Kyle Andrews: 'Amos in Ohio' National Release

Luckily I came across the quirky pop of Kyle Andrews back in the midst of a summer heat wave last year. I still feel a little thrill when I hear great songs by a musician of high calibre and low exposure. It feels good to give them a smidgen of the music blog limelight in the hope (re: dream) that it will lead to good things. Andrews put out his debut, Amos In Ohio, on Fictitious Records, but now he's getting a national release on Badman Recording Co [June 20th]. Now more ears will be hooked by the music and that can only be good for Kyle Andrews and you, the listener.

Here's the post I did last summer and some MP3s to whet your appetite.

+ amos in ohio
+ sushi

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Chicago native, Kyle Andrews, makes 'hook heavy' indie pop. You will listen and wonder why you haven't heard this music before, or at least someone saying you should hear Kyle Andrews... uh, you should.

I'd also say that from the clever wordplay, the light idiosyncratic touchs that pop up now and again under the weightier, but far from heavy instrumentation; and Andrews distinctive pronunciation of some words, that he has a very clear picture of where he want his music to go. And he's having a lot of fun 'making it up'.

His first full-length work is titled Amos In Ohio on Fictitious Records. And it is some fine music, catchy as hell; I'm still trying to shake the 'viral' verses and contagious chorus of "Sushi". By writing about it here I hope to launch a Kyle Andrews pandemic, this is one malady... uhh, melody... that would be good to catch.

*Sixeyes asked Kyle some questions and he answered from Nashville.

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*SIXEYES: How long have you been writing and performing your own songs?

KYLE: My curiosity for recording started out in the sixth grade. I couldn't play or sing, but I was in love with the idea of making an album. I would plug a pair of headphones into the mic input on a friends boom box and then wear the headphones with the earpiece snuggly on my mouth. I would hit record, improvising cassettes full of new "songs". I eventually upgraded to a 4-track cassette machine, which opened me up to the world of overdub. Now I work on Protools and do drum programming with reason software, but its all the same process as I originally started out, just hit record and make something up.

*SIX: Where did you record, Amos In Ohio, and who helped you out?

KYLE: Amos in Ohio was recorded in my bedroom. My roommate and band member, Neil Mason, played the live drums, which consist of maybe half the record. We just put one mic up in the hall way and recorded him playing to tracks I had already started. Most of his takes were the first or second time he had heard the song.

*SIX: Nashville is so identified with country, how is the indie pop/rock scene in town?

KYLE: There are a lot of great bands. I'd say Nashville rivals just about any place. Music row, the business side of town is mostly country but in the venues, its more rock.

*SIX: I'm not going to ask your influences, but I will ask... what inspires you?

KYLE: I love enthusiasm, I get inspired watching or listening to any band that has passion for what they are doing. I rarely can sit through another artist's show, with out suddenly wishing I was at home writing a new song, or that I was playing my own show. You see something great and you want to be contributing.