Release Details
pressWild Stares, The
Automatic Writing Machine
(Self-Released)
Release Date: October 16, 2020
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Click on cover for hi-res image
“Inscrutable, dense, manic, bizarre, intense, aloof, schizophrenic,” once wrote Option magazine.
Back when Mission of Burma ruled the roost and artists like Thalia Zedek and Christmas/Combustible Edison were getting their start, The Wild Stares were formed in Boston, MA by former Connecticut high school mates Justin Burrill (guitar, vocals) and Steve Gregororpoulos (vocals, guitar) – San Francisco transplant Fran Miller joined on bass soon after.
Several great drummers came and went including a drum machine named Fred, and Dawn Richardson of Four Non Blondes.
Eventually dissatisfied with the difficulty of making a living in Boston, they moved to Europe for over a year, where they lived alternately in London and Berlin, touring, recording, and sharing bills with My Bloody Valentine, Jesus & Mary Chain, Poison Girls and others – even after moving back to the US the band ping ponged between Europe and the U.S. for several years of near constant touring until the dawn of the 1990s when home base shifted permanently to Los Angeles and Kyle C. Kyle of the Motels was added as a full-time drummer. In 1993 the Wild Stares morphed into W.A.C.O. (the Wild Acoustic Chamber Orchestra) and played a vital role in creating the Silver Lake scene that spawned the Silversun Pickups, Ariel Pink and many others.
During their long career, The Wild Stares released music on Ace of Hearts, What’s so Funny About, Hell Yeah, Transparency, Birth Records, Good Noise, Propeller Product and others. Currently Justin Burrill produces records and lives in Echo Park; Steve Gregoropoulos is a composer and arranger as well as a member of the band Lavender Diamond; Fran Miller is a lawyer for tenants rights; Kyle C. Kyle passed away in 2015 and Automatic Writing Machine is a fitting tribute to his legacy. While Miller contributes her harmonies that were a signature part of The Wild Stares sound, the album also features bass playing by Steve Reed of Lethal Weapon and about a million other bands.
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