news

Wikipedia

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:35:00 +0000

I wanted to add some info to Kayo Dot's wikipedia page, specifically regarding the new album. Wasn't really sure how to cite references to all the changes I made, so I figure if I put all the text here, maybe this blog can serve as the reference point.

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Kayo Dot is an American avant-rock/experimental music group that was formed in 2003 by Toby Driver. They released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label that year. Tzadik's descriptive label on that album reads: "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."

Since then, Kayo Dot's music has undergone several identity shifts, largely influenced by the band's constantly-changing lineup and instrumentation. One predominant element of Driver's compositional voice which remains consistent throughout all of Kayo Dot's output, however, is the band's use of abstract timing and performance cues. This lends to the music the element of "malleability" mentioned in Tzadik's description above.

The music of Kayo Dot exists outside of market-oriented genre classification, being most succinctly described as "modern composition with a rock background." Their songs involve complex instrumentation (composed by singer and frontman Driver). They are substantially longer than typical rock songs, usually ranging from 8 to 18 minutes in length.

Kayo Dot's albums are musically thematic (see individual albums' links for details), being conceptualized as full albums rather than as collections of disparate songs, and are invariably intended to be listened from start to finish.

Kayo Dot was formed after the disbanding of maudlin of the Well, a progressive heavy metal band which formed in 1996 and dissolved in 2003. 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, Olson, and Dickson were students of jazz musician Yusef Lateef, whose theories of autophysiopsychic music may have influenced the bands' output.

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 maudlin of the Well 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 longtime collaborator Sam Gutterman left the band in March 2005. Kayo Dot then signed to Robotic Empire Records and released its second album, Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue, in January 2006.

In 2006, near the end of the fall tour, four members – playing guitar, bass, drums, and trumpet – left the band for personal reasons. On the tenth of December, Greg Massi also left Kayo Dot on good terms stating he was going "to try and figure out other aspects of my musical life and take some time to figure out where I want to be going." (Massi has since completed his solo album, "A Time for Rust" under the moniker Baliset. Massi also temporarily rejoined Kayo Dot in January 2010 as a guest for the purpose of one performance of Choirs of the Eye at The Stone in New York City on February 6, 2010).

After Massi's departure, Kayo Dot, consisting of only two members, Driver and Matsumiya, began working on their third album, Blue Lambency Downward, which was released in May 2008 by Hydra Head Records. Kayo Dot used several session musicians on this recording (Skerik on tenor and baritone saxophone and vibraphone, Hans Teuber on clarinet, Charlie Zeleny on drumset), and enlisted Randall Dunn as their producer and recording engineer. This album marked the first time one of Driver's recordings was not produced by Driver himself. After Blue Lambency Downward's release, Driver relocated from Boston to New York City, and for the purpose of touring the woodwind-abundant album, put a new lineup together whose new members were: Patrick Wolff on woodwinds, Daniel Means on woodwinds and guitar, David Bodie on drums, and original member Terran Olson on woodwinds and keyboards. Patrick Wolff has since left the band, and Daniel Means has added bass guitar to his duties.

In April 2008, Driver began working on a new long-form composition with his partner, Yuko Sueta, a NYC-based writer, filmmaker, and video artist (with Driver as the composer and Sueta as the author, intending to create a film to be projected along with performances of the music). A first draft of this piece was premiered at The Stone in September 2008 by The Kayo Dot Auxiliary Unit (Bodie and Means of Kayo Dot, Yuko Sueta, and Tim Byrnes on trumpet). Shortly thereafter, Sueta, who had been fighting breast cancer, became incapacitated by the disease. Driver re-drafted and adapted the piece for Kayo Dot (along with Byrnes), toured it in May 2009 on the road with Secret Chiefs 3, and recorded it with Randall Dunn in Seattle during June-July 2009. Sueta passed away while the record was in post-production, and the band has dedicated it to her. Coyote_(album) is Kayo Dot's fourth studio album and will be released on April 6, 2010 by Hydra Head Records, once again featuring a surprising re-configuration of the band's instrumentation and sound.

