Female singer and guitarist leave Dallas dance band Ishi

by Sarah Blaskovich

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The band will continue creating an album due out in 2012.

DALLAS — The electronic band Ishi has lost two of its four members. Lead female singer Taylor Rea and guitarist Rob Bastien played their last Ishi show at HomeGrown Festival in Dallas on May 14.

Their departure was whispered about during HomeGrown Festival, though it is still a shame for anyone who has seen Ishi's live show. Rea was the energetic sidekick to the band's founder, John T. Mudd. The band had a pretty successful 2010: Ishi was picked to open EdgeFest in 2010 and then released their dance-pop album, Through the Trees, and the single, “Pastel Lights.”

“In the studio, our voices really cohesively went together,” said Mudd of Rea's voice. “It definitely is a disappointment that we are parting ways, because [Taylor and Rob] are very talented and great individuals. But it is just a part of being in the music business.”

He said that Rea and Bastien's departure from the band came from “indecisions.” Rea and Bastien are dating, and according to Mudd, they decided it was best to leave Ishi after they couldn't all agree on the vision of the band.

The two remaining members of the band are Mudd and his brother, drummer J.J. Mudd. They have already asked Denton-turned-Dallas guitarist Rocky Ottley, of Backside Pick and a few new side projects, to join the band. They're also working with Becky Middleton to carry some of the lead female vocals.

John T. Mudd has an interesting idea for the female part: “What I like to do is have some type of roster of females,” he explained, instead of picking a single new female member for the band. “With us not having much exposure outside of the state, I think it really benefits us where no one's really attached to a female singer.”

The band is working on a new album that will be ready in spring or summer 2012. Two tracks are already recorded, but both include Rea and Bastien. John T. Mudd said he'd like to keep them on the new album, but that decision is not finalized yet.

“I've been doing music for 15 years, and Ishi is the most successful band I've been able to harness,” said John T. Mudd, who also is in the band Soft Environmental Collapse with his brother J.J. “We're doing this because we love it and we made a decision a long time ago that this is the only thing that's going to wake us up every day.”

Ottley will join Ishi for his first show May 29 at Double Wide. Middleton will likely join the band for a late June show at Trees.

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