About Amphion | Damon Deemer

Formation

Out of the drug induced Prog of the 1970`s and the heady intellectual Prog of the 1980`s emerged the band AMPHION.

Deemer was born in New Kensington, PA . Influenced heavily by the likes of Jimmy Page, Alex Lifeson, Rik Emmit, David Gilmour, Glenn Tipton, Edward Van Halen, Randy Rhodes and Tony Iommi.

Then he met Matthew Stasko. A Philadelphia native and a devoted Neil Peart and John Bonham disciple. They realized that they had a common interest in progressive rock and started to jam seven days a week. The idea of forming a three piece band called Amphion started swimming through Deemers head. After meeting Matt, things were lookin good..

Then they met Greg Smart. Born in New York City, raised in Lancaster, Pa. A Chris Squire and Geddy Lee disciple. Greg fit the band perfectly. And the Progressive Rock band AMPHION was formed.

Because of Staskos dedication and motivation,Deemer started to try and write, produce and record Prog songs. After 2 years of rehearsals, they had begun collaborating on Amphions 1st release, Incredible Journey.

After Greg Smart joined the band, he added his particular expertise and unique bass playing to Incredible Journey and they began immediately recording the next release, The Walls of Thebes. Greg added the final dimension of the band with back up vocals and intense bass playing.

The Wrath of Dirce is the bands most popular and final project. Amphions` projects can best be described as a mix of Pop-Prog Music that you hear on the radio, and Improvy-Instrumental Prog that you never, or rarely, heard on the radio. Like Rush when they first started out. They always had a radio tune or two and then some crazy long winded thing that you knew you`d never hear on the radio. Amphion never received National Acclaim in the USA, but thanks to technology, the band was able to reach out to the world through the internet. To date there are people in many different countries still listening to Amphion. Mostly in Canada, The Netherlands and England. Progressive Rock is still popular all over the world.

Amphion disbanded after The Wrath Of Dirce and Deemer continued on solo and released three more Amphion projects.

If you liked Prog Rock of the 70`s and 80`s, then don’t cheat yourself out of hearing this uniquely different rock band. Greg, Matthew and Damon would like to thank EVERYONE & ANYONE who ever saw, bought, or supported AMPHION. You know who you are. THANKS!