Kevin Coleman posted on October 26, 2009 19:00
I recently caught up with up and coming Belfast electro pop foursome Yes Cadets prior to their performance at the HWCH festival in Dublin. Yes Cadets were only formed last summer but in a short space of time have been causing quite a stir. A single, EP and an Oxygen performance later as well as wide spread airplay sees their star in the ascendance. Here is what they had to say.
You guys formed over last year, were you friends before? How did you come up with the concept of the band?
We’ve all known each other for a good while, meeting initially a couple of years ago in the murky underbelly of the Belfast music scene. It was only last year that we decided to form the band that we always wanted to be in and to play the music we always wanted to play.
Why the obsession with Canada?
Well, it’s only really an obsession when it comes to Canadian rock music. Bands like Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire and Tokyo Police Club were very high on the Yes Cadets play list in the early days of the band and it seemed at that time the best music in the world was coming out of Canada. Don’t get me started on Rufus Wainwright either! As far as ‘Canada’ the single goes, I’ll just say that I know a few Canadians…
Are you fearful that the market at the moment sort of swarmed with retrospective electro pop /rock groups? Or is it a good thing that there is so much interest in this area of music at the moment?
I can see how it would be easy to be lost in the crowd at the moment but I do think we cover more genres and have a broader appeal than a lot of contemporary electro-pop. The fact that we can be classified with music that’s en vogue at the moment can only be a good thing, but it’s not necessarily intentional. We’re just writing the stuff that comes most naturally to us.
Where did you record the EP? Was it a long process or was it just a case of get in, get out and get the record out?
We recorded the EP in Start Together studios in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, a great little studio packed to the rafters with awesome vintage equipment. We spent weeks recording, pouring over every synth sound and guitar track. We were never any less than totally focused but I guess when you have that kind of beautiful equipment at your disposal it’s easy to lose a lot of time.
I see the EP was self released, yet you seem to have admirers in the BBC and beyond, has there been much interest in signing?
The initial reaction to us has been really encouraging, both in the local media and further afield, but I think it would be easy to rest on our laurels. The trick now is to keep the momentum going. We’ve been chatting to a couple of great independent labels about recording an album soon and the wheels should start turning in the next month or so, fingers crossed.
How many songs have you in the can for an album? Or are you constantly writing?
The album material is being written pretty much from scratch and when we’ve finished touring the EP we’ll hunker down and really get stuck into the process. I think an album needs to have a fluid; cohesive feel to it and you can’t capture that from bits and pieces written and recorded here and there over time. It’s going to be a great pop record but definitely a little more experimental around the edges. No wizards hats yet though, we’re saving those for the sophomore!
Tell us about the plans for the tour in the winter, where will you be playing?
Everywhere really, there are shows booked all over England, Ireland and Scotland between now and the spring, peppered with a couple of exciting Belfast dates. We have a couple of great London shows coming up and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the scene there compares with what we’re used to up here.
If you could have one thing guaranteed for the band in 2010 what would it be?
The goal is to be touring an album with management and a label behind us by this time next year. I guess that’s more than one thing though! Either way, the coming year is fast becoming a really exciting prospect for us.
www.yescadets.com
Kevin Coleman
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