Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"You are truly a craftsman, deeply impassioned with your musical and lyrical message."
- B.C. Priest (Tucson, AZ)
"...the mix is flawless. DIY projects like this aren't supposed to sound this good."
- Robert P. (Smyrna, TN)
"This unique blend of hard rocking drive supported by a purposeful techno rhythm section is sure to capture your attention."
- Jeremy R. (Tucson, AZ)
"'Ryan's Last Drive'...oh god, Dave,
it's like you reached in and read pages out of all of our diaries."
- Bill S. (Austin, TX)
"I just wanted to say that I had my mp3's on random and a song came up and I'm like...this is awesome. Who the hell is it? Lo and behold it was 'I'm Still Here.' The song rocks and has clicked with me. Great stuff!"
- Listener from a message board - projectvector.com
"...Reality Show is a huge step forward. Gastambide handles keyboards, programming, bass, and vocals. This blends the depth and complexity of progressive rock with modern sounds and approach. The songs are stronger and flow more naturally, and everything is more cohesive. If Rupert Hine made an album today, it might sound like Reality Show. For one thing, Hine’s and Gastambide’s voices and singing style are similar, but the marriage of complex rhythm tracks with great songwriting is also something they both excel at. For those who don’t know Rupert Hine, you may have seen his name as a producer (Rush, Saga, Anthony Phillips, The Fixx, etc.). After two albums under his own name in the 1970’s, he was the main force in Quantum Jump (two albums in the mid-70’s), after which he released three albums under his own name in the early 80’s, three more under the Thinkman name in the late 80’s, another album under his name in 1994, plus the Better Off Dead soundtrack in 1985. Perhaps a more progressive-minded Thomas Dolby is another good reference point, and yet there are Project Vector tracks that are unlike either of these artists. In any event, Immovable Mover represents Gastambide’s influences (mostly from the 1980’s), while with Reality Show, Gastambide has found his voice." - Larry Kolota - Kinesis Progressive Rock CDs www.kinesiscd.com
Review of Reality Show 4-15-05
by Kirk, Community Link Fresno/KFCF 88.1FM
"Project Vector is a recording name for Dave Gastambide, who received some
critical notice when his "Immovable Mover" came out in 2003. On it he admitted
to influences of Rush and Yes. Now he's back with a new name, new - stronger
- voice, and shows us how bands such as the two mentioned above plus maybe
Duran Duran and Depeche Mode SHOULD sound in the 21st century. The new
album, Reality Show, is laden with electronica sound and great bass lines, often
leaving you to wonder, "Haven't I heard this somewhere before?" But you only
wish you had heard it earlier! There are gems and hits here: "Out of the Closet"
reminds me of Rosetta Stone's "Adrenaline," not just because of Dave's voice,
but also the lyrics, "Surge of adrenaline - rush of fight or flight." "I'm Still Here"
should be envied by BT...it's a sexy venture into the realm of electronic
ballads. "Ryan's Last Drive" is heart tugging, it simply has to get on your playlist
and get everyone to listen to it: "Some say I'm screwed up/Others just think that
I'm evil/This should make them happy/One more queerboy in the ground."
"Reality Show" is infectious and shows good pop music needn't be crap. "Turn
it Off" starts with a chorus and doesn't really let you relax with its pulsing bass -
and then it's back to the chorus, where I detect good old Duran Duran, except
the keyboards in it are more prog rock...and then a bit of techno beat in the
background. In other words, it's something Dave has made his own. In a
low-key song such as "In a Perfect World," his vocals range from deep and
coldly calculated to passionate. The closing "Acid Rain" is another moody song,
at times barely giving him melody to sing over, just to kick in a rock guitar
driving up the tempo, to finally settle in another catchy chorus. By the
way...haven't I heard those keys (at 4:45 into the song) in some a-ha material?
Hmmmm! This album hasn't left my CD player in a couple of weeks. It should
stay in yours too - for a long time."
"Out of the Closet," "Reality Show," and "Turn it Off" were featured on the April
15, 2005 broadcast on KFCF/88.1FM - Fresno, CA.
- Community Link - Fresno, CA
Discography
Reality Show (March 2005)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
PROJECT VECTOR is a one-man outfit based in northeast Michigan with plans to incorporate other musicians and begin playing live shows following the release of the next CD in 2006.
BIO: "THE QUINTESSENTIAL LATE BLOOMER…”
Project Vector mastermind Dave Gastambide took an unusually long time to “find himself.” Struggle and frustration marked his teens and the better part of his twenties, as he tried again and again to realize his musicial aspirations without success and grappled with his sense of identity, artistically and otherwise. Sometimes, though, it's the ones who get it together later in life who produce the most interesting work - music informed by years of life experience and with an undercurrent of desperation and genuine hunger not heard in the work of those for whom everything falls into place at a young age.
Like so many aspiring musicians, Dave spun his tires for years in low-profile cover bands that never evolved into suitable vehicles for original material. He finally left the bar scene at the age of twenty-three and attempted to record a solo album. The result was disappointing and the album was never released. He tried again two years later and again the finished product fell short. Too determined (or maybe just too thick headed) to quit, Dave embarked on a third attempt at recording his debut solo album. It proved to be a long and frustrating journey, and midway through, the project stalled out completely when Dave found himself facing a personal crisis that had been building for years while he had buried his head in other things and tried to ignore it.
Dave had known on some level that he was gay since before he even hit his teens...but the dread of possible rejection by family and friends and then, later, the fear of what being openly gay might do to his hopes of a musical career had driven him to choke off that whole aspect of himself. Once he let go of the secret and finally felt at peace with himself, he was in a far better state of mind to go after his ambitions.
Emboldened by his newfound honesty, Dave finished the final stages of recording his new CD, which was released in April 2003 as "Immovable Mover."
His elation at releasing the new disc quickly faded. As a man who had finally gotten a handle on himself so late in life, he realized the very Rush-like progressive rock album wasn't necessarily the kind of music he wanted to make anymore. Coming out of the reclusive existence he'd lived for so long had put him back in touch with what was going on in music in the here and now, and he was eager to tap into the energy of modern techno and electronica and do something more cutting edge and immediate.
Feeling the need to wipe the slate clean, Dave adopted the name "Project Vector" for his new musical endeavors. The next year and a half that Dave spent recording the REALITY SHOW album proved to be the most wildly creative and experimental time in his life. No longer repressed, he began writing about more personal and sometimes controversial subjects. Taking shape on his computer were songs dealing with school violence, gay teen suicide, Internet addiction, online pornography, and the supposedly “individualistic“ punk boys whose rebellion is just “conformity in disguise.”
Musically, while some of the complex arrangements and adept playing of his prior work remained, his sound was becoming more modern and accessible to younger listeners. Armed with an arsenal of the latest software synthesizers and samplers, Dave made each new song a thrill ride of cutting-edge synthesizer sounds and techno-influenced grooves, while "keeping it real" with his aggressive bass guitar playing and honest, impassioned vocals.
"Reality Show is a huge step forward," says Larry Kolota of Kinesis, a web-based CD retailer respected in the online progressive rock community. “With [this album], Dave has found his voice.”
Dave is now writing and recording songs for the follow up to Reality Show, with plans to begin performing live at last after the next CD is released.
Project Vector's DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO, "Out of the Closet," is available to view at the official website, www.projectvector.com
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