Eyes on the Shore

There is music you love, and then there is music that becomes a part of you—their story, words and melodies are yours and become intertwined with your being. You exist in their realm and their music nudges you, or shoves you rather, into their in-the-moment bliss…or sorrow. San Francisco-based band, Eyes on the Shore, takes listeners on their journey through wondrous soundscapes, explosive crescendos and heartbreaking vocals. The band, consisting of Kayhan Golkar on bass, Antrom Kury on lead guitar, Cory Tauber on lead vocals, guitar and percussion, and Kyle Albery on drums and vocals, transforms skintight songwriting into contemplative jams with hurricane-force, that fade out as gracefully as the warmest sunset, imparting sensations of perplexed ecstasy in a whirlwind of desire and reflection; and you have never hoped more for something to never end.

Eyes on the Shore came together after 14 years of creative toil, and a number of members that came and went. Through it all, Golkar and Kury, who began playing together in their high school years (1999/2000), dipping into their own compositional aptitudes, discovered a fascination for writing their own instrumental songs. By 2004, they formed their first band Ambience.

“For the next three years we would play our spacey instrumental songs anywhere we could,” Golkar says. “The band would play at local colleges, in front of libraries, at community centers etc. We were even invited to play the Merced County Fair in Los Banos CA. We drove three hours to play on a small stage near a barn with farm animals next to us.”

In 2007, Ambience decided they needed a vocalist and began playing with Eric Carlos in 2008.

“This stepped up the game for everyone when we released a self recorded demo that landed us airplay on Live 105.3 FM and a slot on the coveted BFD festival at Shoreline Amphitheater in 2009,” Golkar explained. “From 2009 to 2010 Ambience started picking up some momentum in San Jose with bigger shows, more airplay and some west coast touring.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t in the cards for that particular lineup and by the end of 2010, Ambience ended at a creative crossroads with Golkar and Kury left without a drummer or singer. At that point, the two went back to school to complete degrees in Audio Production and better improve their skills.

“I remember the moment in 2011 when we graduated, we decided we didn’t want anything else out of life but to be touring musicians. We spent the next two years writing music as a duo with a guitar and bass—just as it started—while we searched for a new team,” Golkar explains.

Eyes on the Shore began at the end of 2012 when Cory Tauber responded to a listing they had posted for a vocalist.

“I was looking through 600 posts a day [on Craigslist] and couldn’t seem to find anything that sparked a genuine interest,” Tauber explains. “The Bay Area’s online musical market was flooded with crap…cover bands, metal bands, etc. and after a few days of searching I was starting to lose faith in the SF scene. One night, my girlfriend pointed out a link labeled ‘Surf/Western Project.’ Everything about it from that point forward felt right: there was no resistance, always something for me to learn and grow, and it seemed to gather all of my experience thus far into one cohesive building block to work off of.”

The group played as a trio with Tauber on drums and singing until early 2014, when, after trying out a number of drummers who flew in from around the country, they completed their lineup with Kyle Albery.

“With plenty of material written between 2011 and 2013, we spent an entire year working with Cory and getting up to speed. The group released an EP, which showcases some of that work. The lineup is [now] complete, and we are now working hard on a full length album to be recorded later this year.”

Though sound in their technique, what brings Eyes on the Shore together is their connection and overarching, cohesive goal of making a difference.

“My hope is for our music to directly or indirectly give us a voice to do some good in the world,” says Albery. “I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but I think it is possible and am thrilled to get the chance for our music to be a vehicle towards something positive…One of music’s most amazing qualities is that it is the universal language. As a musician, creating a song, album, video or live performance that connects someone to a moment in [his or her] life, friends, family, or any unique and memorable experience is a privilege. There are so many things in today’s world that separate us as humans and it’s easy to get caught up in all that. Music is one of the few things that often seems impenetrable to our differences and it’s beautiful when we get to share in that together.”

An essential component of Eyes on the Shore is their ability to paint a picture and inspire deep-seated sentiment as much as physical movement.

“We tend to gravitate towards rock and roll but it’s always infused with a rhythmically charged foundation,” describes Kury. “We like to make people dance. Uncontrollably if possible.”

