Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
Encyclopedia
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is an indie band started by Kirk Huffman and Kyle O'Quin of Gatsbys American Dream
. Like Gatsbys, the band draws influence from a wide variety of musical genres. Though the band only has three official members, they have been known to perform with as many as 11 additional musicians on stage.
. Huffman and O'Quin had been writing songs together while on tour and brought in Huffman's friend Phil Peterson to round out the group.
The band first released a handful of tracks for streaming on Purevolume
and MySpace
. These songs later appeared on a cassette single
released by ECA Records in 2006.
A copy of the band's cassette found its way to John Sidel of V2 Records
. The band signed an initial agreement to record a full-length album, but V2 was bought out by Universal Music shortly thereafter and a finalized contract never materialized.
In early 2007, the band released Live at the Pretty Parlor, a two-disc set featuring a live DVD and accompanying CD. The DVD was filmed at an independent clothing store in Seattle in late 2006 and released on the band's own label, Bombs Over Bellevue.
In mid-2007, they played their first out-of-state shows in Los Angeles
and Portland, Oregon
. On June 13, 2007, the band made their national television debut on Last Call with Carson Daly
. According to Huffman, the band's DVD found its way into the hands of Carson Daly
who then pushed to have the band on the show. The band performed "Hey Momma," reducing the song's length due to time constraints.
On February 19, 2008, the band released their debut self-titled
album on vinyl through Vinyl Collective, a subsidiary of Suburban Home Records
. The album is a double LP (with a digital download code included) and pressed in three variations, totaling 1,000 copies: rainbow transparent vinyl (200), rainbow milk vinyl (300), and orange with red speckles (500). The album was also made available digitally through several retailers, including Amazon MP3
and eMusic
. To celebrate the album's release, the band played a sold-out show at The Triple Door in Seattle, where Huffman declared "I thought we’d be playing for ten people. This is the greatest night of my life." The band was also featured in Seattle weekly newspaper The Stranger
for the album release.
In August 2008, the band embarked on their first west-coast tour in support of Rx Bandits
and Portugal The Man, with dates running from August 12 to September 1.
On July 17, 2008, the band posted a Myspace blog stating that they were already half way through recording their second full-length titled Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. This blog was accompanied by a new song, titled "Diggin."
On August 10, 2009, the band announced they had finished the recording of Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. The album was streamed in its entirety on the band's Myspace page starting August 14.
In the summer 2010 Kay Kay did a national tour with Mewithoutyou
and The Dear Hunter
.
The band announced a summer 2011 tour with The Dear Hunter and confirmed that they would be recording a new record, tentatively titled III, in the fall.
Gatsbys American Dream
Gatsbys American Dream is a Seattle-based indie rock band. Since their founding in 2002, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. They have also appeared on several compilations with original songs and covers. Gatsbys American Dream drew their name from F...
. Like Gatsbys, the band draws influence from a wide variety of musical genres. Though the band only has three official members, they have been known to perform with as many as 11 additional musicians on stage.
History
Kay Kay got its start when Gatsbys American Dream went on hiatus, shortly after the release of their 2006 self-titled albumGatsbys American Dream (album)
-Track Title References:* "You All Everybody" is the title of a song by Charlie Pace's band "Driveshaft" on the TV show Lost. Aside from the title, this song and the one on the show bear no similarities....
. Huffman and O'Quin had been writing songs together while on tour and brought in Huffman's friend Phil Peterson to round out the group.
The band first released a handful of tracks for streaming on Purevolume
PureVolume
PureVolume was the first independently run website of its type, allowing for the upload and stream of music files. It was created in 2003 by Jennifer Welch , in conjunction with the Unborn Media team; Brett Woitunski, Nate Hudson, and Mitchell Pavao; all from the University of...
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. These songs later appeared on a cassette single
Cassette single
A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
released by ECA Records in 2006.
A copy of the band's cassette found its way to John Sidel of V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....
. The band signed an initial agreement to record a full-length album, but V2 was bought out by Universal Music shortly thereafter and a finalized contract never materialized.
In early 2007, the band released Live at the Pretty Parlor, a two-disc set featuring a live DVD and accompanying CD. The DVD was filmed at an independent clothing store in Seattle in late 2006 and released on the band's own label, Bombs Over Bellevue.
In mid-2007, they played their first out-of-state shows in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. On June 13, 2007, the band made their national television debut on Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
. According to Huffman, the band's DVD found its way into the hands of Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
who then pushed to have the band on the show. The band performed "Hey Momma," reducing the song's length due to time constraints.
On February 19, 2008, the band released their debut self-titled
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (album)
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is the debut, self-titled album from Seattle musical collective Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground....
album on vinyl through Vinyl Collective, a subsidiary of Suburban Home Records
Suburban Home Records
Suburban Home Records and Distribution is a record label based in Denver, Colorado, United States. The label was founded in 1995 by Virgil Dickerson, and is known for focusing on vinyl releases and bands in the pop-punk and alt-country genres. Its roster has included Two Cow Garage, Drag the River,...
