story by Rachael Liberman
photo by Megan Holmes

Rjyan Kidwell has a new agenda. After releasing five albums under the alias Cex, he's shifted gears from his self-made empire of shock rock and beats to a three-piece band that spells progression all over it.

"There are a lot of bands who do the right thing and if there's going to be one extra band around maybe it should be the band that always does the wrong thing," he said. "And that's kind of the driving force behind a lot of what I wanted to do, always. A lot of it comes from the pleasure of pissing people off that are purists and the other half of it is, like, wondering if there's something that's really exciting that none of us have found because we're afraid to look there. And so in that same spirit it was like, Cex had to have more people in it."

Joining Kidwell are his wife, Roby Newton, from the band Weather, on vox and bass, and Cale Parks, from Aloha and Joan of Arc, on drums and keyboard. They met last February during a Valentine's Day recording session for a love song cover album that Hopper PR head Jessica Hopper had organized for a group of Chicago bands. It was fate.

CEX'S INNER VIEW "There are a lot of bands who do the right thing, and if there's going to be one extra band around maybe it should be the band that always does the wrong thing..."

Know Doubt, their first EP, is a five-song introduction to a project that relies on musicality and the ability to personalize computer-generated beats and samples. This version of Cex is a love affair of dramatic rhythms, layered vocals, and avant-garde software antics. But don't try to pin a label on the new sound of Cex, because according to Kidwell, there isn't one.

"I've never made a name for it but I try to give people clues," he said. "I swore off reading music journalism; it was my New Year's resolution. People are like 'what is this, what is it called?' I don't think anyone's ever put together a genre name that sounded really cool. You know if you name something like that, there's an instant backlash. There second you say you represent a genre, someone on the Internet is going to say 'oh man, that's so played out'. The moment you invented it, it's gone. Other than just by an attitude, I've never really had a company of other musicians that were doing the same thing as me."

But let this be a warning to Cex's previous fan army - the new Cex strays from the store-bought label IDM and won't bring the hipsters to the dance floor. Cex's live show is an improv machine that challenges the audience to follow their musical impulses and admire the synergy of this creative team.

"We have some parts set up but mostly it's open-ended," Roby said. "All the samples have sounds that represent a specific idea or specific story that goes along with it and so all the samples are coming from one thing, like one of the songs is a kitchen sink and then Rjyan builds them into beats and then Cale and I come in and play on them as well. I play a weird bass that I built, it's just a chopped up electric bass. I built it to be able to play with a bow."

Roby is also in charge of the live onstage visuals. "It's going to be a shadow puppet thing, with light sculptures essentially," she explained. "Found objects with lights and shadow puppets. Imagine a light source with something around it like a mobile."

"Part of the main thing that I think is so exciting about Roby's approach to visual design is that she takes it out of a box," Rjyan added. "You don't have to look at a screen while the band plays." Speaking of Rjyan, his stage presence might just seal the deal when it comes to Cex's staying power. The combination of his no-holds-barred attitude and the fact that the majority of the show will be pure improv is reason enough to mark this show on your calendar.

Cex :: with Aloha and Weather :: Abbey Pub :: January 14.

Listen to an mp3 of Cex's "Kill Me," courtesy of Better Propaganda.