There
are many rumors, legends, and apocryphal tales about the formation
of The Fabulous Entourage. Some say Kyle and Travis started
performing at a small rehab center in Long Island. Others say they
met while hang- gliding
in
the Himalayas. Still others whisper that they began their careers
after being exposed to a strange radioactive moon rock. None of
these stories are true. The truth is, these boys were born to rock
and roll.
TFE began
when Travis and Kyle embarked upon an effort to find new ways
to integrate rock music and theater. In pursuit of this goal,
they created a number of popularly and critically successful
theater pieces, combining performance art and storytelling
elements and fusing Travis's spoken word creations with Kyle's
bizarre, darkly funny pop songs. Their first piece, Realm
of the Unreal,
introduced
TFE's signature mix of lo-fi electro-pop and B-movie story
lines. |
A
blurry image from the early days.
Photo: Quinnie Tan
|
TFE's
next collaboration was Hardboiled
Happy Hour,
presented at Dixon Place in July 2002. TFE
followed that with the space age romp Big
Bang!,
which was co-produced
by Collective: Unconscious. Big Bang! featured
an army of eclectic opening acts and was hosted by Carrie Curran
and Desiree Burch. By the time of their trash opera opus Robot
Girl, Travis and Kyle had begun performing
more regularly as a band, singing songs from their shows in new
contexts with more complex arrangements.
With the addition of drummer Perry Silver and backup vocalists
Emily Wilbur and Katy Kassler in late 2003, TFE added a
fuller, rawer rock sound to the bedrock of electronic beats and
samples. Their concert extravaganza Vice
Nation, performed in January 2004, showcased
this new lineup. Currently, TFE enjoys a reputation as
a kickass pop band with lively and flamboyant stage shows that
hint affectionately at a more theatrical past.
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