The Secret Codes Full Band

Golly gosh it's been a long time and so much has happened. Secret Codes is now a full band though still missing a second guitarist. The band now includes Ian Ferguson on Trumpet/Rhodes/synthesizers/vocals, David Kyle on Vocals/guitar/taishokoto, Austin Amstutz on Bass, Jason Drost on drums, and Jessica Wright on flute/sax/vocals.

I have been very lucky in finding the perfect people to join this project and am working with a group of amazing musicians and artists. All the songs have been rewritten to be played live without any electronic elements. Its sounding really incredible and every practice puts a huge smile on my face.

We have been working hard to get the songs ready and now finally have 6 songs down. We will be performing our first show on Jan. 5th here in Portland, Oregon at the Woods where we will be joined by Mia Riddle from NYC and Themes from Portland. We go on at 9pm sharp so be sure to get there a little early.

I can't say much about our plans as a band yet, but am hoping for typical band stuff in the near future like a record, more shows, touring, etc. We are also still looking for a second guitar player. She or he would hopefully be able to play keys and sing or possibly some other instrument like horns or violin. If you know anybody who might be interested in trying out please direct them to www.myspace.com/secretcodesmusic

Ok hope to see everyone soon and I may start posting some tracks and videos on here soon.

2 New Releases on Gypsypop Records

The old Ep Notes on Paper was sent off to Gypsypop today and will be available in the next couple of months. As well I started a new ambient noise project called The Shadow Grounds. The album is based off a Haruki Murakami book "A Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World". I will add a music sample as soon as I figure out how to do so. By the time both albums are available I should be wrapping up things with my newest album for Secret Codes.

Gypsypop Records

Today Secret Codes signed to Gypsypop Records, a small startup label based out of Oakland, CA. I will be rereleasing my first album "Notes on Paper" on this label under the name Secret Codes instead of David Kyle and the Invisibles. As well a new single/ep should be out in the near future that will consist of mainly Chinese/Japanese influenced songs written on the Ghu Zheng and Taishokoto. These albums will be available thru Gypsypop as well as other sites such as itunes. The new record should still hopefully come out early this year but it is taking me a lot longer than I had anticipated.

I decided to change my name to Secret Codes for many reasons. One being is that I really like the name Secret Codes and I like the idea of music being composed as a secret code of feelings. And language and music in a way is just a kind of secret code. It is our own personal language and it is up to the listener to interpret and decipher its code. And in that way it means something different for everyone. The art and music that I enjoy most are the ones that don't give away the answers. It has secrets and layers that unfold over time throughout my own human experience. For me this allows me to feel something unique and something undefinable. It allows me to grow and ponder ideas outside of the definable realm of reality.

The second major reason of changing the name is that I am scared of ego. It is so hard to make art/music and not have an ego. I think they go hand in hand. Anytime you try and gain recognition for something the ego has a heavy hand in it. I don't care how honest or pure you think you are, it does. I struggle with this daily as I don't want my ego to get big. I want to write music from the most honest place of my soul. I don't want to be better or worse than anyone else. I want to be an equal avenue of expression to every other living person on this planet. We are all made of art whether we define it as such or not. I hope that all you people that I connect with in this world will not only except my expression but be willing to share yours as well. Music should be a 2 way thing. If you can listen to me and support me then I can do the same for you.

Ok this is getting long so here is the last reason. It has to do with the ego as well. I want this project to be able to grow and mature and constantly evolve. Therefore It makes more sense for me to have a band name so that I can add members here and there without them feeling that it is just my band or that it is all about me. Although I do all the instrumentation and compositions myself I am hoping that it won't be this way in the future. I am hoping to bring in people with similar ideas but there own creative vision as well in order to add even more depth to everything I am trying to do.

Ok everyone thanks for reading and I am excited for all the new opportunities coming in the near future.

