Yellow 6 - Other Bits in My Head
If you are a regular reader of fakejazz, then you probably assume that
this
Jon Attwood fellow must be one of our kid brothers or is romantically
involved with the editor since we review something like 30 of his band
Yellow 6's releases each issue (and the reviews are all gushing).
Sadly,
he's neither (attempts to adopt him and dozens of erotic emails have
gone
seemingly unnoticed). In fact, Yellow 6 is a band from England who have
released a handful of singles, 2 cds, and an LP. Sounding something
like a
mixture of the best parts of drone like Labradford and Windy & Carl, and
the
best parts of pretty guitar driven post rock, such as Aerial M and
Pullman,
his releases have quickly taken over my stereo these past few months.
Jon,
being the extremely nice person he is, answered some questions for me.
Related links:
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| fakejazz:This may be a bit personal, but is your recent Catherine Whiskey EP named after your girlfriend/wife?
|
| jon:Catherine is my pet giraffe. (No, actually she is my wife). She's
extremely supportive of my musical efforts--with the exception of
having to
listen to any of the recordings! We don't have much in common when it
comes
to musical taste and she really doesn't like post-rock/electronica, etc.
|
| fakejazz:Why the switch from punk rock to laid back drone? |
 jon:There's loads of reasons, and I can't discount the fact that I'm older
now
and have probably mellowed with age! (Tho' I still listen to a lot of old
records and have bought some of the CD reissues of Crass, Clash, Ramones,
etc.). I was always into the more melodic and experimental aspects of
punk
as well as the energy of it.
The punk thing was great at the time and the bands I played in were part
of
a strong scene in and around London. Once I moved out of London, I lost
touch with that scene, and I started listening to different stuff like
Velvet
Underground, Nick Drake, Tom Waits, Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins,
etc.
In the early 90s I heard Bark Psychosis who changed my whole outlook.
I started making 4 track recordings at home around 94/95 and it was
partly
the fact that all I had was guitar and effects that determined the laid
back
approach (no drums or bass, etc.).
|
| fakejazz:Do you have any formal music education, or are you self taught? |
| jon:I stopped music lessons as soon as I could at school as I hated it so
much.
Mainly because it was boring, and embarassing, having to stand in front
of
the class singing when you can't! When I started playing guitar, it was
because of punk, and the thing at the time was the "learn 3 chords and
form a
band" idea so I learned 2 (and formed a really crap band). After that, I
bought a chord book to learn a bit more. Now I've given up on proper
chords
and have no idea what the chords are that I use--just make them up.
Musical theory confuses the hell out of me, and I can't see any benefit
in
putting in the effort to learn it.
|
| fakejazz:Do you play other instruments? |
| jon:I'm basically a guitarist, but I can play a bit of violin and can do some
simple one handed keyboards.
|
| fakejazz:Where do you record? What do you use to record? |
| jon:Yellow6 recordings are done in my spare bedroom using cubase on PC. I
moved
up from 4 track about 3 years ago, and it changed the way I work
completely.
The PC has now become one of my major instruments in composing by
cutting
and pasting, adding effects (quite partial to a touch of reverb!), time
stretching, looping etc. It does tend to make me a bit lazy as you
don't
need to play a part all the way thru for 7 minutes or whatever, just
take a
bit and loop it. It does help though as my playing tends to be a bit
sloppy
at times, and you can just cut out the mistakes!
|
| fakejazz:When writing songs, do you do most of the work while recording in an
improvised atmosphere, or is it fleshed out and well defined before it's
put
to tape? |
| jon:Most of the stuff I record has a large element of improvisation to it. I
usually start with an idea of a guitar or bass part or a drum beat,
record
that and just play around over it--usually when I listen back to the
recorded parts I'll hear other bits in my head then try to play
something
that sounds like it does in my head. Some of it is quite a random
process
where adding delay to a beat changes it completely and altering the
sound on
a guitar (or using a different guitar--acoustic or 12 string, etc.). I
never
have any idea what something will sound like when it's finished.
|
| fakejazz:Does each release have a different unifying idea, or goal behind it? |
| jon:I've never really thought about that. My only original aim for Yellow6
was
to release a record then after the first single I wanted to do an
album.
I've never really thought much past that until recently. Catherine
Whiskey
had the theme of being all the long songs sold as a 6 track ep but
that's as
far as that went.
The next album (on Rocket Racer) has a more electronic approach to the
rhythms and is a bit more minimal guitar-wise (no more than 3 guitar
dubs
on a song). Also the packaging will be minimal with no titles and the
only
info on the disc. I have started thinking more about concepts/ideas for
future releases but whether my ideas will ever happen only time will
tell.
|
| fakejazz:Will there ever be vocals on a Yellow 6 song? |
| jon:Not from me! I've got no objection to vocals in general and if I told
you
my favourite records or artists of all time, most have vocals. I have
sung
before but don't like doing it and also have no lyrical ideas worth
sharing
(I have enough trouble naming the songs). Another down side to vocal
music
is that often as soon as the vocal starts on a song, it becomes the
focal
point. You can go back to a song you've known for years and listen
behind
the vocal and find things you haven't heard before (not necessarily a
bad
thing though).
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| fakejazz:Does Yellow 6 play shows? |
| jon:So far there have been 2 Yellow6 gigs, in January and April 2000 but more
are
planned for 2001.
|
| fakejazz:Do you play alone, or do you have people who play with you? |
| jon:These gigs were done as a 3 piece with me on guitar, Scott from Portal
on
bass, and mark simnett (ex-Bark Psychosis) on drums.
|
| fakejazz:Does the sound change in the live setting versus the recordings? |
 jon:The live sound was much simpler, mainly down to only having one guitar,
and
we also stuck to the less quiet material ("N.Y.E.," "Leitmotiv," "Cale,"
"Ghost," ...).
