Interview: Cuckoo Byrds

I sat down with The Cuckoo Byrds - one of the newest and more exciting acts on the Denton scene - to ask them a few questions about their burgeoning career as rock stars. The Cuckoo Byrds, made up of David and Lisa from the fantastic Denton vintage store Time Bandits, will be playing their second show together this Saturday at Mabel Peabody's. As one who bore witness to their first performance, I highly recommended you check these folks out.

How long have you been making music together?

Well, we started playing in the summer of 2005, though at the time I had never played an instrument before, so my contribution was very minimal, and due to our living situation, we were unable to really get loud. Our sound back then is completely different from what it is now, I hesitate to use the word evolve, because I actually like what we were doing back then, and I think we are still working toward finding "our sound" if you will.

What was the transition like from practicing to playing your first show?

Playing our first show was incredible! It brought on a whole new level of excitement, and left us wondering why we hadn't played sooner. Of course I was really nervous and I screwed up a bit, but nevertheless, it was truly awesome!

Can you tell us a bit about your equipment?

Some vintage… some not. Electric piano, bass, drums, tape machine, handmade synth, and various other effects/noise makers…

How would you describe your music?

This question I always find really tough to answer. I guess “nasty disheveled noise rounded out with rhythmic repetition” would sum it up, hahah

What bands do you look to as inspiration?

We both could go on forever about bands who have influenced us, and this is very difficult to narrow down, but we’ll try…Can, Amon Duul II, Soft Machine, Get Hustle, Pop Group, Swans, Festival of Dead Deer, Sun Ra, Birthday Party, Art Bears, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, Univers Zero, DNA, the Muffins, This Heat, Arab on Radar, Liquid Liquid, Ornette Coleman, Brian Eno, the Crainium, Art Zoyd……. you get the idea.

What are your thoughts on the local music scene here, from the spectator perspective and now as a performer.

Denton’s music scene itself has been a huge inspiration as we come from an area that is somewhat void of any real creativity in terms of music. Here, it’s the polar opposite, and feels uninhibited. Playing our first show with Orange Coax was insane! We love them! And now that we’ve broke the ice, we’re looking forward to playing with more of our favorites from the area.

What to look forward to in the future?

Due to extreme heat, quite possibly a naked set, haha… got a few shows lined up…we’re working on some new songs, and trying to record. We each have our own side projects developing as well, so it’s been busy, yet excited to see how it all unfolds!