Y La Bamba tonight in Seattle

Tonight my band Y La Bamba will be playing at the High Dive in Seattle. The show is for the Origami Ghosts CD release. We will also be joined by Webelos and Serendipity Music. Origami Ghosts are a unique band who play catchy well thought out early 90's sounding indie rock with a hint of Eastern influence. Great band and good people. Serndipity Music is Cellist Serena Tideman who can be found touring with Mum and Rasputina. Her songs are really beautiful. I'm really excited to be playing with everyone tonight and to see all my Seattle friends. The show starts and 9pm and we are on first so be sure to get there early. Also call me if you want to hang out as we will be in Seattle at 5pm messing around.

And then tomorrow we will be at Backspace an all ages venue in downtown Portland. Again we go on first and the show starts at 9pm.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto is one of my favorite piano players. I never really got into the Yellow Magic Orchestra much. Kind of the Danny Elfman of Japan. I'm sure it was cool in its day. I absolutely love his newer compositions. Here is a video of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence from the album 1996

Also really wish I could have been here:

My goals

So I have decided that my goal surrounding this blog besides sharing music info with you will be to share mainly synchronicities throughout my days, dreams, and anything else interesting I may come across. I will try as hard as I can not to babble or waste your time. Every story I tell you will be completely truthful unless I warn you otherwise.

Synchronicity #1

So sometimes the only reason I leave my house is so that I might run into someone who might give me a job. I imagine someone running after me shouting my name. "David Kyle, David Kyle, wait I have a job for you." Sometimes that is all you can do is to imagine and send your hopes out to the world and wait for it to call your name. And you better be paying attention because you might miss the cues. I really believe these connections exist in our everyday lives and most of us just haven't learned to focus our attention.
Today I went to get a burrito at La Bonita and heard my name being called in the distance. I turned around and it was my friend Tamara running after me to see if I was willing to work for her. The answer was "yes" and now I have a way to pay rent. Thanks

Don't worry my stories will get more interesting.
This is a lie.

My First Blog

Welcome to my blog. This is something I never thought I would do, but its time to catch up with the future age. This page is here to keep you updated on my music, art, stories, and things that inspire me. Bare with me as this will take some getting used to for me.

So this is where I start.
I am unemployed reaching my final week of getting state unemployment. I have no job prospects whatsoever. Each job I apply for I am met with a line out the door of other people applying; some friends and some strangers. I never thought I would live somewhere that you have to fight for a minimum wage job. I've thought about calling it quits with music and art and moving on and just trying to lead a normal life. But all of you who know me know that that could never happen. Music and art is who I am and even if I tried I could never turn my back on that.

I am making the best music of my life and I am still not satisfied. I am way to critical of everything I do. Your psyche is a continuum of parallels and I am my own worst enemy.

The album is getting very close to being finished. I am working on finishing vocals and drum parts and then getting some other musicians in to polish it up. What I plan to do with the record I am not exactly sure. I have about 9 tracks so far for the album which will be called
"The Sun is a Microscope" The track listing thus far is this:

Worlds Tiniest Rainbow
Logical Collapse
Seconds Moving Faster
Horses on a Train
Ratasplat
These Hours
King of the Mountain
Remember to Breathe
Hope

I will be looking for artist to collaborate with for CD design, shirts, and stickers. So if you are interested send me an email.

I have plans of releasing my last album "Notes on Paper" on Gypsypop records based out of Oakland, California. Gypsypop www.gypsypoprecords.com is ran by a friend Cohen who put out the Y la Bamba record "Alida St." recorded by Luz Elena Mendoza. For those of you who don't know, I play guitar for Y La Bamba and we are currently recording a full length album this Feb. The album is being produced by Chris Funk of the Decemberists.

Ok I believe this is all for my first blog. I don't want to overwhelm anyone. I will leave you with this.

Adam Pierce of Mice Parade, one of my favorite musicians, Drums off with Doug Scharin of the infamous June of 44. This gets me really excited about music! Okay embedding has been disabled, but here is the link. Drum off Magic Enjoy!!