Yeasayer just back from the European tour for their second album Odd Blood.
We caught up with guitarist Anand Wilder post-Seder and he told us about writing
musicals, driving trucks, and the fine line between art and kitsch.
How was Seder?
I'm stuffed.
You're area code is 646. Are you from New York?
Chris and I are both from Baltimore, Ira is from Philly.
And then you all migrated to Brooklyn?
I knew Chris growing up, we went to the same school, and then Ira's sister is married to my cousin so I've known him for like 10 years. After college Chris moved to New York and he invited me to come up and play a couple of songs in a show he was playing. I moved up to Brooklyn after that and I knew Ira was a really good bassist and could sing, so I asked him if he wanted to play a show. I didn't know it was going to be a band, we were just messing around writing songs and stuff, but we had a pretty good thing going.
So what were you doing before Yeasayer?
I went to college in Philly, and then I worked a bunch of different jobs. I was a bartender, I worked a couple of office jobs, I drove around a truck for SNL, I did some prop styling.
Did you study music in college?
I didn't go to music school. I studied cello growing up, but I decided I
didn't want to just be surrounded by music kids in college, so I studied American History with minors in French and Film at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tell us about Odd Blood.
For the second album, we consciously decided that we wanted to do the polar opposite of what would have been our musical instincts on the first album. So if it was choral vocals, we would do one single voice. If it was African guitar, we would do a synthesizer—a really harsh, sterile sound. We wanted to get away from the hippie campfire sing-along and do something that was a little bit dancier, more bass-heavy, direct and poppy.
What were some musical influences?
We were listening to a lot of the Real McCoy, Malvado, Jay-Z, always a lot of Jay-Z. Wu-Tang Clan, Tribe Called Quest.
Does anyone in Yeasayer rap?
I think that's where we would definitely draw the line. We actually thought about it, we were like 'Maybe we should have a rap, yeah!' But you walk a fine line between kitsch and high art. I think if we rapped it would go over that line.
Really? I think people would pay good money to hear you rap.
We played at Nasty Fest in Leeds in England about two years ago, and we got this guy Cadence Weapon from Canada to freestyle for a verse of our song "Sunrise," which is really beat-heavy. That was pretty awesome. I haven't heard from him in a while, but I'm sure he's still kicking it.
So you dabble in rap, but I heard you were writing a musical?
That was kind of an old project that I revived at the end of the touring cycle in 2008. I got together a bunch of friends to play all of the different characters, members of the Dirty Projectors, Man Man, Chairlift, Dragons of Zynth, Suckers. It's an interracial love story set in a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century. I thought I was going to be able to work on it in between recording sessions but ended up not being able to split my time, so it's sort of on hiatus right now.
Who are you listening to these days?
I was listening to the new Suckers album on the way down to Philly. I think it's coming out this month. That's going to be a really huge album, take note. Also
Paula Abdul and Vangelis. He did the Chariot's of Fire theme, but he also had a whole ambient music career before he hit it big. And this guy Delicate Steed who weaves some really intricate guitar melodies.
Any plans for collaborations?
I don't see any reason to get some superstar producer to do our next album, but I would love to work with someone like my friend who does this solo project called Oneohtrix Point Never, it's a lot of synth stuff. I also spoke to Spank Rock in the studio, we were jamming and he rapped over some beats we were playing. That was fun. We might collaborate with one of the guys from Portishead. I would pretty much be happy to work with anyone I respect.
So if it weren't for Yeasayer what would you be doing?
I'd probably be doing prop styling and still struggling in a band, waiting to get big. —LUCIA DELLA PAOLERA
See Yeasayer at The Trocadero in Philadelphia on May 5th.
http://www.myspace.com/yeasayer
