In addition to playwriting, Ira writes/plays music (as a singer, lyricist, & guitarist) with:
EVEN SO...
Ira Gamerman- Vocals, Words, Guitar
Sam Hoffberger- Drums & Percussion
Tyler Wolfe- Bass
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Website: www.myspace.com/evenso
(Photo by Jon Conway)
Sam Hoffberger- Drums & Percussion
Tyler Wolfe- Bass
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Website: www.myspace.com/evenso
(Photo by Jon Conway)
EVEN SO is: Energetic and Quirky Indie Rock with hard-driving drumlines and whimsical lyrics.
Reviews for: "Homecomings & Departures" (Second EP!)
"Ira Gamerman is drunk on words. Stories pour out of the 25-year-old local playwright and singer/guitarist in indie-rock trio Even So as if he can't keep them inside...The stories Gamerman tells are less fully formed than feverish glimpses of the big picture, like watching a DVD at 32 times normal speed. And his bluntly throaty voice is an ideal imperfection to run through these slivers, an unmannered, yelping earnestness that sells such restlessness as sincere even when it sounds like John Ashbery madlibs-viz... It makes for fine indie-rock spiked with playful jitters-think Ted Leo/Pharmacists...exploding into something almost as barn-levitating as Califone...Best here is "Joseph Lewis Lucas," where Even So contrasts Gamerman's wry run-on sentences with endless summer power-pop. " Bret McCabe City Paper
"Featuring smart lyrics and busy percussion, this is a can't miss effort by one of the area's best unsigned bands...principal lyricist Ira Gamerman is a much less pretentious Colin Meloy, getting the point across without needing a copy of Roget's Thesaurus... The bass and drums on "Homecomings..." are way more powerful than anything else released by a Baltimore trio who fall outside of the hard rock scene...This influence gives Even So's EP a tougher sound than other literary bands, and provides Gamerman (also a playwright) with a larger stage to spin his stories on..." -ANY GIVEN TUESDAY
"Even So definitely deliver the goods again and I would expect no less from a band so obviously on the road to major success... give it time and Joseph Lewis Lucas will work its own brand of magic... the vocals are inspired. Excellent alt rock. Highly Recommended. "-Steve Gilmore of RebelRiffs
Reviews for: "The Distance Is Less If You Never Leave" (First EP)
"Energetic and quirky Indie rock with lyrics about everything from dead playwrights to submarine adventures combined with driving drumlines; a massive live presence;and guitars that jangle, crunch, squall, shimmer, and swirl. " -The Baltimore Examiner
"Baltimore's Even So recalls indie alternative rock like early '90s R.E.M. with jousting rhythms and beautiful melodic vocals sung in a very open mouth style. The percussion is surprisingly complex and extremely tight.. Emotional rock mavens in their own right, Even So tackles guitar-centric indie pop-rock with an evenhanded gusto. College rock, the way it's supposed to sound..not like the watered down version that has been plaguing campus radio for far too long." -Smother Magazine
"...Melodic, Radiohead-Inspired, poetic rockers..." -The Baltimore Examiner
"Even So's The Distance is Less If You Never Leave begins with a literate, radio-friendly indie rock gem, "Farewell to Thee, Submariner!" and rapidly rocks, rolls, and alludes its way into the heart and onto the playlists of even the most discerning listener. Even So is very similar to The Decemberists in lyrical quality, only they replace pirates with Jacque Cousteau and Henrik Ibsen. No bandits here either, but there is a song on this album that may well be about a circus accident. This CD is wonderful. It's a quirky, well-written, musically pleasing bundle of idiosyncrasies. The Distance is Less If You Never Leave is an album that, quite unlike the work of The Decemberists, is not an acquired taste, nor is it one of those albums that can only be enjoyed under a very specific set of circumstances. The Distance is Less If You Never Leave is full of catchy melodies, tight percussion and memorable turns of phrase. Watch for Even So to break out of the vibrant Baltimore scene onto a national stage. These guys are going to be big." -Independent Clauses
"Baltimore favorites Even So... channel old-school Radiohead, with emotional, thoughtful tunes." -The Baltimore Examiner
"Nervy is a great, zippy little track with an enormous likeability factor - an almost first play turn on which is no bad thing. There's an almost punk feel to the headlong rush of words and music and the chorus could well have come from any UK source of that music, so it's a given that this is a most invigorating listen... A very nice introduction to this band indeed...a large alternative audience is sitting waiting for them. Highly Recommended alternative punch-in-the-face rock." -Steve Gilmore of RebelRiffs
"...Recalls the Decemberists...with a bit more edge." - City Paper
EVEN SO HAS SHARED THE STAGE WITH:
Blue Oyster Cult, The Twilight Sad, The Fucking Champs, The Virgins, De Novo Dahl, All Mighty Senators, Colour Revolt, Ghost Mice, Sam Champion, and many more.
