Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Early Hype Early Rotten?
New York's coolest has just unleashed the beast that is Fever To Hell. Mike WAFER speaks with singer Karen O.
Karen O has abandoned New York city, seeking that all too elusive tranquil life that so many people crave, having lived amongst the deluge of filth of the almighty city. Nestled in between two farms in what is bordering on being up-state New York, she has found a place of reclusion and seclusion, a stark contrast to both her previous home in the largest core of America's east coast megalopolis, and her music, which is being bolstered with hyperbolic flattery, prediction, and adulation as though it were the very spirit of New York city itself.
A strange and bewildering thing it must be too, to be in the midst of such a whirlwind of media attention, and record label fashioning, whilst still in what is undeniably her band's musical infancy. And if there is one thing the music industry is renowned for, it is infanticide. It is an historical fact that the majority of acts who burst into prominence in such a manner have a very short life-span, and that the hype and pomp that preceded them is generally the very thing that extinguishes them, so to be in the driver's seat of a car that is, for all it is worth, careering out of control, how does one keep from dropping the bundle?
For Karen O, and her Yeah Yeah Yeahs partners, the only method of dealing with such a volatile, and unpredictable ride is to simply buckle up and enjoy it. Easier said than done, and easier to say now than when (or more so 'if') this metaphorical vehicle does itself an Eddie Wilson and flies off the bridge, disappearing into the murky depths forever. It all depends on which side of the street you're driving on.
"I don't even know if it is scary or just something we can't even wrap our heads around," O explains, "but I don't think any of us have even embraced how far things have come for us, or maybe we have some kind of denial or delayed reaction to it, if anything. The thing is that all the attention and hype has brought us to a different mindset, to where we feel like we have to be a little more responsible and more purposeful, as we are trying to break into the mainstream, which is unheard of for bands like us. We don't see being signed to a major label as that big of a deal, and some of our friends are way more into it than we are, and it makes me sad because I can't believe how much success we have enjoyed for doing so little, how far things have come after so little compromise, and there are peers of ours who have been at it for years with less success. Which I guess is where the sense of purpose comes in, if we have things on our terms then we may as well put out a few good words, or a few good ideas."
Again, historically speaking, the bands with fame and power are often the ones who are the voice for bands whose weight is not as powerful when thrown around, though Yeah Yeah Yeahs' fame (for want of a better expression) is still on the rise, and almost to the point where the band can be a beacon for emerging independent rock bands, yet still small enough to have the band perusing more. And it is an amazing thing to witness, the pursuit of fame, and we the music fans see a thousand different versions of it every single day, in a thousand different bands, with a thousand different people all chasing the same dream, and paying the same prices, and, if they are lucky, reaping the same rewards.
What is remarkable is how, as much as we see so many of these dream-chasers come and go, for the artists themselves there is always a price to pay, and sacrifices to be made. Ultimately a huge gamble has to be taken in the hope the rewards will compensate for these prices that must be paid along the way. While our position in this chase for the limelight is the penultimate - we buy, or do not buy the records that are the artists' only real means of attaining the fame they so dearly seek - we are still onlookers, and the ultimate heartbreak, or indeed success, rests in the hands of fate, and on the shoulders of those who seek fame, but as Manchester's most famous James Dean obsessive once joshed, fame is preferential to righteousness or holinessany day.