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A Brief History Of Time With Yeasayer

Far from Beatnik Greenwich and Manhattan disco is Brooklyn: a place famed for its Hasidic qualities, or home to a modern age pop revolution? A cerebrally challenged Q heads to Glasgow's Oran Mor to meet Yeasayer's Brooklyn-based Ira Wolf Tuton who has more than a few theories about that, Rihanna's alter ego, dental alginate and the future... as we saw it 20 years ago. Oy vey.

Q: Hello Ira, how would you like your tea?
Ira Wolf Tuton: Camomile's good. Caffeine is bad for your... throat. [Q looks confused] Your vocal chords.

Q: Q doesn't have that problem...
IWT: Really? Well before the show I drink Camomile. To get mellow. Also, I don't wanna get all cracked out. [Jokes] I'm cracked out enough as it is.

Q: You've just started the tour. How's today panning out?
IWT: The day is great. We're catacorner to the Horticultural Gardens, correction... the Botanical Gardens. And it doesn't get much better than that. It's strange to think, Oh we're playing in a fake castle. I was like, [erupts] No way it's a real castle!

Q: Actually, it's a converted church...
IWT: I heard that too. Of all the church basements we've played this is probably the nicest.

Q: You play a lot of churches?
IWT: Church rec rooms. There's a guy in Philadelphia that does shows, Sean.... [goes blank]. Anyway, he's a friend of mine. Philly has a problem with mid-sized venues, so Sean covers that ground... in a church basement.

Q: Your schedule is jam-packed for three months' solid touring. Is there a strategy?
IWT: Strategy is fish oil, multi-vitamins, eggs, and as much sleep as possible. Also, it's amazing how you can forget to eat every day. You wanna eat way before soundcheck so you don't play on a full stomach. But after the show everything's closed except junk food. You don't wanna get into the habit of eating that. That'll just kill you...

[A waitress arrives with a pot of camomile for two. Tuton looks suspiciously at the complimentary chocolate and informs Q that the tea must be allowed to steep.]

... We try to not drink too much. Touring is confusing on the body. You gotta maintain your hold on reality, keep positive and stay relaxed. We're all in this together. But two weeks in and you're fine. You could go on for two years.

Q: You were in Birmingham last night...
IWT: [Interrupts enthusiastically] The second largest city in the UK, I found out. City of... Leeds is Industry so I think Birmingham's Business. I try to learn as we go on tour. [Smiles] Keep an open mind. Open eyes.

Q: It's good to keep the brain working...
IWT: And the synapses firing... I don't want atrophy.

Q: So did you catch any of the BRIT Awards fever after the show?
IWT: The closest we got was being in the same parking lot in London as all the bands. Didn't see any bands but saw all their buses. Some nice, some not so nice. Our bus would fall in the middle. We have a SWAT team vehicle back home. It's a frightening Mad Max, bus/truck hybrid. It's enjoyable having space now while travelling 50 miles an hour. All day. Every day. Who won?
[Q provides a brief summary of the evening]
Lily Allen's had an album out? It wasn't promoted in the States.
Q: She's going to take a break for now...
IWT: [Winking] Hey, a bullet's the quickest way. Isn't it hard being an artist? [Rolls eyes] Oh, it's so torturous, so many problems, our egos are so big. Tea?

Q: Cheers. So Brooklyn is full of tortured artists...
IWT: The press anointed Brooklyn as the Big Thing. If Brooklyn was its own city it'd be the third largest in America. New York's a world of immigrants. You move there to step out your comfort zone and meet like-minded people. I grew up limited in a place where it was hard to break out of "scenes". Brooklyn is a good place to be motivated to do whatever whether it's music or carpentry. There's just more bands there than anywhere else, tonnes of which you'll never hear of. [Scoffs] I was in one of those but I can't tell you about it.

Q: Why?
IWT: I don't wanna hurt any feelings.

Q: Being bracketed with Dirty Projectors, MGMT, etc, is it like school competition?
IWT: Putting dead animals in each others lockers? That's pretty much how it is. [Smiles] I'm the bully luckily so I get to push people around, shake people down. I value those friendships just like anybody would value their friendships. I'm glad that a lot of those people are getting recognition for things they've been working on for a long time.

Q: You've just released second album Odd Blood. How does it translate live?
IWT: So far, so good. We're continually arranging and being critical rather than resting on our laurels. Birmingham was probably the liveliest crowd I've ever seen [stops himself] in the UK, outside of Scotland. That's a disclaimer. Scottish crowds are a different breed, especially Glaswegians. [Smugly] Right? Glaswegians? [Q verifies]. I'm originally from Philadephia and we're Philadelphians. So forever I thought Glasgowians.

