Symmetrical Kickboxing
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Symmetrical Kickboxing

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"A Balanced Roundhouse to the Throat"

Symmetrical Kickboxing has been steadily gaining support and it all seems to be coming together this year. A few weeks ago, they were asked to play a pre-party for the Disco Biscuits in eastern Pennsylvania as well as another invitation to play on New Year’s Eve in Pittsburgh at Mr. Smalls Theater with Lotus. This three-piece of Craig Joseph on bass, Tyler Simmons on keyboards and Matt Segal on drums/E-drums is trying an assortment of new things. Culmination is not only finding success in the music scene, but in the process of what it does. “Without the help of our friends booking shows, selling T-shirts, helping promote, etc., we would never be where we are,” said bassist Craig Joseph. Like its music, the band’s local rise to popularity is one big improvisation.

Graffiti: Tell me a little about your band and how you got started.

Matt Segal: The band originated as a six-piece jam band that would practice on occasion. I met Tyler, our keyboardist, at a free show in Pittsburgh. We hit it off instantly and that night he invited me over to jam with his band later that week. I first came on as a percussion player, for they already had a drummer. When practice would end, and we were done trying to pretend we were the Grateful Dead, I would hop on the kit and Tyler would stick around, and we would jam for hours. But our jams were different. They were riddled with trance, house and break beats. Our jams were so intense with just the two of us that we know we had something special here. Eventually the other members in the band graduated and went on to pursue other things. Tyler and I knew we had something and wanted to continue to create music but we couldn’t do it with just the two of us. We searched for a bass player, and stumbled randomly upon Craig through a friend. All it took was one practice, and Symmetrical Kickboxing was born.

Craig Joseph: So now we’re a three piece again, and things couldn’t be going any better.

Graffiti: What separates you from the rest of the Morgantown scene?

Craig: Firstly, the fact that we’re a trio. Without a guitar player, we are based on solid groove and raw energy (hence our motto “Groove Concentration”). The style of music we play, and the way we go about playing it as well. At live shows, we often play a full hour and a half set without stopping, transitioning from one song to another via improv. I’d guess about 60-70 percent of the music we play live is unscripted, so it keeps things exciting for the crowd and us. Tyler (keys player) and I sit down before a show, look at the set list, pick a corresponding key or progression to “jam” in dependent on what we’re feeling at the time; Segal picks a beat style, whether it be trance, drum ‘n bass or dub, and the rest is up to us to figure out on stage. The greaoweb feeling about being in this band is looking out into the crowd, not seeing a stationary body in the place, then looking around stage and seeing my compatriots grinning like village idiots. That’s when I know we’ve hit whatever plateau it is we’re searching for.

Matt: We have a sound that is unlike anything in Morgantown because of our ability to intertwine so many different elements of music. We can start out playing a very smooth, and grooving funk beat that can easily morph into a very dark and intense trance beat lasting well over 20 minutes. That’s what we do, we jam. We never play the same show twice. We are always looking for new ways to segue, and jam in and out of the many original and choice cover songs we play.

Graffiti: Are you currently working on recording or are you focused more on live shows?

Matt: We eventually would love to get into the studio and lay some tracks down. We have some great original tunes that would transpose very nicely in a studio. For us though, we play in a genre of music that is known more for the live shows than studio albums. If given the chance we would definitely love to get into a studio, but we are a live band. Our music is fueled by energy; specifically the energy of the crowd, and it’s because of that that we will always be a little more focused on developing and expanding our live shows.

Craig: The music we play is based on raw energy, and that energy isn’t easily attained without an audience there to give us feedback.

Graffiti: How has being involved with the West Virginia music scene influenced your music?

Craig: The kind of music we play is perfect for a college town, especially here in Morgantown where not many people have experienced anything close to what we do musically. College kids want to hear something different, and I can’t even begin to count the number of times people have come up to me after a show to tell me they’ve never heard anything like what we do.

Matt: There are some great acts in Morgantown right now. It’s nice to see the Morgantown music scene starting to grow again to where it once was and we love being apart of that. Knowing that we are apart of something that is s - Graffiti Newspaper, WV


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Symmetrical Kickboxing formed at West Virginia University in 2005. While our lineup has changed over the years, our goal has remained the same; to make people dance. We are an energy- fueled trio, driven by the powerful rhythms of Matt Segal and Craig Joseph underneath of dynamic lead lines from the keys of Tyler Simmons.

Through our music, we have been granted the opportunity to share the stage with bands the likes of Lotus, The Bridge, Brothers Past, Telepath, Indobox, Jazzam, and Push.