bio

Gary Reynolds is a Pacific Northwest rock & roll singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer currently based in Seattle, Washington. Gary’s latest release, You Are What You See, released on August 23rd, 2024, and was recorded straight to 16-track 2” tape in his own Wallingford studio, Electrokitty.

Gary got his start in a band called the Cretins in Port Arthur, Texas in 1983. There was a strip in town called Gulfway Drive, and the bars and clubs were all BYOB. All the sailors would hang out at these places. The entire scene was very country and redneck. A friend in a blues band left his house gig at a divey club and passed this gig on to Gary, spawning The Cretins. 

The band was supposed to be called Mooney and the Moon Dogs, but there weren’t enough letters on the marquis so Gary changed the band name to The Cretins. They were booked from 8pm until 2am with a few 15 minute breaks thrown in. They were paid with all-you-can-drink beer, and $50 per band member. They only had 18 songs, so they played covers for most of the nights. Gary would learn songs off the jukebox during their set breaks and stretch out songs with long solos to kill time. Mostly old rock & roll covers by Elvis, Chuck Berry and The Beatles, mixed with the Ramones and other late 70s punk. They would calculate a successful night based on how many fights they’d witness within the crowd. The record was five. At one point someone hit a patron over the head with a pool cue, and another time someone got thrown through a plate glass window while the band was playing “She’s Just 17.” The band toured Texas extensively until Gary got fed up with his home state and left for NYC in 1991.

In New York City, Gary became influenced by hip-hop and started refining his skills in the studio, working with samplers and other cutting edge musical technology of the era.

In 1999, Gary moved to Seattle and within a year he opened up Electrokitty Studio in Fremont. In 2003 the studio was moved to its current location in Wallingford. Notable clients include Kendrick Lamar, Sleater-Kinney, Nas, U2, Mastodon, Dave Matthews. The studio boasts an MCI JH-16, a 16-track reel-to-reel tape machine which was used to record this most recent solo album.

In 2006, Gary started the band Gary Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity. Eventually he hired drummer Faith Stankevich for the project, who performs on this current batch of songs.

In 2014, Gary quit performing and opened up Revolver Bar on Capitol Hill. He mortgaged everything for this club and told himself he would never play music again. The vinyl-only rock & roll bar features regular DJs and specialty sets from psychedelic and garage artists touring through Seattle.

Despite this promise to retire, in 2023, a psychedelic-fueled recording session pulled Gary back into the game. Gary found an old album of his on tape from 2013 and finished the recording project during this session. Shortly after that he called up his old bandmate Stankevich. She enlisted the help of her new bandmate, Acid Tongue frontman Guy Keltner, and this current roster of Gary’s band was born.

Gary’s latest album You Are What You See is a return to form and a true Seattle rock & roll classic. The album has elements of Neil Young, The Screaming Trees and Big Star, while remaining uniquely in its own world. The band celebrated the release headlining at the Belltown Yacht Club, and soon to play Freakout Festival. More U.S. and European tour dates to be announced on the horizon. After a 10 year hiatus from live performances, Gary is ready to show the world how to rock like a true icon.