Meet Kyle Avallone

A true return to form for NYC’s electronic cabaret comes in the form of Kyle Avallone. Minimalist soundscapes and a buttery smooth voice is the trademark of a Kyle Avallone tune. Their latest record “Last Minute Man” is a delight best heard while walking through a dark street in the rain with sporadic neon signs humming. In our latest interview, we chat with the artist about writing, NYC, and cartoon network.

Would You Rather

only be able to talk in fortune cookies, or backward? Why?

I would say fortune cookies. There's something satisfying about communicating through random messages. As with horoscopes, one can really stretch the meaning of a single sentence.  


Some Questions with Kyle Avallone

What was the creative drive behind your 2020 album “Last Minute Man”?

In 2016 I was playing bass for Cut Worms and the band I had was sort of fizzling out. I wanted to do something less dependent on strumming the guitar. I started recording new songs on a four-track cassette recorder using an old Yamaha keyboard with a built in drum machine and fleshed out the songs from there. Eventually I got offered to play a show and the idea of putting a band together and rehearsing felt daunting, so I played solo, singing and playing keys with the backing tracks on the tape machine. The response was positive and I immediately got more shows. The songs I sang that night were the first half of Last Minute Man. I finished the album over the following years. 

What kind of gear do you use to get your sound?

This record had a lot of Yamaha PSR-22 and PS-20–both have these haunting organ sounds, as well as some vibes and pianos I really like. I usually play fender electric guitars and a beat up Yamaha acoustic I’ve had since I was a teenager. You can get an interesting sound out of any instrument though–use what you have. 

What narratives do you gravitate towards in your writing?

On Last Minute Man I was approaching the songs as character studies. I was watching a lot of movies–early Scorcese films like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, horror films by the French director Jean Rollin, Wong Kar Wai. I wanted to create a world to escape day-to-day living, with its own mood and personalities. I intentionally tried to step away from autobiography, but I think your life inevitably ends up in the work.

Did you get a chance to perform any of your tracks from your 2020 album live before the lockdown?

Yeah, I had been performing these songs solo for a few years. At the end of 2019 I started playing with a band, and that was really fun. It gave new life to the material.

Is there a song you are looking forward to playing at a show once they are allowed again? Why?

I have a handful of new songs I’m looking forward to playing. It’s a shame that I couldn’t properly tour for this record, but you have to keep moving. Whenever I can play live again, it will be mostly new stuff. 

What do you like best about the NYC music scene?

I can’t really identify an overarching scene. It’s more like a myriad of cliques that play at certain venues and drink at certain bars. I love the energy of this city and the history of artists coming here to seek out their path. We all have our own version of that story. I’ve learned to appreciate that the landscape is ever changing. Artists come and go, venues open and close. While the rents go up and skyscrapers go up, that energy remains in some way or another. 

Which was better Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network?

Watching cartoons now feels more like hypnotism than entertainment, but probably Nickelodeon. I remember going to church with my grandmother and watching Ren & Stimpy after the service on a big screen TV in an empty room while the adults socialized in the hall. Put the kids on mute for a while, y'know?