Tartar Lamb II

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:34:00 +0000

Writing with bass as the main harmomic content and noticing that my typical sense of harmony cannot apply. When falling into a phrase and then trying to pull away from it, I can really feel some kind of G-forces creating a little bit of nausea on the turns

Fall 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Home from tour!

It was, overall, cool. The tour started off on a sour note though, as the UK border guards denied Bodie, our drummer, entry into the UK, thereby basically ruining all of our UK shows. Kayo Dot saxist Dan Means stayed behind to keep Bodie company for the week, and the remaining three of us did the UK shows as Tartar Lamb, and threw in some low-key versions of gentler Kayo Dot songs (i.e. Immortelle and Paper Caravelle). I really loved the UK though and had a wonderful time, in spite of the problems. We really will try to come back properly as soon as possible.

Bodie and Dan rejoined us in France... and from that point on, Kayo Dot played as the full band. Super-notable mainland mentions are the Portuguese, the Slovakians, Valborg and the people of Bonn, and Radek and the people of Warsaw (Radek, I know you read this blog, so THANK YOU!). Wow!! You guys all had unbelievable enthusiasm and showed amazing support. We truly appreciate you treating us well and extend great love and well-wishes to you all.

A couple news items:

Firstly, a new Kayo Dot track has been posted online today at TIME OUT NEW YORK/THE VOLUME. Steve Smith (@nightafternight on Twitter) is the author of this awesome write-up. Steve has been supportive of us for years and we're happy that he is the one to premiere this track for the world. Check out the track here: http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/thevolume/2009/10/listen-now-new-music-from-kayo-dot-exclusively-on-the-volume/

Secondly, I was just reading some of the reviews of maudlin of the Well - PART THE SECOND at Progarchives.com.. and wow.. thank you guys! These reviews make me blush. They're really worth reading... Seriously, your sentiments are awesome and make it so worthwhile to continue doing what I do. I really appreciate it and am happy that the music may have affected you as powerfully as it has affected me. Read the reviews here: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=23206

About to leave for Europe and some final thoughts -

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:35:00 +0000

So we are about to head out for a European tour. We'll be playing mostly all places we have not played before. I'm especially excited to play in Poland, which is where half of my family's heritage comes from. Should be interesting!
We're doing our best to bring as much of the merchandise that everyone wants the most. This tour, like all of them, but this one especially, is going to be financially hard on us in a potentially catastrophic way. All we ask is that everyone please, spread word of the shows, come out to the gigs, and buy merch. Then we should be golden and able to come back in the future.

Last Europe's tour was a Blue Lambency Downward tour.. so this time - we're turning it back a few years!! please come on out - my capo is READY!!!!

Some notes on "Part The Second"

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Being an online release, I have been paying some attention to the response to this record just to see how people are taking it. Seems like people are pleased, which is great! Thanks for all the support and we (the band) are totally grateful for the positive response. There are a few specific things I want to address:

1) The issue of playing live. OK, so this band doesn't really exist anymore, being that all the members are spread out all over the nation and are not really "pursuing music" anymore, as it were. That said, let's imagine that some festival wanted to invite motW to play... if it was feasible, i don't think it'd be out of the question to re-organize the group.

2) There is a sample in the middle of "Rose Quartz Turning to Glass" that some people have been saying is some kind of "avant-garde" vocal trick of mine.. I just want to mention that it is a SAMPLE of something specific and not a vocal and not performed by me! There's more to it than that, as is the case with every layer of motW's music. You guys should know that by now.

3) Q: Why does Toby continue to release difficult-to-comprehend music like Kayo Dot when he could easily make another crowd-pleaser like PART THE SECOND?

