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 Gallego had previously worked in other formats, he introduced J.R.C.G. with the album Ajo Sunshine, which was released in November 2021.

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

While Dreamdecay 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 Vacant Life, Private Room, Criminal Code, Sidetracked, 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 John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees). J.R.C.G.'s debut album, Ajo Sunshine, was released in November 2021; the LP was distributed by Dwyer's Castle Face Records label. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi