Hand spraypainted and photocopied record cover
From Austin's Past DIY scene, an Overlooked Musical Gem
KINGSTON, NY, UNITED STATES, January 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Unearthed after 15 years, the obscure psychedelic country album "Looking for a Spark" by Over the Hill showcases a kaleidoscopic merging of Texas songwriting and fevered musical dreams made during the heyday of Austin's sprawling 2000's DIY scene.
The sophomore album from the band was a small regional release with only 200 vinyl copies pressed. Reissued now with two bonus tracks on Coy Twins Records, is an overlooked gem of weirdo country hallucinations.
During the vibrant era of Austin's underdeveloped East side, before the tech boom fully took over, artists lived
off of low level jobs and developed a large community of visual, musical, and digital expression. These
were the days of the Black Angels, SURVIVE, Spoon, The Sword, White Denim, Spray Paint,
along with hundreds of other bands who played and recorded with varying amounts of success.
In 2009, the band, Over the Hill, released its second album, Looking for a Spark, on the multi-
media record label, Monofonus Press, which was founded by Morgan Coy in 2006. The record
was a collaboration of musical friends with pronounced country music themes. Coy’s songs lyrically explored the lives of criminals, lovers of
dead people, war damaged romance, and acid tripping explorers, with the musical
accompaniment of pump organs, fuzzed out mandolins, saws, synthesizers, fiddles, janky electric
sitars, trombones, and delay.
Standout songs on the album are Alcatraz, Singing to the Dead, Looking for a Spark, and Waltz.
The album gained a handful of positive reviews in the Austin Chronicle, as well as other
publications and blogs, and then faded from public awareness. The band played a few shows
with the material, but Coy, a father of a two-year-old at the time, running a record label, and
building artist studios, did not promote the release after the initial push.
"I never really felt comfortable promoting my own releases on the label," said Coy. "I guess I was
self-conscious about pushing my own work."
In this past year, Coy received several checks from ASCAP as royalties for the music on the album.
"It's not a lot of money. I never really got paid for my music, so I was curious about
what was going on. I thought maybe it was getting used in a pharmaceutical commercial or
something. Honestly, I still don’t really know how I got money from the songs because they
weren’t streaming anywhere. All I know is that it got a lot of play in Australia.”
Coy shuttered the record label eight years ago, but he remains connected to the music world
through his partial ownership of Tubby’s, a small but exceptional music venue in Kingston, NY.
Rob Halverson mixed and co-produced the album with Coy during a few
marathon sessions. Halverson, who worked with Coy on the first Over the Hill record, brought
an enormous amount of creativity to the project. The two were originally connected by their
mutual friend, Thor Harris who played drums on the first Over the Hill record. Halverson mixed another
album that Morgan Coy and Thor Harris (Swans, Shearwater, Xiu Xiu, Bill Callahan, Amanda
Palmer) made together in 2010.
Coy moved away from Austin 10 years ago, but continues to go back to the city regularly.
Other musicians who contributed to the album:
Jasio Gasyna: drums, metal stairs, electronic drums. Josh Smith: Bass, Xylophone. Rob Halverson:
Bass, Organ. Will Slack: Trombones, Clarinet, Saxophone. Ben Prentice: Saw. Jessica
Henderson: Fiddle. James Alexander: Viola. Kirk Laktas: Evolver, Pump Organ. Dylan
Hostetter: Spiritual Vocals. Duncan Malashock: Pump Organ.
The reissue of the album with bonus tracks is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and all
streaming services.
For press inquiries email:
Coytwinsrecords@gmail.com
Francis Coy
Coy Twins Records
info@coytwinrecords.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