A: I'm happy to take the opportunity to make non-confrontational records like this for the fans whenever possible. Really the only reason I don't is that doing a record takes a LOT of time and resources, of which there are currently only enough to focus on one real path. I choose the path which helps myself develop and grow, and for me that's to work with new ideas as opposed to old ones. However, if at some point in the future there is enough time and resources to make records and play music full-time and in the interest of supporting everyone involved, then yeah, of course I can make tons more music like this.

maudlin of the Well - Part The Second

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:19:00 +0000

available at maudlinofthewell.net

NOW!

Secret Chiefs 3

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:55:00 +0000

check it out!

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=5267768&blogId=485895739

not to be overshadowed by the motw release...

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:02:00 +0000

I want you all to know that

Longtime collaborator of mine, and original motW and KD lead guitarist, Greg Massi, has just released his 10-yrs in the making album. The solo project is called BALISET and you can hear the album thusly:

http://www.baliset.net

events coming up very soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:28:00 +0000

As some of you may have heard via Mia's posting on myspace, facebook, etc., our very close personal friend Yuko Sueta has been severely debilitated over the past few months by metastasized breast cancer (in other words, it spread). As a result she has found herself unable to get up out of bed, which means she's unable to work, pay bills, etc. So her friends have put together a few benefit events for her that are coming right up.

The events are really cool - the first is an art auction with works supplied by friends of Yuko. There will be original works by big names including Richard Kern and Satomi Matsuzaki (the singer of Deerhoof), and some contributions by myself as well. Check out the flyer for the full list.

The second event is a rock concert!! the lineup will be Apollo Heights, Nymph, and Kayo Dot. We'll be playing new material from our upcoming summer 2009 Hydra Head album and one killer old song that many of you have been asking us to play for a while.

Check out the flyers below for more info and please pass along. Thank you!

(click images to view larger)

http://yuko.2020project.com/

KD.net front page

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:45:00 +0000

reposting this new KD info!!

We are in the process of finishing up the writing and rehearsing of a new album for Hydra Head Industries, to be recorded this summer with Randall Dunn! This album will feature Toby Driver on bass guitar, Terran Olson on keyboards, Dan means on sax, David Bodie on percussion, Mia Matsumiya on violin and guitar (gasp!), and special guest Tim Byrnes on trumpet (whom you may know from Tartar Lamb, The Friendly Bears, Hazel-Rah, or Candiria). We'll be touring out to Seattle and back for the recording in June and July, premiering this new music (and also playing old material).

and

We now have Blue Lambency Downward vinyl LPs available in the buy stuff section!

and you probably already know this:

We have also just completed the recording/mixing of the brand new, maudlin of the Well fan-funded reunion record (to be released for FREE online within the next couple weeks)! "We" meaning almost all the old members of MOTW (Toby Driver, Terran Olson, Sam Gutterman, Greg Massi, Josh Seipp-Williams, Jason Byron) along with Kayo Dot members Mia Matsumiya and David Bodie! So it's like a combo record of the two bands, cool!!!! Look here for the release info very soon.

motw news!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:27:00 +0000

We finished the MOTW recording last weekend! It still has to be mastered, but that will happen over the next couple weeks. In the meantime, I'm building a website for the release. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough funding to make any hard copies, so we're going to release online. Our plans are to release as high-quality mp3s and also as 24-bit .flac files for audiophiles, all at the same download site.

The album sounds amazing and we are very happy with it! We felt like there wasn't any reason to put out "promotional info" like titles, or clips, ahead of time since there's no CD to buy. So all that stuff will become apparent at the actual release.

Someone was asking about gigging for the record - some of the band talked about it a little. I think if we got invited to do a festival date, we would do it. But definitely no touring will happen.

Terran's Article on Audio Fractals online

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:50:00 +0000

https://rainrecording.co.uk/pro/experimental/audio-fractals/

by Terran Olson (a frequent collaboratist of mine)

BLD Vinyl and special items now available for preorder!!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:26:00 +0000

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/hydrahead/product_info.php?products_id=2820&cPath=4_137&store=

Along with the vinyl, you can preorder a t-shirt and/or even better, an extra-special, triple-poster set which features a Blue Lambency Downward story comic starring and also designed by yours truly. They're super-limited and will only be available for two weeks or less. Check out the link for more info and images!!

some new pictures added

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:53:00 +0000

I just added some newish images to the Artwork section. I'm going to be adding one more awesome one on Monday when the Blue Lambency Downward vinyl preorder goes up at Hydra Head!!

