NY Rock Interview with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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L to R: Brian Chase, Karen O., and Nick Zinner

"You nailed it right there! That is such a great description." Nick Zinner seems amused by my imagination, the one where "I can just see you at Studio 54, circa 1983, sipping champagne with Andy Warhol and talking about underground art." So it's agreed – the Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist, alongside purring singer/cat-woman Karen O. and drummer Brian Chase, would certainly be the life of the party if they could beam back to the legendary disco.

The trio are the latest sensation from the Big Apple, benefiting from the hype created by the British music media, who are visibly bored with what local bands have to offer. These illegitimate children of Ziggy Stardust and Siouxsie Sioux mix new wave, metal, punk rock and rockabilly, all served up, you guessed it, New York City style. And along with the music comes the equally colorful personality of the charismatic singer – a super-heroine fighting to safeguard music as an expressionist art form.

NYROCK:

On "Our Time" you sing, "It's our time to be hated!" Give me a reason to hate you.

NICK:

Because we got semi-famous being out here for a year!

NYROCK:

The British media, especially the NME, brought many artists, such as the Strokes and the White Stripes, to the forefront.

NICK:

Us, Rapture... It's like a domino effect. It made people start taking New York bands seriously, so we all have to thank them for that.

NYROCK:

Do you think the Brit press has a good ear for good music/hidden talents or is it because Brit music hasn't much to offer of late?

NICK:

Probably both.

NYROCK:

So which New York bands should we look out for now?

NICK:

I haven't been out and seen any bands in New York recently. Usually when I'm home, I just want to stay inside, but there's a Joy Division-style band. I like Black Dice; I think they're great. I have to get back to you on that one. I have to go out and see some more!

NYROCK:

For some, the Velvet Underground and all the Andy Warhol acolytes define the NYC music scene. It's actually got a glam, arty image as a city.

NICK:

It depends what street you're walking on and what time it is! ... We all went to art school in one way or another, so I'm sure those influences are about to come out.

NYROCK:

What other influences do you have?

NICK:

Metal. I grew up listening to Mötley Crüe and Slayer and Aerosmith, and I have been listening to a lot of death metal, so metal runs through my veins.

NYROCK:

What about Metallica?

NICK:

I love their first three albums. I don't really have much faith in metal anymore, but I'd like to hear the new record. I like the time-tempo changes on [System of a Down's] Toxicity. It's great! I've read interviews with him (SOAD singer Serj Tankian). He seems really smart.

NYROCK:

What else are you listening to right now?

NICK:

Cephalic Carnage, the Kills. I really like Mechanical Animals. It's my favorite band right now. I'm listening to lots of dance music. Actually, dance hall – new dance hall – and Jamaican ska. I don't really watch MTV or listen to the radio, so I don't know most of the stuff that's popular. There are some new things that are all right. I do have a soft spot for JT (Justin Timberlake), I gotta admit. Every once in a while, there's some great pop songs that are inspiring. JT's songs are awesome. Even the new R. Kelly song is just amazing. Personally, the guy should be in jail, but he makes great music.

NYROCK:

You chose to bypass major labels in the beginning. Why did you finally sign to Interscope? Was it becoming all too much to handle on your own?

NICK:

Nick Zinner, July 2003. Photo by
Talia Soghomonian © 2003 NYRock.com.

Well, I could say that we took pride in doing as much as we can ourselves. Originally, we were just putting the record out ourselves, and I've learned all about distribution and how things work. When we re-released the first EP, we were definitely very independent-minded and so indie labels just made sense at that point. And then the next year, we learned a lot about indie labels, major labels, and realized that it's not really as black and white as it seems. Like, you can't say, oh, independent labels allow artists all the flexibility they want, because there are just many awful truths about indie labels as there are about majors. But also for this record, it just came down to giving the record the best chance that it could have and the greatest distribution and exposure for it to be an option for as many people as possible. Not to necessarily be marketed on a huge scale, but for people to be able to...

NYROCK:

Obtain the record more easily.

NICK:

Yeah. Just for people to be able to go to a record store and get it, because the biggest problem of independent labels that we found with the release of our first EP, especially in Europe, is that the distribution policy sucks – no one could get our record. Really frustrating. We had more options. We were lucky because there were a lot of people interested, because they asked for more. We handed in our record and that was it, basically. We basically signed after the record was done.

