The guitar tones, reminiscent of ‘60s spy-pop, Led Zeppelin, Chic and My Bloody Valentine, are wrapped seamlessly into basslines woven from soul, R&B, funk, and rock.
Made up of Amber Heart, Brian Greaney, Chris Corn, and Rich Reuter, Kittinger’s experienced crew explores uncharted spaces, building rhythms from samples of acoustic drums, percussion, modular synthesizers, and ancient drum machines. On top, ethereal synth pads, Mellotrons, string machines, analog monosynth leads, and a host of bleeps and bloops carry listeners into the stratosphere.
The project made its first public appearance in 2021 at a one-off James Bond-themed Halloween party at Tender Mercy, under the name For Your Eyes Only. Originally a four-piece spin-off from The Who’s Who, Amber Heart’s (formerly Hargett’s) Americana band, it put a mysterious and experimental spin on Heart’s existing material. Later, after some of Heart’s singer-songwriter sets, the band that would eventually become Kittinger sometimes performed for the second half of hybrid shows.
“It was a fun expansion, and it started getting me thinking about things differently, too,” Heart said. “So I got hung up on the idea of it being a giant leap off from what we used to do. At first I was worried about the reception of it, but, in the nicest way, I’m not sure I care. I’m enjoying what opportunities this has given me to write differently, to think about song construction differently, to play my guitar differently.”
Kittinger’s music is a bit out of Heart’s and Rich Reuter’s normal realm; it’s where Chris Corn and Brian Greaney normally exist. Corn, of electronic metal band My Latex Brain, is often called upon in the studio for his technical bass skills. Greaney basically has a timeshare in Synthesizer Land, and is seemingly always wearing a Brainiac hat. But the combination of the four, arriving from very different disciplines, makes for a well-balanced project that is both rooted in reality and tastefully out-there.
“It’s really forced me to rethink a lot of choices that I make, and to be a lot more sound oriented and less note oriented, more concise,” Reuter said. “It’s different when everything’s tracked and fixed. You have a definitive space to work in, and that’s a different kind of box to be in.”
Following on the heels of Heart’s second LP, “Coal Mine Canary,” Kittinger officially started recording in March 2024. Dayton Music Fest 2025 was its first official performance.
The band released “Best Excuse” in late July, followed by August’s “Weapons of War” and “Good Hands/Bad Days.” The final single “California” was released Sept. 2, to round out the four-song EP of the same name.
The song “California” is an homage to — or as Heart calls it, a “shameless tribute to” — Robert Plant. Bearing a resemblance to Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California,” with its wanderlust underpinnings and no-chorus attitude, “California” projects the range of sounds and noises and places that Plant’s voice, Heart’s voice, can take you.
“When I think of Led Zeppelin, I think of a lot of creativity and going to new places,” Heart said. “That song is kind of about wanting to break out into something new, and I think that is not a bad overarching concept for what we’re doing.”
And though it does apply to the concept of Kittinger the band — and Kittinger the man — “California” just happens to be the name of the EP because, as Greaney said, “it was the fourth one that we were going to release.”
Greaney, who programs/samples/bleeps/bloops and engineers/produces Kittinger, said that the project has been one of his more comprehensive mixes he’s had to do. Of the four songs, despite there being so many sub-frequencies, so much happening electronically, each element, from voice to instrument, is showcased equally, without anything being muddy.
For live performances, Greaney keeps sequenced tracks to live instruments fifty-fifty, as to not program himself out of a job. He’s able to represent the EP with backing tracks, while also allowing room for improvisational keyboards, guitars, and more. The rest of the band plays everything live.
Kittinger reworks some of Heart’s Americana material, like “Stay” and “Master of the Art,” through a different lens. New music is currently in development, with further collaboration happening outside of DAWs and pre-loaded sequencers, more so between the four of them in a room, together.
Working with a “silent stage” (i.e., in-ear monitors, no amps), the band is interested in performing in small, dark, unusual places, basement shows with a mood, and on bills with alternative, pop, rock, hip+trip-hop, and indie bands.
Fusing diverse elements into a sonic landscape that transcends time and place, Kittinger jumps, like the man, from previously uncharted territory into the great unknown, exploring the possibilities of everything.
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio, spotlighting local musicians, underground and touring bands, cultural events, fringe phenomena and creative spaces. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
MORE INFO
Kittinger’s debut EP “California” is streaming now.
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