Kyle Schlenker is a prominent figure in modern mathcore and screamo music. While best known for the down-tuned guitar and emotive vocal mix of Vs Self, which played at Coachella this year, Schlenker also has a side project titled Gayt. Gayt, a Los Angeles mathrock duo, packs layers of twinkly and spacey, yet intricate guitar atop frantic and rhythmic drum performances. The vocals in Gayt are less screamy, more subdued and scattered throughout the band’s repertoire. Gayt just released debut album Infinite Anything, and are set to perform at the Coachella Valley Collective on Friday, Sept. 12. Tickets are $13 at the door. For more information, visit www.instagram.com/noisepile.
What was the first concert you attended?
I think I went to one of my brother’s local-band shows before this, but my first real “concert” was seeing blink-182 on their tour supporting Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
What was the first album you owned?
As a kid, I had a Walkman with some cassettes that were mostly books on tape or soundtracks from Disney movies or music made for children. In third-grade, I got a CD player and three CDs for my birthday. They were the Pokémon first-movie soundtrack, another Pokémon CD that had two or three songs on it, and Backstreet Boys, Millennium.
What bands are you listening to right now?
I’ve been really into my point of you, Land of Talk, and Crash of Rhinos lately.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
I honestly can’t keep up with the musical trends. Idk what people are into right now.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Hop Along.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
Crystal Castles, because fuuuuuuck Ethan Kath. I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures sonically, if that makes sense.
What’s your favorite music venue?
Whatever venue is currently letting local bands throw shows and supporting smaller touring bands. They get burned way too often, and we need to protect them.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
“When will you go? Nothing’s permanent. I thought you know,” “When Will You Go,” The Dodos.
What band or artist changed your life? How?
Two very different bands for two very different reasons. No. 1 is blink-182 for being the first band I got VERY VERY INTO at a young age and was one of the reasons I wanted to play guitar. No. 2: Hop Along, for being so important to me at a very pivotal point in my life when I was getting sober and figuring out who I am.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
Billy Idol: Why did you put that weird rap part in the middle of “Eyes Without a Face?” It kills the whole song. What were you thinking?
What song would you like played at your funeral?
I think I’d rather have people pass the aux around.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Get Disowned by Hop Along.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
“Inner Lover” by Land of Talk.