It's easy enough to describe Athens and its music scene in terms of stasis: low expectations, consistent number of bands, those who leave being replaced by those who arrive. But there's also continual growth and experimentation. You'd think that Bob Hay, having been in The Squalls and Athens, Ga.: Inside/Out, would rest on his laurels, but then he went and started Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars to play Robert Burns songs, and he formed The Squallz to do quieter versions of the old Squalls songs, and the Noogeez to do very similar things but with drums and altered arrangements, and Supercluster, with his wife, Vanessa Briscoe Hay of Pylon, and a lot of younger folks. You'd think that this would be enough.
But there's also A. Che Why, Bob's solo project, which he describes on MySpace as "Pop/Disco House/Other" and is pretty much exactly that, only pared down to the molecular origins of those genres. Is there singing? Sort of. Bob says, "My working definition of a 'song' for this project is a beat with some sounds thrown in, topped with some words." Could you do that in your own living room if you had a sequencer and some spare time? The answer to that question is another question, which is "What, exactly, is wrong with that?"
There is a joy in screwing around musically with no expectations, and one of the things that's particularly impressive about Bob is how willing he still is to do that.
A. Che Why is playing at the Go Bar on Friday, Dec. 21 with The Noogeez.
Q & A
Flagpole: How many bands is too many bands to be in? Also, techmologie: what are its costs and benefits? Yea or nay?
Bob Hay: I don't know what would be too many, but I know how many are enough. The thing about bands is that sometimes scheduling practices and gigs is a real difficulty. That's one reason I got started with A. Che Why. When I feel like playing music I just turn on the sequencer and just start messing around and maybe play along on guitar. It's not the same as playing with a band, but so what? There's room for lots of different approaches to music. I guess this ties in with the question about "techmologie." People versus machines. I am a little apprehensive about the future. Things have changed so much in the last 25 years. It's hard to grasp what it all means. But in one way, it's a dream come true. Twenty-five years ago, you could record songs on a cassette deck, and you had one cassette. Now not only are low-budget recording tools incredibly more capable, but you've got immediate world-wide distribution, potentially.
Flagpole: Is this just an excuse to hang out at Go Bar more than you already do?
Bob Hay: Yeah, probably so.
Flagpole: What do you want for Galaxy Day [which was Dec. 18 and is the subject of one of A. Che Why's songs]?
Bob Hay: Yeah, just what we need - another late-December holiday.
Flagpole: If A. Che Why were a beverage, what beverage would it be?
Bob Hay: Cafe Bustelo with milk and a shot of scotch.
- Hillary Brown
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from Flagpole, Threats and Promises, Dec. 6, 2006:
Creativity Never Rests: Longtime Athens musician Bob Hay, formerly of The Squalls and currently heading up The Jolly Beggars, has a new solo project going on and it’s seriously one of the more exciting and cool things I’ve heard this year. Hay has placed the music under the moniker A. Che Why and has posted four tracks online. The songs so far have a heavy dub and post-punk influence and end up sounding more like England circa 1978 than Athens circa 2006. In any case, they’re wonderful and serve to display the many talents of Bob Hay. Check 'em out over at www.myspace.com/achewhy.
Feb. 23, 2008
4 new songs added and the old ones replaced with newly recorded versions, recorded at Starratt Studios, Watkinsville, GA. All songs composed, performed, and recorded by A. Che Why. Engineering assistance provided by Jorma Starratt. Backing vocals on "Galaxy Day" by Kozmos.
Care has been taken to ensure the best quality audio and mp3 encoding.
Little is known about A. Che Why. It appears that he was a workman working on the building of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Sometime in the mid 13th-century, there was some kind of meeting of alchemists, Masons, and Dominicans including Albertus Magnus, that developed an experiment in "temporal transfer." Somehow A. Che Why was drafted as a subject in this experiment. The parties involved stationed him where the center of the newly-installed rose window's pattern fell on the floor on the Winter Solstice and performed an unknown ritual. What those who performed the experiment thought happened is unknown. A. Che Why awoke in the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI, USA at a concert by the band known as "The Grateful Dead" on May 14, 1978. After many years of adjusting to life in the 20th-century and much contemplation of the current milieu, he has decided to post some songs on mySpace.
We were passing thru to send you a shout and invite you to download our FREE monthly MIXSHOW clicking here or subscribe to our PODCAST on iTunes here !
Check it out! I wrote a free book on music production! It's for total beginners, but if you aren't new to music production, maybe you'll still learn something... at least you can send it to your friends who always want to ask you a billion questions about music production! It's totally free too; my goal with this is to accumulate as many BFF's as possible.
Bob , your amazing! I couldn't figure out what was playing as I first opened the page but did finally get to sample the coolrecordings you have here. Thanks again for oking us!
A. Che Why is 4 horses. how cleverly characteristic of you. i am quite impressed! truly not bad for your first in 1 1/2 decades. can't wait to hear more of your sweet beats!
Little is known about A. Che Why. It appears that he was a workman working on the building of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Sometime in the mid 13th-century, there was some kind of meeting of alchemists, Masons, and Dominicans including Albertus Magnus, that developed an experiment in "temporal transfer." Somehow A. Che Why was drafted as a subject in this experiment. The parties involved stationed him where the center of the newly-installed rose window's pattern fell on the floor on the Winter Solstice and performed an unknown ritual. What those who performed the experiment thought happened is unknown. A. Che Why awoke in the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI, USA at a concert by the band known as "The Grateful Dead" on May 14, 1978. After many years of adjusting to life in the 20th-century and much contemplation of the current milieu, he has decided to post some songs on mySpace.
- neely
