Tyvek may be a product of Detroit but their sound is influenced more by the minimalist punk of the Urinals and UK bands such as Swell Maps and Wire than it is the loud rock n roll malarkey usually associated with the Motor City.Not that Tyvek aren't loud. A few years ago they toured Australia and played a small show in a Melbourne basement that ended up being one of the sweatiest, loudest and most fun shows I'd been to. I remember taking a friend who had never heard of the band before but after witnessing their live show managed to buy most of their considerable catagloue within the next week.Led by Kevin Boyer's noodling guitar and shouty vocals, the band began in 2004 and have since self-released small-batch tapes as well as putting out a number of critically lauded singles and albums on labels including What's Your Rupture?, Siltbreeze, S-S Records and Sub Pop.Their latest, and first vinyl full length since 2012's excellent On Triple Beams is Origin of What on legendary label In the Red. The release coincides with the debut album for The Intended, a band that includes Boyer and Tykek's Larry Williams and explores similar shouty excursions into guitar pop.In typical Tyvek fashion Origin of What was recorded outside of a studio with a shifting lineup. Like On Triple Beams it was recorded by the band's friend Fred Thomas in an apartment above a trailer park. Boyer, who now lives in Philadelphia, says there was a lot of songs to choose from. "We had a lot that didn't make it to the final version of the album (which was unusual), but it was great to have a surplus of songs to choose from. Most of the recordings that made the cut were newer songs, about half of which I wrote shortly after moving to Philly, and I think the sessions for this album went well because we were able to approach fresh material from multiple angles in a tried and tested setting."Listen to the track below and read a short interview with Kevin below.Noisey: Origin of What, is released around the same time as The Intended debut album. How are the bands different?
Kevin Boyer: The Intended is a newer band that I'm in with Larry Williams, Glen Morren and Heath Moerland. It is not Tyvek undercover or a side project. It is a proper band in its own right. Larry, Heath and I have played together in Tyvek. Glen and Heath played together in Odd Clouds, and we've all been friends for a while. I think one big difference is that Glen and I both wrote the songs whereas in Tyvek I've been the only songwriter."Real Estate and Finance" could refer to any of your fellow bands or fans from Detroit, Los Angeles pr Sydney. You guys are not early 20s anymore. Does real estate and finances come into play more in your general life?
Personally, no, but those things have pretty much always been a major concern. When we named the band Tyvek, it was in part a fuck you to the boom in the market for new housing that was going on at the time. I've always been fascinated with how the effects of these huge macro-whatever trends play out in everyday life.The Tyvek chant on the album is amazing!
Thanks! It was adapted from an anti-capitalist rant that I delivered into an empty, snow covered parking lot in Columbia, Missouri at 4 am on a weeknight in February after getting tossed out of the college radio station for being wasted and trying to play an impromptu Tyvek set live to air! Also, I'm under the impression that if you add an 'e' at the end, it translates to "Tyvek Sings" in French, which I thought was funny."Wayne County Roads" has become a type of Detroit anthem. It's something you'd expect to hear on the PA at a Tigers game. Have you been surprised by the reaction to the song?
I wouldn't say it's been an overwhelming reaction. As usual, Tyvek supporters and extended crew / family near and far have been very positive and encouraging (always grateful for that), but apart from their feedback I can't really tell how it's gone over. I have a hard time believing that it ever got played at Comerica Park (vomit), but don't get me wrong: that would be amazing! We'd be like the next Kid Rock! In general I'd say that the reaction to Tyvek in Detroit hasn't changed too much over the years. More people are at the gigs, but we try to keep a pretty low profile.When I was last in Detroit, Larry took me to Jumbo's on a Sunday afternoon and we watched a Lions game and talked to locals. It was awesome and so relaxed. It reminded me very much of Australia. How do you feel about the 'Detroit Renaissance'? If there is too much of a 'renaissance' do you think the the character of a place like Jumbo's could be lost? Am I reading too much into what "Origin of What" is about?