. The album is a double LP (with a digital download code included) and pressed in three variations, totaling 1,000 copies: rainbow transparent vinyl (200), rainbow milk vinyl (300), and orange with red speckles (500). The album was also made available digitally through several retailers, including Amazon MP3
Amazon MP3
Amazon MP3 is an online music store owned and operated by Amazon.com. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights management from the four major music labels , as well as many independents...
and eMusic
EMusic
eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. It is headquartered in New York City with an office in London and owned by Dimensional Associates. As of September 2008 eMusic has over 400,000 subscribers....
. To celebrate the album's release, the band played a sold-out show at The Triple Door in Seattle, where Huffman declared "I thought we’d be playing for ten people. This is the greatest night of my life." The band was also featured in Seattle weekly newspaper The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
for the album release.
In August 2008, the band embarked on their first west-coast tour in support of Rx Bandits
Rx Bandits
RX Bandits is a four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and at The Bamboozle.-Early years :Originally known as...
and Portugal The Man, with dates running from August 12 to September 1.
On July 17, 2008, the band posted a Myspace blog stating that they were already half way through recording their second full-length titled Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. This blog was accompanied by a new song, titled "Diggin."
On August 10, 2009, the band announced they had finished the recording of Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. The album was streamed in its entirety on the band's Myspace page starting August 14.
In the summer 2010 Kay Kay did a national tour with Mewithoutyou
MewithoutYou
Me Without You, stylized as mewithoutYou and abbreviated as mwY, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of vocalist Aaron Weiss, guitarist Michael Weiss, bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta. MewithoutYou's music is generally dominated by...
and The Dear Hunter
The Dear Hunter
The Dear Hunter is an indie rock band originating in Providence, Rhode Island. It began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo, formerly of post-hardcore band The Receiving End of Sirens...
.
The band announced a summer 2011 tour with The Dear Hunter and confirmed that they would be recording a new record, tentatively titled III, in the fall.
Members
According the band's Myspace page, the official members are:- Kirk Huffman - lead vocals, guitar, percussion
- Kyle O'Quin - keys
- Phil Peterson - cello, backing vocals
Additional musicians
The following is an incomplete list of musicians who are not officially a part of the band, but accompanied the band on their album and for live performances.- Thomas HunterForgive DurdenForgive Durden is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington, who got their name from the novel Fight Club. They are signed to Fueled By Ramen...
- guitar - Racheal Huffman - backing vocals, percussion
- Nate MooterThe LashesThe Lashes are a Seattle-based power pop band.The band formed in Seattle in 2000. Named by Ben Clark's ex-girlfriend. The band had gone through 10 previous drummers before finding Mike Loggins....
- bass - J. J. Jang - violin
- Victoria (Tori) Parker - violin, backing vocals
- Robert (Bobby) Parker - trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals
- Joey SewardThe PharmacyThe Pharmacy is a psychedelic/indie punk band from Seattle, Washington, consisting of three members: Scott Yoder , Brendhan Bowers , and Stefan Rubicz . They also have been known to record with a wide array of other instruments including strings, horns, and many different types of...
- tuba - Samuel AndersonHey MarseillesHey Marseilles is a musical group from Seattle, WA. Seattle Weekly has said that "the biggest reason Hey Marseilles stands out in Seattle's saturated pop scene is its innate knack for crafting sincere songs that rise with anticipation and recede gracefully."-Members:*Matt Bishop, lead vocals,...
- cello - Andy Lum - drums
- Garrett LuncefordThe DivorceThe Divorce was a rock band from Seattle, Washington, originally composed of Shane Berry, lead vocals, keyboard, guitar and tambourine, Jimmy Curran and Kyle Risan, drums. The band's first full-length release was There Will Be Blood Tonight on Fugitive Records in 2003...
- drums - Devin Ensz - Tuba
- James Prow - Bass
- Megan Homer - violin
Discography
- Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (2006, ECA Records) - Cassette tape featuring 3 early songs later released on the self-titled.
- Live at the Pretty Parlor (2007, Bombs Over Bellevue) - Live DVD/CD release recorded at a clothing store in Seattle.
- Kay Kay and His Weathered UndergroundKay Kay and His Weathered Underground (album)Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is the debut, self-titled album from Seattle musical collective Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground....
(2008, Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective) - Studio album. Vinyl color variations: 200 on Transparent Rainbow, 300 on Rainbow Milk, 500 on Orange w/ Red Speckles. 2nd pressing vinyl on unspecified number of standard blue - Diggin' (2008, Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective) - 7" featuring 2 tracks ("Diggin'" and "All My Friends Passed Out"), taken from the forthcoming album Introducing.... Includes downloadable versions of both songs. Vinyl color variations: 300 on Green, 700 on Clear
- Introducing Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (February 8, 2011) - Second full-length studio album. Vinyl color variations: 300 on White, 700 on Translucent Red