Jeff Klemm & The Letters
American singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and sound engineer creates catchy indie-rock-pop songs with Jeff Klemm & The Letters.
Dubbed the “Hardest Working Man In Akron Show Business” American singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and sound engineer, Jeff Klemm is based out of Northeast Ohio best known for his work as MAID MYRIAD’s frontman and guitarist in the now defunct VIA LOTUS. He has performed his music all over the country many times over embarking on several national full band and solo acoustic tours. His accomplished work as a sound engineer has been showcased prominently in national venues and mainstream radio stations.
Singer/Songwriter Jeff “JCK” Klemm, known for his nationally touring, critically acclaimed rock band MAID MYRIAD, has released his first solo album “Burying The Shadows,” distributed through Diskette Records.
“The songs were mostly written and recorded over several weeks last winter in the grips of fever delirium and emotional crisis,” says Klemm. “Instead of going on a bar bender to cope with the heartbreak, I went on a creative bender and put all those wild emotions down on record. I moved my bed into my studio and didn’t leave for weeks.” Klemm performed all the instruments on the record with the exception of two songs, on which Jake Porter, Colin Stevens and Tiernan King (of Klemm’s live band The Letters) take the helm.
Renowned engineer and co-owner of Central 8 Studios Nathan Doutt handled the mixing duties. “Due to my tour schedule, I was barely home in 2015, so the record was collecting dust until Nathan asked about it,” recalls Klemm. “I handed him a hard drive full of songs and said ‘have fun.’ Nathan sculpted the sound in a bigger, different and more focused direction than I’d originally envisioned. He’d send me new mixes and I’d send notes from the road. Nathan put a ton of time and energy into making the album sound unique and it really shines through in the mixes.”
Although “Burying The Shadows” does not adhere to one musical genre, the record is not without mortar. Featuring classic breakup songs of love gone sour, from the sarcastic “It’s Just Not Meant To Be” to the anxious “13 Missed Calls,” the lush and hopeful “Ocean Meets The Sky” and alt-country bordering “Fix,” the unifying theme is love in all its iterations – from inception to death. Klemm makes his apologies in the fraught “Weight Of The World,” where his recognizable soaring tenor counteracts the whiskey-soaked doo-wop of “You’re Breaking My Heart (The Whiskey Song),” dedicated to none other than his faithful companion.
Says Klemm: “What ties the record together thematically is the word ‘heart’, which is mentioned in pretty much every song. These songs were the knife that cut through the scar tissue building up around my heart over the last few years. Letting go of the past by burying the shadows that had overcast my happiness was liberating and cathartic. I can finally breathe. I hope it comes through in this collection of songs and the companion acoustic record that will follow early next year.”
Maid Myriad, Boasting a beautiful but potent style of post-progressive/alternative/pop they like to refer to as kaleidoscope rock, blends dynamically versatile songs, angst-fueled progressive riffs, delicate pin drop moments, and intense start/stop dynamics.
The other side to his creative cerebral coin, KLEMM’S “crooning acrobatic vocals and spiderweb fingerpicking acoustic guitar” has earned his solo sets such praise as “Sounds like if Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake went out on a full moon heartbreak bar crawl.”
KLEMM also brings his soaring vocals to a new level with his fresh solo project JEFF KLEMM & THE LETTERS. Combining infectious hooks, a keen pop sensibility, and an obtusely introspective way of speaking through lyrics, THE LETTERS are excited to showcase a batch of brand new songs feverishly written during the cruel OHIO winter. JEFF KLEMM’S perspective on love, addiction and traveling the country will break your heart and burrow its way into your head like a lovable fever cold.
MAID MYRIAD will continue touring in support of their debut full length album “With Haste On Its Breath” throughout 2015 and beyond.
Praise for Maid Myriad and Jeff Klemm:
“Jeff Klemm may be the Hardest Working Man In Akron Show Business or so it seems with his touring with Maid Myriad, recording, running sound and the 15 other bands he’s in.” – Devil Strip Magazine
“Jeff Klemm has to be one of the best singers within this style. He was definitely very spot on live.” – No Clean Singing
“The track’s dream-like verses, driving riffs that close out the track and Jeff Klemm’s near angelic vocals are sure to be stuck in your head all day. In fact, we guarantee that.” – American Aftermath
“With Haste On Its Breath” is massive, melodic, introspective, and tortured, like a wonderful dream that quickly metamorphasizes into the kind of nightmare that continues to rattle and haunt you even after you awaken, stuck to your psyche like gum to the bottom of a shoe.” -Metal Sucks
“Maid Myriad, which calls its music “kaleidoscope rock” thankfully digs deeper and further back into the ’90s recalling the intricate, herky-jerky dynamics and start-stop riffs of bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate and At the Drive-In and heavier contemporary proggy bands such as Tool and The Mars Volta, minus the 10-minute songs.” – Akron Beacon Journal
“Slowly uncoiling, building from a gentle, theatrical intro into an explosive modern rock masterpiece by the end, “Be Careful What You Wish For” is just an example of MAID MYRIAD’s awesome dexterity displayed on the moving twelve-song With Haste On Its Breath. The trio fuses an endless array of genres into a unique, hook-strewn rock amalgam of their own, and on the album, creates an hour-long opus that is as beautiful as it is contagious.” – Earsplit Compound
“With Haste On Its Breath twirls through progressive rock and post-hardcore with a refreshing sense of otherness. There are obvious influences at play – the darker, quieter corners of Deftones’ work, Cave In’s later, more melodic days, a smattering of Tool’s art-metal rhythms, a touch of Mars Volta when frontman Jeff Klemm lets rip with the falsetto, and the grit and raw emotion of mid-90s post-hardcore personified by the likes of Jawbox and Sunny Day Real Estate. But in pooling all of these influences together, [MAID MYRIAD] created an album that exists purely in its own little world, and quite lovely it is, too.” – Team Rock
“With Haste on its Breath is a wondrous collection of songs [that] are beautiful, yet sorrowful; tinged with a harder edge, but very delicate and harmonious.” – Prog Archives
