Joel’s Gramophone-Inspired Keyboard Harkens Back to His late-19th Century Youth
by The Candy Jedi
After many discussions with all parties involved, keyboardist Joel Cummins and drummer Kris Myers have decided to leave the group Digital Tape Machine in order to pursue a new project called Analog Record Player. The duo states the decision to split from DTM was made for several reasons.
“We really wanted to get back to basics,” claimed Cummins. “Analog is the future, especially since vinyl is really trending these days.” While it seems as though this new direction is an about-face from the electronic stylings of DTM, it is really more of a devolution of the overall sound. “Neither of us can really sing in DTM, so we really wanted to change that,” explained Joel. The new project will focus heavily on lyrics and drum solos, something virtually unheard of within today’s music scene.
While the departure from DTM came as a shock for most fans, side projects like these tend to be short lived. Often blamed on the rampant ADHD commonly found in members of Umphrey’s McGee, the need for change is fairly common with these musicians. When probed about leaving the digital project for an analog project, Myers finally broke down and shared, “I pretty much do what Joel tells me to do. I really trust his opinion when it comes to these things. He kind of reminds me of my dad…I just don’t want to make him mad.”
Analog Record Player will start touring during the summer of 2015 with their first performance scheduled at Summer Camp Music Festival.