K-Holes plays at Russian Recording

Drowning in the noise of a droning saxophone and wailing vocals, the audience at Russian Recording Saturday night caught a live glimpse of punk-noise band The K-Holes.

The K-Holes, a five-member ensemble from New York City, made a stop in Bloomington as part of its North American “K-Holes Loves Call of the Wild Tour.”
Named after the theory of psychedelic tunnels experienced during overuse of the sedative drug ketamine, the band made stops in Canada and Chicago before heading to local music producer Mike Bridavsky’s Russian Recording studio.

K-Holes Vocalist Vashti Windish said the bar food at Russian Recording — a Cheeto’s pretzel mix — was pretty “rad,” as was the bartender, and the space was inviting and had a special quality.

And Bridavsky’s venue does seem pretty special.

It offers a live show experience for all ages while providing bands a space in which to record live tracks.

Bridavsky said the venue arranges only one or two live recording shows per month, due to the high frequency of private projects coming through the studio.

The venue maintains a universal music perspective, with no perceptible ties to any one genre or musical sound.

“I don’t really prefer any one type of music,” Bridavsky said. “The type of sessions I like to work on are the ones where the bands or musicians are dedicated to their work, on-time and hardworking. When you work in this industry, your taste in music has to go out the door or else you’re gonna hate your job.”

At Russian Recording, the band and audience share an intimate space within one of the studio’s four recording rooms, while Bridavsky works behind the scenes to record the performance onto a CD, DVD or an old-school tape reel.

Once the live tracks are recorded, Bridavsky hands the finished product over to be used however the band wishes.

K-Holes said they enjoyed their 11-song session Saturday night, because the crowd was so receptive and the room produced a rich sound. But at the heart of the band’s enjoyment was, ultimately, making music.

“I guess we just all love music passionately and the experience of playing it together,” the band said. “And we want to share that feeling with others. Same as any artist, you do it because it feels good, keeps you sane.”