Dave Derby is the leader and main songwriter of the New York City-based collective of artists known as Gramercy Arms, which has included collaborations with both Wasser and March.

The founding members—Dave Derby, Tryan George and Eric Masunaga, all from Hawaii—had played in a number of bands (such as the Exactones) before moving to Boston in 1990.

While the Dambuilders are generally considered an "indie" band, they received some commercial airplay with the single "Shrine" from their 1994 East West Records release Encendedor.

The song tells of a cross-cultural romantic courtship between the singer and a girl who "doesn't speak much English" but is familiar with the American music scene.

In the song, the singer is willing to conform to traditional religious practices outside his own cultural sphere ("...if I stay with her I'll lose track of all time, so I light a candle to the shrine..."), but seemingly manages to stay true to his roots by redefining the acts as an aspect of his own non-religious, culturally inclusive belief system ("...and call it Rock n' Roll").

The band has also featured Cole, Sean Eden (Luna), Rainy Orteca (Dead Air, Joan as Police Woman, Lloyd Cole), Hilken Mancini (The Count Me Outs, Fuzzy, Colburn-Mancini) and Sandy Smallens (Too Much Joy), as well as guest performances by Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices), Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Renee LoBue (Elk City) and Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine).