Luke Michael Gyure

How many different instruments do you play and how long have you been playing them?

I'm primarily a vocalist and guitarist. I've been singing since middle school and training formally since I was fifteen. I've been playing guitar since I was ten and I'm mostly self-taught except for a couple years of lessons in the beginning. I play both acoustic and electric guitar, although I focus on steel string acoustic and am predominantly a rhythm player. I also dabble with drumset and some percussion. I was involved with percussion in band and orchestra in middle school and the first couple years of high school, but have since done very little as far as formal study and performance are concerned. Recently, however, I studied privately for a few months with Ghanaian master drummer, Antoinette Kudoto, who taught a class in West African drumming and dance as part of a short residency here at the university in the winter semester of 2003 ­ 2004. We mainly focused on djembe technique, but I'm trying to learn doumbek and other hand drums as well. Bass is next on the list!

What made you decide to major in music? How did you choose jazz?

All throughout high school I was involved with choir and theatre. I had lead roles in plays and our annual musicals, and I had a lot of success in district and regional choral competitions. In addition, I did a lot of songwriting on my own and performed in local coffee houses, either by myself or in various rock band configurations. In and outside of the academic setting, music seemed to be my most consuming interest. When it came to time to graduate, it was mainly a question of what I wanted to do most and which approach best suited that goal. I considered composition and musical theatre, but I didn't really want a career in musical theatre, and I wasn't certain I was prepared to apply for composition programs. My choral director encouraged me to keep training my voice, but I had learned from a pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon University that I didn't want to study classical voice. So I turned to jazz. In a way, it was a process of elimination, but it was also much more. For many of my favorite artists, namely Sting, Dave Matthews, and Steely Dan, jazz and world music is a big part of their work. Studying jazz as a vocalist seemed to be the best combination of my interests and talents.

Why did you choose the University of Michigan over a conservatory?

Actually, originally I looked at Berklee College of Music in Boston, which is a conservatory. They seemed like the best place for me because they offer degrees in pop music and songwriting. However, they have an inconsistent reputation because they get some of the best students but also accept just about anyone. Furthermore, like many college freshman, I wasn't certain I would like my major and want to continue pursuing it. In a conservatory, if you decide you'd prefer to study something academic, you not only have to change majors, you have to change schools, and it's less likely your credits will transfer. So I focused my search on great universities with great music schools with notable jazz programs that offer voice as a principal instrument. As you might imagine, that narrowed my search quite a bit! With a lot of help from my dad, who works in college admissions, I found a handful of schools that fit the criteria, one of which was U of M a university with an indisputable reputation in a hip college town. More specifically, the jazz program here is particularly open-minded and fittingly suited to accommodate my interest in pop music.

How does your art add to your experience at U of M?

Well, as I mentioned, my studies and my art are similar but not synonymous. Sometimes they overlap, but never does one entirely comprise the other. On a personal level, therefore, my art is both a release from and an extension of my studies. In addition, although I haven't been consistently active in the local scene as a singer/songwriter, when I have been, I've met lots of great musicians who may or may not be connected to the university. That experience has given me insight into the Ann Arbor scene, beyond the university.

What kinds of activities are you involved in that are related to your art?

I've performed with the University Choir, the Jazz Lab Band, Creative Arts Orchestra, and several small jazz combos. I've also performed my original material solo and with various groups at the Michigan Union, the Michigan League, the Blind Pig, the Ann Arbor Art Fair, and TC's Speakeasy in Ypsilanti. I teach private lessons and I try to get open mic nights whenever I can. Most recently, I helped form the Students Musicians Network, which is an organization devoted to creating networking opportunities for student musicians who might not otherwise know one and other exist, let alone have the potential to collaborate.

Do you find it hard to balance your studies and job and your art?

The job is a just a job. Right now, I'm a waiter. It takes up time and it can be very stressful, but it pays the rent. It helps that I have considerate managers, who respect my role as a student. For the most part, I try my best to make it a non-factor in the rest of my life. As for my studies and my art, although my craft of songwriting is not synonymous with my role as a music student, I'd imagine that my studies have a lot more to do with my art than if I were studying, say, economics. Still, sometimes the music that I have to work on gets in the music I want to work on. On top of the obvious issue of time, the institution, by its very nature, can be counter-intuitive for the creative artist. Recently I have learned to overcome these frustrations by finding ways to work on ³my thing² within the context of the program and by constantly reminding myself that no one project or performance need encompass my entire artistic identity.

Who are your influences?

The list is always growing. In no particular order: Radiohead, The Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Ani Difranco, Ben Folds (Five), Jeff Buckley, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, John Mayer, Guster, Damien Rice, Mike Stern, Brian Blade, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, Richard Bona, Youssou N'Dour, and Michael Hedges.

Is the type of music that you perform similar to the kind that you listen to?

Yes and no. I listen to a lot of different types of music, so that's a hard question to answer. I think my guitar approach is somewhere between Dave Matthews and Ani Difranco, I think my voice resembles Jason Mraz, and lyrically, I'm trying to develop a narrative style, a la Paul Simon or Randy Newman. These are all people I listen to. However, you're just as likely to find me listening to Miles Davis or Eminem or Debussy or a marimba quintet, and I would never compare myself to any of these examples. The interesting thing is that I try to draw influence from these examples even more than Dave Matthews or Paul Simon, because that is where the innovation will come in, when I am able to artfully borrow ideas from a seemingly unrelated style or medium.