Before Ether Ore, Tommy spent years writing, recording, and performing in bands and solo projects. This selected history celebrates that work—and shows how its songwriting, rhythm, experimentation, and live energy eventually converged in Ether Ore.
OPUS CANE
Human Shield · 1990s Seattle
Tommy Gutierrez played drums, vocals, and keyboards in Opus Cane with Craig Huizinga on bass and Patrick Conrardy on guitars. The three musicians also performed in the Seattle-area bands Toasted Goats and Dog Superior. Opus Cane’s album Human Shield—with its heavy guitars, driving rhythms, and brooding melodies—documents an early foundation in collaborative band music and arrangement.
Listen: Human Shield. Select the cover to play.
EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS
Acoustic album · 2006
Tommy wrote, performed, and recorded every part of this ten-song acoustic album. Stripped of a full band, the record placed the focus on songwriting, voice, atmosphere, and the stories inside the songs—elements that remain central to Ether Ore.
Listen: The Exchange. Select the cover to play.
FLYROD
Live performance
Flyrod brought together Chris Craggs on guitar and vocals, Scott Franklin on bass and vocals, and Tommy on drums and vocals. The trio became known for deconstructing songs, finding their core, and rebuilding them with a driving live sound. Years of adapting arrangements in performance helped shape the flexible, audience-facing instincts behind the developing Ether Ore show.
Listen: Guitar Jones is included in the Flyrod live recordings. Select the photo to explore the project.
MR LOOPER
Experiments and raw takes
Mr Looper collected improvisations, layered performances, unfinished ideas, and creative experiments that felt too interesting to discard. Some pieces suggested pop songs; others felt closer to film scores. The project’s willingness to follow sound wherever it led points directly toward Ether Ore’s use of looping, transformation, and cinematic imagery.
Listen: Road Grime. Select the image to play.
Together, these projects trace a continuous line: songs, rhythm, live performance, experimentation, and visual thinking gradually converging into Ether Ore.