Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Wallace.
Hi Tyler, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a tiny town in west Texas called Gail. When I say tiny, I mean there was no gas station, there were 13 kids in my graduating class, and I ranked 7th in the class. I moved to Austin after college in 2009 really only to play music in my band, Union Specific. I ended up doing a lot of other things so I could eat. I sold cowboy boots at Allen’s Boots on S Congress, I worked as a teacher at Mendez Middle School on the east side, I became a music director at a couple of churches in the area, and I worked for a year as a video game designer for a local startup called Cloudy Shark games. I’ve finally gotten to a place where I can just focus on making music for Union Specific full time. If I have my way, that won’t ever change. But, who knows? Life is constantly in flux.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It never is smooth in music. After 12 years, it still feels rough sometimes, but it’s a whole lot easier than it used to be. The band members I moved here with eventually settled down one by one, and nobody wanted to tour or play out as much as we were. So eventually I was the only one left. I couldn’t really decide how to proceed. I for sure dealt with some depression, but in the end I just made another record and booked another tour. There still is not just a lot of money in music. Even acts that have a lot more notoriety than Union Specific struggle. It’s hard to hire and pay other musicians what they really deserve. It’s also getting tougher to book singer-songwriter-type shows these days. Most of the venues that did that when I first moved here have shuttered or are just not booking that type of stuff anymore. But in the meantime, I’ve upped my technical skill considerably, and I’ve used the internet to really push out my work and find an audience for it. That’s been great. When the going gets tough, you just have to put your head down and do the work despite how many or how few are watching.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
So in 2019, I released what I consider personally a sort of watershed record called First Burn, Then Change. It’s about a lot of things. It’s about dealing with depression, grieving, self-realization, actualization, working on one’s self, changing, growing, friends; mostly it’s about feelings. The record starts off kind of sad, but then it gradually gets more upbeat and optimistic.
Sonically, I’ve become obsessed with blending the urban synth and horns of my city adulthood with the steel guitar and broken acoustics of my rural upbringing. Those sounds represent two parts inside of me that I am determined to make fit together at least within myself if not out in the world. It’s a type of music that I can spend my whole life trying to create.
These days I mostly play live along to a Toshiba RT-140s Boombox cassette player. I put all my backing tracks onto a cassette, and then I play my old worn-out Martin acoustic guitar and sing along. The hiss of the cassette and the earthy sound of my guitar and voice on top of the synth noises kind of really does it for me. I’m still honing it and trying to make it a thing that gets across to others, but I really enjoy it. I still play with a band from time to time, but I did three entire tours from 2018 to 2019, just me and my boombox. I had a blast!
It really fits this whole urban against country theme I’m trying to explore. The city seems to hate the country these days, and likewise. I grew up in the country. I live in a big city. And, they both think I am one of them. Their influence on my outlook has given me the most cause to be celebrated and hated, smarter and more ignorant, well rounded, and increasingly less assimilated. But I can’t get rid of either without losing all of myself. I used not to think that it was all that important. But now, I tell you that no two attributes of my personality have had a more positive or negative impact on my life, my relationships, and these experiences which I turn into songs.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I paint historical miniatures as a hobby. I have an Instagram and YouTube channel devoted to it. Both get way more follows and views than my music ever did. (laughs)
Contact Info:
- Email: unionspecific@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.unionspecificband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unionspecific
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unionspecific
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Union_Specific
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcYd7pLqsfq8prWxENQluuw
- SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/album/4VCMYTCkPNoGY1ULnKPSQe?si=MnhcE9jNSFyourm0w39VtQ
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/unionspecific
Image Credits
Wylie Sanchez Jules Vaughn Jono Ruelas
