Kyle Garret
Los Angeles, CA
kylegarr
Noise
You know, I wonder if the 90's produced more would-be musicians than other decade. At no previous point in time was the DIY system so embraced, nor was technology so readily available. I have to believe that the decade that gave us "alternative" music also produced more failed musicians than any other period in history.
I count myself among that number.
In my defense, I didn't really put forth the effort that was required to make a proper go of being a musician. I had no idea how any of that worked. I just expected to be discovered somehow -- not an easy thing to do in Ohio (or briefly Atlanta).
I joined my first band in 1993. We were called oral groove. It was high school and I was the lead singer.
My second band was called Middle Kittanning and I played guitar and did some yelling. That was undergrad.
My third band was called The Local Arm and again I played guitar and did some yelling and even some singing. That was grad school.
I played in a loosely dubbed band called BearTron when I lived in Atlanta, not long after I finished my Master's and before I went West.
These recordings range in quality from bad to average. The songs range in quality from average to sweet. The memories range in quality from awesome to awesome.
TangledThe mighty oral groove is hard to explain. It was a blast, but it was more than that. Musically, there's a very clear evolution that happened over our brief existence, one that's actually kind of amazing, all things considered. In the end, though, if we had a defining song, I think it was this one.
- Hard Pink Frosting
Middle Kitanning was my band. After oral groove, I decided to learn how to play guitar. Then I decided I wanted to be in a band and I went out and found people to play with me. As much as I loved oral groove, Middle Kittanning was the band where I really learned the joy of making music, because I was actually taking part in it, unlike my pseudo-contributions as a singer. Our best song is too long to post, but Hard Pink Frosting is pretty good in its own right.
- Alvin Lucier
The Local Arm was an odd creature. It was made up of the remnants of three other bands from the same town, not to mention four very distinct personalities. It was equally the hardest and easiest band I've ever been in, equally prone to horrible experiences and flashes of brilliance I never would have thought possible. There are a few songs I could pick that represent TLA well, but I'm going with Alvin Lucier, a song I think probably served as a hint of what would have been to come had we stuck together.
- Nothing's Ever Changing
Take two guys who are used to writing and playing by raw emotion and combine them with a pretty polished, musically trained singer/songwriter and the result is...scattered. Both musical perspectives are valid, and, the singer/songwriter is incredibly talented, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it all meshed very well. In fact, each song clearly landed in one camp or the other -- except for this one. While there's a song I like better on our first demo, Nothing's Ever Changing is a better example of BearTron at its most collaborative.
Discography
Oral Groove released two tapes (yes, tapes) and managed to record some of their shows. I put it all together on to a single CD which I call "The Complete Works." It's 17 tracks of bliss.
Middle Kittanning put out a 5 song tape called "Maps" as well as a self-titled, 5 song CD. I also have a bunch of live recordings and the demos I recorded for the rest of the band in my dorm room.
The Local Arm released two tapes, I think, but it all ended up on an 11 song CD called "If Water Were Mercury." I also have a bunch of live recordings and basement demos.
BearTron managed, in the most impractical of ways, to record a 5 song CD called "Panglossian." I also have 2 demos. We never played a show.
Los Angeles, CA
kylegarr
