Croquet is Chaetan Newell’s inexorable right to do whatever he wants. This includes aiming a blow dryer at various woodwinds, playing four different instruments at once, and providing handmade stage backdrops for ambience, not to mention surprise hip-hop shows. Beginning in 2007 by way of Boston, this project’s live show has spanned from one-man performance art to solid indie-pop quartet, from ethereal jazz improv to balls-to-the-wall psychedelic rock, and two things bind it all together: subtle complexity and raw, concentrated emotion.

Part of noise pop label Should Be Flowers’s catalog, Croquet’s first release in November of 2007 was a split LP with Steve Wood, a homeless man dying of AIDS who claimed to be the original singer for The J. Geils Band. This has yet to be proven or disproven. This texturally diverse 29 track album flows seamlessly back and forth between experimental yet catchy analog bliss and the sound of a man against great odds singing his heart out across Massachusetts Avenue. Two years later, Newell finished the Sodomize the Silence EP leaping out of the bedroom and onto the drum kit with fuller instrumentation and more passion and sincerity than ever.

A common fixture of premier Boston venues (TT the Bear’s, The Middle East, Great Scott, etc.), Croquet has also toured as far south as Athens, Georgia maintaining a strong presence in Newell’s home state of North Carolina (this is explains the airplay on multiple college radio stations as far as Tennessee). It was here that Newell began his training as a musician, picking up a new instrument every few years. After playing upright bass with various orchestral groups including The North Carolina Symphony and obtaining a Bachelors of Music with guitar, it should come as no surprise that he has worked with members of notable groups such as The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Helium, Pele, Victory at Sea, Dumptruck, Bang Camaro, and even legendary Motown group The Chairmen of the Board. In fact, Newell lists the verbal thumbs up he received from iconic artist Thalia Zedek as a high point in Croquet’s existence thus far.

After playing lead guitar with St Helena (“every indie enthusiasts dream” according to The Noise Magazine), Newell relocated to Chicago in 2010 with plans to further conquer the world and has since played out with much success joining David Baker’s new group Variety Lights on drums. Is the world ready for such methodical madness? We can only wait and see.

Kyle Francis Leuck, the music artist known as Yoko Homo, spent his time as a child performing for an invisible crowd. He was a product of a young single mother who worked full time and a large family who took turns to help raise him. When his mother was at home, Kyle was introduced not only to the ’80s new wave music videos she did aerobics to, but also the ’70s glam rock of her vinyl record collection. As he grew, he took to a variety of instruments & began to perform in musicals, plays, choir and marching band.

At the tender age of 17, Kyle experienced his first love and heartbreak with the person who also sparked his interest in esoteric knowledge, a boy from a neighboring town who did tarot readings for him on trailer park gravel. By the age of 18, Kyle was given the name Yoko Homo, by a now-defunct band that cited his love affair with their drummer as the cause of the band’s demise.

Soon after, Kyle and the drummer left the forests of small town farm life to the concrete and high rises of the Windy City. Kyle became immersed in the creative nightlife and made a name for himself as a Chicago micro-celebrity hosting club nights and performing in art spaces, while his lover preferred to spend time out of the spotlight and in the studio. This personality divide ended their romance but began their musical collaboration.

The duo met weekly in a dimly-lit basement full of dusty synthesizers and other vintage instruments, rarely inviting others in on their ritualistic process, and eventually manifested an album’s worth of hauntingly nostalgic yet futuristic pop music.

Kyle then went on solo to perform the material around the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn. The live show expanded over time to include a dance troupe, which he formed with the help of choreographer Heather Lynn.

Kyle recently returned from a trip to Europe where he performed and gained inspiration for a new album, featuring collaborations with long-time vocal contributor Sara Fagala & more to come…

Our young heroes met over a decade ago at a stifling warehouse job. The mutual hatred was instantaneous. Eventually they discovered they loved a lot of the same music and obsessed over finding and creating new sounds. Years, and a lot of beers later, they officially started creating music together with cronies who came and went. Loud guitars, drums, bass, electronics, vox. Currently writing and recording as a two-piece, occasionally appearing live with Benjamin Marotta on bass. More live shows taking place last quarter of 2012. Hope the world doesn’t end! There’s a lot more fun to be had.