Q: It's a poppier direction. Do you think pop's getting more sophisticated?
IWT: There was a hangover from pop. We were inundated with garage rock and early '90s hip hop and dance brought a shift. But it's shifting back. 50 Cent and Eminem killed creativity by setting an archetype. So bands are coming from the angle of knowing what they don't wanna sound like... Our sources have grown exponentially with the availability of music from around the world: the Middle East and Africa. Bands like Tinariwen wouldn't have been on your landscape as a middle class kid in America. The world is getting a lot smaller in every sense... Who are we? Fifteen years ago we'd have been nobody. Through websites and blogs we cultivated a career... You'll always have your bubblegum shtick. Pop's only what people say it is. But people talk about Animal Collective as being a pop band and they're far from the world of Lady Gaga. [Signals a conclusion] Pop music's changing. It no longer has to be popular to be pop.

Q: You've said you want to "sonically challenge Rihanna in the clubs"...
IWT: I wanna embrace my contemporaries, regardless of whether they're embracing us. That's the world I live in: Mavado, Jay-Z, Coldplay. I'm interested in what people are listening to and why, for better or worse. I don't wanna engage shoegazers and I didn't grow up with a dream of holding onto a DIY sentiment and having this indie cred. In the true sense of the word we're an indie band because we're on an independent label but I don't know what indie as a genre means. MGMT are an "indie" band but they're on Columbia and make sweet pop, you know?

Q: So really, you're just a closet Rihanna fan...
IWT: I am a really big fan of some of her stuff, but I'm hot and cold. I basically like Umbrella. I heard it and thought, What the fuck is this? It's a perfect song and it blew everybody's mind. Some of her "I'm so tough" stuff I'm not so into. Everybody has a persona either magnifying themselves or a different alter ego. I don't buy her persona as much as Beyonce's. I love Beyonce because she's the top performer. Whether you like her music or not, she's actually singing and doing those moves. In heels! It's off the hook.

Q: Will your take on the Single Ladies dance feature in O.N.E.'s new video?
IWT: God! I wish I could do that shit. We've got dancers in the rough cut. It's a futuristic club. But from the future how we thought of it 20 years ago.

Q: Back to the future...
IWT: Back to the future - a great title. I should check if that's taken [laughs]. We wanted to engage in the classic pop format of a music video, too. Like Milli Vanilli or Haddaway: one-hit-wonder videos that you don't see any more. Music videos are so boring now. You can be earnest in your interviews. But your videos? It's like, Come on. Fuck me! You know?

Q: And Ambling Alp's video begins with you covered in congealed custard...
IWT: That was dental alginate. Or alien goo. [Laughs] I was in that video for two seconds and I had to wear this dental alginate on the top of my body for four hours. It was not my most excited moment being in this band. Art man, you gotta sacrifice for your art.

Q: Speaking of, you did a show in the Guggenheim in New York, the LA Natural History Museum...
IWT: When they call we pick up the phone. We're excited to play in venues that are off-kilter. I don't wanna play the O2 Academy every night or the next smoky bar box. The Guggenheim called us and it sounded terrible. But for us, this is our chance to do this. Who knows how long it's gonna last? The unusual things are memorable. Like playing in a church basement. We're gonna give the Christians a scare [raises eyebrows].

Q: Which is you favourite setting?
IWT: Inside. We're a night band, the later the better. Festival days are awkward. [Points] I can see you 200 yards away sitting on your blanket pouring your wife a cup of juice. We're not trying to impress people. We're trying to help people get taken over and get off. I go to a show and want to have some feeling shot through my chest, not cross my arms, tilt my head and analytically pick apart what's going on. [Shrugs] Although I do that cos I'm a nerd.

Q: Rihanna and Beyonce aside, what are your musical inspirations?
IWT: Whatever music we do is inspired by the world in which we live, how fast it's changing and the benefits and struggles that are a result of that. Not just musicians and pretty girls. We're living in a pretty unbelievable era. Things are moving at a pace that's almost beyond human. That's where we're coming from.

Q: But back the way...
IWT: Right [smiles]. We're pushing everybody backwards into the future.

Q: You picked your name because it was unusual...
IWT: It sounds good and it's easy to remember. If I had to do it again I'd probably pick AAAA and a bunch of exclamation marks. We're at the bottom of every list.

Q: Like the bandname, a lot of your music sounds positive but it's lyrically dark. Is that intentional irony?
IWT: We're trying to do our best to not be ironic. I don't like ironic music. It's just a reflection of the human condition. Plain and simple.

Q raises a sceptical eyebrow, finishes a cup of camomile and considers scouting for talent in Golders Green as Tuton awaits his next student.

Yeasayer are playing dates throughout the UK, Europe and the US until June.

Words: Eve Barlow (Eve's personal music blog can be found here)

9:49 AM | 19/02/2010