Hey guys! Thanks for chatting to Forte Mag!
Thanks for having us on!
First up can you introduce our readers to the band and tell us how you came to be?
Well yeah, we’re Y STREET and we all met at a micecraft convention in 94’. Some claim that we met through our bassist but we can officially set the record straight right here right now and confirm that is false.
Describe your music in a few words.
We consider ourselves as a particularly unusual noise cookin’ rock band or PUNC for short. We got a bit tired of listening to punk and thought it would be cooler if we changed the k to a c. It’s pretty much the same thing just with a little splash of indie rock and surf rock thrown in from time to time.
You’ve noted a few of your influences been fur coats, owls and VB longnecks (RESPECT!). What are some of your musical influences?
It seriously differs from member to member, everyone’s got such a broad taste! The band formed back in the day through a shared love for bands such as The Doors and Mac DeMarco which I guess is where we get our Indie / Alt rock influence from but nowadays we’ve all been getting more and more into punk and psych rock. Bands like IDLES and King Gizz seem to be on repeat amongst the band at the moment, it really does vary dramatically.
You released your charming track ‘Colourblind’ earlier this year. Can you tell us a bit about how that one came together?
Matty boy our singer whipped that one up a while back and showed us the chord progression and melody at a band practice, we were all pretty much fans straight off the bat. The rest of the song formed pretty naturally with a good chunk of the song actually coming together right at the end in the studio. I think all the guys agree we tend to write our best stuff (in our opinion) when the songs come together reasonably fast.
This one gives us some serious chilled, summer vibes! Is there a story behind the track?
The songs about wanting to be purple but physically not being able to be purple so you have to trick your brain into thinking you are resulting in the medical condition commonly known as colour blindness.
Are you guys working on anything new at the moment?
We always try to have something on the go just to keep things interesting. Now that our debut EP is all done and ready to be launched, we’ve got a few other songs that are getting close to being finished and recorded. We’d all be very surprised if we don’t have at least another single or possibly another more substantial project out by the end of this year / early next year!
You’ve been keeping busy this year in the live gig department, especially with a cheeky Evelyn Hotel Residency, what do you love about performing live on stage?
Performing means so much for us as a band, we’ve always said to each other that the stage is a place of complete and utter freedom something that isn’t quite seen in every day to day life. There’s a certain energy we all share as both best friends and musicians that can only really be let out and dealt with on stage. It’s a place for complete mayhem as well as an opportunity to share emotions and connect with the audience. For us live gigs are one of the most beautiful things the world has graced humanity with and we feel a certain responsibility to do them justice.
If you had the choice between either performing live on stage, or recording at home, which would you prefer?
Live on stage every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year! We always have too much fun playing together so why not share the fun with the world, everyone knows that sharing is caring.
Do you have any interesting pre-gig or post-gig rituals?
We love to light Joss sticks before/during gigs just to get us in a positive head space. Right before we go on we always get into a little huddle to give each other love and motivation alternated with shouting and occasional slap to the face. It’s all about the balance!
What’s plans for the rest of 2019 and into 2020?
Write more music, rock out more stages, explore more ideas, and enjoy whatever adventures come our way big or small!
Y Street will be releasing ‘Get Lost’ this Friday so make sure to check it out.
Follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ystreetband) to keep up with all the news.