That's certainly something that's been on my mind. On one hand, that's just how it goes. A lot of places I love are no more, and yeah, that sucks, but that's life. On the other hand, this new 'Detroit renaissance' better start benefiting the community, the people who have been there dealing with all of the bullshit for decades, lifetimes. If this new Detroit is just about providing diversions for folks who moved there because it was hip and cheap, then fuck them. What a waste.While that's not exactly what "Origin Of What" is about, it's all related: there's this feeling of lying awake at night when I was a kid, feeling terrified of real or imagined threats, hearing the foghorns from boats on the river, thinking back to the hockey game that was on CBC (Don Cherry's xenophobic comments) that evening. The setting of the song is Detroit. The verses are more personal than anything else, looking back to the origin of whatever, but the chorus is impersonal: it's vacant stock pop filler with no past or future.Finally, how do you think the Pistons are going to go this year?
Larry says: "We will be good, but not great. We will make the playoffs, but live in the shadows of Cleveland and Boston (yuck). Awesome young core of players and we should be better than last year. The future is bright."
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Kevin Boyer: The Intended is a newer band that I'm in with Larry Williams, Glen Morren and Heath Moerland. It is not Tyvek undercover or a side project. It is a proper band in its own right. Larry, Heath and I have played together in Tyvek. Glen and Heath played together in Odd Clouds, and we've all been friends for a while. I think one big difference is that Glen and I both wrote the songs whereas in Tyvek I've been the only songwriter.
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Personally, no, but those things have pretty much always been a major concern. When we named the band Tyvek, it was in part a fuck you to the boom in the market for new housing that was going on at the time. I've always been fascinated with how the effects of these huge macro-whatever trends play out in everyday life.The Tyvek chant on the album is amazing!
Thanks! It was adapted from an anti-capitalist rant that I delivered into an empty, snow covered parking lot in Columbia, Missouri at 4 am on a weeknight in February after getting tossed out of the college radio station for being wasted and trying to play an impromptu Tyvek set live to air! Also, I'm under the impression that if you add an 'e' at the end, it translates to "Tyvek Sings" in French, which I thought was funny."Wayne County Roads" has become a type of Detroit anthem. It's something you'd expect to hear on the PA at a Tigers game. Have you been surprised by the reaction to the song?
I wouldn't say it's been an overwhelming reaction. As usual, Tyvek supporters and extended crew / family near and far have been very positive and encouraging (always grateful for that), but apart from their feedback I can't really tell how it's gone over. I have a hard time believing that it ever got played at Comerica Park (vomit), but don't get me wrong: that would be amazing! We'd be like the next Kid Rock! In general I'd say that the reaction to Tyvek in Detroit hasn't changed too much over the years. More people are at the gigs, but we try to keep a pretty low profile.
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That's certainly something that's been on my mind. On one hand, that's just how it goes. A lot of places I love are no more, and yeah, that sucks, but that's life. On the other hand, this new 'Detroit renaissance' better start benefiting the community, the people who have been there dealing with all of the bullshit for decades, lifetimes. If this new Detroit is just about providing diversions for folks who moved there because it was hip and cheap, then fuck them. What a waste.While that's not exactly what "Origin Of What" is about, it's all related: there's this feeling of lying awake at night when I was a kid, feeling terrified of real or imagined threats, hearing the foghorns from boats on the river, thinking back to the hockey game that was on CBC (Don Cherry's xenophobic comments) that evening. The setting of the song is Detroit. The verses are more personal than anything else, looking back to the origin of whatever, but the chorus is impersonal: it's vacant stock pop filler with no past or future.Finally, how do you think the Pistons are going to go this year?
Larry says: "We will be good, but not great. We will make the playoffs, but live in the shadows of Cleveland and Boston (yuck). Awesome young core of players and we should be better than last year. The future is bright."
'Origin of What' is available now on In the Red.