Grant Short was surrounded by music for as long as he can remember during his upbringing in the eastern part of Kentucky “in the foothills of Lee County and Red River Gorge.”
“People (were) playing jugs and everything that you could imagine,” Short, 40, said. “(It’s) the kind of music that you just can’t find anywhere else. … Literally hollers full of bluegrass.”
Short, who moved to the Owensboro area in the second grade, began pursuing music himself during elementary school, first picking up the flutophone before moving onto the trumpet, eventually becoming classically trained in the latter instrument by his middle school years.
After a small pause, Short got back into music near the end of his time at Daviess County High School — focusing on more material in the acoustic, independent realm and playing at a number of coffeehouses and bars.
Eventually, the genre Short was exploring turned into the creation of the stage name Classy Mongrel, with an emphasis on chillwave and dream pop music — both music styles not often explored locally.
“(It) was me trying to have an indie-rock band but do it all myself,” he said. “… I was definitely an indie-rock and chillwave person and I definitely wanted to make the music I was listening to.
“I wanted to create the same effect with my music that that music was having on me,” Short said. “… I always found that music to be cinematic, very thoughtful.”
Short has enjoyed success with Classy Mongrel with full-length records “Love & Resistance” and “High & Mighty,” a couple of singles, extended plays and touring throughout the country.
But when the height of the coronavirus pandemic arrived, Short decided to “set it down.”
In May 2022, however, Short experienced a life-changing event.
He woke up in the hospital after being put into a medically induced coma for three days after having a seizure in his kitchen, ultimately being diagnosed with epilepsy.
“It was a completely new discovery,” he said. “There (were) a little bit of what might be some signs … that, in retrospect, were there. I would wake up and sometimes go to (the) window (in the kitchen) in the morning, have some coffee and have déjà vu really bad.”
Short said playing football and rugby earlier in his life, where he experienced concussions and a couple blows to the head, may have also led to having the seizure disorder.
“My life has never been the same,” he said.
Short was put on medication following his release, which at first seemed to be helping until he had another seizure while driving this past May on his way to Kroger to get doughnuts for his children — all of which he doesn’t recall happening.
“I just remember kind of being aware that I’m at Kroger, and then I get out of the car and (the car’s) trashed,” he said.
During the drive back home, Short was approached by local law enforcement.
“I had did a hit-and-run, apparently. I had hit a parked vehicle and trashed some guy’s car and ended up totaling both vehicles and somehow kept going,” he said.
Short was able to provide evidence for his condition, but he has been without a license since and had to end his employment as an armed guard and substitute teacher.
Short has been able to find solace in the world of house music, which he began listening to during his recovery, especially when he took up exercising outside.
“(I started) listening to a lot of (artists like) 1-800 GIRLS (and) Harrison BDP … while I ran, and that music was really easy to run to because it helps you just kind of check out,” he said. “There’s no words to focus on, there’s no bridge structure.
“It became for me, personally, easier just kind of check out, breathe and run … and I started needing more and more house music to fuel my runs,” Short said.
Short describes house music as “very intellectual.”
“It’s like a mix of an intellectual art combined with an abstract art,” he said. “… Some of my favorite songs have like Carl Jung quotes, or literally like some of the most intellectual stuff … and then mixed with crazy arpeggiated synthesizers.”
Now, Short will release his first house music project as Bruce Vayne — a play on his favorite character Bruce Wayne/Batman — with the five-track EP “vibes_net” on Oct. 31.
Short said the upcoming project is a “homage” to accepting the recent challenges in his life in both “sound and symbolism” while coming to the realization his musical skills are still intact.
“There’s a lot of me that isn’t the same since epilepsy,” he said, “so it was really refreshing to look into the music part of my brain and it still be there.”
Short will also have two standalone singles — “return_videotapes_exe” and “sunglasses_zip” — be released on Nov. 20 and Dec. 5, respectively; the latter being Short’s birthday.
With the Bruce Vayne name, Short hopes people take away a message of hope and positivity.
“Despite circumstances, (you can) try to find something to live for again; and that’s ultimately what it’s been about for me,” he said. “I kind of lost my identity in a lot of ways … so checking back in and realizing that all the music theory is still there in my brain, even if it’s a little foggy, was really refreshing.
“It’s just a matter of making sure music still inspires me,” Short said, “and it definitely does.”
“vibes_net” will be available on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and all major platforms on Oct. 31.
