YUCK have been hailed as one of the bands of 2011 by the BBC – those kind of things can be shit for a band and hold no truck with me but I do agree that they – Yuck – are a brilliant band – haterz have come out to hate in their sniveling droves, saying they are too derivative of early 90s American rock like Dinosaur Jnr and Pavement and what not but didn’t the stones, primal scream, 808 state and countless others do a pretty good knock off of their heroes
I don’t see the problem with taking a theme and running with it they are great live and given their young age this is a great debut.
I really want to see them at Primavera in the blazing sunshine on a big stage – after seeing them only on indie club stages ( this interview was held at b72 a pokey venue in Vienna great sound but small) i think they can cut it live on a big stage
here’s the Interview – its going on TBA mag in German translation in a week or so
Yuck interview @ B72 Vienna
for this interview i wanted to avoid all the usual shit about where you come from how you met and all that and ask them about life on the road and see if i could extract any strange home truths or thoughts and feelings about themselves UK life and what their interests are.They gel together well onstage as a live band despite not knowing each other for very long ( apart from Max and Daniel who’ve known each other since childhood and were in the band Cajuan Dance Party together – Amalayse one of the greatest indie disco songs of all time tru fax ) theres a bit of paraphrasing and condensing but tried to keep it all in as they were charmingly awkward and then warmed up and were engaging and funny
interviewer : hows it going, hows the tour ?
band : yep all fine (mumbles )
interviewer : do you have any pre show rituals like drinking whiskey from a sacred cup or drawing of blood ?:
Daniel : no not really – sometimes i ask max if he’s gone to the toilet
Interviewer : so like a toilet check – fecal matters ?check each others parts ?
Daniel : well we never know whether to go to the toilet!
interviewer :mmmkay
Max : well i like whiskey but its not a ritual
Mariko: No that’s normal
Band : collective giggling
Interviewer: so you dont all have a wee dram before the show just to warm up?
max: a wee what now ?
interviewer: a wee dram – its Scottish for a small measure
Max : ah right well i love whiskey…. trailing off
Interviewer: any weird incidents on this tour or do you feel at any time there’s been a curse put on you ?
daniel: yeah when we couldn’t get to America because they ( uk passport office) kept fucking up our visas – it was stupid stuff like typos and it made our visas invalid
max : Yeah we were waiting at the airport and Roxie ( above mentioned manager and mate of band and my cuz and hardest working woman in pop right now! ) was at the embassy and she was like literally on them to hurry up the process and bring us the passports because normally it takes 3 days to get them . in the end we got them but then nearly every flight was canceled because of the snow so we felt like there was this devine person not wanting us to go ( they were due to play cmj – very big industry showcase thing much like sxsw but in new york)
Daniel: it was jesus he didnt want us to go
Max : but in the end jesus shone a light and we got the only flight an the visas were ok –
interviewer : There is a lord ! praise be!
interviewer: so when you come off the tour what’s literally the first thing you do ?
Max: Have a power shower ! *band – collective laughing *
Mariko : ( Muffled )wash the stench away! and water the plants if they are still alive
Interviewer : have you experienced any Austrian showers here? as i find they are incredibly powerful (I love Austrian showers and plumbing )
max : the best shower i’ve had IN MY LIFE was in the etap hotel here in vienna l and i love etap hotels and it was a non altering constant powerful jet and it had led lights in the head
interviewer : so like a disco shower
max : yeah and it changed colour with the rise in temperature!
interviewer : so that makes it really hard to leave as you are in a disco with hot water ….
max : yeah i didn’t want to leave it was incredible the lights change when you change the temperature *says as if this was an earth moving experience *
interviewer: which leads me to ask why can we get decent showers in the uk cos every house / flat bar one ive lived in has a had a weak shitty little shower or it burns you and doesn’t stay the same temperature – its a modern country why cant there be a decent standard !?
jonny : yep the shower in my flat is shit
max : mine too its like a dribble !
danny : why cant there be a decent standard of anything? Because like here we get here and we have been on the road all day and there’s like really nice food and wine and a lot of it but in the UK all we got was some raw vegetables that we couldn’t do anything with like brocoli and cauliflower – were they expecting us to make soup ?? what the fuck?? stick to the carrots and the cucumbers please
interviewer : is there a really bad promoter or venue you’ve come across because i have worked on quite a few shows and there’s a certain company which owns a chain of venues and they are notoriously tight and crap with riders and fees and communicating to anyone working with them for that matter …
max well gigs in those venues are their own special genre really its just a big black stinky box with stinky toilets and usually a stinky and stingey rider
daniel : yeah generally everyone that works there has massive chips on their shoulders about working there so they just treat you like shit
max : horrible greasey chips
interviewer : big old stinky chips … ahahmmm so moving on!
interviewer : have you been anywhere that you had a really strong emotional response too .. somewhere you absolutely loved or hated and please divulge …
Max (in strong southern accent ) I love nashville
interview : You love nashville and whys that ?
