Ryland Bouchard
Encyclopedia
Ryland Louis Bouchard is an American vocalist and musician who has gone through many distinct phases spanning between 2002 and 2010 in which he has incorporated aspects of folk, electronica, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Previously known as the Kill Rock Stars
recording artist The Robot Ate Me
, has been labeled by Daytrotter
as “One of the most creative and potentially scary minds of our generation” and by Spin Magazine as "purely artistic, baffling, and almost completely uncommercial".
and played his first shows in San Diego opening for notable touring acts such as Daniel Johnston
, Tegan and Sara
, Metric
, Stars and The Blackheart Procession. Skyscraper Magazine described his first release Skyscraper
as "Quite possibly the year's most arresting experimental pop record, They Ate Themselves is a dizzyingly vibrant trip through death and multi-layered dissonance".
The controversial and highly experimental On Vacation
was released in 2004 in which Adam Gnade
declared "It's not even music outside the margins. Here the margins were never there, and if they were to encroach, The Robot Ate Me
would probably up and croak. " Punk Planet
followed suit describing the album as "A hypnotic two-disc record that will score your twisted nightmares and fanciful dreams." Splendid
summarized "It is impossible to understand a Robot Ate Me album from a written description."
After the release of On Vacation in 2004 he signed with Kill Rock Stars
and toured the US heavily the next few years playing close to 600 shows in the following three years. His shows relied heavily on audience participation and were known for being fairly unpredictable. As part of his shows he would sometimes be dragged across the floor by attendees, wear masks, scream loudly, have the audience play the supporting instruments for his songs without rehearsal, or abruptly leave after playing one song.
The 2005 release of Carousel Waltz brought a set of minimal American folk songs. The album was lauded by Babysue
as a "strangely compelling and uplifting vision of how love affects a person. Soft and focused, these unusual tunes are simultaneously accessible and peculiar. The Robot Ate Me
remains one of the most unique acts on the planet. Brimming with credible substance, Carousel Waltz is yet another killer album from an artist who just keeps getting better and better with time..."
2006 brought the avant-garde "Good World" which consisted mostly of sparse clarinet lines mixed with minimal percussion and falsetto vocals by Bouchard. Pitchforkmedia asked "Has someone bludgeoned frontman Ryland Bouchard?". And Tinymixtapes declared: "Not since the glory days of punk has an album come and gone so fast and left one with more questions than answers."
. Only 500 copies of the set were made.
In early 2009, Bouchard completed a Take-Away Show video session for La Blogothèque where he performed songs from Seeds
.
The 2009 double vinyl release Cowbirds and Cuckoos was released on November 15, 2009 by Swim Slowly Records. The release consists of two hand screen-printed records and photography by Ryland Bouchard. In February 2010 Swim Slowly Records released a digital EP "Better This Than Nothing", a collection of B-Sides from "Cowbirds and Cuckoos".
. Using mostly a Braun Nizo S580 and Kodak Ektachrome 64T film the videos include footage from various locations throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States. Completed without digital effects the films rely heavily on time lapse, slow motion and other experimental filmmaking techniques.
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
recording artist The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
, has been labeled by Daytrotter
Daytrotter
Daytrotter is a website for the recording studio Horseshack, which hosts recording sessions with many popular and typically upcoming indie music acts, although it works with local bands in the Illinois area as well. The sessions can be compared to that of a radio station's lounge recordings, where...
as “One of the most creative and potentially scary minds of our generation” and by Spin Magazine as "purely artistic, baffling, and almost completely uncommercial".
The Robot Ate Me
In 2002 he released, They Ate Themselves, his first record as The Robot Ate MeThe Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
and played his first shows in San Diego opening for notable touring acts such as Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
, Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
, Metric
Metric (band)
Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band has also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles...
, Stars and The Blackheart Procession. Skyscraper Magazine described his first release Skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
as "Quite possibly the year's most arresting experimental pop record, They Ate Themselves is a dizzyingly vibrant trip through death and multi-layered dissonance".
The controversial and highly experimental On Vacation
On Vacation
On Vacation was The Robot Ate Me's third album, released in 2004 by the band's frontman, Ryland Bouchard's label Swim Slowly Records, then reissued in 2005 by 5 Rue Christine...
was released in 2004 in which Adam Gnade
Adam Gnade
Adam Gnade is a San Diego, California-born American musician and author currently living on a farm in rural Kansas. In his bio he defines his music as "talking-songs", which he describes as mixing the spoken vocals of talking blues songs with country music, Appalachian folk, noise, psychedelic...
declared "It's not even music outside the margins. Here the margins were never there, and if they were to encroach, The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
would probably up and croak. " Punk Planet
Punk Planet
Punk Planet was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering music, Punk Planet also covered visual arts and a wide...
followed suit describing the album as "A hypnotic two-disc record that will score your twisted nightmares and fanciful dreams." Splendid
Splendid
Splendid was a musical duo featuring Angie Hart and Jesse Tobias, who at the time were also husband and wife.-History:The duo met in Canada, August 1996, when Australian band Frente!, fronted by Hart, arrived to play over two weeks of support dates for Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill tour,...
summarized "It is impossible to understand a Robot Ate Me album from a written description."
After the release of On Vacation in 2004 he signed with Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
and toured the US heavily the next few years playing close to 600 shows in the following three years. His shows relied heavily on audience participation and were known for being fairly unpredictable. As part of his shows he would sometimes be dragged across the floor by attendees, wear masks, scream loudly, have the audience play the supporting instruments for his songs without rehearsal, or abruptly leave after playing one song.
