…and of Scratch Acid, Jesus Lizard, Pigface
(19.11.2007)

30.11.2007 – 20:30h
Qui @ Rock Café

(Marika: To make a confession the Jesus Lizard was playing the Kennel Club in San Francisco (circa 1990) and I jumped up on stage and put a daisy down your pants.
David Yow: Oh, thank you.)

M: So, we are really excited about having Qui come [to Prague].
Y: I’m excited about going over there.

M: When was the last time you’ve been through?
Y: (long pause) ’98 I think. ’97 or ‘98

M: With Jesus Lizard? Who did you come through with?
Y: Yeah, we played some festival back then with Ministry.

M: What were your objectives with Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid to begin with?
Y: Um, I don’t know if I had objectives. I enjoyed writing songs and acting like an idiot with those guys. To make enough money to support ourselves. 

M: Did It?
Y: We weren’t trying to change the world or anything, that’s a weird question, to have a good time.

M: Well you started out with bass, was that too confining?
Y: No I just wasn’t that good at it. The singer we had wouldn’t sing at practice, he said that it would ruin his voice, and then we eventually we just sort of discreetly kicked him out of the band. And I took over singing and David Wm. Sims who was playing second guitar moved to bass.

M: Discreetly, meaning you just moved practice places?
Y: We did a show without telling him and we played an instrumental set and then I said, “eh, well I want to sing”. Fortunately we are still good friends to this day.

M: That’s good, grudges tend to turn into, I don’t know, psychotic episodes sometimes.
Y: It could, yeah.

M: So how have your objectives changed with Qui?
Y: (long pause.) I’m not sure that they have. It might be better to ask that question to Matt and Paul, being in the band since 2000 and I only joined a year ago (2006). I never really thought about having an objective. This is fun and its better than having a regular job. Let’s be in a band, act like fools and have fun.

M: Did this come from the purest form of having fun or did someone influence you or did you see some people in a band and you were like I want to do that.
Y: Definitely when I first started going to punk rock shows, I was floored by how entertaining it was and how fun it was and how there is an element of danger in it. But it had never occurred to me before that you could go to a show and run the risk of getting hurt from somebody in the band that you are watching.

M: So you were obviously not watching the Talking Heads, you were watching other bands.
Y: Yeah, this was in Austin, things like the….

M: Over the time you don’t seem to have slowed down to much, as far as being dangerous.
Y: Well with Qui I’m not as loud and stuff as I was with Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid. I used to get hurt a lot and I’m really sick of getting hurt, I don’t want to get hurt anymore.

M: You hurt yourself right?
Y:  Not intentionally.

M: As an artist and musician, things might have changed, aside from being middle aged, there’s things that you have accrued along the way.
Y: Sure, I’ve learned things here and there. With Qui the biggest difference for me is that Matt and Paul have taught me to sing, and I try to sing on key. We do actual three part harmonies, stuff like that. I’ve hit the right notes before, but I’ve never done harmonies.
That’s kind of cool and fun and challenging.

M: And who are you using as reference for that? The Beach Boys?
Y: Uh, no, they just tell me [what to do], particularly Paul the drummer is good at vocal coaching.

M: That’s odd coming from a drummer, usually they are only good for screwing in light bulbs other than drumming. Just kidding.
Y: Yeah, they both went to school for music, Paul’s job, which he has now quit, he tuned and repaired harpsichords. So he’s quite the musician.

M: You didn’t go to school for music did you?
Y: Hell no.

M: So it’s like learning about music again, what the structure is, things that you didn’t absorb before.
Y: Its sot of kind of. Have you ever sung harmonies?

M: Actually yes I have.
Y: It’s difficult right?

M: Yes because you have ignore the other tones and stay in your range.
Y: Right, and when the other guy changes and you aren’t supposed to, its hard not to follow them. Muscle memory thing and keep your mouth in that position.

M: Did Paul refer you to someone [to study] or to bands so that you could see what three part harmonies are supposed to sound like?
Y: Not so much, I’ve just been more aware of it when I hear it, like the Beatles or the Bee Gees, or Pink Floyd. I’ve just become more aware of it.

M: You do two covers, one is “Echoes” and the other is “Willy the Pimp” by Zappa/Beefheart, they are very minimalist pieces, does Qui as a band or you personally have any relationship with those bands or those songs?
Y: Other than liking them, I don’t think so. “Willy the Pimp” is sort of how I got into the band, they asked me if I would do that live with them and I said sure I’ll do that. Although I’m not on them, I’m not on the first song or the last song on the record.

M: Are Zappa/Beefheart personal influences of yours?
Y: Oh sure, particularly with Beefheart, in the past when I would hit a wall and was kind of stumped, I’d ask myself what would the Captain do? Lyrically he’s quite an inspiration. When I was in high school I was a huge Zappa fan, although I don’t listen to Zappa much any more. I saw him at the Armadillo world headquarters in Austin.

M: Where do you see the music of Qui now, and where is it going in the future?
Y: That’s a good question, hard to answer. Where is it now, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that no one is doing what we’re doing. I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, I like it but I think it’s arrogant to believe that. I think we are relatively unique. We’ve had three weeks off since we did the record and I look forward to writing songs with them. …. I like the band and I don’t want my joining to change it that much, I think we should stick with the sound and aesthetic that they have always sort of had with me maybe embellishing something. God, I don’t know, I’m not smart.

M: This is my job, to ask the questions that make you scratch your head.
Y: I do a lot of head scratching.

M: I think that is a good standpoint coming from you, saying you don’t want to change Qui but that you are an element within it.
Y: The three songs we have now, since recording the record, I have a lot to say about the structure and choice of words, how I’m going to sing them. I don’t want to repeat myself, I don’t want us to end up sounding more like any of the previous stuff that I’ve done in the past. I just want to make sure that we continue to do things along similar lines with what they’ve always wanted to do.

M: So therefore the old noise master can take direction?
Y: I suppose.

M: For example, the bands that say they are influenced by David Yow, do you like them? Say Valina, Unsane, Oxbow.
Y: I don’t know Valina, I like Unsane and I like Oxbow.

M: Have you ever been at a show and you’ve heard something that sounds familiar, from your past?
Y: No I haven’t. I’ve had people tell me, “hey you gotta check out this band”, and then I listen to it and I don’t see the correlation.

M: I guess everyone has their own perceptions about what their correlation would be.
Y: Yes. 

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