J.R.C.G.

An experimental music project that combines elements of Krautrock, jazz, indie rock, art rock, electronics, and the avant-garde, J.R.C.G. is named for the key artist behind the work, Justin R. Cruz Gallego. A keyboard player, composer, and visual artist, Gallego uses J.R.C.G. as a format to combine ideas and sounds from different sources, squaring his synthesizer patterns against drum tracks, horns, guitars, and found noises. While he had previously worked in other formats, he introduced J.R.C.G. with the album Ajo Sunshine, which was released in November 2021. For his second J.R.C.G. LP, 2024's Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra), Gallego added Latin rhythms to his potent blend of electronic sounds.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, Gallego first released music with the indie rock group Marrow, appearing on a CD-R EP they used to document live work in 2008. He gained a larger audience for his next project, <a href="spotify:artist:1s2OjLtmJ3iwKLtipEi0yc">Dreamdecay</a>, a guitar-centric noise rock ensemble whose performances were rooted in an aggressive, dissonant attack and skeletal, purposefully difficult melodies. <a href="spotify:artist:1s2OjLtmJ3iwKLtipEi0yc">Dreamdecay</a> debuted with the EP Fern in 2012, and after a pair of chaotic but compelling albums for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Iron+Lung+Records%22">Iron Lung Records</a>, 2013's N V N V N V and 2017's Yú, they teamed up with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a> for a 2019 single, "N/O" b/w "H/S."

While <a href="spotify:artist:1s2OjLtmJ3iwKLtipEi0yc">Dreamdecay</a> was slowly gaining a larger audience, Gallego was making even greater inroads as an artist; in addition to creating fine art and graphic materials, he was designing album covers for a number of worthy independent acts, among them <a href="spotify:artist:6JqUou2RgDfV9jA9ePAt6c">Vacant Life</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7vKvx75HQw6lIgwJ38LlCX">Private Room</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5gUm1AaWIQGSAWHpCZkSvD">Criminal Code</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2odAwtSCv7ESFBiquexrxP">Sidetracked</a>, and Violent Human System. In 2016, he stepped out on his own, composing the score for the 2016 independent film Wash. In 2021, he introduced another solo endeavor, J.R.C.G., as Gallego made vintage synthesizers his new main instrument. The compositions were constructed around extended keyboard workouts -- not jarringly noisy but not melodic, either -- with the addition of percussion tracks, horn interjections, and occasional electric guitar (the latter played by <a href="spotify:artist:5vIYVb7FAzYeQRE8xuYS9j">John Dwyer</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:3qYfqdVwX0fil71onLpLkh">Thee Oh Sees</a>). J.R.C.G.'s debut album, Ajo Sunshine, was released in November 2021; the record was distributed by <a href="spotify:artist:5vIYVb7FAzYeQRE8xuYS9j">Dwyer</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Castle+Face+Records%22">Castle Face Records</a> label.

Gallego embraced the influences of the Latin music that was part of the soundtrack of his youth on J.R.C.G.'s second LP, Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra), released in 2024 by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop%22">Sub Pop</a>. He mixed Latin rhythms in with the darkly atmospheric sounds of his previous work, giving the music a different pulse but a similar emotional force. The bulk of the album was recorded at Gallego's home studio, while he and co-producer Seth Manchester completed the tracks at Rhode Island's Machines with Magnets Studio. Guest artists on the sessions included Morgan Henderson of <a href="spotify:artist:4EVpmkEwrLYEg6jIsiPMIb">Fleet Foxes</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2nNyMDW51EHYbBXu3lFbLR">the Blood Brothers</a>, Jason Clackley and Jon Scheid of <a href="spotify:artist:1s2OjLtmJ3iwKLtipEi0yc">Dreamdecay</a>, and Erica Miller of Casual Hex. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi