Whysall Lane was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band based in San Francisco whose music combines elements of 1990s indie rock and

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

with lyrics inspired by romantic obsession. The band's members were Richard Baluyut, Mikel Delgado and Adam Pfahler.

History

Whysall Lane was originally conceived as an acoustic solo side project for

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

singer/guitarist Richard Baluyut to perform Versus songs, original material, the occasional

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

cover version, and Filipino folk songs. Whysall Lane became Richard's main musical outlet in 2001 after Versus temporarily disbanded. That year Richard Baluyut relocated to San Francisco from New York City, and Whysall Lane played some live shows with

Sooyoung Park Sooyoung Park (born 1967) is an American and South Korean singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the bands Bitch Magnet and Seam. In 1995 he co-founded Foundation of Asian American Independent Media, an art festival dedicated to showcasing ...

playing bass and Richard's brother James Baluyut playing keyboards. Eventually a permanent lineup solidified later that year around Richard Baluyut on vocals and guitar, Mikel Delgado (formerly of

The Little Deaths The Little Deaths was an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997. The band was associated with the 1990s Queercore movement and became part of the San Francisco Bay-Area's late-1990s musical renaissance which spawned bands ...

) on bass and vocals, Adam Pfahler (formerly of

Jawbreaker Jawbreaker may refer to: * Gobstopper, a hard candy with multiple layers Arts and entertainment * ''Jawbreakers'' (album), an album by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Harry "Sweets" Edison * Jawbreaker (band), an American rock band * Jawbreakers (duo) ...

) on drums, and Lorna Lithgow on keyboards. The focus of the group changed to electric instrumentation and original material. Lithgow left the band in 2002, and Jerry diRienzo (who also recorded the band's debut album) briefly joined the group as a lead guitarist in 2003. The band released a version of "During the Mutiny" recorded by Richard and Mikel on a limited edition split single with James' band +/- in early 2002. Recording of the group's debut album started in 2002 but was prolonged owing to band members' family commitments. Apart from work-in-progress versions of some songs streamed on the internet in 2003, the band's only release during the next 3 years was a track on a 2004

TeenBeat Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest) ...

compilation. The band's self-titled debut album was finally released on Adam Pfahler's Blackball Records on February 14, 2006. Richard Baluyut's love of

such as

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

was more in evidence than it had ever been in

, leading to the marketing slogan for the debut album of "Indie Rock for people who hate indie rock". The band's live performances since 2001 had been relatively infrequent and mainly limited to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Many of their live shows were linked to local Asian-American community events or as a support band to Richard's old friends

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew ...

and

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as ...

. In March 2007 it was announced on the band's MySpace page and the Blackball Records siteBlackball Records bulletin board post by Adam Pfahler announcing breakup
Accessed March 29, 2007. that Mikel Delgado had left the band in late 2006, and "the band as you knew it no longer exists".

Trivia

*The band is named after a street in Richard's home town of Detroit.

Discography

*"During the Mutiny" on 7-inch split single with +/- (2002) Devil in the Woods *"Everything Slows Down" on ''2004 TeenBeat Sampler'' (2004)

*''

Whysall Lane Whysall Lane was an American indie rock band based in San Francisco whose music combines elements of 1990s indie rock and classic rock with lyrics inspired by romantic obsession. The band's members were Richard Baluyut, Mikel Delgado and Adam Pf ...

'' (2006) Blackball

References

External links

Official band siteMySpace page for Whysall LaneArticle in Mesh by J. Rachel ReyesThe unofficial site for Versus and its spinoff bands
{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from California Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups disestablished in 2006 1999 establishments in New York (state)