Cloudeyes on 'Rocket Shop' 3/2/11

Words by Julie Seger, Photos Samantha Donnelly

James Christenson (left) and Jay Steinmaus (right) of Cloudeyes swung by The Radiator this past Wednesday for Rocket Shop, Big Heavy World's local music  radio hour. Cloudeyes is a 'math rock'  duo who met in a garage in Ferrisburgh and clicked when they found they had similar tastes in music. Originally James and Jay played in the group Burrows that included two more members. But now James and Jay have stripped it down to guitar and drums, blossoming into a totally new direction. "The two-piece just feels better, we get to play around with loops and it feels right" says Jay.

So what is math rock? According to James, "it's all about weird time signatures and different kind of forms." Cloudeyes has a sound like its name: ambient, resonating, instrumental progression of sound building organically. "We always describe songs by sounds that are in them, we aren't good at coming up with names," Jay told me. For the sounds of Cloudeyes, check out their bandcamp page.

To hear Cloudeyes, check out gigs coming up next Saturday March 12th, at the Monkey House in Winooski, and on April 1st at UVM's Slade Hall (and it ain't no fools joke!) They're also set to record their first EP in May at Radar Studios with James' mentor, Will Benoit, of the band Constants. Excited for their upcoming shows and an EP release, James reflects, "We try to play without over-saturating Burlington. But our music evolves every time we play, until we reach this perfect equilibrium."