Kevtone
Encyclopedia
Kevtone is an American
musician, percussionist, and songwriter
from Seattle, Washington
. Performing live and in studio, his rhythm style may best be described as improvisational, melodic, progressive, and bluesy, over a wide variety of styles; reflecting influences from many genres of music.
He is perhaps best known for his work as the original drummer for the Santa Cruz, California
band Camper Van Beethoven
, playing on all 17 tracks of their album Telephone Free Landslide Victory
and many other tracks from various other Camper Van Beethoven releases. He was the principal drummer for Calm Down Juanita
, World Entertainment War
, Heaven On, and Box O' Laffs, and he is currently the drummer for I Die Every Day.
, where he started playing drums as a young child. He attended San Lorenzo Elementary School in King City, where he studied music under Bruce Graham and later, Leon Olson, bandleader at King City Joint Union High School. At age 15, he played in It Became Monster (IBM) with Fidel Tirado and occasionally David Rodriguez, with whom he also played in another band, Whirlwind. At 16, he played in the Red Mountain Band with Pete Carney and with his elementary school drum teacher, Bruce Graham. He also played drums in many other duos and combos with local groups around the Salinas Valley
.
Around 1981, he began traveling to Santa Cruz with guitarist and childhood friend, Fidel Tirado, with whom he played in a duo, to take drum lessons from Rick Walker and to play music with Tirado; sometimes taking the Greyhound bus both ways, for the 75 mile trip to Santa Cruz to take those one-hour lessons. From 1983 to 1984, he played in a reggae
band from Salinas
, called Katchabeat, with bassist Roger Rodgers & later, with bassist Kevin Nuckolls. Guess also played drums in Grupo Tres Angles, teaming with Rodgers on bass again with guitarist Brett Briggs, and then later with Kevin Nuckolls again, on guitar in Briggs' place. Eventually, Guess left Grupo Tres Angles and he was replaced on drums by Nuckolls' brother, Darren Nuckolls.
Guess moved to Santa Cruz, California
in 1984, a year after Tirado moved there, and he continued taking drum instruction from Rick Walker, who was at the time the drummer for the Santa Cruz band Tao Chemical.
In 1985, performing as Anthony Guess, kevtone was principal drummer for the eclectic Santa Cruz band Box O' Laffs, playing with bassist David Lowery
and keyboardist Chris Molla (both later of Camper Van Beethoven also) and also with guitarist Chris Hart and vocalist Eric Curkendall, on Box O' Laffs' 1985 album, Dogbook.
Around the same time, the rhythm team of Guess and Nuckolls joined Heaven On; a young band formed around 1985 also, by vocalist and lyricist Xtremity X and guitarist George Earth
, who had been working as a roadie for Guess' drum instructor's band. Keyboardist Kennedy Cosker, of The Quiet Ones, with whom Guess had previously played, joined Xtremity, Earth, Nuckolls, and Guess at the last minute, to compete in a contest, and together the five-member band won the 1986 Battle of the Bands at the Louden Nelson Center for Performing Arts in Santa Cruz. Heaven On disbanded shortly after that performance, though Guess, Nuckolls, and Earth would form a separate improvisation performance project that year and continue on as Circus Boy. They performed one show in that grouping, at Diane's Place in Santa Cruz, before Guess and Earth began jamming with bassist Daniel Vee Lewis, Lewis' wife, Pipa Piñon, and keyboardist David Hannibal.
Anthony Guess played, recorded with, and contributed work to the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven on several releases, including their 1985 debut, the critically acclaimed and influential Telephone Free Landslide Victory
, with its hit Take the Skinheads Bowling; in a lineup that included vocalist and guitarist Lowery, bassist Victor Krummenacher
, violinist Jonathan Segel
, and guitarist Molla.
In 1986, Guess and George Earth together conceived of the unnamed band that would later become World Entertainment War. Guess played drums and co-wrote songs with Earth on lead guitar. They invited both Daniel Vee Lewis and David Hannibal to play bass and keyboards, respectively, for the new group, which still remained nameless. Rick Walker suggested they contact another local musician friend of his, Rob Brezsny
, also of Tao Chemical, who was developing a new and broad idea that he called "World Entertainment War". After seeing Brezsny perform a spoken word show to a pre-recorded music tape, they did a jam show together a few weeks later. Brezsny was invited to join the band as lead vocalist and co-writer and together they then adopted the name and the concept, World Entertainment War. Singer Darby Gould
was recruited six months later to join the band as co-lead vocalist. Keyboardist Hannibal left the band shortly and was replaced briefly by Sam Loya, who was then replaced by Amy Excolere. They performed regularly and recorded two albums; a self-titled debut and a follow-up called Give Too Much, consisting of the same recordings with two added tracks recorded at the same time, both released in 1991 by MCA Records
. Guess continued doing live performances with World Entertainment War in a variety of venues until the group disbanded in 1993.
