Me, Myself and Eye was a 1960s act now considered pioneers of electronic space rock, almost creating a techno sound with records like "I Come From the Andromeda Galaxy" b/w " "You Look For Trouble," recorded in 1969 at Fanfare Studios with local sound engineer Ron Compton. The band was the mostly-solo brainchild of Carl Gerde, who lived on Chase Avenue in El Cajon and played in a shortlived band called the Yellow Jackets, which only performed a handful of gigs before splitting.
Born February 8, 1950, Gerde was an ingenious electronics whiz who loved both the Beatles and, later, Scientology. He made elaborate recordings in his garage, often tackling topics such as his own abusive father (the inspiration behind "You Look For Trouble"). "We were friends and neighbors, I helped him record some of some of his songs," recalls San Diegan John Mitchell. "Carl was a gifted musician. He played guitar, bass, drums, piano, organ, and harmonica. He played all the instruments on his recordings, as well as writing the songs. The weird sounds on Andromeda were made by a variable oscillator that we built. It sounds like sounds in the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations.' He recorded his songs on an Ampex reel to reel tape recorder."
"Carl took the tapes to Fanfare to record the demo records. When we were about 16 years old, we took a bus to Hollywood to promote the demo. Went to Capitol, A&M, and others, but no luck." A local San Diego band called the Beach Birds did record a couple of Gerde's songs, and they also have some of Gerde's original recordings posted on their website.
An avid UFO researcher who befriended principals from Area 51/Roswell reports, Gerde reportedly struggled with mental illness, telling people he was experimenting with electromagnetic wave fields and the power of human thought, as well as building a machine that could bridge dimensions. "I don't remember exactly when schizophrenia started affecting him, but it pretty much kept him from advancing his career," recalls Mitchell. "He wrote and recorded another song called 'Gonococcus Spacemen' about his experience getting the clap."
A 1981 suicide attempt resulted in a coma that lasted around nine years. He passed away while still in a coma in June 1990, at the age of 40.