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(credits: top and middle photos by Lenny Gonzales, bottom photo by Katerina Evangelista
GREX: Karl A.D. Evangelsta-guitar, vox and M. Rei Scampavia Evangelista-keys, vox
with
Robert Lopez-drums, a.o.
Contact: grex@grexsounds.com
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Grex, an art rock band based out of Oakland, California, is a collaboration between guitarist/vocalist Karl Evangelista, a Los Angeles native, and keyboardist/vocalist Rei Scampavia, originally from Arlington, Virginia.
Grex is an art rock band based out of Oakland, California. In biological terms, a "grex" is an entity composed of several smaller organisms. Grex (the band) explores the meeting point between between surreal songcraft and the dark outer reaches of experimental music. The group has been called "an otherworldly experience" (Eugene Weekly) and "true genre warping music" (KFJC), recalling at turns the ecstatic energy of John Coltrane, the electronic squall of Death Grips, and the lilting indie rock of Mitski.
Grex's creative derring-do has led to performances with the likes of Fred Frith, Tony Levin (King Crimson), Scott Amendola (TJ Kirk, Nels Cline Singers), Eddie Gale (Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor), Steve MacKay (the Stooges), Zeena Parkins, and Martin Bisi, and concerts at venues as diverse as The Great American Music Hall, the Switchboard Festival (SF), United States of Asian America Festival (SF), The Sonic Circuits Festival (DC), and Myra Melford's New Frequencies Festival (SF).
Click HERE for full bio.
Press Quotes
"It's a sardonically noisy psychedelic rock record with a little free jazz thrown in to keep you guessing. And it's an awful lot of fun." - New York Music Daily, review of Electric Ghost Parade (2018) (Alan Young)
"a wide-ranging and excitingly unpredictable sound" - The Bay Bridged (Ben Van Houten)
"The musicianship exhibited by the core duo is staggering: Evangelista's wiry facility is drawn from Hendrix, Kaiser, Ray Russell, and Eugene Chadbourne, while Scampavia's shaded classicism provides a compelling and robust foil." Tiny Mix Tapes, review of Second Marraige (2012) (Clifford Allen)
"I haven't heard such varying psych sounds in more recent times since The Fiery Furnaces went their separate ways some nine years ago. An excellent release." - Echoes and Dust, review of Electric Ghost Parade (2018) (Ljubinko Zivkovic)
"Evangelista wields a swell grouchy guitar tone, Scampavia's pipes are sweet, and when they freak out, they freak out good." - The Vinyl District (Joseph Neff)
"Bay Area duo Grex purvey a freaky jazz-rock sound that surges and feints in surprising ways. Karl Evangelista's guitar squawks and sizzles like a Fred Frith and Sonny Sharrock death match..." - The Stranger (Dave Segal)
"Coming from a free-jazz, improvisational background, creating spontaneous art was Evangelista's general methodology with Grex... The resulting songs are dynamic and at times quirky and jubilant, like something Bay Area avant-pop band Deerhoof might play." - East Bay Express (Aaron Carnes)
"these Bay Area brainiacs trip out on a chilled-out yet complex attack of math-rock heroics, free-improvisational freak-outs, and psych-rock weirdness as they channel Henry Kaiser and Hendrix." - The Brooklyn Rail (Brad Cohan)
"Grex is a fascinating band. One of those groups of musicians who have decided to ignore the boundaries between genres and take matters entirely into their own hand. And the results are marvelous." - Doobeedoobeedoo (Dawoud Kringle)
"The striking thing about this music was its stubborn refusal to eschew any element in favor of another... Each offered with a headlong creative urge that made the unexpected turns and sequences into a joyful expression." HurdAudio (Devin Hurd)
"Grex is a thankful anomaly in contemporary music, merging not only an affinity, but a true love for creative improvised music on par with folk-rock, psychedelia and modern composition... Hopefully Grex gets some love from the indie-rock taste machine, because they are onto something really special." Ni Kantu (Clifford Allen)
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Karl talking to the great Mike Watt (of Minutemen) on the Watt from Pedro Show: HERE
Grex on Radio Free Brooklyn-a special "acoustic" set + interview: HERE
Grex on The Bay Bridged's Experimental Music Mixtape, via KQED: HERE
DISCOGRAPHY:
Everything You Said Was Wrong/Everything Stays, 2020 (Geomancy Records, Upcoming)
Electric Ghost Parade, 2018 (Geomancy Records)
A Love Supreme, 2017
Monster Music, 2014
Taglish, 2013
Second Marriage, 2012
Live at Home, 2011