MiRthkon

miRthkon
miRthkon in 2012, L-R: Matthew Guggemos, Travis Andrews, Carolyn Walter, Wally Scharold, Jamison Smeltz, Matt Lebofsky
Background information
Origin	Oakland, California, United States
Genres	Avant-rock, Rock in Opposition, progressive rock, avant-garde metal, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz, neo-classical
Years active	2005–present
Labels	AltrOck Productions
Website	Official Site
Members	Travis John Andrews Matthew Guggemos Matt Lebofsky Jarred McAdams Wally Scharold Jamison Smeltz Carolyn Walter
Past members	Aram Shelton Dickie Ogden Nathaniel Hawkes Ben Doitel Rob Pumpelly many others

miRthkon is an Oakland, California based avant rock group founded by guitarist/vocalist/composer Wally Scharold. In addition to several album releases, they have also had songs featured in the video games Guitar Hero Van Halen ("QXP-13 Space Modulator") and Tap Tap Revenge ("Banana" was the Tap Tap Thursday Track on June 24, 2010).

While studying composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Scharold self-published several CDs under the miRthkon name. These early releases weren't produced as albums but more as archival compilations of a variety of Scharold's compositions and improvisations, including several early, less developed versions of songs in the current band's repertoire. These performances featured one-off bands made up of Scharold's fellow students including trumpeter Peter Evans and drummer Brian Chase of the Art Punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Upon completing his degree, Scharold moved to Oakland to attend Mills College for his Master of Arts in Music Composition, where he studied with Fred Frith and Alvin Curran, graduating in 2003. There he met other musicians to form a band and perform his older miRthkon compositions, as well as collaborate on new ones.

After starting with more standard rock instrumentation the ensemble evolved to include two guitars, two woodwinds, bass and drums. From this point forward the lineup has maintained this exact instrumentation, with a few changes in the line-up. With Jarred McAdams, miRthkon then added a seventh member, providing video for live performances and general conceptual design.

The band recorded an EP "The Illusion of Joy" with the core lineup of Wally Scharold, Rob Pumpelly (The Flying Luttenbachers), Carolyn Walter, Dickie Ogden, and Nathaniel Hawkes. While searching for a regular second saxophonist, Scharold's Oberlin classmate Dave Reminick was brought in to record all alto saxophone parts. Weeks before its release, alto saxophonist Aram Shelton joined to form the first core lineup. Shortly after that Nathaniel hurt his hand and was temporarily replaced by Matt Lebofsky (MoeTar, Secret Chiefs 3).