Pix by Ivanified
Are you happy with what YAWA has achieved in the music scene in the last year or so?
I guess we did pretty good in the last year or so. We played Baybeats, which was helluva experience for us, and a couple of other really nice gigs like Rock the Sub and Stasis 10. We also had our first “real” recording experience as a band with the Ballyhoo Compilation which really opened our minds, eyes, ears and moved on to record and release our debut EP titled “Misplaced”.
Specifically, are you happy with the EP?
Yes, we are really happy with the EP. Considering the limitations we had, i thought we had a good go at it.
How long did it take to record the EP? What was the recording process like?
We spent a couple of days recording drums in our school’s recording studio just before we officially graduated. Our lecturer, GLOW, kindly agreed to help us with the tracking. We then had to wait 4 months for our slots at Snakeweed Studios to record with Leonard Soosay. We had to rush it a bit as Adam and I were enlisting. During the 4 months waiting time, we tried to finalise our parts and the arrangements of songs.
How did you decide on the songs to record? I notice, for example, that you omitted Stuck.
We wrote the titles of all the songs on individual pieces of paper, jumbled them up and picked 5.
Ok seriously, with the exception of Ordinary is King, we decided not to record songs which we have recorded before – not so good sounding demos included. Therefore, songs like Binds and Stuck were not included. We then tried to choose the 5 songs which we felt would somehow link to each other and give a feeling of a single CD rather than 5 separate songs. Another factor was that the songs we chose should reflect where we were musically at that time. I hope what I just said made sense. hur hur…
What inspires the writing of songs like Misplaced and Fear?
After listening to a few folk guitarists and singer songwriters, i was so inspired by the different tunings of the guitar that i had to try them out myself. After fiddling around with a couple of open tunings, strumming a few chords and adding some sappy lyrics, Fear was born.
Misplaced is a unique case. Adam came up with the guitar riff and gave me the theme “Misplaced” to work with. I had to go home, think really hard about the feel and idea the riff and theme is trying to give and work out my part of the song. It is the only song so far where i had to work with a given theme.
What music are you currently listening to? Would you say that what you listen to influences the music you write?
The new Alanis Morissette album is really happening. Guy Sigworth is the man! His old work Frou Frou, Imogen Heap’s solo stuff, Japanese post rock band Toe, the Cinematic Orchestra and Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky album. Yes, I would say that what I listen influences the music I write. I guess YaWA? is an example of it. People can sniff out the influences in our music.
What was it like to play at Baybeats? What’s next for YAWA?
Baybeats was awesome! We got to play in the new stage in front of so many people for the 1st time in our lives. I hope everyone who caught us enjoyed our set. I was really nervous on stage.
What’s next for us really depends on the vocation Adam and I get for NS. If our vocation allows us, we’ll try to push for more gigs to promote our EP and hopefully be able to churn out more new material. If our vocation does not allow us, we’ll try to play whenever we can. Prays and hopes that its not the latter.
You can find out more about You and Whose Army? at its Myspace page.
