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Gangi

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"hello friends and internet neighbors."

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.myspace.com/gangimusic

Bio: The music of Los Angeles based duo, Gangi, is influenced by a wide variety of sources: 60’s and 70’s garage and psychedelic rock, the ... (more) sampling culture and beat heavy elements of electronic genres, and the lyrical style and sensibility of American folk music.

Acting as DJs playing off of each other, the duo creates an entirely unique dialogue. As Matt Gangi's dream-like vocals, guitar playing, and melodies meet Lyle Nesse’s electronic samples and intense, tribal drumming, a rich, layered, and new-textural sound is achieved.

Gangi captivates their audience in live performances with eclectic instrumentation and an array of samplers and electronics that litter the stage with cords. Often the duo performs with a mobile sculptural installation of bright hanging pieces made from painted cardboard and recycled colored paper which sparkle on stage.

In the spring of 2008, Gangi self-released their debut recording on Office of Analogue and Digital, a full-length entitled, A. The album was recorded, written, performed, and produced by Matt Gangi alone in an apartment in Brooklyn. During the summer of 2008 Gangi toured nationally, and relocated to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, NY. Gangi has already played extensively throughout the Los Angeles area, performing at The Troubadour, Spaceland, the Manimal festival in Joshua Tree, supporting Ariel Pink, and the Eagle Rock Music festival, co-headlining the main stage of the show with Abe Vigoda, the Crystal Antlers, and Mika Miko. The band has also contributed their cover of, "Fire in Cairo" to the upcoming benefit record, Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to The Cure alongside The Dandy Warhols and Bat For Lashes, among other notable bands. Gangi will be embarking on their second national tour in October of 2008.

Matt Gangi: Matt grew up in Los Angeles. He recorded the album A alone in his mold and asbestos filled, rent stabilized apartment in Brooklyn. Matt was a film student at NYU where he met and studied with the performance artist Karen Finley who persuaded Matt to start recording his music in the DIY NY no-wave spirit that she came from. Matt was also heavily involved in the New York poetry scene, studying with and being influenced by the avant-garde writers Lytle Shaw and Rob Fitterman.

Matt comes from a folk music background, but is influenced by everything from psychedelic rock to Varése to Eno to Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear to underground hip hop to emotive blog writings and corporate slogans littering the google interface.

Lyle Nesse: Lyle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland right outside of D.C. He began collaborating with Matt in Brooklyn during 2007, helping to actualize the sounds Matt was finishing on the first record for live shows and helping to provide protection/support against the toxic mold and asbestos of Matt’s Brooklyn apartment.

Lyle brings a beat-heavy, rhythmic/drumming/beat-making approach to the music. His background and interest in African drumming and the music of West Africa is particularly evident (the highlife and hiplife music of Ghana, and Juju and Afrobeat music from Nigeria) as well as American hip-hop, particularly Bomb Squad, Boogie Down Productions, and more recently the Stones Throw roster: JDilla, Madlib, et al.

The Meeting/Formation: Originally Matt and Lyle met in Eastern Europe - in a bar in Prague and then bumped into each other again one day while wandering around Brooklyn. Lyle brought an SP-606 over to Matt’s mold and asbestos filled apartment and started sampling the beats that Matt was producing on the record in preparation for Gangi’s first live performances. Gangi went on the road together for the first time in the Spring of 2008 touring together and doing everything DIY (as they still continue to do). Between tours, Matt lived in Lyle's basement in Maryland before the band’s eventual tour/relocation to an attic in Los Angeles where they are currently operating from.
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