New York City-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Tyler Kamen unleashed one of my favourite albums of last year. Titled ‘Bamboozle Tesseract’, the progressive rock offering tells a mythical saga of gnomes, scientists, and mutant vegetables. It’s Kamen’s fifteenth record to date, and the prolific artist shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Hopeful to pick his brains a little, I was stoked when he agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about his science fiction odyssey, his varied and experimental approach to writing new music, and why he would love to collaborate with Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), please give a warm welcome to our friend Tyler Kamen!
Welcome aboard Tyler! I’m so excited to re-introduce you to our ever-expanding audience! Your first official release ‘Live from the Past’ was released in 2017 and I’m wondering if you could give our readers a brief overview of what has led you to where you are today musically.
I have been recording and producing music pretty much my whole life, but I never made something I was ready to release. Before 2017, I probably had enough music to fill like five albums or something. When I was making ‘Live from The Past’, there was a ton of experimentation involved. It seems like such a long time ago and my music has evolved tremendously since its release. There weren’t even drums or a real bass on that record, I recorded an acoustic guitar and dropped it an octave on that one. I strive to outdo myself every time I make a new album, compositionally and sonically. In 2020, I completely upgraded my recording system which was a huge catalyst for making what I truly wanted to produce. I always wanted to make the best prog-rock album ever, but I’m still not there yet!
I’m ashamed to admit that my introduction to your music only came with last year’s album ‘Bamboozle Tesseract’, but it was a record that truly blew me away! I even labelled it “one of my albums of the year!” Can you tell us about the overall theme or concept behind the album?
‘Cornucopia Modus’ is the final chapter in the ‘Vegetable Gnome Trilogy’ and the prequel to the ‘Spectacular Machine Trilogy’, so I wanted to use this as a finale and a sort of bridge between trilogies.
‘Bamboozle Tesseract’ is set 200 years after the events of my album ‘Artichoke Pythagorum’, where the gnome village from the first album becomes a gnome metropolis known as Gnome City. When scientists at Gnome City Labs invent the Bamboozle Tesseract to create super vegetables, something goes terribly wrong and turns the vegetables into mutants that begin to terrorise the city. With the help of Detective Sheriff, the gnomes try to restore the city back to its former glory but fail as it is completely overrun by vegetable mutants.
‘Cornucopia Modus’ takes place 200 years after the events of ‘Bamboozle Tesseract’. Gnome City and the surrounding areas of Sunken Valley have been overrun by vegetable mutants. The gnomes and citizens of Sunken Valley have managed to survive underground and in the surrounding hills, but a brave young warrior from the peaceful Vegetable Tribe named Jinx Loon (aka Mr. Loon) grows curious about the outside world. After the gnomes send a recruit to bring Jinx Loon back to their underground city for training, Jinx finds and repairs a broken transmitter (aka The Spectacular Machine) and hears a strange message about how to fix the Bamboozle Tesseract. He then sets out on a quest to Lizard House to find a mechanic and The Cornucopia Modus at Zezop Mountain. This ancient text holds the key to restoring the exploded Bamboozle Tesseract at Gnome City Labs. He packs up and heads out on an adventure to Lizard House to find a mechanic (who we will come to know as The Headmaster). After travelling to the school, finding a mechanic and The Cornucopia Modus, our warrior returns to Gnome City Labs for a final battle against the vegetable mutants, repairing the Bamboozle Tesseract and restoring Gnome City and Sunken Valley to its former glory.
Definitely check out ‘Artichoke Pythagroum’ and the ‘Spectacular Machine Trilogy’ for the full prog-rock adventure!
Your listed influences, especially Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull, closely mirror the iconic bands that have shaped my own musical journey. Are there any other bands or artists you’d give a shoutout to for having helped shape your music?
Some of my favourite bands that inspire me are Frank Zappa, Yes, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, The Who, Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Rush, and Phish…but that of course just scratches the surface.
Could you tell us a bit about your songwriting process? Not specifically for any song but just in general. How do you take an idea and turn it into a piece of music?
Intense experimentation. I love challenging myself with the composition and arrangement of each piece. Sometimes I begin with simple songwriting on acoustic guitar or piano and other times I start with a crazy drum track and come up with lines on electric guitar or a synthesiser. The recording starts to take shape after I chisel away at it like marble, adding layers and taking things away for dynamic changes. With albums like ‘Bamboozle Tesseract’ and ‘Cornucopia Modus’, I like to write out the track listing first to structure the story and also inspire the style of each song. The best part is when you get the songs to transition smoothly…that is where the magic happens.
What would “being successful” in the music industry look like to you? And is it something that you think about when creating new music?
One day I hope I have a decent following of people who are interested in digging into the lure and compositions. My vision is to turn these digital recordings into a vinyl box set, create a bunch of merch, and play live shows that showcase some of these pieces. I started doing this with my friend, Dylan Bressler, in our band TYDY. We have played ‘Monk Key’ off of my album ‘Lizard House’ and ‘The Artichoke’ off of ‘Artichoke Pythagorum’, among other originals. But I would love to take this all to the next level and get in front of as many people and ears as possible.
What keeps you busy and happy when you’re not creating new music? Walk us through a non-music day in the life of Tyler Kamen.
I actually run my own events company, Kamen Events LLC, and I help a bunch of different companies with their own shows. When I’m not doing that, I am going on hiking trips with my girlfriend and hanging with our cats Amber, Benji and Mr. Jack Pancakes.
If you were allowed to collaborate with one musician or band, who would you choose?
So many to choose from, but I would love to work with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. His music and the band always spoke to me on a deep level and I find that my music often pulls a ton of influence from their work.
It’s been awesome getting to know you a bit better Tyler! Thanks so much for your time! Before we let you go, what comes next for you musically?
I have already started working on my next project which will be out in the Fall. It will have more of a focus on vibe and will heavily rely on more acoustic instruments. The title is still TBD, but expect it to match the season with some jammy sections and prog rock sprinkled in. I am also planning on putting on some live shows around the NYC area over the summer and into 2025, so stay tuned. Hope to catch you at a show!
