Yeah Yeah Yeahs Q&A

After taking a break from the US touring scene in the wake of the release of their sophomore album Show Your Bones, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are ready to make fans spit beer, wear spandex, cry, make out and rock out all over again on the road again. Filter got a chance to talk with none other than the charming, anti-rock star herself, Karen O, to talk a little bit about life in LA, Sonic Youth as yr idols, and the need to revive early 90’s boy band R&B…

Karen O Top 5 Current Bands:

1. The Black Lips from Atlanta.

2. Brian Glaze from Oakland. “He plays with The Gris Gris. They opened for us in LA and they basically go on tour with each, in their own bands. They’re some really sexy songs on there—there’s some major make out songs on that record. There needs to be more make out songs in the world.”

3. Blood on the Wall from Brooklyn. “They’re awesome. They’re awesome people. We saw them around a bunch [back in Brooklyn]—they’re a brother and sister, well there’s 3 of them. They’re the nicest people I’ve met in my life.”

4. Deerhunter. “I’ve only heard a few things of the, but they’re going to come play a bunch of shows with us on this next tour. I think they’re from Atlanta, too. it’s crazy, Atlanta and Nashville have so many bands coming out right now.”

5. “And of course I have to give a shout out to Peaches and her new album.”

So, how is living in LA treating you? How long have you been living there?

I guess over two years now. This February will be 3 years now.

Does playing in LA feel like a homecoming more so now?

Yeah, in the sense where now I have peeps in LA that I know. My crew is gonna come out. The west coast has always felt kind of amazing for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Has living in LA made a big impact on your contributions to the band?

Being in LA really—well, for the first year and a half I didn’t really have any friends. Which was good actually cos I could focus on work. Who needs ‘em. [laughs] I guess my dreams kind of changed a lot to, you know. I started dreaming about really big sprawling highways and palm trees and having dreams about cars.

As opposed to Subways…

Yeah, subways and skyscrapers. But, I think it’s a place like the desert. I consider it to be the desert. You can be a lot more self-reflective and self-aware, like you would be in the desert.

Which is interesting, since most people—especially from New York—consider it to be more a Hollywood-type circus, and more overwhelming.

Oh totally, but they all stay in Hollywood or West Hollywood. It doesn’t seem like the most unified city, so there’s so many different experiences that you can have. I live far away from all that. My experience has been pretty rad.

So, you guys have been playing with quite the crop of bands this summer, TV on The Radio and the Sonic Youth. How was that?

That was pretty unforgettable for us.

Being a NYC band, have you subconsciously tried to model yourself after them?

I think its hard to not model yourself after Sonic Youth if you’re at all interested in noise and this kind of music. They’re the godfather and god mother of the scene.

Has Kim Gordon influences your style and demeanor at all as far as being a woman in a rock band?

She’s amazing. She’s so solid and it’s all on her own terms… and she’s sharing this band with a bunch of boys, [laughs] and she’s carved out something all her own, a sound all her own a persona all her own. And talk about being an anti-fashion icon, to a certain extent. She’s effortless. It’s impossible not to be a dork around her in person.

How is this tour different from your previous experiences? Do you ever miss the days of your smaller tours? Or have you adjusted to the scope of this level of touring?

You know, it’s definitely been an amazing experience touring behind this record, because the dynamic of the set has really shifted. Before it was really straightforwad, full-on, full-ahead, noisier and more punk rock. But now, it feels like there’s highs and lows and back to highs. There’s so much more emotional range in the show, and you know, now we have pretty neat lights. [laughs] You know what’s been amazing, we did a tour in the US in April, and it was pretty much my favorite tour we’ve ever done out of everywhere, and it was just because of the kind of support we were getting from the kids in the US. It made me want to cry. We’ve always had a really supportive fan base, but there was an excitement in the air that hadn’t ever been there before. And that’s so much to us, because we started in Europe and the UK mostsly—that’s where all the hype began. And then we kind of came to the US and [the music] went over a lot of people, and this time around the support really trumped the support anywhere in the world.

YYYs seem to really care about their opening bands and hand-pick them. Who do you have opening for you on these LA shows?

For the LA shows we got The Blood Brothers to play, and Imaad Wasif who plays with us. The Blood Brothers.... well, at their shows they rip up the fucking place, and they’re really fun and crazy. It’s definitely great. They’ll do a great job breaking in the crowd. I guess the Eagles Of Death Metal are opening up for us in san Diego.

So, recently you guys have been doing a lot of covers. First Sonic Youth, then The Rentals. Are there any ideas for covers you have up your sleeve?

You know I’ve been thinking about it I haven’t even broken it to the boys yet, but…

Woah—an exclusive!

Yes, an exclusive for Filter Magazine! I’m thinking about doing “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe. So, we’ll see how that goes, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get them rallied behind that. We’ll have to work on that.

==

Yeah Yeah Yeahs play Los Angeles for two nights at the Hollywood Palladium this weekend. Tickets are available here. Check out YYY’s on the rest of their US tour here:

YYYs US Tour

September
28 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
30 – San Francisco, CA – Download Festival

October
1 – Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
2 – Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
4 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
6 – Dallas, TX – Gypsy Ballroom
7 – Austin, TX – Stubbs BBQ
8 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
9 – Tulsa, OK – Caine’s Ballroom
12 – Pompano, FL – Cinema
13 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
14 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
16 – Nashville, TN – War Memorial

For more YYYs, check out their AOL Interface session, and their fan-inspired video for "Cheated Hearts."

Comments

[jolie]

awesome work danielle!

[Lindsay Waring]

sweet interview. i have a lot of respect for karen. btw, the blood brothers are crazy and amazing live!!

ciao!
Lindsay

[nikki]

ahhhh i have such a girl-crush on karen o, although i still find it hard to believe she's an LA girl now...

[nghia]

nice. ka-blammers!!!