On The Verge

Yeasayer (Relix Revisited)

Today we look back to our Feb/March 2008 issue and this OTV piece on Yeasayer…

Brooklyn, NY *Wordless Choruses^
www.yeasayer.net

Yeasayer frontman Chris Keating got his start in the entertainment industry after scoring a truck-driving gig on the set of Saturday Night Live. Along with his old friend Anand Wilder, he began writing songs at home and quickly settled on a sound that falls somewhere between Talking Heads’ quick, nervous rock energy and Animal Collective’s bohemian experimentation. “We like to mash these different genres together,” says Keating, who still does freelance production work while not on the road. “We listen to a lot of West African and Bollywood film music, as well as hip-hop from the 1990s. Lyrics come second to the way someone conveys a message.” After solidifying a lineup that also includes bassist Ira Wolf Tuton and drummer Luke Fasano, the group entered the studio to create the infectious All Hour Cymbals and quickly won over fans through invigorating performances at SXSW and CMJ. “We’re not into the whole shoegazing thing or people who reproduce their record onstage. It’s about entertainment.”