Kayo Dot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kayo Dot | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Genre(s) | Experimental rock Alternative metal Post-rock |
|
| Years active | 2003 to Present | |
| Label(s) | Tzadik Robotic Empire |
|
| Associated acts |
Maudlin of the Well | |
| Website | http://www.kayodot.net/ | |
| Members | ||
| Toby Driver Greg Massi Mia Matsumiya |
||
Kayo Dot is an American experimental rock group that was formed in 2003 by Toby Driver. They released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik label that year.
The music of Kayo Dot bridges several genres, from heavy metal to classical music. Their songs involve complex instrumentation (composed by singer and frontman Driver). They are substantially longer than typical rock songs, often ranging from 8 to 15 minutes in length.
Tzadik's descriptive label on that album read: "Kayo Dot powerfully integrates elements of modern classical composition with the layers of guitars and vocals more common to rock and metal. With a compositional map that is strict in form yet malleable in execution, Kayo Dot uses a vast array of instrumentation to create an exciting convergence of violence and serenity."
Contents |
[edit] Current members
 Kayo Dot in Santa Cruz, CA |
 Violinist Mia Matsumiya |
[edit] History
Kayo Dot sprang from the ashes of the band maudlin of the Well. maudlin of the Well was a progressive heavy metal band who formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2003. Their music contained elements from many different genres including sludge/doom metal, indie rock, and new age. They released three full-length and now out-of-print albums before disbanding: 1999's My Fruit PsychoBells...A Seed Combustible and 2001's Bath and Leaving Your Body Map. These last two albums were considered companion albums, and were reissued with bonus tracks in January 2006 on the indie label Dark Symphonies (www.darksymphonies.com).
Many past members of maudlin of the Well--Josh Seipp-Williams, Sam Gutterman, Terran Olson, Andrew Dickson, and Toby Driver--studied at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from 1996-2000, where My Fruit PsychoBells...A Seed Combustible was recorded. At Hampshire, Driver was a student of jazz musician Yusef Lateef, whose theories of autophysiopsychic music influenced maudlin of the Well's, and to a greater extent Kayo Dot's, albums.
Driver has gone on to say on their website:
Some members of this project worked in the progressive-metal project-band maudlin of the Well from 1996 - 2003, at which time motW dismembered. Kayo Dot isn't much different from maudlin of the Well musically - rather it's more like a continuation in the direction motW had been progressing.
and has also said:
"People are too preoccupied with whatever connection there may be between maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot."
In May 2005, Tom Malone joined the band as their new drummer after drummer Sam Gutterman (who also played in motW) left the band in March 2005 for reasons unknown. Kayo Dot are now signed to Robotic Empire Records and released their second album, "Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue" in January of 2006.
In 2006, near the end of one of their tours, four members - playing guitar, bass, drums, and trumpet - left the band; reasons have not yet been given for their departure. On the tenth of December, Greg Massi left Kayo Dot on good terms stating, "to try and figure out other aspects of my musical life and take some time to figure out where i want to be going." .
[edit] T-shirts
Nearly a dozen t-shirt designs, featuring original or found art, have surfaced over the years:
- maudlin of the Well "Part The First" shirt, circa 1999
front: sea shelf back: "Part The First"
- Upside down, dead bird shirt (2003)
front: line picture of upside down, dead bird from the cover of Choirs of the Eye
- Tsuchinoko shirt (2003)
front: leaping tsuchinoko
- Rat king shirt (2004)
front: rats with tails entwined
- Marching figures shirt (2005)
front: each letter of "Kayo Dot" formed from a parading figure
- Hair shirt (2005)
front: Swirling mass of hair (background of Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue cover)
- four-color "K" shirt (2005)
front: four-color K design
- Robotic Empire Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue vinyl pre-order limited shirt (2006)
front: mushrooms & spore cloud
- Mia and the statue (2006)
front: Mia Matsumiya & decapitated Saint Francis statue
[edit] Discography
maudlin of the Well Demos/Singles:
- Through Languid Veins - 1996 (Demo)
- Begat of the Haunted Oak: An Acorn - 1997 (Demo)
- Odes to Darksome Spring - 1997
- For My Wife - 1998 (Demo)
- untitled secret song - 2001 (released as a bonus track on the 2006 version of LYBM)
maudlin of the Well Full-length Albums:
- My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible (1999)
- Bath (2001) (reissued with bonus tracks - 2006)
- Leaving Your Body Map (2001) (reissued with bonus tracks - 2006)
The full albums featured either remixed or re-recorded versions of most of the songs from the demos.
Kayo Dot Full-length Albums:
- Choirs of the Eye (2003)
- Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue (2006)
Kayo Dot Splits:
- Kayo Dot / Bloody Panda Split 12" Vinyl (2006)
Toby Driver Solo Albums:
- In The L..L..Library Loft (2006)
