Guitar

About

Portland’s Indie rock band Guitar continues to make heavy waves in the underground music scene with their fearlessly experimental, ever-evolving sound and commanding showmanship. Fusing elements of 90’s slacker rock, post-punk and beatmaking, Guitar accomplishes multitudes, challenging their audience to think harder about what they actually need from music. The answer is that they need more Guitar. In his book The Trial, Franz Kafka said, “From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.” These words ring true as Guitar releases their second and most powerful LP to date, We’re Headed to the Lake, available this fall from Julia’s War.

Saia Kuli, Guitar’s songwriter and producer, grew up in the outskirts of Portland in a working-class part of town affectionately called The Numbers. There, Kuli, cut his teeth endlessly demoing songs, finding his vision and voice, muscling to find a place as an outsider in the tightly-knit Portland scene. After some trial and error, Kuli formed the band Gary Supply then later joined Nick Normal’s rotating cast of guitar-slingers , carving his place within the Portland punk scene. After riding the rock wave for several years, newly inspired by the prolific beatmaking of producers like MF Doom and Madlib, Kuli withdrew into his Ableton beat lab to explore new modes of songwriting. But no one can escape the power of rock and roll, and Kuli found himself staring at the guitar in the corner of his bedroom. Reinvigorated by bands like Guided By Voices, The Pixies, and Cleaners from Venus, it was time to pick up his Silvertone. Combining his love for making beats and rock n roll, Kuli began to create something new. This was the beginning of Guitar.