Guess and bassist Daniel Lewis would later join another Santa Cruz-based band, Jivehounds, playing disco and old-school funk with vocalist Dante Dark and keyboardist Derek Sherinian
. Guess played with them briefly and also was playing at the time with Shrida Honky, Cake, and Violin Sanity with Jim Hurley (musician).
Guess left Santa Cruz in the summer of 1994, and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he would go on to perform as Kevin Guess. He continued playing and recording with a wide variety of other bands and performers; most notably, the Seattle-based Calm Down Juanita
, a writing collaboration he formed with Steve Wilmans and Tyler Willman
, that drew several other notable musicians into the studio with them, including bassist R. Cole Peterson, III, bassist-recording engineer Steve Feasley, saxophonist Skerik
, Stone Gossard
, Josh Freese
, and John Doe
. That project produced two albums, Calm Down Juanita
and Undertown
.
He continued his professional work as kevtone; recording or performing in some capacity with many other bands before forming his current project, Seattle-based rock band I Die Every Day, with James Stamper and Bama James Ray, in 2010.
With Camper Van Beethoven
Also appears with CVB on
With World Entertainment War
Also appears with WEW on
With Calm Down Juanita
Other projects
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician, percussionist, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
from Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Performing live and in studio, his rhythm style may best be described as improvisational, melodic, progressive, and bluesy, over a wide variety of styles; reflecting influences from many genres of music.
He is perhaps best known for his work as the original drummer for the Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
band Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven is an American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983.An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk and alternative country, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a...
, playing on all 17 tracks of their album Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Telephone Free Landslide Victory is a 1985 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Projects. It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling".-About:...
and many other tracks from various other Camper Van Beethoven releases. He was the principal drummer for Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita is a Seattle, Washington studio band writing partnership between vocalist Tyler Willman and drummer Kevin Guess, catalyzed and engineered by Steve Wilmans, that has featured several other notable players. Their sound is progressive psychedelic alternative rock...
, World Entertainment War
World Entertainment War
World Entertainment War is an American funk rock band, formed in 1986, noted for its memorable costumes, props, and antics, both on and off-stage and for songs containing intricate lyrics of a political and often humorous nature...
, Heaven On, and Box O' Laffs, and he is currently the drummer for I Die Every Day.
Biography
Kevin Guess was born in 1964 and raised in King City, CaliforniaKing City, California
King City is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. King City is located on the Salinas River southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 335 feet . It lies along U.S. Route 101 in the Salinas Valley of the Central Coast of California. King City is a member of the Association of...
, where he started playing drums as a young child. He attended San Lorenzo Elementary School in King City, where he studied music under Bruce Graham and later, Leon Olson, bandleader at King City Joint Union High School. At age 15, he played in It Became Monster (IBM) with Fidel Tirado and occasionally David Rodriguez, with whom he also played in another band, Whirlwind. At 16, he played in the Red Mountain Band with Pete Carney and with his elementary school drum teacher, Bruce Graham. He also played drums in many other duos and combos with local groups around the Salinas Valley
Salinas Valley
The Salinas Valley lies south of San Francisco, California.The word "salina" is spanish for salt marsh, salt lake or salt pan.-Geography:The Salinas Valley runs approximately south-east from Salinas towards King City. The valley lends its name to the geologic province in which it's located, the...
.
Around 1981, he began traveling to Santa Cruz with guitarist and childhood friend, Fidel Tirado, with whom he played in a duo, to take drum lessons from Rick Walker and to play music with Tirado; sometimes taking the Greyhound bus both ways, for the 75 mile trip to Santa Cruz to take those one-hour lessons. From 1983 to 1984, he played in a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
band from Salinas
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
, called Katchabeat, with bassist Roger Rodgers & later, with bassist Kevin Nuckolls. Guess also played drums in Grupo Tres Angles, teaming with Rodgers on bass again with guitarist Brett Briggs, and then later with Kevin Nuckolls again, on guitar in Briggs' place. Eventually, Guess left Grupo Tres Angles and he was replaced on drums by Nuckolls' brother, Darren Nuckolls.
