Photo by Jude Mooney
Band of the Month: Ultralash
California’s Ultralash runs off singer-songwriter Karry Walker’s independent artistic appeal
By Jessica Blumensheid
Published: July 10th, 2008 | 12:16pm
WHO IS IT
Fronted by vocalist-multi-instrumentalist Karry Walker, Ultralash includes Ricky Carter on drums, Michael Mellender on trumpet and percussion, and Met Myles Boisen on guitar, bass, and percussion.
LOCATION
San Francisco Bay Area
FILE UNDER
A mouthwatering concoction of ambient, trip-hop cake, topped with enigmatic, raw porch-folk fudge, sprinkled with quirky, pop-electronic sugar.
IN A NUTSHELL
Take off your shoes and stay a while. Ultralash isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, or at least that’s what Walker thinks. Perfect for serenading a hot afternoon spent on the back porch with an ice-cold lemonade, Ultralash embrace their bleak, independent mentality to the fullest.
As the main lady behind Ultralash, Walker began her singer-songwriter career as a solo artist in the ‘90s. She released three of her own records before Ultralash popped into the picture. Her own intuitive musical drive combined with fellow creative minds in her city, Walker finds most of her artistic inertia constantly driven by the Bay Area music scene. “I feel fortunate to be a part of a creative collective of composers and musicians, artists that are influenced by one another’s work,” Walker says. “And there’s always some new and quirky idea sprouting up from the pavement, growing legs, collecting souls.”
Within this stock of creative minds includes the other half of Ultralash. Walker parents Ultralash with her friends’ helpful hands, fusing together her written work with their mostly improv-driven designs. But despite their progressive musicianship, Ultralash rarely tours, resorting more frequently to the studio.
Similar to other Oakland area musicians, making original, creative music isn’t where the money lies, Walker explains. Instead, the charm of making music she loves is a larger incentive than money.
“It doesn’t feel like work,” Walker says. “It’s sort of like cream because I just have a blast making it. I can get lost in the studio for hours. It doesn’t matter if you make money or not. You have to stay true to your sole work.”
True to its name, Ultralash spells Walker’s DIY, music mentality. While smoking a cigarette on her porch, Walker thought of the name when watching a young girl ride by on a low-ride, banana-seat bicycle. “She wore a backpack that was way too big for her,” Walker says. “She had long red hair and freckles. She was this perfectly cool little girl. One day as I watched her, it just occurred to me that she was so perfectly ultralash — like a super girl which is what girls are before they become Maybelline.”
From that nostalgic moment, Walker embraced the uncompromising youth of a 10-year-old girl and flavored her music project with such inspiration. When listening to Ultralash, the word “playtime” tickles the brain. Displaying Walker’s affinity for vintage keyboards and guitars, Ultralash is lathered with several instruments, ranging from an Optigan organ and toy accordions to a 1933 National El Trovador guitar and noise machine, “the Ouijachord.”
“I call it the Ouijachord because you play it a lot like you’d play with your hands on an Ouija board,” Walker says. “[It] perverts the original circuitry into overdriven, mutant versions of the original sounds. Part of what makes them so evil is that you can still hear the original, cheesy electronic harp tones.”
With such instruments, Walker garnishes Ultralash with shrill harmony, honky-tonky chimes, abrasive noise, and smooth, trippy beats. Altogether, these quirky nuances hone together, illustrating Ultralash’s raw, lavishing originality.
GOALS
Due to recording Ultralash’s latest release, Foamy Lather, Walker distanced herself from Oakland’s creative music culture. To get back into the groove, Walker will attend an “improv hootinany,” where several improv musicians will meet to create illustrious music from scratch.
Walker and the rest of Ultralash will continue to record future albums. On the side, Walker will reunite with her singer-songwriter roots and record another acoustic Karry Walker album.
MORE INFO
Ultralash’s official Web site
Ultralash’s Myspace page
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Ultralash is Venus Zine's "Band of the Month" for July 2008. Visit Venus Zine’s Sonic Bids page to submit your profile for coverage consideration.
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