Rubedo

that spontaneity honed by discipline in their music now. But when Kyle went on an existential/spiritual journey, hiking across the country he woke up one day after an epiphany struck him and he called Gregg to start the band. It clicked from there and the duo got together with Alex and started a band that had that informal structure and flexibility of free jazz, the noisy psychedelic freakout instincts of the wilder ends of The Mars Volta and a deeply rooted sense of compassion for each other and the rest of humanity that informs how these guys operate and engage with the rest of the world. That wellspring of good instincts, good spirits and psychological and creative openness that drew the band to interesting experiences and unexpected opportunities the list of which reads like fiction. It started with the band meeting Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, the keyboardist of The Mars Volta, who has gone on to become a friend, mentor and collaborator with the band as well as producing Rubedo's first album, Massa Confusa, and its latest opus, Love Is the Answer. Owens was like the god Janus that opened some doors for and within the band, challenging it to step up and not merely be a local phenomenon. Through the DIY space Unit E, Rubedo had the chance in 2012 to curate the Blacktop Music Festival and shutting down a couple of streets in downtown Denver--something that rarely happens for much of anything beyond the occasional parade or visits from heads of state. In 2013, Rubedo was also asked to perform at Denver International Airport for a month, several hours a day. Experimental rock bands don't get asked to do things like that but that's the story of Rubedo. Its music is out of left field but incredibly accessible. It has a core of improvisation built into the sound, the performances and the songwriting but never feels self-indulgent. There is something inviting about the band's music even in its most fiery moments like you're sharing the same dream, the same feelings without being subsumed by anyone else's vision. Love Is the Answer may sound like a hippie platitude but with Rubedo it is a simple formula for salving the ails of the modern psyche without telling you how that has to look, the form it has to take and without suggesting a timeframe. Rather, it is a fundamental statement of everyday spiritual solidarity with the struggles of being alive and a subtle but powerful act of kindness given from that tranquil place in all of us we must cultivate in these troubled times.