-
ABOUT DENNIS > >

A BIOGRAPHY

Dennis Dragon was born one of five children to Hollywood symphony conductor / orchestrator, Carmen Dragon and his wife, soprano singer Eloise. At the age of five, he was "bangin’ on the drums" with brothers Doug and Daryl at the keys. Shortly after that, piano lessons were introduced to help round out Dennis’ musical abilities.

From an early age, Dennis played in various bands. One of the first bands Dennis played in, "The Malibu Music Men plus One," featured a very young Natalie Cole as lead vocalist . His first "paying gig" was at age twelve, where he and his two brothers performed at a wedding reception. For the next thirty years, Dennis played professionally as drummer and percussionist from bars to studios to large-scale concerts. Some of the more notable bands he has played with on the road and in the studio have been The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Captain & Tennille (his brother Daryl is "The Captain"), Neil Young, Rick Springfield, and many others.

At a recording session at Capitol Records with his brothers in the early sixties, Dennis became interested in the technical process of recording and pursued the art of audio engineering. He began recording at home, collecting microphones and audio gear. Before long, he was recording song demos and soundtracks for action sports films.

He and his brother Daryl produced over thirty soundtracks in his Malibu bedroom!

PRO AUDIO RECORDING:
In the mid-seventies, he got a call from his brother Daryl to engineer the first Captain & Tennille record at A&M Records. The result was a long string of hits and a Grammy award for "Love Will Keep Us Together," Record of the Year, 1975. This opened the door to professional audio engineering/producing gigs for many years to follow, and Dennis found himself working with the likes of Lou Adler, Carole King, Johnny Rivers, Cheech and Chong and many more. He opened up his own recording studio in Malibu and was "booked solid."

PRO VIDEO PRODUCTION:
Around this time Dennis also tackled video. He began shooting and editing industrial videos, music videos and commercials. In 1976, he formed the zany rock band "The Surf Punks" and utilized all his talents simultaneously. He produced, engineered, drummed, sang, wrote tunes and produced videos for the band. The group was signed to Epic Records in 1980 and had a "wild" ten year run!

Throughout the eighties to the present, he has been in and out of audio and video studios, producing records, videos and soundtracks. In 1994 he co-created, produced and directed the music television show "Locals Only". Featuring up and coming live talent from the West Coast, the show has been broadcasting in Santa Barbara, the Bay Area and Seattle on Fox and UPN.

Dennis is now putting his efforts into spearheading The Dragon Family Foundation for the Recording Arts and Sciences; a totally interactive recording studio complex in southern Oregon, dedicated to preserving and perpetuating the live performing musician. Check his progress out @ dragonfamilyfoundation.org.