and using LSD all night during a concert. I believed that I heard Satan tell me to torch the church, so I did,” Murphy said. While in prison, Murphy studied various Psychology and Christian books. He then decided he needed a change and became a Christian.

    The dream of leading his own heavy metal band continued, but now he wanted this band to be Christian. He wanted somehow to show people that being Christian did not mean a life of stuffy judgmental boredom. “A stereotypical Christian would have never reached out to or been listened to by a guy like me. The only way to reach head-bangers is to be a head-banger.                                  

    "It is very hard for some Christians to walk into a heavy metal concert or a bar, but think about it, it’s at least three times as hard for a head-banger to walk into a church; torn up jeans, dreds, and tattoos make quite the spectacle,” Murphy said. “It is equally hard for a Christian head-banger to find music to which to get their worship on,” Murphy said, laughing.

    Datum Point is a unique name for a band and stems directly from Murphy’s plans for the direction of the band. “I am a machinist by trade. A datum point is a mark on all blueprints that signifies the beginning of all measurements or the center of everything. This is an awesome metaphor and testimony for my life now and what is going to be the center of my all,” Murphy said.

    Datum Point is on Facebook, MySpace (www.myspace.com/datumpoint) and also has a website, www.datumpointmusic.com. The first self-sponsored album, Wake the Dead, is available for purchase on any of these sites.