Exploding Head Syndrome © 2015
It's a sad but popular tale about how a musician just couldn't make things work for his/her band so he/she wrote music alone and just dragged other musicians along for the ride whenever they could be dragged.
Like many artists that inspire me, that is my tale. I am in and out of bands, and I don't know if I will or will not be as you read this now. It's not that I'm a bad band mate, I'm actually a very responsible and understanding one. But as many musicians know, creativity and schedules cause many conflicts and so as a solo artist I can avoid those things and write what I want, record it when I want, and play it live when and where I want. Although I'm more than happy to accept help and collaboration with many other musicians along the way!
I listen to just about every genre of music so the sounds of my songs are usually diverse and at times unexpected, but I usually stay true to my punk roots in some way, whether I'm alone or with a band. It's just the genre that's always stuck out to me as most important. Sure, punk turns a lot of people into drug-addicted elitist assholes who are way too tough to even talk to you, but punk rock also has a power to transform people into wonderful human beings who are enlightened and aware of the world and wanting to unify with others to make the best of all the good and terrible things that come with life. My songs bitch about the world and the bad things that happen to me, while also pointing out the beauty in our planet and the luck that I and many others have.
Armed with (at least somewhat) catchy vocal melodies and lead riffs, and a swollen sense of perspective, I hope to spread my music far and wide in the search for people who are just as depressed as I am so that I can show them that somebody agrees with them, and still can find a way to count blessings, push through life, and purge the sadness through emo folk punk anthems. Everlasting love and eternal glory,
~Ryan Kiolbassa (Exploding Head Syndrome)
Like many artists that inspire me, that is my tale. I am in and out of bands, and I don't know if I will or will not be as you read this now. It's not that I'm a bad band mate, I'm actually a very responsible and understanding one. But as many musicians know, creativity and schedules cause many conflicts and so as a solo artist I can avoid those things and write what I want, record it when I want, and play it live when and where I want. Although I'm more than happy to accept help and collaboration with many other musicians along the way!
I listen to just about every genre of music so the sounds of my songs are usually diverse and at times unexpected, but I usually stay true to my punk roots in some way, whether I'm alone or with a band. It's just the genre that's always stuck out to me as most important. Sure, punk turns a lot of people into drug-addicted elitist assholes who are way too tough to even talk to you, but punk rock also has a power to transform people into wonderful human beings who are enlightened and aware of the world and wanting to unify with others to make the best of all the good and terrible things that come with life. My songs bitch about the world and the bad things that happen to me, while also pointing out the beauty in our planet and the luck that I and many others have.
Armed with (at least somewhat) catchy vocal melodies and lead riffs, and a swollen sense of perspective, I hope to spread my music far and wide in the search for people who are just as depressed as I am so that I can show them that somebody agrees with them, and still can find a way to count blessings, push through life, and purge the sadness through emo folk punk anthems. Everlasting love and eternal glory,
~Ryan Kiolbassa (Exploding Head Syndrome)
My Story:
Short Autobiography:
WARNING: I am not very interesting.
My name is Ryan Kiolbassa, and I am a relatively young musician from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois (USA). I have been in the music scene since I was just 13 years old, which was when I founded my first band, Dead Authority. We had gone through several changes in our band name and line up (not quite Black Flag level, but still) and we put out a couple EPs and played numerous shows and won or at least placed in most of the contests we entered.
I have also written music for a side project band called T-Rex Cardigan, as well as performed live as a guest vocalist for the bands Patent Pending and Roads of Solace and appeared as a live drummer for my brother's band, Super!
No matter what, I am almost always writing music and most of it does not make it past the walls of my house, or only gets played for a few friends and loved ones. Some of my favorite songs I've written have not been used for Dead Authority or T-Rex Cardigan. The T-Rex Cardigan project was abandoned due to a lack of time and Dead Authority went on a short hiatus after the departure of our drummer, Brett. During this hiatus, I wrote a lot of songs on my newly-purchased acoustic guitar. These songs came out sounding like folk music or acoustic old school emo music, which I was into at the time (and still very much am). They also maintained that punk-ish edge that I have been in love with throughout my entire musical career.
