I first talked to you around the time of the Pauhaus Festival last year. What have you been up to since then?
Well let me see… We’ve played a bunch of shows up and down the east coast, toured regional Victoria with The Living End, and been to the USA, UK and back! It’s definitely pretty damn cool, we certainly didn’t expect to be doing this a year ago.
You also played a festival, Duck Duck Boom (in Melbourne), that I did the publicity for. And we went to St Kilda to see Will Stoker & The Embers play at 2am that night/morning.
I must say I really like Will Stoker and the band. That show was amazing. There wasn’t many people left by the time we got there, and I could tell everyone walking past was kinda scared. All I remember is the volume of sound, a guy in a metal t-shirt playing drums, great songs, and some girl filming the whole event. Weird.
Oh yeah and people from the crowd joined in playing drums. I have their promotional sticker on my pedal case. It’s black and has the band name on it.
This year looks like its set to be a big one for you. So, lets go back to the very beginning of Yves Klein Blue. How and when did you all meet?
Michael and I met in high school. We played in a variety of highly influential and seminal grunge bands (The Mighty Morphine Powder Railers, Sister Ray) throughout our years, though when we finally found Chris and Sean through friends, it all came together to form YKB.
How did you come up with the name? Was it through the artist Yves Klein Blue that you found inspiration or from somewhere else?
Yeah it was via the artist, specifically via a calendar which featured a picture by the man himself. It is Michael’s fault I now have to explain the band name to everyone! I tend to just tell everyone that it’s just a colour of paint, nothing more, nothing less. That way I don’t have to go into the wanky specifics of it all!
How would you describe your music?
Some would say it’s easy to describe, though I could go on for ages, firing off lists of influences and favourite bands. I think to really grasp what we do, you have to experience us live, as I would like to think there is a lot more going on. But in a nutshell, we play rock music with various influences ranging from dad rock to stoner metal to ska to grunge. And Eiffel 65.
Who are your musical inspirations? What else inspires you?
Personally, I like music loud. I need to feel the music. Lately I’ve been listening to bands such as The Jesus Lizard and Boris, very visceral stuff. But I’ve also been listening to The Band, mainly because they have great songs and great harmonies. Though my long time favouritest band would have to be Kyuss. Besides music I’m inspired by not much else really, I struggle to get excited about things, even though I really want to be obsessed with something like a teenager would.
Fast forward to now… You just played SXSW. How was it? How did the Americans react to your music? Did they seem to like it or not?
Yeah, I think the American people liked it. I mean those that saw it. I think having a crowd who dig the Vines must know a good thing, and seeing as we had a great response from them I’m content! Austin during SXSW is fucking crazy – there is this one street called 6th street just full of bars, full of stages, full of bands, and full of people. There is never not a band playing! Amazing, like nowhere else in the world.
What have you got planned for the rest of the year?
Touring for our EP. I’m sure my life will involve little else. As long as I get to hang out and do nothing for a while with my girlfriend I’m happy. But touring is inevitable, so I’m learning to enjoy life on the road with three vastly different people. Gotta make it fun.
See Yves Klein Blue as they tour around the country in support of their new EP.