Another recent interview with TD

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:45:00 +0000

http://www.vinylnetwork.com/content/kayo-dots-toby-driver-interview

this one was done via AIM, so it came out much more casual-sounding than the Sputnik/Greer one.

Sputnikmusic.com did a feature on me - check it out

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:59:00 +0000

probably a lot of my blog readers overlap with sputnikmusic.com - but just in case not, here are the links.. enjoy!

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/feature.php?id=5617

and

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/feature.php?id=5615

mercury rev "All is Dream" and MOTW

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:56:00 +0000

I just got Mercury Rev's "All is Dream". Is anyone familiar with this record? I was really surprised to find some startling similarities between this record and Bath/LYBM - am just listening for the first time now, but initial observations about the peripherals:

First of all, the tile "All is Dream". Additionally, its release date was within weeks of Bath/LYBM's release date, and the inlay booklet is peppered with Hebrew letters with symbolic meanings (i.e, chet is used for "fence" in this booklet), guitar mappings, planetary zodiac symbols, and other occult allusions. Has any motW fan ever investigated this?

assignage

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:18:00 +0000

Just got back from tour and found myself without a job to really rely on for the time being. So while I float at home seeking out medical studies or temp work, and not really able to "go out" due to the unemployment, I have the days and nights available. I have a couple drawing projects on my plate; one is a CD cover for a UK band called The Red Word - the other is some KD vinyl preorder merch for the Hydra Head store. (Please don't ask about it).

Aside from trying to conceptualize some drawings, I've been able to take some time to focus on writing - I mean in several-hours-long sessions instead of the usual one-hour a night after work type of thing. This kind of forced introversion is what I've been missing since I moved to NYC; I had it in 2007 when I was living in CT, hence the massive amount of work that went into Blue Lambency Downward, and here it is again - Preceding every album of mine, there has been such a period, and I'm coming to realize that it's perhaps a necessary step to any new, serious writing, since all of that music is so personally deep.

As probably all the readers of this blog know, the next recording I have planned is the maudlin of the Well project in February. So with my mind in that place, a lot of new writing in a rock-based genre can't help but hearken the mood of motW. I actually noticed recently that all the time the boundary I had been trying to define between what was motW and what is Kayo Dot may have been exaggerated. I had always thought that KD's writing was more deliberate - and it is, in a way. But at the same time, there are these periods of forced introversion like I mentioned above, which are bottomless and out-of-time, which when called back to memory are even hazy and dreamy... and which always result in a record. All of my writing has come out of this state - it's just the post-state that gives the music an identity - the level of involvement in shaping the concept.

So as an anxious music listener, I want to record these new tunes as soon as possible and am tempted to have them become a part of the motW record. To be faithful to the project though, it's really against the rules to bring new songs in from scratch, so I'm not going to do it. I don't think I'd want to leave these new songs alone anyway; basically, what has always been defined as a motW tune to me is music that has come in as an idea and then has been pretty much left as-is, without much shaping or censorship by the conscious mind. And because of this, that music is imbued with the melodic, harmonic, and structural identity of all of my influences... a chord progression or lick manifests itself because it makes sense to the memory, and it appeals easier to many listeners because it makes sense to their memory.

new last minute NYC show!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Rehab (formerly known as Midway) has a monthly Monday night music/film party hosted by Lary 7 and Yuko Sueta - this Monday I and a group of friends will be performing as The Morbid Stripes! Toby Driver - electric bass, Jeremiah Cymerman - woodwinds, Dan Means - woodwinds, Terran Olson - woodwinds

10PM, at Rehab (avenue B between 2nd and 3rd streets).