NYROCK:

So you had total freedom on production, everything?

NICK:

Yeah, yeah, everything.

NYROCK:

The highlight and lowlight of your career so far?

NICK:

The highlight – definitely being able to travel to other countries and playing and meeting and getting the respect of a lot of our heroes, like Jon Spencer. That's definitely a highlight, like getting props from David Bowie and the Stones. It's great. The lowlight? I guess it's being away from home, but it's fine. I'm getting sick a lot from touring.

NYROCK:

You've been touring, like, forever...

NICK:

We've been touring for a year-and-a-half, non-stop. [Karen] hates touring. She needs to rest. She misses her boyfriend.

NYROCK:

And once you're back home?

NICK:

When I get home? I'm going to buy a kitchen table! I just moved.

NYROCK:

Are you working on new material even though you're on tour?

NICK:

No, that's one of the hardest things as a band for us. We just can't write on the road.

NYROCK:

You apparently have a batch of unreleased material lurking somewhere in a vault.

NICK:

Yeah, there's like 15 half-finished songs, but we've only been able to write four, five new songs in the past three months. Before we started touring, when we would play in New York every two or three weeks, we'd always have a new song at every show, and we'd pride ourselves on that. No one wants to just play the same stuff over and over again and turn into a parody of themselves.

NYROCK:

Is it difficult to be in a band with a female singer?

NICK:

The singer's always going to get the attention. Brian or I don't really have any problems with that. I think it bothers Karen the most. She wishes it was a little more democratic in terms of the attention.

NYROCK:

Is Karen the female Jon Spencer?

NICK:

Actually, in more ways than one. Both Karen and Jon have many personalities in the sense that onstage, they're fanatical, but offstage, they're so shy, so reserved.

Yeah, he's sort of like our dad!

NYROCK:

Who's your guitar "dad"?

NICK:

Rowland Howard played in the Birthday Party, Nick Cave's first band.

NYROCK:

You've previously expressed a desire to collaborate with other artists. Like whom?

NICK:

I do want to work with [Marilyn] Manson, actually. But also... so many people. PJ Harvey is on top of my list. Nick Harvey, too, and Madonna.

NYROCK:

What do you think will happen when the media hype calms down?

NICK:

Our smiles will become really broad. (Demonstrates such smile).

NYROCK:

Does that mean you're tired of doing endless interviews and photo shoots?

NICK:

A little bit. Honestly, there's no legitimate ground to complain on.

NYROCK:

Life could be worse.

NICK:

Life could be worse. But I think the most frustrating thing is having to basically just verbally explain what you're doing musically, because they're two different worlds and it's a danger to become lazy and talk about what you're doing. And then maybe subconsciously you'll start thinking about what you're doing that way or in trying to box yourself into a specific definition, which is bad. It's dangerous.

NYROCK:

Have you noticed a resurgence of old "friends" trying to contact you?

NICK:

Yeah, recently I've been getting lots of e-mails. They're like, "Hey, I went to 7th grade with you! What's goin' on?" Like, I have no idea who the fuck you are! Most of my close friends don't give a shit. As soon as they see you talking about [your] band, they tell you to shut up. Those are the friends I keep close.

NYROCK:

What kind of art did you study and do you go sightseeing while on tour?

NICK:

If we have time. I studied photography, so I just take a lot of pictures on tour (including one of Talia), which is great.

NYROCK:

You should publish them in a book!

NICK:

It's in the works.

NYROCK:

Oooh! A scoop!

NICK:

Or a show, something. I'm still editing. I have a stack!

NYROCK:

Do you work in black and white or color?

NICK:

Both. It used to be mostly in black and white, but now I don't have time to print it or process it, so I just do color. Actually, I'm into color right now.

NYROCK:

Have you sold any?

NICK:

A little bit.

NYROCK:

Where did the band name come from? "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah"?

NICK:

No, we just got it from... You lived in New York, you know! It's the answer everyone says to any questions.

NYROCK:

(Talia, NYC style) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

NICK:

It's like, "I was waiting for a train for 30 minutes." They're like, "Oh my God, yeah, yeah, yeah, me too!" It's just in the air, floating about.