Dope is an American Industrial/nu metal band founded in New York City by brothers Edsel (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Simon Dope (keyboards, samples) in 1997. The pair then recruited Sloane Jentry as lead guitarist, Preston Nash as drummer, and Tripp Eisen as bassist. The band currently consists of vocalist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Edsel, alongside guitarist and bassist Acey Slade (who first joined in 1998), lead guitarist and keyboardist Virus (who first joined in 2000), bassist and drummer Daniel Fox (who first joined in 2004), and drummer Chris Warner (who first joined in 2017).
History Sloane Jentry soon left the band in early 1999. In his absence, Tripp Eisen moved onto guitar, while Acey Slade was brought in on bass. In November 2000, Eisen was fired from the band, Nash also left at the same time. Producer/guitarist Virus joined on lead guitar, while Slade moved to rhythm guitar, Jentry rejoined on bass, and Adrian Ost joined on drums, although he was soon replaced by Racci Shay. After releasing Life in 2001, Slade left the band to join Murderdolls in mid-2002.
In late 2002, Simon Dope left the group to pursue a career as a video game producer. Shortly before a tour in early 2004, Jentry again left the band, Shay moved onto bass, and Adrian Ost briefly rejoined on drums. Brix Milner joined as permanent bassist in May and Shay moved back to drums. Drum tech Daniel Fox briefly took over drums in September 2005 when Shay left due to family issues. Ben Graves joined as touring drummer in October.
By 2006, Angel Bartolotta joined on drums. Milner departed by 2007, he was replaced by Derrick "Tripp" Tribbett.
A new line-up appeared in 2013, consisting of one time drummer Daniel Fox (who had gone on to play with Mushroomhead), new guitarist Nikk Dibs and new bassist Jerms Genske. In 2015, Slade and Shay returned, touring alongside Dibs and Dope. Virus returned for a classic line-up reunion in late 2015.
Fox and Dibs (this time on bass) returned to replace Shay and Slade in 2017. Fox was soon replaced by Chris Warner in October 2017, Slade replaced Dibs in late 2018. Fox returned in May 2019.
Since 2023, the band has had a fluid line-up with Virus and Acey Slade alternating lead guitar duties, due to their commitments to teaching and Misfits respectively. Daniel Fox alternates between drums and bass, and Chris Warner plays drums when needed.
Members
Current ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsEdsel Dope 1997–presentall releasesAcey Slade Virus all releases from Life (2001) onwardsDaniel Fox Blood Money Part Zer0 (2023)Chris Warner drums none to date
Former ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsSimon Dope 1997–2002Tripp Eisen 1997–2000Preston Nashdrums Sloane "Mosey" JentryAdrian Ostdrums noneRacci "Sketchy" Shay HartBrian "Brix" Milner2004–2007bass American Apathy (2005)Andrew "Angel" Bartolotta2006–2013drumsNo Regrets (2009)Derrick "Tripp" Tribbett 2007–2013Nikk DibsJeremy "Jerms" Genske 2013–2015Blood Money Part 1 (2016)
Touring ImageNameYears activeInstruments NotesBen Graves2005drumsKoichi Fukuda2025lead guitar
Timeline
Line-ups PeriodMembersReleases1997 – January 1999 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming Simon Dope – keyboards, samples, programming, percussion Sloane Jentry – lead guitar Tripp Eisen – bass Preston Nash – drums The Early Years - New York City 1997/1998 (2017) Live & Rare (2019) January 1999 – November 2000 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming Simon Dope – keyboards, samples, programming, percussion Tripp Eisen – lead guitar Preston Nash – drums Acey Slade – bass, backing vocals Felons and Revolutionaries (1999)November 2000 – early 2001 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, programming Simon Dope – keyboards, samples, programming, percussion Acey Slade – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals Sloane Jentry – bass Adrian Ost – drumsEarly 2001 – August 2002 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, programming Simon Dope – keyboards, samples, programming, percussion Acey Slade – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals Sloane Jentry – bass Racci Shay – drums Life (2001)August – November 2002 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming Simon Dope – keyboards, samples, programming, percussion Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals Sloane Jentry – bass Racci Shay – drums Felons for Life (2002)November 2002 – January 2004 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Sloane Jentry – bass Racci Shay – drums Group Therapy (2003)January – May 2004 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Racci Shay – bass, studio drums Adrian Ost – live drumsMay 2004 – September 2005 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Racci Shay – drums Brix Milner – bass American Apathy (2005)September – October 2005 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Brix Milner – bass Daniel Fox – drumsOctober 2005 – mid 2006 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Brix Milner – bass Ben Graves – drumsmid 2006 – early 2007 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Brix Milner – bass Angel Bartolotta – drumsFebruary 2007 – September 2013 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Angel Bartolotta – drums Derrick Tribbett – bass, backing vocals No Regrets (2009)September 2013 – May 2015 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Daniel Fox – drums Nikk Dibs – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals Jerms Genske – bass, backing vocalsMay 2015 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Nikk Dibs – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Acey Slade – bass, backing vocals Racci Shay – drums Blood Money Part 1 (2016) mid 2015 – early 2017 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Acey Slade – bass, backing vocals Racci Shay – drums Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Blood Money Part 1 (2016) Live from Moscow Russia (2016) Live & Rare (2019) February – October 2017 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Daniel Fox – drums Nikk Dibs – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Blood Money Part Zer0 (2023)October 2017 – mid 2018 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Nikk Dibs – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Chris Warner – drumsJuly 2018 – May 2019 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Chris Warner – drums Acey Slade – bass, backing vocalsMay 2019 – February 2023 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards Acey Slade – bass, backing vocals Daniel Fox – drums Blood Money Part Zer0 (2023)February – April 2023 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Acey Slade – lead guitar, backing vocals Daniel Fox – bass Chris Warner – drumsSeptember – November 2023 Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Daniel Fox – bass Chris Warner – drums Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboardsFebruary 2024 – present Edsel Dope – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, programming, keyboards Daniel Fox – bass (select shows), drums (select shows) Chris Warner – drums (select shows) Virus – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (select shows) Acey Slade – lead guitar, bass, backing vocals (select shows)
References