The group imparts an emotionally authentic mélange of their own experiences with lush ballads, scraping for soul redemption and deliverance—existential inklings paired with matured love and responsibility in a delicately intricate arrangement of sounds.

“Content-wise, it seems to all start with the sound of words, but the story lines tend to somehow correspond with the melodies…It’s weird and I can’t pretend to understand how it all comes together at this point of my own development, but retrospectively the sound, vibe and lyrical content all seem to line up,” Tauber says.

The words of the song must be simple, composite enough, and genuine in order for the message to ring.

“Working with Eyes on the Shore, I find the lyrical content to be more in a sense of imagery: A lot of scene-scaping, character growth and interaction, travel, exploration (self and outward), etc.,” explains Tauber. “Our sound is an amalgamation of all of our combined influences mixed with our own takes on those influences. It ranges from surf, psychedelic, tribal, spaghetti western, and trance, but always has a rock-alternative umbrella over it.”

It’s that their music is so personal that encourages a craving to understand and know more about their inspirations, undertakings, inner turmoil and delights; while at the same time being apprehensive of diving in to such great depths. Exuding a sense of strength, Eyes on the Shore also presents hints of longing and innocence, bursts of realization and gloriously melancholy facets presenting their struggles in verve. What matters ultimately is to care and be invested.

“Maintaining a livelihood in San Francisco as an artist is not easy for anyone,” Golkar divulges. “We work really hard as a band. You have to wear many hats. We all have day jobs so we can pay rent, but we also need to carve out huge blocks of time to stay creative. I also act as the leader for the project, so being the “director of operations” requires a lot of foresight and patience. When you love what you do though, all of it just comes together. The sacrifices are worth it. I noticed recently the people that are in and around my life understand this process. We are very fortunate to have found each other, and share the same dream…[What’s important is] to give a shit about what you do. None of this apathetic bullshit.”

Their greatest challenge lies in creating a timeless sound that resonates with all walks of life and lasts through the ages.

“Creating something truly new is the most challenging thing for me, that’s what I aspire to do all the time—find a way to create something truly unique,” says Kury. “It’s pretty much impossible because nothing is completely original, there’s only so many notes on a guitar but I look at someone like Hendrix who came along and revolutionized the electric guitar and I think, ok, maybe I can come up with a fraction of something that’s unique and I’ll be okay.”

Moving forward, the band plans to tour as well as make their way into film scoring.

“I think our sound can cover a lot of ground; from the full rock band sound that you would see/hear at an event like Oysterfest, to really stripped down and sometimes even acapella stuff that Cory and I can do together,” Albery says. “Antrom and Kayhan are amazingly versatile and can provide a great canvas for us to decorate. We are all capable of playing multiple instruments in a variety of settings so the sky is the limit on where we could be seen/heard.”

Scintillating rock steady rhythms and fiery vocal hooks clash in explosions of electro-acoustic pioneer, fusing complex bass lines, elaborate guitar licks, and an emotional flood of 4 musicians. Pouring their stories into permeating melodies, Eyes on the Shore offers a diverse array of material that is entirely dependent on their moods and states of mind, and thus is as dance-worthy as it is heartrending, and as unassuming as it is hauntingly catchy.

“I like to channel this stuff when I play bass at home,” says Golkar. “I end up playing more flamenco and classical influenced riffs on the bass. Something magical happens between this groove I conjure up, and Antrom’s ability to create gorgeous melody. That, I feel is the heart of our sound. It has been incredible working with Cory to put the story into words and melody. Kyle is also a very accomplished vocalist, so things have been getting very exciting in the studio.”

Their wildest dreams:

Golkar: To perform for 100,000 people in my own backyard: Golden Gate Park.

Kury: Parachuting into an arena playing a guitar solo and landing on a Bengal tiger which will transport me to my side of the stage. JK. Surviving solely off music is my dream.

Tauber: Jumping out of a plane in one of those squirrel suits and bombing over and through canyons and waterfalls. That, and scuba diving with sharks. I guess I could combine the two and jump out of the plane with scuba gear on and land in the ocean.

Albery: Wildest dream would be to play a crazy one-time show in a crazy desert canyon of my choosing (I’ve got a few in mind). The acoustics and reverb in that natural setting would be highly calculated in creating the right sound and setlist.