Being in a band used to mean you shared a cramped backseat with a hairy, smelly, and/or drug-addicted group of people in the ramshackle van you all call home.
Lucky for the introverts and germ-wary among us, this is no longer the case, thanks in large part to technological advances in recording and playback.

Talkdemonic, a Portland duo dealing in a style of music it dubs folktronic hop, embodies the updated definition of the “band.” The pair, originally a one-man endeavor by multi-instrumentalist and sampling whiz Kevin O’Connor, makes music that sounds bigger than you might expect from such a small unit and without getting bogged down in a lot of obvious knob twisting and computer jockeying.
“It’s one of those things where we can almost make (the electronics) disappear when we’re playing,” O’Connor said, “because there’s no click track, there’s nothing at all to follow, it’s just based purely on feeling as far as the rhythm. Some people, when they see us, they’re like, ‘Wow, you guys have such a huge sound for two people!’ and in saying that they sort of said they didn’t even notice the tracks because we were totally surrounding them and enveloping them with sounds on stages as well.”
Along with his “rock violist” counterpart Lisa Molinaro, O’Connor has been carving out a growing place in the worlds of instrumental rock and electronic music, with Talkdemonic’s sounds evoking some of the same feelings as some of the quieter post-rock bands while maintaining the beat-driven tranquility of IDM artists. The band performs its work live with the aid of a laptop, which allows the artists to perform even their newest, and purportedly most elaborate, work live.
According to O’Connor, Talkdemonic’s West Coast tour will focus on material from its newest album, “Eyes at Half Mast,” which it recently finished. The album has been in progress for two years, and explores uncharted territory, both emotionally and production-wise.
“I think it’s our best record to date,” O’Connor said. “Our most mature, as well. The strings are a lot more orchestral. We totally filled everything out completely, so we’re excited about it.”
After an elongated recording schedule in Talkdemonic’s updated recording facility, lovingly called Talknumeric, O’Connor sounded excited to be on the last leg of the journey to release and excited to get to play the new material on the road.
Students will have the chance to hear some of this work, along with the rest of Talkdemonic’s catalog, Feb. 9 at Sam Bond’s Garage.
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