Yes Sir Boss Interview

Yes Sir Boss operate out of Bristol and they are the first band to be signed to Joss Stone's new label Stone'd Records. Already a regular on the festival circuit, their first EP is about to hit the shelves so we took the opportunity to catch up with the band and get the lowdown on the forthcoming album and being signed at last.

R13:You're the first band to be signed to Joss Stones new label; was that a no brainer for you or did you have reservations about mixing business with pleasure (as I understand you have known her since school)?
YSB: Considering Stone'd records ethos, it seemed a perfect partnership. They promote creative freedom, which was something we needed, to be able to write the type of music we write. Also we're a pretty homegrown band and have always wanted to work with people we love, trust and know. There are plenty of good eggs out there and plenty of bad ones...For that reason knowing Joss was a massive bonus.

R13:It came about through something of a chance occurrence I believe?
YSB: Yeah, we were driving to some gig in the arse end of nowhere. We were hopelessly lost and I tried to call the promoter but ended up calling Joss by mistake. A conversation ensued about how we were doing then she asked us if we wanted to support her at a gig in Amsterdam...so yeah after thinking about it for half a second we said shit yeah. I guess that's where our professional relationship began. After she'd sacked off EMI and conceived Stone'd Records she approached us and asked if we wanted to be her first signing...once again we thought about it deeply and said shit yeah!

R13:Is it a one album deal or are you signed up for more?
YSB: It's a two album deal but if all goes well then it'll be more.

R13:Does being signed allow you to do the band full time now or were you already at that stage?
YSB: Before the deal we were working normal jobs and gigging hard at the same time. When i say working full time its not like any us were really that focused on our work as we were so knackered from gigging. All of us were pretty much on the edge of being sacked or in our bosses bad books. The label funded us to prepare for, and record the album... and supported us for a couple of months afterwards to improve our live show. Since then its been up to us to generate the money we need to survive as full time musicians. Luckily we have a really dedicated management team and booking agent who have managed to keep us gigging pretty much full time....we're still skint though and only just about covering our nuts. Now with the EP out, the album release date set and a couple of music videos in production we should hopefully start generating enough money to at least stop sharing clothes.

R13:Tell us about the new EP; is this a collection of new songs or have you taken the opportunity to re-work some older tracks?
YSB: It's a real mixture. Some of those tracks were written in the early days and some wrote last year especially for the album. They all got a reworking with the help of our producer Stevie Greenwell who really helped us breakdown, rework and improve our sound....basically the guy is a pro at getting you to see for yourself what you can do to improve your sound and express our potential. So i guess this album is really a summary of all we are.... old and new.

R13:The artwork for new EP Desperation State is pretty cool, who came up with that and is it linked to the songs on the EP?
YSB: The actual artist who put the artwork together was a friend of our managers named Samuel Jack. He had an amazing portfolio so we then threw a load of our favourite lyrics from the EP at him and asked to see what he could come up with. He came back with some draft designs which we provided feedback on but after about two weeks our management took us out of the loop as we were all coming up with different ideas and disrupting the whole process. They would then go work on it for a week with Samuel...come back to us with some more drafts...get our feedback and take the positive feedback and go and work that into another new design. They basically kept reworking everything......until they felt it was right and we all agreed it was the bomb.....i think it was actually the 89th draft that was finally accepted by all. Strangely enough the bomb evolved out a jar which turned into a goldfish bowl which morphed into a flowerpot and then a hat before finally becoming a bomb...which we thought was perfect for the title Desperation State. and we like it because it's a really bold creative and interesting....like our music...we hope!

R13:Can we expect an album to follow in the near future?
YSB: Yeah it's coming out at the beginning of September....at last...we feel like we have been waiting an eternity.....but in all honesty we had no idea just how much work needed to be done behind the scenes by the label and our management team to get the album ready for release let alone how much we needed to improve our live show and profile...so i guess the timing is perfect really.

R13:Why did you choose to relocate the band to Bristol instead of perhaps more obvious places like London?
YSB: Geeeez....London's big, dark, scary and fucking expensive. We're all country bumpkins at heart but we knew we needed to be closer to the action and Bristol has a fantastic music scene and a real sense of community. Especially amongst musicans. Plus its right in the middle of the country so a great place to gig from, especially when you play as many festivals as we do.

R13:I get the impression from your biog that you didn't really have an idea of how the band would sound when you first started taking it seriously so did it feel like a natural process to find your sound or did you have to decide to go down a particular path?
YSB: Our sound was defined by the instrumentation we have and the sounds we are interested in. We're essentially a rock band with horns and we never set out to be anything definable. This is why our music is such a cocktail. However, we do like to use themes throughout our songs. We are all interested in cinematic, western style sounds such as tremolo guitars, whistling and trumpets drenched in reverb. We also use instruments like Glockenspiels and Melodicas, which have a childish Tim Burtenesk feeling. It's all been organic though, we not really trying to sound like anything...we just wanna make quality unique music. Humanely.

R13:You've played plenty of festivals in the last couple of years, do you have a favourite either in terms of crowd reaction or overall set up?
YSB: Shambala's is really our favourite festival as it has massive Bristolian influence and really feels like home to us. They have supported us since the beginning too. Shambala and Secret Garden Party are the kind of festivals that aren't just about music. They're about being in weird fucked up world for a few days which is a great escape....but then you have festivals like Greenman which is set in a really beautiful location, is clean and easy and is entirely focused on providing great music on excellent sound systems to an open minded and musically appreciative crowd. We've got loads of gigs at new festivals this year all over the country so we are really excited to see what they have to offer...not that we get to stay there long as we are pretty much gigging 3 to 4 times a week...but yer know...that's just the way it is now.

R13:Can we expect to see you out on the road in support of the EP release?
YSB: Yeah the EP release actually ties in with the start of the Summer 'Not Guilty' tour which involves about 40 dates so i reckon you can expect to see us driving down more or less every road in the country over the next 3 to 4 months. It also supports the release of our first music video 'Not Guilty' at the end of May which will hopefully be hitting the radio around mid June. You can see our tour dates on our website and facebook page. www.yessirboss.com & www.facebook.com/yessirboss.


R13:You've done some overseas dates, how was that experience and what kind of reaction did you get?
YSB: Knackering but wicked, although it doesn't always seem that way. We saw all the key sites in Paris in less than 4hr's, nearly got arrested for busking by the Arc De Truimph, invented a new drink called ChamBulls (champagne & red bull) to the disgust of the French....and drove a record breaking 40mph from Calais to Vienna due to crack in our manifold, arriving 4 hours late only to crash out and wake up to find our van had been towed away. But hey...it was an adventure, we loved it... and can't wait to be gigging out there more. In all honesty Europe in general seems to have a great attitude towards live music. We're off to Ireland this weekend for a weeklong stint and visit to Matty's mum so he can show her his new mullet, which we are all really psyched about!....cant wait to play for the Irish though...they really know how to have a good time and we're pretty sure they will really like our music...gonna be a cracker.

R13:If you had to pick one song to do a cover version of what would it be and if you haven't already covered it, will you?
YSB: Barbie Girl by Aqua. Great band, we're working on it right now.....NOT! Er... if you asked our manager he would probably give you a whole list...but for us....well firstly we probably wouldn't be able to agree on a song in the first place and secondly i think we would just rather make our own music. We have covered 'Come Together' by the Beatles with Joss....you can see that on youtube...so i guess you could say that for the moment if you want a short answer.

The EP Desperation State by Yes Sir Boss is out now on Stone'd Records.