{"id":235397,"date":"2012-02-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/not-all-who-wander-are-lost\/"},"modified":"2012-02-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T08:00:00","slug":"not-all-who-wander-are-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/not-all-who-wander-are-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"No todos los que vagan est\u00e1n perdidos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local band Hyena forges its own path to success<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Logan Broyles | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>
(Photo by Rebecca Wilson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the very beginning, Michael Cooper and Bryan Stratman have always done things their own way. They tried their hand at playing with more traditional bands, but felt bogged down by so many voices in the creative process.<\/p>\n

Instead they have left the beaten path with their band Hyena, a dance-centric, electro-indie hybrid that\u2019s been making the rounds at various local clubs for the last two years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare to see musicians manning instruments and mixers at the same time, combining advanced sound equipment with the raw energy generated by a real band jamming on the spot, rather than just spinning premade recordings.<\/p>\n

Stratman works his mixing equipment like a man possessed and Cooper lays down steady beats on the drums, while they both belt out auto-tune enhanced vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we play a show we\u2019re just like machines out there,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cBetween me drumming and singing and looping and programming, and him singing and playing bass and mixing everything, we\u2019re always moving and there\u2019s no downtime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper and Stratman both grew up with music and started playing instruments at an early age. Both have bounced around in rock and indie bands since their teens, including Cooper\u2019s stint as the drummer of TRANSFER.<\/p>\n

Together, the multi-talented musicians mix and mash their instrumentals to create a unique style of music that blends the eighties pop of their childhood with the more modern DJ revolution era of dance music.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>
(Photo by Steven Branon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBasically what it comes down to is I love women and women love dance music,\u201d Cooper said, only half-joking. \u201cIt all started when I began going to parties with local DJs like Gabe Vega and Adam Salter and realized that people just want to dance and have fun. Being reflective and writing sad Country songs is cool but I\u2019ve done it for so long that I want to do something fun with more of a party vibe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The duo first met in 2009 when Cooper was brought in to play drums for a band that was recording at Stratman\u2019s recording studio, Capricorn Studios in the East Village. Having access to their own recording studio has given them a level of creative freedom that few bands get to enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving played in bands since I was fifteen years old I know how rare this is. I do not miss being in a band with three or four other guys at all,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cIt\u2019s so much easier to get your input into the creative process when it\u2019s just the two of us with our own studio to jam in. With me and Bryan [Stratman], it takes one phone call to make a decision and we both get to take the lead and make the music that we want to,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n

After starting out in the indie rock world, neither one had much of a background in electro music before their latest project, but they\u2019ve come a long way in a short time. They have opened for some top DJs and bands, including MGMT, Felix the Housecat, Classics, Diplo, and The Bravery, and the duo just wrapped up a show with LMFAO.<\/p>\n

Bigger things are happening this year, with a new record coming out locally in March and globally this summer, coinciding with Hyena\u2019s world tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re picking a few markets around the world that we want to attack,\u201d Cooper said, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a huge release for the new record and then go on a global tour in some of those markets. Touring is what we want to do because it\u2019s the best way to get our music out there and get new fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hyena will be playing at the Guesthouse at Stingaree on Monday, Feb. 6 and at the Casbah on Feb. 23. They also have regular residencies at Fluxx Nightclub in the Gaslamp.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local band Hyena forges its own path to success By Logan Broyles | Downtown News From the very beginning, Michael Cooper and Bryan Stratman have always done things their own way. They tried their hand at playing with more traditional bands, but felt bogged down by so many voices in the creative process. Instead they […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Not all who wander are lost","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}