About Me
Formed in Austin in 1999 by Brian Purington, Eric Gibbons and Sean Seagler, three refugees from San Angelo, TX, the band flirted briefly with the idea of vocals but soon decided they were never necessary to begin with and became a purely instrumental outfit. With the addition of keyboardist
Kirk Laktas (Stars of the Lid, Ultrasound, etc.), viola virtuoso James Alexander (Cinders, ecfa) and Floridian transplant guitar god Chris Hackstie (Saturated, Loring), the lineup stabilized and their first album 5 Popes was recorded at the Bubble with Chris "Frenchie" Smith (16 Deluxe, Young Heart Attack) at the helm. The self-released record peaked at number one on many college radio stations across North America. The band has toured the Midwest, East Coast, and Canada multiple times since the original release of 5 Popes along w/ showcasing at SXSW 2003-2006. The first self-released pressing of 5 Popes sold out in December 2003, and was promptly re-released on the Austin, TX-based record label Thirty Ghosts Records in January 2004. In February 2003 the UK-based label, Jonathan Whiskey, released a 7" single for the song Concentration Waltz. My Education also has songs featured on the Rollerderby Records compilation The Speed by Which we Fall, and the Clairecords compilation Test Tones Vol. 2.3. After three years
of blood, sweat, and tears My Education finally completed their 2nd CD, Italian, which was released on Thirty Ghosts Records on April 26th, 2005. Mr. Fricke soon chimed in with critics all over the world in their admiration of this fine record, which has been described as everything from "...swirling and swaying and leading your ears and your soul into a trippy, calm world, where the sky is glowing a beautiful shade of pink and the sun is always setting on a cold winter's eve" (Joseph Kyle, mundanesounds.com) to "careening around mischievously, like the score to a fictional film" (Chris Elkjar, trust-me.ca) and "slow-cooked noise bombs (that) left everyone in a daze" (Audra Schroeder, Austin Chronicle). Following up Italian is the EP/remix record Moody Dipper. Along with this new record come changes for the band, as Eric decides to leave to pursue his blossoming fine art career (Eric's lovely paintings adorn the covers all four MyEd releases and will likely continue to do so). New bassist Scott Telles of ST 37 fame and vibraphonist Sarah Norris (Benko, Austin New Music Co-Op) join the fold. Accompanying the three
new My Education songs on this release are remixes by Dalek, Red Sparowes, Kinski, and Teith (Trevor from Pelican). The CD was released on June 27th 2006 and the band hit the road in July to bring the magic to the kids. The tour was a rousing success, seeing the band do some remarkable
shows all over the East including particularly memorable ones with Tone in Washington DC, Bardo Pond project Alasehir in Philadelphia, the Early Day Miners in Baton Rouge, A Place to Bury Strangers at Cakeshop in NYC and all the way down to Jackson MS with Living Better Electrically. On a rare day off
in the NYC area, the band had the privilege of recording at Deadverse studios with Dalek, who collaborated with the band on the brand new 12 inch release of "Spiegel im Spiegel", an interpretation of a piece by the eastern European composer Arvo Part, which features the band's original recording on one side of the disc, and Dalek's radical, extended reworking of the piece on the other, complete with a My Education first, vocals (gasp!) in the form of one of Dalek's trademark abstract verses. Subsequently, the band continued to stay busy with shows opening for the likes of Isis and the Red Sparowes, and the composition of a score for F.W. Murnau's classic 1927 silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, which premiered at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in March 2007. The intensive woodshedding required for the film score saw another changeup for the band as longtime drummer
Seagler departed to be replaced by Chris Stelly of Austin heroes the Handsome Charlies, who actually shares deep San Angelo roots with Purington, having played in one of Brian's highschool outfits previously. Newly invigorated, the band re-entered the Bubble in May 2007 to record the full-length followup to Italian, provisionally entitled Bad Vibrations or Sorry I'm Sorry depending on which band member you ask. The album was completed in July, and the band hit the road again for a summer tour which found them in locales as diverse as Milwaukee (playing with Beer City legends F/i), Chicago (two shows, including a triumphal sold-out rendition of the "Sunrise" score as well as a very succesful show at the Empty Bottle), Champaign, St. Louis, Columbia MO, OKC, Dallas, etc. etc. My Education returned home in August in time to play the release party for the Spiegel im Spiegel 12" with their friends Maserati, followed by a quick, surreal journey in September up to the Texas/Oklahoma State Fair to play their music on the carnival midway next to the Ferris Wheel and the Dizzy Dragons and dine on free funnel cakes and corn dogs. The band continues to gig locally and engage in an intensive search to find the national outlet they crave for the release of the new album.
