Tires is an energetic, danceable electronic/instrumental rock band hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. The band has consisted of Phillip Young on guitar and electronic sound manipulations and Jordan Mayland on drums and synthesizers since its formation in 2011. Chris Marshall joined the fray as a full time drummer in 2012, freeing up Young and Mayland to round out Tires’ massive wall of sound with more deliberate focus.
They dubbed themselves Tires before they had even written a song. Young and Mayland came across a mound of old tires behind a club in Des Moines while waiting for a show. Friend and photographer Tony Galloro snapped shots of the two posing in the tire pile. They jokingly made a pact to adopt the Tires moniker if they ever formed a two-man band together.
Young and Mayland later became roommates in Ames, Iowa — and the convenience of living together and their shared hunger to constantly create music didn’t allow their pact to remain a joke for long. Young soon locked himself in his studio and began piecing together the parts and pieces that would lay the foundation for the band’s repertoire.
Tires applies the do-it-yourself ethos that was instilled in them through their work in other Central Iowa bands such as The Wheelers, Nuclear Rodeo, The Volcano Boys and Mantis Pincers to every aspect of their music and live performances. They’re constantly perfecting their own lighting assault — which they often operate themselves at their shows.
The band has played with the likes of Xiu Xiu, Neon Indian and Antlers as participants in the Maximum Ames Festival, KURE Fest and Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival. Tires’ body of recorded material can all be streamed or purchased at
tires.bandcamp.com/. Their latest EP of original material,
The Girl Who Gets a Charge Out, is even available there to download free.
There’s no letting up in sight for Tires in the foreseeable future. The band is bringing 2012 to a close with a slew of shows throughout the Midwest. They’ll keep the pedal to the metal as they ring in 2013 with a sprawling tour that swings through the East Coast.