Kayo Dot Aux Unit

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:23:00 +0000

I and a few of my frequent collaborators will be performing a new composition September 4th, 8:00 PM at The Stone in NYC's East Village (Corner of Ave. C and 2nd St.). To anyone who's wondering about this, it's a full-length piece that I've been working on since the beginning of the year - I'm very excited about it and this concert is the world premiere and should not be missed!

Toby Driver - electric bass
David Bodie - percussion (drumset and orchestral percussions)
Dan Means - alto sax
Tim Byrnes - trumpet
Terran Olson - piano

holy shit!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:41:00 +0000

An extremely generous fan Etienne Dube just donated enough for motW to be able to do a full length album.. unbelievable and amazing news! Everyone else can keep donating if you wish, as further donations will help us hire orchestral musicians (cello, etc), and actually press copies instead of having this be an internet release. The recording will start Feb 10.. congratulations to Etienne and to everyone!

progress!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:07:00 +0000

Just to let everyone know, I got positives from all the motW dudes.. Greg, Byron, Terran, Nick, Josh, Sam.

We're just about halfway to being able to do one song... !

going for it!

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:09:00 +0000

I was completely overwhelmed and moved by the response to my posting about unreleased motW... thank you to everyone.. wow! I went and asked the other motW guys if they'd be interested in participating in this too and the response was very positive.. so we're going to try this donation thing out and see if it can work! If the money comes in soon, i would ideally like to record in winter '08-'09.

The paypal address is motw.donate@gmail.com

here's the button:

Here are the details:

•See my notes about average costs in the comments of the below posting.

•We'll record and release as many songs as we can with the funding we receive, up to a full-length album's worth. Any amount received over that will go towards actually having physical copies printed up, whether on vinyl or CD will depend on the funding as well.

•The release will be 100% FREE to the public, funded by the public. This project is completely pro bono and not-for-profit. In the event of hard copy production, the hard copies will be FREE, to the extent that they can continue to be funded by the project. (shipping, for example, might need to be an additional charge later).

• All the donors will be credited, maybe as executive producers or something similar, in the release.

•If we don't receive enough to do even one song, all the money will be refunded to the donors via paypal.

•The project will get rolling as soon as the funding comes in.. if it looks like we won't make enough, I'll set a deadline until refunds start happening... probably somewhere around October or November 2008.

•All the material will be from 1999-2000 either as full songs that were never recorded, or fragments from the same era that we will develop into full songs now. The main purpose being to preserve the original idea from the relevant state of mind.

•All rights to the recordings and music will be retained by the artist.

Good luck to all of us... Special thanks to Chris Elmore for helping push this idea forward..!

New ESOTERIC album

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:06:00 +0000

AWESOME

unreleased motW

noreply@blogger.com (Toby Driver) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:32:00 +0000

I'm in the process of writing an essay for an upcoming edition of ARCANA, a series of books that JZ has put together to give composers an opportunity to explain their music (hopefully borne out of the fact that critics always get it wrong.)

Anyway I've spent a good few pages retrospecting maudlin of the Well, which has made a few older and unrecorded songs flood back into my mind... amazingly, the memory of them is very fresh and I'm still able to hear those complete songs in my head.

A lot of the time in motW, some compositional and programming decisions were made based on the music's audience; thus the music that was never heard is like the least rock stuff of all (but it's all from 1998-2000, so is not as pushing of the envelope as our music of today). For example, there's an expanded and further developed version of The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth with vocals, strings, piano, etc... all the stuff I'm talking about is kind of in that vein.

So I have this serious bug in my ear right now about it; Terran is around again and if we had the resources I think we'd both be eager to put a record together. Actually I already asked Dark Symphonies but they can't do it. But I'm not really interested in label-shopping otherwise because I'm not sure what motW's relevance is to any label. There also doesn't really seem to be a need to release motW commerically since the band is done as an entity, so even a free internet release would be cool; I wonder if we could somehow have a community-funded motW record - funded by donations from fans and then released for free online. Or released for free on CD or vinyl complete with artwork if there was enough fundage.