Take a walk and a listen to Zephuros
By Kelly Vormelker, Staff Writer
February 7, 2008 | 9:45 p.m.
It feels like Zephuros magically can help melt away snow from hillsides and rooftops, revealing the life that lives beneath the frozen blanket. Zephuros' songs, backed with real and often dark meaning, are worth warming up with this bitter winter.
Zephuros, which signifies the god of the west wind, is the ethereal nomenclature attached to sleepy guitar picker Kevin Meyer. Meyer, a senior at Ohio University, has successfully and permanently branded the name Zephuros with his first CD, The Black Gull, released to the masses in spring of 2007.
The Black Gull is like taking a long, winding walk on a Sunday afternoon. One foot slowly glides in front of the other, gently passing over the path beneath them. Clouds lazily drift away, and sunlight warms the cheeks as Meyer sweetly sings the wanderer into a state of complacency.
Complacency slides into delirium as images of lonely spiders, parental polar bears and weeping egret birds run across the path in front of the methodical feet.
Then an unexpected root emerges. A scuffling foot is caught under the impostor, and the complacent wanderer trips across the deeper meaning that is inherent in each of Zephuros’ tracks.
“When I first started writing music, it was the typical brokenhearted thing," Meyer said. "Then I wrote a song about an animal, and people seemed to like that, so I started and kept writing songs about animals and nature. People have said that they have fallen asleep to my music before, which I take as a big compliment because it is very chill and relaxing.”
On the surface of the layered path that is The Black Gull, Meyer appears to be singing and calmly strumming purely of furry animals and lovely scenes of the outdoors. However, even the vainest listener will hear the deep, dark undertones that sink into the wet, gooey tar below the surface and convey a greater meaning.
Meyer’s music is not all sunshine and cobblestone paths. Lurking around each winding turn is death, loneliness and real meaning that is universal and pervasive.
Meyer casually connects greater meaning and human emotions to animal characters. This is a technique he calls “anthropomorphism,” attaching human characteristics to nonhuman things.
When asked if this cynicism is a reflection of Meyer’s personality, the answer is no. “Not at all," Meyer said. "It is strange. I like to think I am pretty outgoing, but musically it is pretty dark stuff. Lots of dying animals.”
One such example is in the song “Mr. Squirrel’s Family”: “He thought about his family and smiled about how he couldn’t wait to get home to his wife and son / On his way back home he thought he heard a cry come from his tree / As he got closer he saw the villain by his nest and his wife dead in the ground / A tear fell from his face.” A simple song about a squirrel becomes a tale of pain and loss, a feeling that is palpable for people and squirrels alike.
Each and every song on The Black Gull has a similar buried meaning that emerges as the listener calmly walks through each track. Meyer explains the song “Arctic Winter”: “That particular song is about a mother that wakes up, and she doesn’t know where her son is, so she is freaking out because she can’t find her son. Turns out that he is just out playing. The song is not just about polar bears. I tend to typically try and put these animals in human situations.”
On this compilation Meyer was joined by Michele Bartos on cello, Bruce Dalzell on upright bass and Dinah Berkeley on vocals. Nathan Zangmeister initially approached Meyer to record an album. “It was a really fun experience," Meyer said. "I hadn’t really done this before. To be in such a nice studio with Nate, it was perfect. I only spent, like, 20 hours on it. I am really proud of what it is, and I made my money back, so that is a good thing.”
Zephuros has seen success in Athens with The Black Gull. The serene tracks fit snuggly into the valleys of rolling hills in Athens and effectively reach its often jaded students.
Meyer is currently on a trek to create a second album that will be enhanced by a chamber orchestra. Moving forward on this latest journey, Meyer is working with Zangmeister again. This CD is expected to be ready for release in April. Fans can expect to hear the same kind of anthropomorphic melodies, weathered with time and experience and enhanced by new instrumentation.
“Mike Evans is the composer," Meyer said of his next album. "He has an oboe, flute, bassoon, string quartet, piano and French horn. He has a couple of songs already done, and I heard them on the computer. They blew me away, so I’m really excited to hear what it will sound like with actual instruments and not just computer instruments,” Meyer said of his next album.
Meyer will continue to write songs that feature images of nature backed by real issues and meaning, but soon he will be writing far from Appalachia, the place that first sparked his inspiration.
“There is not too much I can do here with graphic design," Meyer said. "I will miss it, though. If I stay in Ohio, I will definitely be back [to Athens] a lot to play and just to hang out. It's a really cool town. I like it a lot.”
Fans still have five months to catch Meyer performing his already seasoned tracks paired soon with new gems. As the snow covering the Athens hillsides begins to melt away and green grass sprouts up again, Zephuros will provide the perfect melody to accompany a stroll through this untouched countryside. Better yet, catch Meyer and Zephuros performing in Athens before he moves on to larger pastures.
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Click here for a full transcription of Speakeasy’s interview with Zephuros' Kevin Meyer.
Zephuros will be performing tonight at Casa Cantina's "Steel Cage Challenge."