So while Dead Authority was searching for a new drummer, I began to collect my acoustic songs and organize them into a live show as well as an album.
I recorded and produced my first solo EP in 2 short work days with some help from Paul Tamaski, who became the drummer in Dead Authority for a short period of time. I recorded three of my songs, hence the name of the EP, "THREE-P"
"THREE-P" came out on October 14th, 2014 and was released for free exclusively through Bandcamp. You can download it here: https://ryankiolbassa.bandcamp.com/releases
"THREE-P" came out under my real name, Ryan Kiolbassa, before I adopted the stage name of Exploding Head Syndrome. Only acoustic songs were recorded for this EP, and it was released to give a taste of what my solo music would sound like. It featured the single, "Miles and Minutes" which was released previous to the EP to share with friends.
I released my debut full length album, "Mass Occurs" under my stage name, Exploding Head Syndrome on March 23rd, 2015. I put it out myself with some help from Duncan Records - a DIY record label based out of Hamburg, PA. It's available on all digital stores and available for purchase in CD format. Links to buy it are on my home page.
As for the rest of 2015, I have a tour and local shows planned to promote "Mass Occurs" and I've already began writing for my sophomore album, however I'm very early in that process. I now have band mates for most live shows: Peter Bartot and Jake Trch. We all hope to see you soon!
Undying love,
~Ryan Kiolbassa
My name is Ryan Kiolbassa, and I am a relatively young musician from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois (USA). I have been in the music scene since I was just 13 years old, which was when I founded my first band, Dead Authority. We had gone through several changes in our band name and line up (not quite Black Flag level, but still) and we put out a couple EPs and played numerous shows and won or at least placed in most of the contests we entered.
I have also written music for a side project band called T-Rex Cardigan, as well as performed live as a guest vocalist for the bands Patent Pending and Roads of Solace and appeared as a live drummer for my brother's band, Super!
No matter what, I am almost always writing music and most of it does not make it past the walls of my house, or only gets played for a few friends and loved ones. Some of my favorite songs I've written have not been used for Dead Authority or T-Rex Cardigan. The T-Rex Cardigan project was abandoned due to a lack of time and Dead Authority went on a short hiatus after the departure of our drummer, Brett. During this hiatus, I wrote a lot of songs on my newly-purchased acoustic guitar. These songs came out sounding like folk music or acoustic old school emo music, which I was into at the time (and still very much am). They also maintained that punk-ish edge that I have been in love with throughout my entire musical career.
So while Dead Authority was searching for a new drummer, I began to collect my acoustic songs and organize them into a live show as well as an album.
I recorded and produced my first solo EP in 2 short work days with some help from Paul Tamaski, who became the drummer in Dead Authority for a short period of time. I recorded three of my songs, hence the name of the EP, "THREE-P"
"THREE-P" came out on October 14th, 2014 and was released for free exclusively through Bandcamp. You can download it here: https://ryankiolbassa.bandcamp.com/releases
"THREE-P" came out under my real name, Ryan Kiolbassa, before I adopted the stage name of Exploding Head Syndrome. Only acoustic songs were recorded for this EP, and it was released to give a taste of what my solo music would sound like. It featured the single, "Miles and Minutes" which was released previous to the EP to share with friends.
I released my debut full length album, "Mass Occurs" under my stage name, Exploding Head Syndrome on March 23rd, 2015. I put it out myself with some help from Duncan Records - a DIY record label based out of Hamburg, PA. It's available on all digital stores and available for purchase in CD format. Links to buy it are on my home page.
As for the rest of 2015, I have a tour and local shows planned to promote "Mass Occurs" and I've already began writing for my sophomore album, however I'm very early in that process. I now have band mates for most live shows: Peter Bartot and Jake Trch. We all hope to see you soon!
Undying love,
~Ryan Kiolbassa
