You must sympathise, to an extent, with writers presented with your albums when they’ve a very limited frame of reference to work a review from?
C: Well, if I was a journalist I’d be excited that I wasn’t going to be using the same adjectives, and that I’d be able to showcase some creative writing in trying to describe this to people. Many writers nowadays use obvious colours, or band references, to help people understand another band.
Depends on their audience, to an extent – some magazines only allow contributors a small amount of words per piece, too. Do you guys ever check the feedback to your albums? Do you think the albums bring out the best in writers who can flex their creative prose muscles?
C: Everything can be positive, even negative feedback. Part of our job is to elicit that sort of reaction.
O: It’s cool that our work does seem to inspire people, as even when reviews are negative they’re not just like, ‘This is bullshit’. We get four or five paragraphs outlining how we’re bullshit! They’re inspired to hate on our music, and get really witty and creative, and that’s kinda cool.
C: We opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers one time, quite a while ago, and the whole front page of this magazine’s review section was all about how much this guy fucking HATED us.
Given the fairly freeform nature of your headline sets – which can stretch for two-and-a-half hours and take myriad tangents – how do you find playing second-fiddle to another, bigger act? It must be tough condensing your set, and tougher still when the crowd isn’t yours and simply doesn’t get it...
C: There was always that… and there were times when the audience was really into it, too. But then there were times… Let’s say Quebec – I’ve never seen more Canadians acting American in my life, sitting down, eating hot dogs.
Like they were at a basketball match? Thing is, some big gigs feel like that, like sporting events, such is the level of detachment…
C: I do see that, for sure. But I think there’s an element of us throwing the pit-bull into an unsuspecting crowd, which can be fun… although sometimes it isn’t fun, too. There were times where I’d just turn my back for an entire set, as I don’t feel I need to give anything if the people watching aren’t giving us anything. We’ve been asked to play these places for a reason, and sometimes playing to such crowds pose good challenges for us.
2 comments:
this is cute!!! it's so true if your going to a show you should give back to the people putting it on,why else go to a show?
selling your soul
Yeasayer played for a sold out crowd friday Jan. 25th at the echo in los angeles. Most of the crowd was there because KROQ sponsored it and MGMT was headlining. In fact most of the crowd was there for one song, a song they heard on the radio. A song they couldn't even name, (A Time to Pretend), how ironic. So Yeasayer, a band with loads more talent reacted as any one with enough courage would do, took the challenge head on and tried to engage the crowd. When it didn't work the lead singer tossed a chacha in the crowd. It hit a girl not paying attention and the crowd boo'd him. When the crowd turns hostile and you're up their entertaining douche bags what should you do. alienate or take it as a challenge. My two friends got into an argument, one a bassist who felt the band was at fault the other a diehard fan for yeasayer who felt they had everyright to strike out at the lame crowd
A friends band is going to milk their music for all it's worth. They have an original sound, rare these days, yes i know. Bands make money by being on MTV. Whether or not their shit is original the point is people need to be told what to listen to. Even those of us originals, who get our music from cool places like tripwire still have a source. If you're not creating you're in the muck. Whether you choose to distance yourself from the crowd and look a little deeper into your sources is one thing. The point is with the news, with music, with entertainment and really any media you have a choice. But I digress, do you seek converts, do you play for the dupes and smile or do you strike back and give the finger. Are you a trendsetter or a follower
It's now fashionable at hardcore shows to flick off the crowd, and they do it back, like waving and smiling except from somewhere "deep and dark" blotched with black lipstick, fucking goth kids.
But imagine really flicking off a crowd of blank faces. Telling them you don't give a fuck if they like your music, do you play for yourself, do you play for the fans you care about, do you play for fools who only heard you because the radio played you and said you were sweet.
Artists have a very simple choice, sell their souls or not give a fuck.
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