(Image courtesy of Yes You Are's Facebook)
So there's plenty of great acts from this city and after spending so much time getting to know their music and talking to plenty of acts I've managed to actually get the chance to interview what I believe may be a band that I could consider the next big thing Yes You Are.
For those unaware Yes You Are are a 5 piece kind of Indie-pop-Alternative act consisting of vocalist Kianna Alarid, rhythm guitarist Jared White, guitarist and keyboardist Jacob Temeyer, bassist Willie Jordan, and Joseph Wilner on the Drums from Kansas City Missouri and Omaha Nebraska which started out as a series of discussions between White and Alarid on various online forums before eventually forming into a full band by about 2014 that have toured around the country opening for the likes of Neon Tree's and playing all throughout the local Kansas City music scene including this years Homegrown Buzz Showcase and Afentra's Valentines Day party thrown by local alternative station 96.5 The Buzz.
After seeing them a few times I've managed to get an interview with them and for this interview I'll be talking to Kianna Alarid and Jared White.
1. So how has your past experiences in other bands shaped how you go about writing and recording music for Yes You Are?
Jared: Nothing could have prepared us for how we were going to be writing songs for this band.
Kianna: It’s true… although I’ve written many songs before, there is a huge difference between the way we write for YYA and the way I wrote for my other bands. Everything else felt like some kind of happy accident but Yes You Are’s songs are from somewhere else and come with a different weight. Its like before I was a circus performer and all of a sudden I’m being asked to fight in the UFC. Nothing quite prepares you for that.. but maybe you are better off that you’d at least been in a ring before.
2.So I noticed seeing you live that you guy's go through quite a variety in sounds from the kind of hart hitting Sister Sun to a very larger than life almost anthemic World Without End and Miracle, did that variety spew out of not wanting to get to formulaic or are you just that all over the place in terms of what you're looking to achieve?
Jared: I hear a lot of bands today whose songs all sound the same. You hear the first song and it's “Wow cool riff, so groovy I'm gonna get my indie dance on!" Then it's like that same thing for the next 10 songs. Very proficient at what they're doing but you start thinking “Wait a minute... is this some type of formula for success you think you've developed?" I just can't buy into it. There's something wrong about that... Something that can't last.
Kianna: There is formula and there is mama’s milk… one is synthetic and the other is organic. They’re similar in many ways and will both nourish a baby but one comes from a much more powerful source. What we care about is the source.. what the songs turn out like isn’t as important to us. We follow the inspiration and it takes the songs where they need to go.
3. So Why shouldn't we fuck with Buffy Saint Marie?
Jared: You shouldn't fuck with Buffy Sainte-Marie because her name alone has enough medicine in it to blow your brains out. She's got a newish song about power in the blood that could summon a vampire.
Kianna: Yeah, the girl from our song is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer plus the actual Buffy Sainte-Marie put together. So she’s a young, wise, ultra talented, native american vampire slayer. She also drives around in a pimped out, purple Astrovan packed with crossbows and whatever else a young vampire slayer might need to do her work. Does that sound like someone you should fuck with?
4. So you guy's are not only crafting some huge sounding songs but you're a damn spit fire when it comes to your live show where does all that energy come from and what's your favorite song to play live?
Jared: The energy must come from the songs and the music.. all I know is that it's not forced. We just feel like jumping around and dancing and moving to the music.
Kianna: Something just comes over me when I step onstage and that first song starts. The songs are alive.. its an energy that takes over. Its not me, because otherwise I would definitely tap into that every time I need to wake up at 6:45am. Coffee doesn’t even come close to the kind of supernatural energy that the songs bring to me onstage. ;)
5. Any bands that you've enjoyed playing with local or on a more national scale?
Kianna: We love playing with Rachel Mallin and The Wild Type. They’re great people and are growing into a super solid band. They’re new stuff is awesome.
6. Aside from obviously releasing the next big album of 2016 are there any big plans you have up your sleeve?
Jared: Our song HGX was licensed to Pepsi for a national ad campaign. We don't know any details yet except the deal is done. We figure if Bob Dylan will license to Pepsi then it's an ok thing to do.
Kianna: Yeah, the Pepsi thing is awesome, we can’t wait to see what happens with that. We’re wizards over here though, so we have huge sleeves and lots of tricks up em.
7.So to those interested when can we all get to see you guy's live?
Kianna: We are playing this Friday June 24th in St Louis at The Demo and this Saturday June 25th at Californo’s here in KC. We have some great shows coming up throughout the summer like supporting Holy White Hounds at Riot Room (outdoors) on July 9th and the Spirit of KC Fest at CrossroadsKC at Grinders on August 12th. We may also have a big show announcement for the 4th of July! Stay tuned to our social media for updates!
Stay tuned you most certainly should below you'll find links to Yes You Are's various social media accounts along with their excellent A Dream Ep which recenlty got posted onto Spotify, I'd like to of course take a second to thank these guy's for their time and inform all my readers to go check them out.
