Jason Lytle hates touring, he hates waiting around between shows, and he hates answering the phone — when it’s nice out.
His agita is our gain, because it is fuel for some of the catchiest indie-synth rock ever written about robots, chocolate shakes, and IT guys.
Since the brain behind the now-defunct Grandaddy will be opening for Band Of Horses at Hammerstein Ballroom — and since he hates idling between gigs — he figured he would grace fans with a headliner-length solo show at Union Hall, too.
“It was a situation where I was going to be sitting around anyway, so I might as well try to schedule a show,” said Lytle, as he waited to start his opening gig in Madison, Wis.
Lytle has kept busy since he disbanded Grandaddy in 2006. He has released four albums, including this year’s “Dept. of Disappearance,” and moved from Modesto, Calif. to the wilds of Montana.
His solo songs have taken on a slightly more folksy edge than when he was with Grandaddy, but still occupy that space of fuzzy psychedelics and sunshine-bright pop.
“Montana is a great place for me to be,” said Lytle. “There is a lot of open space and I get a lot out of being outdoors in spaces that haven’t been trampled. Something in it is very healthy for me. I get home and my brain is in a good place and I feel like being creative.”
Which is good for a musician who broke up his band because he got tired of matching schedules and sharing buses, planes, and taxis with a bunch of other guys.
“My brain shuts down on the road,” said Lytle. “I have to go home and go into some other mode to write music. I don’t deal well with things always changing and chaos. I need calmness and then I can start creating new disorder.”
Jason Lytle at Union Hall [702 Union St. at Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, (718) 638–4400, www.unionhallny.com]. Dec. 10, 8:30 pm. $15.
