Watercolor by Michael Gaughan.

Musical incest between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities has always run deep. When Mel Gibson and the Pants made its first musical foray, “An Electronic Experiment Gone Horribly Perfect,” legend has it that the Eau Claire/Twin Cities band consisted of between 20-40 people. Eau Claire native Ryan Olson, of Mel Gibson and the Pants fame, again has a super group in his sights – only this time on a larger scale. Olson has masterminded the GAYNGS project, ripe with the hottest musical talent of the Twin Cities and Eau Claire. Members of GAYNGS include Olson himself, members of Solid Gold, Minneapolis rap crew Doomtree’s P.O.S. and Dessa, and members of Digitata, Lookbook, Happy Apple, and Roma Di Luna. Former Chippewa Valley natives Joe Westerlund and Phil and Brad Cook, previously of DeYarmond Edison and now of Megafaun, have joined in for the fun. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver has offered up his home studio for recording, with bandmate Mike Noyce in tow. And now this musical partnership has something else behind it. Jagjaguwar, the label which houses Bon Iver, is planning a May release of the super group’s first album, Relayted, 11 tracks of genre-bending melodies. A First Avenue record release show is in the works in Minneapolis, and the press is already eating it up. GAYNGS may be unwieldy, but Olson’s experiment may indeed go horribly perfect.