Stymphalian Birds featured in the Washington City Paper

Ten Tigers friend, Adrian Varallyay was featured in the One Track Mind column of the Washington City Paper for his band Stymphalian Birds

By Aaron Leitko
Posted: July 2, 2008

With Beaks and Feathers We Saw Bodies Floating Upstream

Stymphalian Birds

Standout Track: No. 1, “With Beaks and Feathers We Saw Bodies Floating Upstream,” which is, incidentally, the only song on the CD-R. Clocking in at exactly 33 minutes, the single track collages home-studio improvisations and live recordings into a slowly evolving psychedelic epic complete with drones, bird noises, and the best use of electronic-flute sounds this side of Popol Vuh.

Musical Motivation: Despite its mix-and-match structure, Stymphalian Birds’ music is designed for smoothing out rough edges. “I kind of look at it as shoegazing-easy-listening-crunkness,” says Adrian Varallyay—a 26-year-old D.C. native who’s Stymphalian Birds’ sole constant member—when describing both this composition and his band’s overall vibe. “It’s kind of music to help you zone out, or chill out, or calm down from the daily bustle.” So it’s New Age music? “It’s not quite Yanni,” he insists. “It’s calming—but tinged with sadness.”

Pole Position: Live, Varallyay improvises most of Stymphalian Birds’ music by running a bass and a steel pole—used as percussion—through foot pedals to create bizarre electro-acoustic ambiances on the fly. “I have a vocabulary, and I bring what I can to the table,” he says. “Sometimes I have things in my mind, [riffs] that I’ve done before, but all of the arrangements are spontaneous.” Still, Varallyay is a little self-conscious about getting too deep into improv rhetoric. “I don’t want to over-intellectualize it,” he says. “I just like fucking with stuff.”

Stymphalian Birds plays the Velvet Lounge Tuesday, July 8.

Future Cities Opens June 3rd

New Paintings by Daniel Stuelpnagel, on display for one night at Taurus Development's new headquarters on H street, NE.

Tuesday June 3, 2008
6-8pm

With a dj set by Adrian Varallyay of Stymphalian Birds and Bonner Sale

Free, open to the public, guaranteed good time.

Smart Noise----Stymphalian Birds @ the Rock and Roll Hotel, May 4

Adrian Varallyay

Sitting in the middle of his intricate set-up, which consists of a 5’x3’plywood board of effect pedals and dials, a hanging metal pipe with contact mics, a cymbal, two large amps and a bass guitar, Adrian Varallyay's performance falls somewhere between musical twister and mad science.
Opening for Kayo Dot and Earth at the Rock and Roll Hotel on May 4th, Stymphalian Birds is quickly gaining notoriety in the DC scene as the newest band to break into the noise-rock genre without destroying it. The set began slowly, with Adrian alternately hunching to work loops and upright hitting the cymbal. He wandered through the maze of dials, pedals and wires without any indication of a resolution, but with absolute confidence of what would come next. Layering the effects and tracks into a surreal, ambient foundation, Varallyay wove effectively between avant guard noise and classically trained bass patterns.
There were no breaks in his 45 minute set, no crescendo to fulfill, only tireless experimentations of noise and music, keeping the audience interested, but leaving little room for interaction--perhaps it's only weakness. Despite performing as a one man band, The Stymphalian Birds manages to sound like a combination of their Baltimore neighbors, WZT Hearts and Yeveto.
written with help from Bonner Sale