I preferred this approach to using backing tapes or just solo guitar
stuff. We do plan to do some more gigs soon with the same line-up,
possibly
with Scott on guitar and adding a bass player, but I'd like to make them
a
bit more varied and add in some of the quieter stuff as well ("Aerial
Forest"
or something).
|
| fakejazz:How did you meet up with Scott (of Portal)? |
| jon:Andi of Chunky Mail Order introduced us. We both knew him and he
thought we
had similar ideas and outlooks. Awkward Silence suggested the split
singles,
and the idea of remixing or covering each others songs. Since then,
Scott
has played with Yellow6 live, I played on the Portal John Peel Session,
and
we are planning an "ambient/drone" album for Rocket Racer.
|
| fakejazz:Is there a scene to speak of in Leicester? If so, what sort of scene,
and
how does Yellow 6 fit into it? |
| jon:There's not really any scene to speak of, at least not one I know about!
I've lived in the area for 2 years and the only things I know are that
Lazarus Clamp, the Freed Unit, and Pickled Egg Records are based here.
I've
only been to one gig in Leicester in the 2 years I've lived here and
that
was an American band (Mahogany--their new album is out on Burnt
Hair/Clairecords); maybe I should get out more often! Having said that, there
is
more of a regional scene covering the midlands of England with a lot of
bands from Birmingham and about 50 miles around, but it's very diffuse.
Over
the past few years there's been a move in England towards clubs rather
than
bands and a lot of venues will have the bands on early and a club after.
|
| fakejazz:There are a few songs which are numbered, and "Leitmotiv" has a couple
different numbered versions released. Is this because you record a song
a
number of different times, until it feels right, or do you try to
achieve
different things with each version? |
| jon:Rather than different recordings, they are more like different mixes.
The
basics of the song is the same recording but I may add or remove parts
and
change things around.
"Onecertain" has 5 very different versions (one of them being totally
unlistenable noise). "Leitmotiv" also has 5 versions with a few different
drum rhythms and stuff and #5 being the extended 20 min. version. The
latest
thing is that I'll take one song and do two completely different things
with
it so I get one title and two different songs, or I'll take a 12 min.
song
and cut it in half. (The Rocket Racer album has a few of these songs on
it.)
|
| fakejazz:What bands do you consider to be musical peers of Yellow 6? |
| jon:Never really thought much about that--mainly as I don't really know
that
many musicians doing similar things. It's easy to think of peers when
you're part of a close scene though they can also be seen as the
competition... that was the way it was with the punk thing; we were all
friends but also competing for the best gigs, etc. I guess if I thought
about
it, Yellow6's peers would be people on a similar sort of level--releasing
records on indie labels, etc., but not so much gigging bands. I guess that
would include Portal, Epic45, Pimmon, Radio9, ...
|
| fakejazz:Do you have other hobbies, interests or anything? Or is it just music
all
day every day? |
| jon:I have a full time job but most of my spare time is taken up with music
in
some way I guess. I'm also into digital photography so with that and
music
I spend most of my spare time in front of a computer screen. I also
play in
a soul covers band (Stax/Motown stuff) which I joined to get to play
live
(something I never thought Yellow6 would get to do) and for the money.
|
| fakejazz:What future releases does Yellow 6 have on the horizon? |
jon:I was wondering if I'd over committed myself as there's so much planned
for
the next year or so--in brief:
- Rocet Racer 3x7" box set (out now with tracks from Portal, Styrofoam, Tank,
Lackluster, Andor's, and Yellow6)
- 5" split single (Earworm Mar. 2001)
- Music for Pleasure CD album (Rocket Racer Mar./Apr. 2001)
- CD album (Ochre Records Jun./Jul. 2001)
- remix 12"/lp (Endorphin 2001) remixes by Rothko, Pimmon, Portal, Bauri,
Rocket Racer, and Lackluster
- 10" single (Jonathon Whiskey 2001)
- zine compilation tracks (mass transfer, overdub, magnetophone, and
fakejazz)
- remixes - I've remixed a couple of Portal tracks and am going to do mixes
for Tristeza and U.C.M.
|
| fakejazz:What future collaborations do you have in the works? |
| There's a few collaborative projects either in progress or soon to
happen.
I've been in touch with Paul Gough of Pimmon (Australia), and he is
sending
some basic tracks for me to add guitar to. Pascal Asselin (from Quebec
and
drummer of Glider, Below the Sea) has sent me some drum parts to
sample
and use in new songs. He's coming to the UK in the fall so we may
record/gig when he's here. Scott of Portal and I are recording an
"ambient"
album for Rocket Racer Mark Flake (Wood Records, Wyoming) sent me a tape
of
guitar improv a while back which I intend to add to and send him some
stuff
to work on.
|
| fakejazz:What is your favorite Yellow 6 release, and why? |
| jon:I have to say there aren't any I really dislike. I think the vinyl
version
of Overtone and the Atomic 12" would have to tie for the overall
favourite
packages but once I start to think more about it, I'd add Catherine
Whiskey
as well.
|
| fakejazz:Any chance of a US tour? |
| jon:Nice idea--I'd love to as I'd really like to see more of the US, but at
the
moment it's not likely as I work full time and think it's probably an (appropriate)
idea
to do some UK gigs first.
|