Max: thats what daniel said when we were circling the map in a tourist office
the tourist guide showed us nashville on the map and daniel said back to him (southern accent ) “nashvilles just there ? I luuuurve nashville” collective chortling
max proceeds to show us a tour video of the band winding up a tourist office person in america on their tour
max : ive been shooting lots of banter for us to watch back when we get back home
daniel: we should invite our families for that and all watch it together
so we watch the video and the first thing we hear is daniel singing in a dislocated voice ” carolina …my vagina ” more beavis and butthead type chuckling ensues
interviewer: so you are going to sxsw are you going to do loads of shows put yourself everywhere and put it about a bit ?
daniel: yep oh yeah !
interviewer: so barbeques are you looking forward to alot of those
max ( becoming very wild eyed and excited ) yes !! smoked briskets and grits !
interviewer: what are grits ive always wondered that ?
max : grits is basically porridge with cheese –
Mariko: its sloppy and disgusting
max: ive got a video of daniel trying grits in denny’s actually
Band : all creasing up with laughter
Max shows us the video
jonny the drummer is seen in front of dennys restaurant complaining ” we are at Dennys because Max and Daniel wanted the real American dining experience” Max’s voice cuts in “There’s even an American flag outside in case you forgot you were in America. ” Cut to inside Denny’s – Daniel is eating the grits with a pained expression on his face ” its like eating uncooked batter ” max ” an appetizer before breakfast … brilliant god bless America ”
reading the menu max declares Denn’ys mantra s “we’re open to that “…. “if you want a fried chicken put through a blender and made into a smoothie … we’re open to that”…
Interviewer: directing at Jonny who’s from New Jersey and met Daniel on a kibbutz and was invited to up sticks and move to the UK
“so what is denn’y where does it stand in the fast food placing is it american classic? is it better than BK and maccie ds?
jonny: its like a really shitty sit down fast food place but there’s some little differences
max interjects : and all the waitresses call you hon or honey
interviewer : ahh nice so you go for home cooking and get some love and affection from the waitresses
max cackling again: they rub their tits on your grits!
interviewer : surely thats extra ??!
daniel : its just sex drugs rock and roll and grits with us
max : i tried some it was horrible , ( with perfect comic timing ) What was the question sorry!?
interviewer flustered at the thought of waitresses providing extra grits enhancing services
err – oh yeah sxsw !
Max : yes ! the best thing they have is the huge barbecues ! have you ever been to a Bodeans?
Interviewer : nah never been what is it :
max : its this chain restaurant in London set up by a guy from texas and they slowly smoke the meat and its just the best meat you’ll ever have
interviewer : i love meat, while we are on the subject of meat have you ever hear or been to St Johns in Smithfields /Clerkenwell ( in London) they serve lots of off cuts like offal and marrow bone – like what a dog would eat but its actually very tasty
Daniel : that doesn’t sound like a nice dining experience to me
max : do you eat the marrow with a straw ?
mariko : yeah i heard about it my friends went there i’d like to try it
Daniel: Proceeds to sing to the tune of peaches fuck the pain away ” sucking on my gritties”
…….
interviewer : so next question! sonic youth , my bloody valentine , jesus and mary chain they are in a burning building and you can only save one who do you save …
Daniel: sonic youth definitely
Daniel : yep i haven’t really listened to much Jesus and Mary chain or My Bloody Valentine
Mariko : id save Thurston Moore definitely
Max : if i could answer this question from a moral standpoint id save sonic youth as they have released more material than both those bands as you are saving more years of musical life and influence
Interviewer : so more value in saving them – harsh but good reasoning!
Interviewer : i heard you like Werner Herzog and there’s a split 7″ you did with a band called Herzog
Daniel : its this guy from ohio we did the single release as a split with one side each with an image and he did a drawing of Herzog as the cover image
Interviewer : in his glory years or as a haggard grizzly man that he is now
daniel: yeah he was a grizzled haggard man …
interviewer : i love listening to Werner Herzog’s voice he has a really beautiful calming voice and accent
daniel : yeah He’s a beautiful man and he speaks English in the most beautiful way
interviewer: yeah and he’s from bavaria and he always talks about how the Bavarian are different to Germans and how they are alot more warm hearted – and more contemplative…
Interviewer : so Shook Down to me sounds like a really good radio song for driving on a hot day – have you listened to it in a car ?
max: well when we got the album mixes back it was really useful to listen to them in the car as that’s mostly where we are going to listen to them when we are driving and its good to listen them on speakers you know ….
Interviewer : to me it sounds like a really good summer song – push for it ! it sounds a bit Neil Young
daniel : ahh thats very kind of you to say …
Mariko : ahh wow that will make him happy !
Daniel: and pretty much the chords are Neil Young- ish ….but they are everyone’s chords they are the golden chords
interviewer : good point they are out there for everyone …
Interviewer so final question what do want for tomorrows children destruction and fire or peace and unicorns or something else ….?
Daniel : peace and unicorns
max: inevitably it will be destruction and fire … but thats inevitable … ( cryptic look crosses his face )
Jonny: Fiery death !
interviewer : how about some fiery unicorns ?
Mariko : peace and unicorns sounds cool
Jonny : pizza unicorns!
Daniel : the children wont want peace and unicorns they’ll just want wii number 3 …..
Max: lets definitely go for pizza unicorns that’s what they should get …..
and so Endeth the interview which descended into a discussion on computer games of the 90s and early 2000s and how Daniel was deprived of n64 and had to wait an age to get a SNES when all his mates were getting n64s… I think he had quite a restricted childhood …I can relate!
we only had a ZX spectrum when all the other kids were getting Amiga’s ! Console related angst seems to of translated well into the psychological make up of this young man – the musical output is of a very high standard
their album is out on http://www.fatpossum.com now !
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