LOVESWORDS
Photo: Summer 2007, dawn patrol Sunday at the old Natick skatepark after late night Idle Hour jam
Through mutual friends these two met in middle school and almost immediately fell into a daily routine of rollerblading, testing the limits of trampolines and exploring parking lots and office parks. As well as plenty of goofing off a half hour west of Boston, Massachusetts in their hometown of Framingham and anywhere in between. Kyle came from a musical family and was already playing bass guitar with his older brother’s band. Skye grew up surrounded by music from his father and was eager to start banging away on something. A third kid in the group already picked up guitar so that something defaulted to drums.
The two of them took things about as seriously as a couple teenagers would. Play music every Saturday night and then games of pool until the sugar rush from Mountain Dew Code Reds wore off. This repeated through high school with shows in between under the name Idle Hour. Sets included plenty of Red Hot Chili Peppers, some Blind Melon, and even more classic rock.
Kyle took off to UMass Amherst a year before Skye ended up at UMass Lowell. Neither gave up on music or their friendship. With Skye studying Music Business across the state from Kyle doing Engineering, they got together on the breaks when it fit. Any music usually involved the same covers from high school mixed with a couple new favorites. Even using Idle Hour to open up for Skye’s new group Forest Henderson at local dives during the summer months.
After playing on their own for a few years Kyle contacted Skye about playing some of his older brother’s songs in a project eventually titled Sensitive Canaries. During the silence before this group, Kyle had amassed a handful of acoustic solo tracks on guitar. He had developed his voice through the years as well and Skye was eager to start adding drums to some of the songs. Fresh out of the party-punk outfit The Big Sway and a few years after pop-rockers Forest Henderson split up, Kyle’s heartfelt, introspective tunes sat right in with what Skye was looking to play.
Photo: Porchfest 2015, Davis Square, Cambridge MA
Photo: February 2014, Somerille MA, cold basement birth of EP One
LOVESWORDS was born in their parent’s basements 15 years ago. It’s just been revisited with heartbreak, bad decisions, and last call promises added in. The changes come naturally to two who have been together half their lives. Kyle and Skye studied rhythm and playing by getting together for hours and having the sort of fun every fifteen year old should get to have.
Their first EP, LOVESWORDS ONE, was a combination of those first songs Kyle wrote with Skye adding accompaniment and insight. From dark twisted tales of kidnapping (“Stockholmer”) to delicate jazz tinged sounds (“Blu For You”). They recorded it raw with one or two takes and a single mic. Like all the original music they made in the past, it was nearly over before it was captured.
Photo: October 2014, Framingham MA single mic recording of EP One
The search for a second group of songs proved easy by signing up for The RPM Challenge as a friend had suggested. Hammered away during the bitter month of February 2015 in Allston, MA, LOVESWORDS quickly wrote and recorded their second EP LOVESWORDS TWO. Also proving they could be a hard hitting outfit with heartbreak (“Come Back”) and self doubt (single “Ode to the Strong”) mixed up into heavy rhythms (“Tired Bull”) and janky changes (“Go Get ‘Em Off).
Released the following December, LOVESWORDS TWO leaves the door open for the two best friends who are already moving on to their third short record. The two kids are a bit hairier and worn down from work and life but the sounds are still emerging from their rehearsal space. A voice that tells them to stay home quickly shuts down as the first notes are played every practice. That’s usually when the smiles emerge and LOVESWORDS starts beating.
Photo: February 2015, post single day recording session to finish EP TWO for the RPM challange