Buke And Gase

Buke and Gase (formerly spelled Buke and Gass) ( and ) is a Brooklyn-based musical duo named after the musical instruments invented and built by founders Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez; the ''buke'' is a six-string former-baritone ukulele and the ''gase'' is a hybrid guitar-bass.

History

1998: New York City

A native of Willmar, Minnesota; Arone Dyer had been writing songs since 1993, performing at coffee houses, self-accompanied with her Fender Classical acoustic guitar which, as she was not formally educated in guitar playing, she tuned however she liked. In 1998, she competed against other musicians to win an opportunity to open the Lilith Fair in Minneapolis and sell her debut (and, , only) solo album ''Jump'' at the merchandise stall. Being just eighteen years-of-age, and graduating public arts high school that year; Dyer called the experience with the Lilith Fair a whirlwind for which she wasn't prepared. Following the Lilith Fair, her performances' intensity brought on debilitating carpal tunnel, forcing her to stop playing guitar.

This threw me into depression and catapulted me to NYC where I thought I'd be able to run away from being a somewhat-successful musician. Like a super smart teenager would think. umpwas my Mount Etna as a singer-songwriter. Kaboom! Fizzle and regroup.

Dyer took up work as a luthier and bicycle mechanic, running her own workshop on the Lower East Side for several years.

Meanwhile, Maine native Aron Sanchez grew up tinkering with, modifying and creating musical instruments and ancillaries; these efforts became his job after joining the backing band of the New York based Blue Man Group in 1998, in turn becoming their creative director and musical instrument designer. He established his Polyphonic Workshop and recording studio in the Cobble Hill/ Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn.

2000–2004: Dyer and Sanchez meet, form Hominid, disband and part ways, and Sanchez invents the gass

Dyer and Sanchez were introduced in 2000 by mutual music-scene friends because, according to Dyer, they both had the same name, and promptly collaborated on ten songs that Dyer says "have barely, if ever, seen the light of public day." Blue Man Group heard of these collaborations and invited Dyer to provide vocals on their second album '' The Complex'' and tour with them through 2003.

Around this time, Sanchez (bass) with Ian Savage (guitars) and Rami Gabay (drums) were working on improvisational music together, and Dyer would make suggestions to the group, eventually being absorbed into it, thereby forming the post-punk noise band Hominid. They released a couple of EPs and were asked to tour with the Fall but Gabay was deported and, although they did find another drummer, Jarrod Ruby, and toured with the Fall, Dyer and Sanchez, who had been dating, broke up, Hominid disbanded and Dyer quit music and distanced herself from the scene.

Sanchez developed the first iteration of an instrument, that became known as the ''gass'' (), because of a desire to extend the range of the bass guitar. He added guitar strings, custom-built his own pickups and separated the bass and guitar string outputs to their own custom-built amplifiers. This new instrument was field-tested with Proton Proton, the band next formed by Sanchez with Hominid drummer Ruby and Paul Fuster (vocals, guitar, keys).

2008: regrouping as Buke and Gass and debut EP ''+/-''

Dyer and Sanchez hadn't spoken to each other for around four years, and just as Dyer was considering returning to music creation, Sanchez emailed her, asking how her cycling was going and if she'd be interested in joining the remnants of Sanchez' band as singer and guitarist. As a solution for the carpal tunnel Dyer developed as a teenager, that had kept her from providing guitar in Hominid, and because Dyer felt uninspired by the guitar, an instrument she'd played for so long, they converted a four-string baritone ukulele, which is smaller and lighter than a guitar, requiring less physical strain to play, to a six-string with pickups for amplification; thus the ''buke'' () was born.

The drummer left shorty after Dyer joined, leaving Dyer and Sanchez with a buke, a gass and a desire to make more noise than one might expect from a duo. They decided to remain a duo for the beneficial economics and creative control and freedom, and for the convenience of performing locally they worked to keep their equipment compact, being able to pack it all in a sedan. To fill the need for percussion; Dyer created the ''toe-bourine'', from tambourine parts and bells attached to a bicycle pedal toe clip and Sanchez made use of a kick drum modified with an attached tambourine.

Speaking with '' NPR'' in 2010 and ''Make'' in 2012, Sanchez has described how the unique qualities of their instruments have lead to creative decisions they might not otherwise have made:

...especially my instrument. It's not tuned like a normal guitar at all so it's both limiting and challenging but also liberating at the same time. I come up with parts I wouldn't normally think of so in that way it's dictating the music a lot.

Additionally the duo custom-built and utilise effects pedals to manipulate the sound of their instruments, but reject the use of prerecorded and live looping, preferring to take full responsibility for the temporal activation of their gear.

Using Sanchez' studio as a rehearsal space, they developed their songwriting process, recording long improvisational sessions, reviewing the content of multiple sessions at a later date, cherry-picking the parts they like and working them together. Dyer writes the lyrics based on elements from within the improvisations, and other influences.

The duo, now named after their buke and gass, recorded their debut EP ''+/-'' at Sanchez' studio and independently released it in 2008. Interviewing the duo in 2009, Ken Partridge for ''the Deli'' called it "a confounding collection of shifty, unpredictable, unclassifiable indie-rock songs", and Jeff Goodsmith for ''Elitish'' said they had combined "sonic landscapes, outstanding vocals, and a 'wait, this was only done by two people?' instrumental complexity akinga truly unique and exciting listening experience." When Goodsmith asked how they would describe their music, Dyer answered with this "poetic attempt":

it's the exuberant heartbeat of a newly retired schoolhouse janitor (no offense) riding the back of a strong and determined racehorse as it gracefully hurdles through scenes, such as a serene rose-petaled puddle, or a group of surprised topless sun-beat-beach-goers, or a pitchfork and flame-bearing mob blood-hungry for the rabbit who stole all their carrots and cabbage the day before some big holiday. Musically.

2009–2010: signing with Brassland and first album ''Riposte''

Jessica Dessner, sister of Brassland Records founders Aaron and Bryce Dessner, discovered Buke and Gass online and emailed them to arrange a show at the Sycamore Bar in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, mentioning that her brothers were both members of the National. The Dessners attended the show and afterwards invited Dyer and Sanchez to play with them. Sanchez told Laura Snapes for ''the Guardian'' in 2011 that they didn't know who the National was, but "in the end, signing with rasslandwas a pretty easy decision. ...the eclectic mix of people and sounds is cool."

Buke and Gass released their first full-length studio album ''Riposte'' on September 14, 2010.

2011–present

They released their second EP ''Function Falls'' in 2012 and their second album ''General Dome'' in 2013. The EP ''Arone vs. Aron'' was released in 2017 followed by the album ''Scholars'' in 2019. The album ''A Record Of'' with So Percussion was released in 2021 and followed by another collaboration; the EP ''Buke and Gase + Rahrah Gabor'' with rapper Rahrah Gabor was released in 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Riposte'' (2010)
* ''General Dome'' (2013)
* ''Scholars'' (2019)
* ''A Record Of'' (2021)

Extended plays

* ''+/-'' (2008)
* ''Function Falls'' (2012)
* ''Arone vs. Aron'' (2017)
* ''Buke and Gase + Rahrah Gabor'' (2022)

References

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2007
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2013
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2015
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2019
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2021
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2022
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External links

Official website

Official Bandcamp

Buke and Gase: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
(2010)

Hominid on Bandcamp

{{Authority control
Indie rock musical groups from New York (state)
Musical groups from Brooklyn