Guess moved to Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
in 1984, a year after Tirado moved there, and he continued taking drum instruction from Rick Walker, who was at the time the drummer for the Santa Cruz band Tao Chemical.
In 1985, performing as Anthony Guess, kevtone was principal drummer for the eclectic Santa Cruz band Box O' Laffs, playing with bassist David Lowery
David Lowery
David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...
and keyboardist Chris Molla (both later of Camper Van Beethoven also) and also with guitarist Chris Hart and vocalist Eric Curkendall, on Box O' Laffs' 1985 album, Dogbook.
Around the same time, the rhythm team of Guess and Nuckolls joined Heaven On; a young band formed around 1985 also, by vocalist and lyricist Xtremity X and guitarist George Earth
George Earth
George Earth is an American musician, guitarist, songwriter, composer, music producer, comic book artist, and talk show host from Echo Park, California...
, who had been working as a roadie for Guess' drum instructor's band. Keyboardist Kennedy Cosker, of The Quiet Ones, with whom Guess had previously played, joined Xtremity, Earth, Nuckolls, and Guess at the last minute, to compete in a contest, and together the five-member band won the 1986 Battle of the Bands at the Louden Nelson Center for Performing Arts in Santa Cruz. Heaven On disbanded shortly after that performance, though Guess, Nuckolls, and Earth would form a separate improvisation performance project that year and continue on as Circus Boy. They performed one show in that grouping, at Diane's Place in Santa Cruz, before Guess and Earth began jamming with bassist Daniel Vee Lewis, Lewis' wife, Pipa Piñon, and keyboardist David Hannibal.
Anthony Guess played, recorded with, and contributed work to the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven on several releases, including their 1985 debut, the critically acclaimed and influential Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Telephone Free Landslide Victory is a 1985 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Projects. It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling".-About:...
, with its hit Take the Skinheads Bowling; in a lineup that included vocalist and guitarist Lowery, bassist Victor Krummenacher
Victor Krummenacher
Victor Krummenacher is an American musician and bass guitarist who is a founding member of alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. He also helped form CVB offshoots Monks of Doom and Camper Van Chadbourne and has pursued a solo career as a singer-songwriter...
, violinist Jonathan Segel
Jonathan Segel
Jonathan Segel is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, and Dieselhed.-Biography:...
, and guitarist Molla.
In 1986, Guess and George Earth together conceived of the unnamed band that would later become World Entertainment War. Guess played drums and co-wrote songs with Earth on lead guitar. They invited both Daniel Vee Lewis and David Hannibal to play bass and keyboards, respectively, for the new group, which still remained nameless. Rick Walker suggested they contact another local musician friend of his, Rob Brezsny
Rob Brezsny
Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, writer, poet, and musician. His weekly horoscope column Free Will Astrology , has been published for more than 28 years, runs in 120 periodicals, and can be subscribed to for free via email.- Career :Brezsny is the first well-known horoscope columnist...
, also of Tao Chemical, who was developing a new and broad idea that he called "World Entertainment War". After seeing Brezsny perform a spoken word show to a pre-recorded music tape, they did a jam show together a few weeks later. Brezsny was invited to join the band as lead vocalist and co-writer and together they then adopted the name and the concept, World Entertainment War. Singer Darby Gould
Darby Gould
Darby Marie Gould is an American vocalist best known for her work with Jefferson Starship and World Entertainment War. Over the years she has developed a loyal following based on her passionate, soulful vocals and intense stage presence....
was recruited six months later to join the band as co-lead vocalist. Keyboardist Hannibal left the band shortly and was replaced briefly by Sam Loya, who was then replaced by Amy Excolere. They performed regularly and recorded two albums; a self-titled debut and a follow-up called Give Too Much, consisting of the same recordings with two added tracks recorded at the same time, both released in 1991 by MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
. Guess continued doing live performances with World Entertainment War in a variety of venues until the group disbanded in 1993.
Guess and bassist Daniel Lewis would later join another Santa Cruz-based band, Jivehounds, playing disco and old-school funk with vocalist Dante Dark and keyboardist Derek Sherinian
Derek Sherinian
Derek Sherinian is a rock keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss, and Alice In Chains. He was also a member of Dream Theater and is the founder of the instrumental metal-fusion band Planet X...
. Guess played with them briefly and also was playing at the time with Shrida Honky, Cake, and Violin Sanity with Jim Hurley (musician).