The 2005 release of Carousel Waltz brought a set of minimal American folk songs. The album was lauded by Babysue
Babysue
baby sue is a website and a cartoon character created by artist,author and one-man pop band LMNOP, also known as dONW7, in 1982. The character first appeared in LMNOP concert programs and magazines given out at live shows...
as a "strangely compelling and uplifting vision of how love affects a person. Soft and focused, these unusual tunes are simultaneously accessible and peculiar. The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me
The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
remains one of the most unique acts on the planet. Brimming with credible substance, Carousel Waltz is yet another killer album from an artist who just keeps getting better and better with time..."
2006 brought the avant-garde "Good World" which consisted mostly of sparse clarinet lines mixed with minimal percussion and falsetto vocals by Bouchard. Pitchforkmedia asked "Has someone bludgeoned frontman Ryland Bouchard?". And Tinymixtapes declared: "Not since the glory days of punk has an album come and gone so fast and left one with more questions than answers."
Solo work
In 2008 Ryland Bouchard released Seeds a hand-crafted limited edition box set with close to two hours of music (divided between an A-Sides cd/vinyl and a B-Sides cd), a DVD of super 8 videos, four 7" vinyl records, letter-pressed lyrics, a hand silk-screened shirt, bag, poster, and a set of illustrations by his longtime collaborator Daniel GibsonDaniel Gibson
Daniel Hiram Gibson is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. His nickname, "Boobie," was given to him by his mother. He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers ever since 2006 when he was drafted in the second round...
. Only 500 copies of the set were made.
In early 2009, Bouchard completed a Take-Away Show video session for La Blogothèque where he performed songs from Seeds
SEEDS
SEEDS is a voluntary organisation registered under the Societies Act of India....
.
The 2009 double vinyl release Cowbirds and Cuckoos was released on November 15, 2009 by Swim Slowly Records. The release consists of two hand screen-printed records and photography by Ryland Bouchard. In February 2010 Swim Slowly Records released a digital EP "Better This Than Nothing", a collection of B-Sides from "Cowbirds and Cuckoos".
Super 8
With the release of "Seeds" in 2008 Bouchard also included a DVD worth of videos shot exclusively on Super 8 film. In 2009 he also released a series of Super 8 videos for the "Cowbirds and Cuckoos" release on YoutubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Using mostly a Braun Nizo S580 and Kodak Ektachrome 64T film the videos include footage from various locations throughout Europe, Mexico and the United States. Completed without digital effects the films rely heavily on time lapse, slow motion and other experimental filmmaking techniques.
Albums/EPs
- They Ate Themselves (Swim Slowly, 2002) as The Robot Ate Me
- Live at the CBC (Swim Slowly, 2003) as The Robot Ate Me
- On VacationOn VacationOn Vacation was The Robot Ate Me's third album, released in 2004 by the band's frontman, Ryland Bouchard's label Swim Slowly Records, then reissued in 2005 by 5 Rue Christine...
(Swim Slowly, 2004) as The Robot Ate Me - On VacationOn VacationOn Vacation was The Robot Ate Me's third album, released in 2004 by the band's frontman, Ryland Bouchard's label Swim Slowly Records, then reissued in 2005 by 5 Rue Christine...
(5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine is a semi-defunct Olympia, Washington based independent record label, formed as a spin-off from the Kill Rock Stars label in 1997...
, 2005, Reissue) as The Robot Ate Me - Carousel Waltz (5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine is a semi-defunct Olympia, Washington based independent record label, formed as a spin-off from the Kill Rock Stars label in 1997...
, 2005) as The Robot Ate Me - Good World (5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine5 Rue Christine is a semi-defunct Olympia, Washington based independent record label, formed as a spin-off from the Kill Rock Stars label in 1997...
, 2006) as The Robot Ate Me - Seeds Box Set (Swim Slowly, 2008)
- Cowbirds and Cuckoos (Swim Slowly, 2009)
- Better This Than Nothing EP (Swim Slowly, 2010)
Compilation Appearances
- Translation. Music. 3, Substandard (2003) - "Plane"
- Yeti 3, Yeti (2005) - "We Were Humans"
- Sur La Mer Samp Le Mer, 5RC / Kill Rock Stars (2006) - "Lynching Luncheon"
- Winter Holiday Album, 5RC / Kill Rock Stars (2006) - "Wonderland"
- ESOPUS 15, ESOPUS (2010) - "Hope Rides Alone"
Past members and contributors
- Kevin Michael Mayfield (Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica, Slide Guitar)
- Alan Lechusza (woodwinds and orchestral arrangements on Carousel Waltz and Seeds)
- Daniel GibsonDaniel GibsonDaniel Hiram Gibson is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. His nickname, "Boobie," was given to him by his mother. He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers ever since 2006 when he was drafted in the second round...
(completed the artwork for all the albums) - Jay Arner (Drums)
- Evan Kuhlmann (Contrabassoon)
- David Greenberg (drums)
- Are-Jay Hoffman (bass/violin)
- William Haworth (drums, horns, synthesizers)
- Edan Rosenberg (helped write lyrics for Carousel Waltz)
External links
- The Robot Ate Me at Kill Rock StarsKill Rock StarsKill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
- [ The Robot Ate Me] at Allmusic
- Swim Slowly Records - Label owned by Bouchard