Gerty

Gerty was indie rock band originally formed in Baltimore during the Spring of 1995. Shirlé Hale had recently left her bass duties with riot grrrl band Womyn of Destruction. Her boyfriend, guitarist David Koslowski had just returned from a two month tour with his group Liquor Bike. He found a cassette of home recordings that Hale had put together in his absence. Hale was at work when he gave the 6 songs a listen. He was so impressed by the emotional depth of these tracks that he encouraged Hale to call upon their old friend Miyuki Furtado to play drums. Furtado knew Hale from their days of playing in the band Jag. The newly formed trio would enter the studio in July 1995 to cut some demos. Hale tagged the project Gerty, named for her moped, but also for Hale's love of Gertrude Stein. Gerty quickly signed with Merkin Records and released the Raggedy Aneurysm EP in the Fall of 1996. Spring of 1997 saw the group releasing their debut full-length, Carload of Scenic Effects, recorded with Drew Mazurek (Jawbox, Texas Is The Reason), which garnered rave reviews. Gerty hit the road in support of the record and while touring the Southeast the band made a big decision, they had fallen in love with the easy living and the camaraderie of the Chapel Hill, NC music scene. In the Spring of ’98, the band decided to leave their hometown of Baltimore and move South. One small problem was that drummer Furtado had fallen in love with his new girlfriend (now wife & mother of their beautiful daughter) and wanted to move to NYC for her new job. Hale & Koslowski were supportive of Furtado's decision, but opted to move and keep Gerty alive. After settling in Chapel Hill and then Durham, NC the band recruited drummer Laura King (Superchunk, Bat Fangs, R. Ring) & bassist Justin Williams to help them finish their next record, Two Kisses in a Row. The record was released on Koslowski’s own label, Plastique Recording Co., in April 1999. The band had a very difficult tour in support of the record and decided to take a break. In May of 2000, Hale & Koslowski solidified their union & married after seven years of living & writing music together. While honeymooning in Europe, Hale & Koslowski decided break up Gerty as they had grown tired of band life, touring and plans for their third album weren't forming as they had hoped. In 2001, Hale & Koslowski started doing some home recording on an 8-Track Tape Machine with Koslowski doing the engineering. This would become the nucleus of the third Gerty release, Sweets from the Minibar. The now-reformed duo contacted producer Chris Stamey (the dB’s, Pylon, Le Tigre) to help finish up the recordings. This saw the group working with more electronic sounds, drum machines & tape loops while still using organic instrumentation. In Spring 2002, the band signed with the indie label, Eskimo Kiss Records, which released the record in September 2002. At this point, Gerty had essentially become Hale & Koslowski with a revolving cast of players: Maria Albani (Schooner, Organos), Rafi Goldberg, Marc Faris, Chris Eubank, Mitch Easter (Let’s Active) & Jon Wurster (Superchunk) to help them record and/or tour. The duo recorded a Christmas EP with producer Zeno Gill called Three for the Holiday, which was released on his label, Pox World Empire in the Winter of 2003. Hale & Koslowski headed back into the studio with Gill to record the follow up record, Dance The Swivel Hips, but unfortunately it never saw the light of day. In 2005, Hale & Koslowski decided to move on from the group after 10 years and finally put Gerty to bed. After a short hiatus the duo formed a new shoegazey alternative band called Free Electric State.