Kyle Van Band a product of eclectic influences

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 13, 2008 1:54 PM PDT ∞

All you need to know about Kyle Van Buskirk is that on his band's MySpace page, he lists as his musical heroes (among many, many, manyothers) both rock superstars U2 and obscure acoustic guitar virtuoso John Fahey.

OK, that's not really all you need to know, but it does go a long way in explaining the intriguing blend of influences that makes up the Kyle Van Band.

In an e-mail exchange, Van Buskirk (whose Kyle Van Band plays Friday night at E Street Cafe in Encinitas) described his attraction to the music of both Fahey and U2: "John Fahey's right up there on the top of my list with Brian Eno and modal (scale-based) music. I just turn on that stuff and let it interact with my subconscious. I guess those are all very different types of music. Modal music makes me crazy like I want to dance, Eno taps into my emotional core, and Fahey is soothing. It's as if he bridges the gaps between everything: blues, Celtic, folk and modal. I need to hear it all.

"As for Bono, the world would be a very different place without him. Perhaps he became who he is because he saw the need for it."

Perhaps Van Buskirk's eclectic set of influences goes back to his childhood, growing up in Huntington Beach and then Encinitas:

"I remember loving big-band jazz, the Beach Boys, ragtime, and of course the Doors, the Beatles, U2 and even Olivia Newton-John. As a 6-year-old, I had a huge crush on her.

"My mom loved the '80s. She'd tape music videos. I remember watching A-ha, Billy Joel, Dire Straits and 'Dave TV' with David Lee Roth. As an 8-year-old, I was hassled by some teenagers because I thought Dire Straits was a better band than The Cure. So I guess I was always serious about music.

"My dad would blast Verdi. He'd play "William Tell Overture," and my siblings and I would run around the house, acting out the various movements. We went insane for classical music."

It wasn't just recorded music around the Van Buskirk household, either.

"My dad worked a lot, but if we'd beg him, he'd play the banjo and pump organ."

Nor did Kyle wait long before following his father's footsteps as amateur musician.

"I've been told that I was always a performer. When I was 2, my parents lived with my grandparents to simplify things while my dad finished medical school. My aunts and uncles were still in high school or college, so I'd put on little shows, singing songs from shows like 'Happy Days.'

"After my parents' divorce, my dad remarried and suddenly, I was in a Greek choir at a Greek church. My new uncles would direct me. It was definitely culture shock, but really fun and mysteriously cool.

"As a teen and preteen, I really liked hard-core punk, and I got in trouble for it with my stepmom. I tried to compensate by listening to hard-core Christian music for a while, which looking back, seems pretty scary."

Making the move from loving music and singing around the house (or in church) to fronting a band was not a smooth process, as Van Buskirk described it: "I was really shy outside of the home. My first stage performance that I volunteered for was lip-syncing 'Weird Al' Yankovic in the sixth grade.

"I guess punk rock and high school is what really changed things for me. I used to sing while I ran in cross-country practice. That actually helped my asthma and made both running and singing easier. So then I jumped onstage at an Etc show and told them to play 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' They later became Switchfoot.

"A huge turning point for me, though, was grad night at San Dieguito (High School), because I did some karaoke and covered Nirvana, and suddenly this football player's girlfriend gave me her number and asked where I'd been hiding. I hadn't realized I was! So of course, I had to sing another. I couldn't leave the stage!"

In college, Van Buskirk was in different bands, and continued to write his own songs ---- something he began in first grade. He wrote a song for his grandmother when she was dying, and when he heard one of his professors whistling the song on campus a few days after he'd played it for him, he said he realized he was onto something.

As for his current effort, the Kyle Van Band, Buskirk said the lineup has been together since last year and has completed a live EP that should be out soon.

"The Kyle Van Band's been a long time coming. I've always loved so many kinds of music, I wasn't sure that I could find or form a group that would be interested in playing it all. After I got back from working on a documentary in Africa, I started doing some open mics and joined up with players for live jam sessions and gradually shared more of my songs.

"I actually met most of them off Craigslist. I've played with a lot of bands over the years, but it seemed like want ads were the best way to stay focused and find just the sort of players I was looking for.

"All of our current players joined in 2007 and have extensive musical backgrounds. Peter Vanags, our bass player, who joined last spring, has been playing bass since he was a kid. His experience with a bow comes in handy on songs like 'The Last Gentleman' or 'Shannon MacLaughlin.' Brett McCarty, our sax, flute and harmony expert, is also a music teacher. He joined last summer. He's probably the funniest guy in the band. I guess working with high school kids demands that, or cruelty. Mike Mitchell, our most recent addition and drummer, joined last October and comes from a very musical family. His dad, Charlie Mitchell, still has a working band called the Mitchells back in Fort Worth, Texas.

"Our players all definitely have their own histories and experiences that really influence what they do and the way they play our songs. Sometimes I like that. Sometimes it's magical ---- and then occasionally I do get stubborn. As with any craft, sometimes you need to fight for your vision, but I don't think that makes things any easier."

The Kyle Van Band

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: E Street Cafe, 128/130 W. E St., Encinitas

Admission: Free

Info: (760) 230-2038 or estreetcafe.com

Web: myspace.com/kylevanband

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