Hey Guy

"I tracked down three of the five members of the band Hey Guy in the basement of the Mercury Lounge after their Friday night show. It was their third show at the venue, which Boris described as "one of the few spots in the city that still has a scene. People come here because they expect good music, which is very rare in the city these days … That's why we like playing here, 'cause it has prestige.

Leo: `I lived in the East Village for six years. Mercury's been very kind to us - we almost pack it every time we come. A lot of my friends are here, a lot of Boris' friends are here, they come from all over the place. It's a good spot, it's got a good sound.`" - The Daily News

HEY GUY - {New York City) fronted by singer/songwriter Russian born- Boris Pelekh, a member of Nickelodeon's "The Naked Brothers" band. HEY GUY's sound is a mix of modern rock with catchy melodies and artistic sensibility that doesn't take itself too seriously. Their first EP, How To Kill Me, has caught the attention of several top producers, while online, HEY GUY continues to infect the net with its fresh sense of humor via Youtube. Check out the HEY GUY channel, which features a video for their cover of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?" endorsed by Lady Gaga herself. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-jjpzWoeMA..http://www.myspace.com/myheyguy - www.blogtalkradio.com

I recently spoke with Boris Pelekh the lead vocalist and guitarist for the modern rock band Hey Guy. The band's new self-titled disc is packed to the gills with Infectious melodies and I do not feel it will take long for it to be noticed and when it does, expect to hear it flooding the airwaves. Bottom line, this is a really good, high-energy, modern rock record that is well worth picking up when it is released in June.

How are you doing Boris?
Boris:

I am doing excellent, thanks.

What have you been up to?
Boris:

We are working on a new self-titled Hey Guy record that will be out in May.

What has been the response to your last EP?
Boris:

It has been great. Originally, I did everything on my own including producing but the response was so great that I decided to put together a band.

Give me some insight into the name of the band?
Boris:

It is sort of a dichotomy. It is a playful name; however, the music is very serious. So basically, the name represents a kind of global feeling of musical expression that is not taken too seriously on the outside. For example our live show would be full of really well played, well thought out music, however we will be jumping around and having a good time.

I have heard the EP. Is the new material going to be similar to that release?
Boris:

We are actually redoing four tracks off of the EP and then we are adding one new track. I did the EP on my own and we decided to redo it now as a band.

You guys keep things pretty interesting thematically. Can you talk about some of the subjects you tackle on the new record?
Boris:

Thematically a lot of the tunes deal with philosophical thoughts, as far fetched as that may sound with a band named Hey Guy. Some of the songs are thoughtful love songs, not your typical love songs though. The overall theme of this album is a sort of feel good album, to lighten up and feel better about your life.

Are there any tracks on the new disc that are personal favorites or that have good stories behind them?
Boris Yeah, my favorite song on this disc is a song called’ “In Your Head.” The song is about psychological issue that I have dealt with all of my life. It is not song about life being so terrible I want to kill myself. It is more a song that says I have gone through this and I know how to deal with this and so can you, it is an uplifting song. It was really interesting because the song was drawn up as a sort of as a very, very slow acoustic song and it turned into a very pumping rock track. Every time we play it live, everyone is really excited to hear it.

I know you just said that you are in the studio now. How quick are you in the studio? Can you usually knock things out in a couple of takes?
Boris:

Yes and no. Everybody in the band is a qualified musician. When I was putting together the band after recording the demo on my own I just got the best guys that I knew in town. That is basically what the band still is today. In a way, we can learn the material super fast and get through stuff really quickly however we are also very very critical and picky.

When you are recording, do you settle on suitable tones fairly quickly or do you tend to obsess over them?
Boris:

There is always kind of a battle amongst us when it comes to this because we are all musicians and if there is an imperfection we all want to fix it but if you fix them all you take away the rawness of it... so it is always a kind of battle amongst ourselves.

What is the toughest lesson you have learned since the recording of the EP?
Boris:

What I learned is I definitely want to be a lot more organic in the recording process rather than be really modern and multi-track our music. For this record, we all went into a room as a band together rather than recording one part at a time and stacking them on top of each other. The thing about our record is it sounds exactly like our live show. One piece of music from our live show sounds exactly the way we recorded it.

Are there any contemporary bands that you admire?
Boris:

How contemporary do you consider Radiohead?

How much roadwork do you have planned for 2010?
Boris:

Tons. Once this record is finished we are going to be on the road all of the time.

Are you looking to tour with anyone in particular?
Boris:

I do not want to name anyone now until we know for sure.

What is your musical background?
Boris:

I grew up playing classical guitar from a very early age. In my early teens, I picked up the electric guitar and started playing a lot of rock. In my late teens, I went to Berkley College Of Music and studied jazz and composition and all of that stuff. Then I started a band and did a bunch of crazy things that led me to here and now.

Any closing words?
Boris:

Check out the record. It is going to make a stamp on musical history. There are a lot of great musicians playing on it and there is something on here for everyone.

[ END ] - www.puregrainaudio.com

Hailing from the city that never sleeps, your "Hey Guy" has arrived!
Brainchild of brilliant and charismatic singer/songwriter Boris Pelekh, Hey Guy is that band seldom heard today: a modern rock act with catchy melodies and artistic sensibility that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Their first EP, How To Kill Me, has caught the attention of several top producers, while online, Hey Guy continues to infect the net with its fresh sense of humor via Youtube. Check out the Hey Guy channel, which features a video for their cover of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?" endorsed by Lady Gaga herself. - www.rocksoff.com

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Hey Guy vocalist Boris Pelekh tells us about title track from their EP "How To Kill Me". We now turn it over to Boris for the story:

During a brief intermission in my music journey I found myself toying around with the idea of starting a metal project. I quickly sat down and started laying out material. One of the first songs that I wrote had a really heavy verse and somehow a really pretty modal chorus. I sent it over to a friend that was offering to do vocals for the metal project and he replied that the ideas were good but way too different to all be in one song.

About half a year later I was doing work on the record that is now the "hey guy EP". I was browsing my song notebook for material that I had written through the years. I found the chorus that I originally wrote for the metal project and was absolutely stunned at how beautiful it was and immediately started shaping it into a song. That became the chorus of "how to kill me"

The verse of the song was developed quickly during a session of playing around with my effects pedals. I used to love to use harmonizers on guitar back in my fusion days but had never messed around with them for rock. I threw up a harmonizer and a delay and out came pouring the riff and the melody that would be the verse for how to kill me. It took me many hours to tie the Chorus and the verse together, they were in different keys but I knew that they belonged together emotionally(i sort of feel that way with most girls). After hours of tangling harmonies I figured out the transition and it evoked so much emotion in me that I went outside and ran around the block 3 times.

Later reviewing all my new material I voted "how to kill me" as my favorite composition of mine. The lyrical content of the song was very apparent to me. I was reading a lot of Kurt Vonnegut at the time and learning insane amounts of philosophy. Since "how to kill me" was my favorite composition I decided that it would be perfect music bed for a philosophical analogy of what is that is "me". I called it "how to kill me" because the song is a backwards explanation of how to take away certain factors that would amount me to nothing.

The bridge of the song came about in a production session with my brother Leo. We had both decided that the song needs to climax into a rich rock pinnacle before it can properly say what it is trying to say.

"how to kill me" was recorded for the original EP and is being re-released on the first "hey guy" self-titled LP. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the band and album - right here! - www.antimusic.com