Ann Arborite and sophomore Tyler Duncan and Czech sophomore Aaron Gold have pieced together a quintet of University music students who add subtleties to their eclectic amalgamation of Irish bagpipes and Eastern European-influenced drum beats. The product of this instrumentally unique pairing is Toolbox, a tightly knit ensemble who will perform tonight for their third time at the Blind Pig.
Guitarist and Music student Theo Katzman said the group might “ironically be the first band where it is hard to describe the genre.”
The group uses jazz improvisation in the medium of Irish pipes while dabbling with reggae and disco beat, which makes them both unique and hard to define.
If pressed, Duncan said he’d describe his group as “bagpipe drum and bass with a dark, satirical sense of adventure.”
Labels aside, Toolbox just wants their audience to dance and enjoy their night out at the Pig.
Toolbox’s dominant sound and captivating image comes from Duncan’s inventive use of the Irish bagpipe. As a past student of the pipes in Ireland and, at age 15, the first American to win an international contest based on his performance of Irish music, he began experimenting with new ways to perform.
“The music was very traditional,” Duncan said. “I always thought it sounded old and stale. When I was a kid, I was always trying to put things together with my music, like a jig over a Benny Goodman or Robert Johnson tune. I wanted to do a fusion with integrity . So I’d listen to a lot of jazz and see how it applied.”
The fusion began more than a year ago when Duncan moved in with Gold and they created and recorded in the latter’s garage for a week until they completed a full set for a musical competition in the Czech Republic.
Gold explained how they managed to amplify their sound despite being so small. “(We) wanted a full band sound from only two people . so we starting putting things in Pro-Tools so we could play along with it.”
Once they put these sounds in a live setting and substitute the performers, they had a developed, full sound that opened up opportunities for much greater depth.
Playing at the Blind Pig was a goal for Duncan as he grew up in Ann Arbor. He doesn’t see this as a stressful stage in his musical career, but rather an enjoyable experience that’s been a natural progression from his early roots in Irish music.
“The best show in my idea is where you can come and dance,” Duncan said. “But there are a lot of people who don’t dance, and I want them to be equally enthralled by the music. It works on a couple levels with the physical and primal level, and then the intellectual level above that.”
Toolbox and Millish
Tonight at 9:30 p.m.
At the Blind Pig