Vik Montemayor is best known as the solid and smooth drummer for Bang Bangz, Houston's increasingly popular ethereal electronica act. Earlier this year, though, Montemayor began branching out with a solo act called George West, and tomorrow night will be the first chance Houstonians will have to see him in this capacity.
"It's just going to be a cool warehouse party," says Montemayor. "It'll be cold, so the music will be a good match for that. Trip-hoppy and downtempo."
It's quite a feat to take a one-man project and orchestra it all yourself, especially if you're a drummer, an instrument not typically given to solo song performances. Montemayor has spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to accomplish it, though. In October he was approached by a promoter working for the University of Houston, who asked him to try and recreate his atmospheric instrumental music on a live stage.
Unfortunately, conflicts arose and the show did not go on as planned, and Montemayor was left with a fully prepped show that just needed a venue. He got his chance when his fellow Bang Bangz member Mario Rodriguez agreed to host him at Wonky Power Live.
Montemayor controls his various triggers through an Abelton Push sequencer, which allows him to trigger the wood blooks, chimes,a nd other atmospheric noise that makes up the majority of his George West pieces. He also uses a special Kaos Pad, a kaossilator, to further expand the range of sounds he is capable of producing with percussive elements. All this on top of the more conventional drum fare like snares, toms, and cymbals that he uses to build crescendos live.
"In Bang Bangz I'm more focused on the drum sounds and the drum arrangement," says Montemayor. "Only very now and then will I put in my two cents on a keyboard sound. With this, there's no really set structure, no verse or chorus. You just start dropping whatever you want in."
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