Little Mammoth
Ryan Boyle- Guitar, Words, Sampler
Paige Brubeck- Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass
Ira Gamerman- Vocals, Guitar, Kazoo
Billy Mitchell- Drums, and lots of other crazy shit
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Little Mammoth was an Indie Rock band influenced in equal parts by Pavement and The Shangri-Las, which existed for a brief time in Chicago Illinois circa 2008.
Despite the fact that Little Mammoth never actually played a single show, they did manage to record a 2 track EP in their practice space with the help of Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult (Of Sleepy Kitty, Bound Stems, and Harvey Danger fame).
(Eventually this 2 track EP might see the light of day…if we can find the files...)
They also shared a practice space with Netherfriends (where they often received suicide notes from prostitutes who occupied the practice space next door) and did a killer Motown cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room.”
Despite the fact that Little Mammoth met an early demise; Billy, Paige, Ryan, and Ira are all on great terms and often meet up, get all nostalgic, and muse about how Little Mammoth was pretty much the best band to never play a show.
On July 8th 2011, Little Mammoth got a namecheck in St. Louis's Riverfront Times by Mr. Evan Sult: "Paige's last Chicago band, Little Mammoth, should have finished recording at least two songs because I loved them and wanted to listen to them, but that band blew apart into four different cities. Dag!"
That about sums it up. What a lovely footnote, eh?
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz/2011/07/sleepy_kittys_infinity_city.php
Paige is currently playing with SLEEPY KITTY in St. Louis, MO. (http://sleepykittyarts.blogspot.com/)
Billy is currently playing with CARNIVORES
And Ryan is currently playing with a new band (tentatively named "Parenthesis") in Chicago, IL.
Paige Brubeck- Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass
Ira Gamerman- Vocals, Guitar, Kazoo
Billy Mitchell- Drums, and lots of other crazy shit
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Little Mammoth was an Indie Rock band influenced in equal parts by Pavement and The Shangri-Las, which existed for a brief time in Chicago Illinois circa 2008.
Despite the fact that Little Mammoth never actually played a single show, they did manage to record a 2 track EP in their practice space with the help of Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult (Of Sleepy Kitty, Bound Stems, and Harvey Danger fame).
(Eventually this 2 track EP might see the light of day…if we can find the files...)
They also shared a practice space with Netherfriends (where they often received suicide notes from prostitutes who occupied the practice space next door) and did a killer Motown cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room.”
Despite the fact that Little Mammoth met an early demise; Billy, Paige, Ryan, and Ira are all on great terms and often meet up, get all nostalgic, and muse about how Little Mammoth was pretty much the best band to never play a show.
On July 8th 2011, Little Mammoth got a namecheck in St. Louis's Riverfront Times by Mr. Evan Sult: "Paige's last Chicago band, Little Mammoth, should have finished recording at least two songs because I loved them and wanted to listen to them, but that band blew apart into four different cities. Dag!"
That about sums it up. What a lovely footnote, eh?
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz/2011/07/sleepy_kittys_infinity_city.php
Paige is currently playing with SLEEPY KITTY in St. Louis, MO. (http://sleepykittyarts.blogspot.com/)
Billy is currently playing with CARNIVORES
And Ryan is currently playing with a new band (tentatively named "Parenthesis") in Chicago, IL.
