FOR THE METAL HEADS IN YOU...

 ARE YOUR EARS READY TO BLEED? COZ ROCK-U-MENTARY IS NOW IN SESSION...

Photo by Feliza Mirasol

NEW YORK– In a surprising turn of events, former Versus and Whysall Lane frontman, Richard Baluyut suddenly made the big move back to Brooklyn, New York, sometime in the spring of 2007 after a 6-year stint in San Francisco, where the Filipino-American rocker further developed his musical creativity.

After the breakup of Versus in 2001, Richard moved to San Francisco and started Whysall Lane, which included the former Versus frontman on vocals and guitar, Mikel Delgado on bass and vocals, Adam Pfahler (formerly of Jawbreaker) on drums, and Lorna Lithgow on keyboards.

Whysall Lane’s live performances since 2001 were infrequent and centered in Southern California. Many of the shows were also reportedly linked mainly to local Asian-American community events or as a support band to Richard’s longtime friends Yo La Tengo and Mission of Burma.

In March 2007, the band announced on their MySpace page and their label Blackball Records site that Mikel Delgado left the band in 2006 and that “the band as you knew it no longer exists”.

I caught up with Richard at the  +/- {Plus/Minus} show at The Knitting Factory on September 28, where, in a rare surprise treat, younger brother and +/- frontman James Baluyut called Richard onstage to sing “Time and Space” from +/-‘s latest album Let’s Build a Fire (2006, Absolutely Kosher Records). I sat briefly with Richard post-show to talk about his current and possible future plans now that he’s back home in New York. Have a listen to this exclusive podcast interview available here.