Guess left Santa Cruz in the summer of 1994, and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he would go on to perform as Kevin Guess. He continued playing and recording with a wide variety of other bands and performers; most notably, the Seattle-based Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita is a Seattle, Washington studio band writing partnership between vocalist Tyler Willman and drummer Kevin Guess, catalyzed and engineered by Steve Wilmans, that has featured several other notable players. Their sound is progressive psychedelic alternative rock...
, a writing collaboration he formed with Steve Wilmans and Tyler Willman
Tyler Willman
Tyler Willman, also known as Ty Willman, is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter who lives in Seattle, Washington. He is probably best known for his work with the Seattle-based band Green Apple Quick Step...
, that drew several other notable musicians into the studio with them, including bassist R. Cole Peterson, III, bassist-recording engineer Steve Feasley, saxophonist Skerik
Skerik
Skerik is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, Skerik is a pioneer in a playing style that has been dubbed saxophonics. He is a founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and Skerik's Syncopated...
, Stone Gossard
Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard is an American musician who serves as the rhythm and lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, Josh Freese
Josh Freese
Josh Freese is an American session drummer and songwriter. He is a permanent member of A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, and Devo, having formerly played drums for Nine Inch Nails from late 2005 until late 2008, and for Guns N' Roses from mid-1998 to 2001. Freese has appeared on close to 300 records....
, and John Doe
John Doe (musician)
John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
. That project produced two albums, Calm Down Juanita
Calm Down Juanita (album)
-Personnel:Calm Down Players*Ty Willman*Kevin Guess*R. Cole Peterson, III Esq*Steve WilmansAdditional Players*Mari Anne Braeden*Camellia Clouse*John Doe*Josh Freese*Leigh Stone*Riff Raff*Skerik*Stone GossardProduction personnel*Steve Wilmans...
and Undertown
Undertown (album)
Undertown is the second album by psychedelic rock group Calm Down Juanita, released in 2002.This album featured recording engineer Steve Feasley on bass guitar and once more, special appearances by several other players...
.
He continued his professional work as kevtone; recording or performing in some capacity with many other bands before forming his current project, Seattle-based rock band I Die Every Day, with James Stamper and Bama James Ray, in 2010.
Discography
With Box O'Laffs- Dogbook (1985)
With Camper Van Beethoven
- Telephone Free Landslide VictoryTelephone Free Landslide VictoryTelephone Free Landslide Victory is a 1985 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Projects. It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling".-About:...
(1985) Cooking Vinyl Records
Also appears with CVB on
- Telephone Free Landslide Victory [Bonus Tracks] (1985) Cooking Vinyl Records
- II & IIIII & IIIII & III is a 1986 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-a-Tent and Rough Trade. It was the band's second album.After releasing their debut album, original drummer Anthony Guess left the band, and guitarist Greg Lisher joined...
[Bonus Tracks] (1986) Cooking Vinyl Records - Take The Skinheads Bowling EP (1986) Cooking Vinyl Records
- Hits from the Underground: The 80's (1988) BMG Special Projects
- Camper VantiquitiesCamper VantiquitiesCamper Vantiquities is a 1993 rarities compilation album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on I.R.S. It included the earlier EP Vampire Can Mating Oven and a number of other unreleased tracks, compiled by bassist Victor Krummenacher a few years after the band split up...
(1993) IRS Records, (2004) Spin Art - Camper Vantiquities [Bonus Tracks] (1993) Cooking Vinyl Records, Spin Art
- Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven is a 2000 rarities compilation album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent Records. This album stands as the first product of the members of CVB beginning to collaborate again...
(2000) Pitch a Tent Records - Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years (2002) Spin Art
- Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s UndergroundLeft of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s UndergroundLeft of the Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground is a 4 disc compilation released in 2004. The Replacements' song Left of the Dial was not actually used.- Disc 1 :# R.E.M...
(2004) Rhino Records - Live at the World Café: Volume 20 (2005) WXPN 88.5
- Uncut Presents: John Peel's Festive 15 (2006) Uncut music
- Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty (2008) Cooking Vinyl Records
- Auteur Labels: Independent Project (2010) LTN
With World Entertainment War
- World Entertainment War (1991) MCA Records
- Give Too Much (1991) MCA Records
Also appears with WEW on
- K-Mart Tribal Ballet on Komotion International Compilation Raizer X Records
With Calm Down Juanita
- Calm Down Juanita
- Undertown
Other projects
- I Die Every Day