Music
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There's something peculiar about the music of Kansas City experimental/progressive rock trio Open Systems. The music doesn't hit you as much as crawl up your arm or hover around you like smoke. That may be because the group, with Kurt Lehleitner (vocals/guitars), Charles Moore (guitar) and Joey Dinatale (percussion), manages to channel a little bit of Velvet Underground and Tool into a final product that is eccentric yet intriguing. The group has plans to come to St. Joseph, but you can check them out April 21 in Kansas City at Korruption.
Q. How and when did Open Systems come together?
A. (Lehleitner) Joey, the drummer, and I met in high school. Two social outcasts with a morbid love affair with punk rock. We got together one afternoon, hashed out three songs and never looked back. We met Charlie through a friend of ours, and he is the sonic glue that holds it all together... he's also a wonderful, kind, and giving individual. The first time we all got together the magic flowed and that's that.
Q. Your song structures are anything but typical. How do you all attack a song? How does it come together?
A. I love the singer/songwriter format, but when we get together there's this open vein of creative energy to explore together. To quote Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, 'Buy the ticket and take the ride.' That's what we do. Charlie will go out of his way to be exquisitely innovative. Joey is always just flat fantastic. We follow our instincts. I can't believe it's real. Recently, we've sampled sounds around the house for percussion tracks. Anything from bottle caps to the kitchen sink after the old adage. Life is too short not to use all available avenues of creation. It's all a very grand gift that we like to pay homage to with music.
Q. Do you have any recordings available for purchase?
A. Yes we do. Quite a few actually. You can get a hold of us at www.myspace.com/opensystems.
They're dirt cheap but look and sound great.
Q. What musical projects do you have planned for the future?
A. We're starting up a recording company called The Cellar of Our Minds. We have the equipment and the contacts. We know some amazing artists across the board so we want to help out by putting their records out, too, without contracts so things are always open. Recently we started working on a project called "The Owl, The Frog and The Beekeeper." It's experimental folk rock. You can check it out at the aforementioned site.
Q. Is the group's name symbolic of how you approach music?
A. Yes. Funny you should mention symbolism. The name is a mantra and a tattoo on my chest in the form of a meditating man from the punk rock "do it yourself" day's mindset. Music is my panacea, it's saved my life. The name Open Systems is more a starting point for the music and an idea for those listening — an idea to let things be aberrant because they're beautiful in and of themselves intrinsically. In the rat race grind of the world, people need to remember to stop and smell the roses and look at the weird-looking freaks without judgement and condemnation. Let it all come in, and let it all come down because it can. We will be in St. Joe very soon, we are booking gigs now, so look out. We'd love to meet everyone and especially hear your voice.
By Blake Hannon
St. Joseph News-Press
http://www.stjoelive.com/news/2008/apr/18/artist-week-open-systems/
- St. Joe News Press
Discography
Dremes 2005
Samsara 2006
Open Sytems 2007
Photos
Bio
Open Systems
It’s difficult to say what one might expect at a show by Open Systems.
Traditional song format or spaced out controlled sonic feedback jams with a twist of improvisation. Colorful costumes and lights or eerie acoustic music that sounds like it was dug up at a cemetery. Usually it’s a little bit of everything. It’s difficult as well to link them to any of their influences: The Velvet Underground, The Breeders, Pink Floyd, The Beattles and Led Zepplin. Which given the circumstances is entirely understandable. Charlie Moore, Graceland University Allumni, plays his bass more like Jimi Hendrix than Les Claypool, smooth lows and armor piercing highs that mingle with Joey Dinatale’s pulsing tribal beats and atmosphere crashing cymbals that sounds vaguely familiar to Rush’s Neil Pert. Mix that with Owlzee Cowling’s haunting vocals, eclectic feedback, and melodic guitar and you will have yourself a malitov cocktail sure to set fire anywhere it hits. . The lyrics are the crème of the crop, so to speak. Ranging from different topics like isolation, loneliness, love, and faith, all the way across the spectrum, to politically charged rants reminiscent of Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra. Not to mention the improvisational, spur of the moment “I love you all” spoken word poetic hiccups over soundscape loops that riddle the later part of most of their sets making the audience feel connected with one another and the musicians themselves. Incorporating antics like bending light with smoke and mirrors and samples from movies and television make for an all around entertaining time. They hail from different areas of Missouri. All with their own keen interest and different personalities that really shine thru in the music, making it nearly addictive and cult like for those who are apart of the experience.
They can be reached at www.myspace.com/opensystems
Written by Solomon Lewis New Years Eve at Club Shooters Blue Springs Missouri 2007.
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