Description
Back in 1997, newly transplanted Athenians Derek Almstead and Andy Gonzales divided most of their time between the exploding Elephant Six scene and their day jobs at a local sub shop. Their co-worker Carlton Owens, a fantastic and accomplished local drummer, was busied with a different side of the local music scene, playing multiple jazz and blues gigs. Nine years later, the three have reunited as the core rhythm section of M Coast, along with Sara Kirkpatrick and Emily Growden, two fresh talents on the scene. When a young Andy Gonzales first moved to Athens in tow with The Music Tapes, his project Marshmallow Coast was already in motion with a few singles, cassettes and even a finished first album, “Timesquare”. Built on a love of jazz and impressionist classical composers, combined with the bedroom D.I.Y. songwriting of the emerging 4-track generation, Marshmallow Coast was a breath of depth and complexity amidst the three chord world. Almost immediately upon arriving in town, Andy met Derek Almstead through their E6 cohorts. Andy and Derek left Of Montreal in 2003, Andy to get a nursing degree and Derek to focus on other projects and work on getting his own music recorded. Andy and Sara Kirkpatrick made a Marshmallow Coast record together (with the talented engineer and musician Jason NeSmith of Casper and the Cookies) called “Antistar”, featuring Sara’s beautiful flute-work and a more stripped-down, focused sound. Meanwhile Derek met Emily Growden while working on years of built-up “pieces” he had written, trying to make them into something more digestible and song-oriented, while highly influenced by the more abstract pop songs of Brian Eno, the Moles, and Brian Wilson.
