It's A Gass

Before I met Aron Sanchez and Arone Dyer of [Buke & Gass], I hadn’t the slightest clue as to what a buke or a gass could possibly be. To be honest, upon first seeing the name, I initially thought that the duo (based in Brooklyn) might have hailed from Germany, given the abstruse moniker. But, as I would soon come to learn, the foreign-looking words were not some sort of Nordic surnames. Indeed, they are not part of the English language (or any language, for that matter) at all, but rather terms for the custom instruments invented by the two.

For the uninitiated, a buke (pronounced “by-ook”) is the modified baritone ukulele wielded by Dyer, and a gass (pronounced “gay-ss”) is the mutant guitar-bass hybrid created by Sanchez. These two custom instruments are the cornerstones of Buke & Gass.

Dyer and Sanchez first met in 2000 at a loft that Dyer had just moved into. “We were introduced because we have the same name,” Dyer remembers with a chuckle. Dyer, a Minnesota native, and Sanchez, hailing from Maine, made their way to New York at the turn of the millennium after realizing that their respective locales were “two Northern states that needed to be left,” according to Sanchez.

For Sanchez, designing his own instrument is all in a day’s work. Sanchez served 10 years as the musical instrument designer for the Blue Man Group, creating everything from midi instruments to backmounted PVC pipe marimbas, working on what is now incarnated as the gass all the while. Though his development of the gass intersected with his work with the Blue Man Group, it was nonetheless some thing completely separate—something more personal.

After meeting with Dyer and beginning to play with her, the gass finally had the opportunity to get out of the workshop and on to the stage. The two began to put what would become Buke & Gass together about three years ago, and Dyer modified a baritone ukulele to create the equally interesting and complex gass. (When asked, Dyer explains the off-beat DADGBD tuning of the instrument with the useful mnemonic “dumb acid dealers get busted, definitely.”)

Though the duo worked with a drummer for a brief period of time, they were soon left to fend for themselves percussion-wise. Responding to the call in their typically creative manner, Dyer fashioned what she calls a “toebourine” out of a tambourine and a bicycle toe clip and strapped some bells onto her legs. Eventually, the DIY-percussion setup evolved to include a bass drum with a snare inside in addition to Dyer’s bells and jingles, and Buke & Gass played its first live show at Williamsburg’s Sound Fix in 2008.

The group’s first full-length album, Riposte, which was released Sept. 14 of this year on Brassland Records, showcases the duo’s musical adaptability and puts its custom instruments on a truly unique pedestal. When combined, the buke and the gass create an intriguing, layered sound that fuses the traditional rock aspects of an electric guitar and bass with a deep, fuzzy and full sound that could not possibly be replicated with a normal guitar—not even with a nearly infinite array of effects pedals and amplification. Put this together with jingly yet viscerally pounding percussion and Dyer’s vibrato-ridden, wailing yet hauntingly beautiful voice, and Riposte is something in its own world entirely.

When it comes to composition and songwriting, the actual buke and gass play almost as prominent a role as Dyer and Sanchez do. Given that the instruments the duo play are so unique, their songwriting must naturally adapt to accommodate and incorporate the wide range of sounds available. “The instruments, to a degree, kind of dictate what I’m doing. We’re kind of building the songs around the limitations that we have,” says Sanchez. “One buke, one gass, a few pedals…” “Only so many hands!” interjects Dyer with a smile.

Naturally, these limitations extend to the band’s live performance. With such tightly and precisely composed songs and technical obstacles, playing live leaves little room for improvisation and relies quite heavily on communication between the two. “There’s no rest during a show; I don’t even have a minute to pick up a glass of water if I’m choking during the set,” says Dyer—though a CamelBak pouch filled with wine was briefly thrown out as a possible solution.

Despite the difficulties, Buke and Gass nonetheless steer clear of any type of loops or other electronics. However, Sanchez does concede that this is indeed quite a bit of work, musing, “I can see why people have bands with more than two members.”

>> Buke & Gass Dec. 11, Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St. (betw. Essex & Ludlow Sts.), 212-260-4700; 7:30, $12.