Nu metal may not be as big as it once was during its heyday in the late 1990s, but the spirit of the genre is still well and alive, especially for Enrique ‘Rekay’ Myrick.
Myrick is a singer and drummer who is the frontman of Symposia, a dynamic band that combines nu metal and funk metal in one of the most unique sounds of any band in the Connecticut music scene. He’s also the drummer of Blandest, a grunge and alternative rock group.
Myrick’s journey began when he started learning drums at 12 years old. Like many drummers, he started out hitting pillows with sticks he found in his backyard before getting an actual kit a year later, joking that his room was filling up with bark. Inspired by bands like Foo Fighters, Incubus and Snot, he spent the next few years developing his chops and playing drums in different bands, including Beryllium.
But one of the pivotal moments in his musical career came when he had the opportunity to join the band Monoxide, a band that was re-launching after a year and a half-long hiatus. After two shows with the band, Myrick and his bandmates had the idea to do a funk metal-inspired project. They began developing their sound, which then shifted in a nu metal direction. Myrick said that “we didn’t know that we were making a nu metal group, we were just putting a bunch of sounds together.”
Symposia’s music features sounds and instruments that can’t be heard in any other band in Connecticut. One of the defining features of the group’s sound is the use of turntables, incorporating it in similar ways that groups like Limp Bizkit do. There’s also a variety of other unorthodox instrument choices that make the band stand out.
“We bring odd instruments, like a digeridoo and a djembe, which is the bongo that I play on stage,” Myrick said. “Those really stand out because it wasn’t supposed to work, but they did.”
He noted that there’s been a lot of trial and error in developing the group’s sound, but many of them ended up working. “We’re really glad that people want more of it because we thought this was only going to be a one-year thing,” Myrick added.
Myrick started as the group’s drummer, but became their singer after they couldn’t find one. As someone who spent his musical career sitting behind a drum kit, the transition from being at the back of the stage to the front was one that he called “very unnverving,” but he has since embraced the role and continues to grow as a frontman.
“I’m still learning that process and learning to be a songwriter,” he said. “I’m still very uncomfortable at it sometimes, but I have a lot of support through my band members and other bands in the scene, so I’m getting used to it.”
Myrick takes a lead role in the group’s songwriting process, as most of the band’s songs are written by him and their guitarist Malcolm. The two will send riffs to each other as starting points, working together to figure out the song’s structure and direction. From there, the two make demos to send to the rest of the band, which they use to develop their parts. It’s a carefully planned approach, with Myrick saying that “we’re not really much of a ‘Hey, let’s jam on this’ band; we like to write it out before we show it to everybody.”
The band has made a name for themselves with consistent performances across Connecticut, including at venues like Crunch House in West Haven, Howard’s Bookstore in Torrington and South Whitney Pizza in Hartford. But finding shows hasn’t been an easy task, as the band’s multi-faceted sound has made it hard for them to fit into a certain subset of the music scene. Nevertheless, the group has still been well received.
“We don’t know if we’re in the hardcore scene, the indie scene or the punk scene,” said Myrick. “But every time we play a show, they accept us and enjoy what we do, and that’s what Symposia is all about.”
Myrick also currently plays drums in Blandest, a grunge-inspired power trio. Being in this band is “a big weight off my shoulders” since he doesn’t have a large songwriting role like in Symposia and can just sit back and play drums.
“It’s more natural for me to be in Blandest because I’ve been drumming for so long,” he said. “I don’t really get as nervous because it feels at home for me.”