Complex sentence: In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were not signed to a label.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman performed in a band under the moniker "The Curious Digit". They had just recorded an album, but were not signed to a label.