Albums of Purgatory interview Yaya Choral

Firstly, whats the band up to right now?

Well .... YYC is no longer a touring band, in studio world ... and it is
worth mentioning that it is now about 20 years old (we are in "middle
youth") and has been through a number of versions. Our most successful
version was the alt.metal/rock versions which existed between 1985 - 1995.

In 2002 we released the limited distributed "Switch" CD which is less band
and more protools with the core members Tee (me) and Graham.

If we play live as a rock band again soon, it would probably be nothing like
Switch but either:

Similar territory to recent King Crimson.

Really heavy oz rock/boogie ala AC/DC (with a tad more metal)

VU meets Throbbing Gristle meets Voivod meets early Stooges/T.Rex

How would you describe the Ya Ya Choral sound?

There have been a number of YYC sounds as we just did what we felt like
doing at the time and we lost or gained audiences in the process. We didn't
do it to be cult stars etc... but because we couldn't help doing it and we
got bored easily. We liked interesting hybrids rather than the pure
authentic thing.

I could describe the YYC sound on a continuum/matrix which the band has
shifted within at various times:

at one end is the art/irony like the influence of Eno/ Cabaret Voltaire/
David Bowie / Lou Reed / Miles Davis

at the other is the metal/rock/emotional sound like the influence of oz-rock
(AcDC/Hush) / Sex Pistols / Wire / late 80's metal Metallica, Faith No More,
Slayer / Led Zeppelin / T.Rex / Stooges /

Put it all in a food blender and fuck it up and you have the YYC sound(s).

How did you get involved with the band?

I started it with Fiona and Patrick in my early twenties.

Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

We had about 700 paying customers on previous reputation, we had rehearsed
as to be so tight that we could relax and make it look like we were loose
and didn't care. We were a hit and walked away with $000's for the night.
The stage 'act' was a bit of an in joke which lost it's charm after about 12
months and that is when we we started to morph into a rock/metal band (which
at the time - new wave years- was a very uncool thing to do).

I remember drinking lots of beer at that first show and not liking a lot of
the people that were hanging around us.

Are you involved in any other projects and if so how do they compare to Ya
Ya Choral?

I do lots of stuff with pro-tools which does not sound like songs, more like
dark industrial sound sculptures, I also write in a variety of genres for my
own fun ... I also write songs with my 6 year old son Liam (who also does a
really good version of "Roarunner" like the Sex Pistols)and my other son
Tom (4) prefers the White Stripes.

What are your favourite Ya Ya Choral tracks?

I like all of the YYC 3 -5 material "one Small Step" "Grunts" to "Switch"
and I particularly proud of "When I'm gone" off Grunts "Lonesome No More"
off "One Step" which takes it's title from a book by Kurt Vonnegut. And I
think 'Pre neptune" / "Same old song" off the Ultravelvet Cd have the best
metal grooves I have ever recorded.

What are your favourite all time songs?

There are too many but here goes I pick my favourite metal(ish) (top of the
head stuff):

"The Thing that should not be" Metalica/Master of Puppets
"Reign in blood" Slayer (I reckon it is like one long song suite)
"Astronomy Domine" Voivod
"Circle of Tyrants" Celtic Frost
"Sister Ray" - VU
"Dirt" or "Shake Appeal" by the Stooges
"Terrible Lie" or "Piggy" NIN
"Red" or "Larks Tongues in Aspic" King Crimson
"Faith Healer" SAHB live
"Out of Nowhere" Faith No More
"High Voltage" or "Sin City" ACDC
"Three days" Janes Addiction

What the first record you ever bought?

Get it On by T.Rex

Which album was it that got you into metal and can you explain why?

When I was a kid I hated the traditional hard rock like Deep Purple / Black
Sabbath etc... when I bought my first LP it was a choice between Masters of
reality / DP "In rock" or T.Rex's electric Warrior and I opted for T.Rex
because DP and Sabbath sounded like boring old people's music. From T.Rex I
went to Bowie / Alice Cooperto Stooges to punk to industrial music and then
in in mid 80's I bought Aerosmiths "Permanent Vacation" and Cult's
"Electric" which recharged the rock batteries and then "Ride the Lightning"
by Metallica which activated my interest in metal . I most liked Metallica,
Slayer, Voivod and Celtic Frost because they had no 'blues patterns' in
their songs, instead lots of half tone steps etc.. I liked how they sounded
like machines.

I always liked ACDC and Led Zeppelin.

My interest in the state of metal waned after Slayer did that awful punk
covers CD, Metallica became more blues structured in their songs and the
rise of the truly awful 'nu-metal' lite sound of Korn to Linkin Park, etc...
I always enjoyed the 'dark/death metal' for laugh but didn't have the
lifestyle to go with it.

Whats the last album you purchased and what did you think of it?

King Crimson Live at the Jazz Cafe .... really great, heavy, dark and
something you can only play to yourself on the headphones /discman. Not a
nice record.

What would be your dream band line-up?

Dave Lombardo - Drums

Pat Mastelotto (KC) - drums /loops

Robert Fripp (KC) / Mick Ronson - Lead Guitar

James Hetfield or James Williamson (Stooges) plus both Slayer guys - R
Guitar

John Wetton (ex King Crimson) - Bass

Mike Patton - Vox

If you could do a cover for a tribute album to any band, which song of which
band would you pick and why?

Not interested in such things.

What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

I suggest that in general music is nolonger the central cultural interest of
the younger people anymore. I reckon other things like TV, Movies, Play
Stations etc are more important.

Most of the new pop metal bands I hear ( while my ears are not so close to
the ground anymore) are too corporate and either metal pop /Korn by
numbers, the guitars sound to nice and compressed ... there is too much
phoney angst. Most of them sound like NSYNC with a make over. But this could
be my generational bias.

I don't know what is happening underground at the moment, but what I do hear
sounds deja vu.

It is good that older people like myself can still be involved and that
older bands are still respected. I do like how the metal fans stick by their
bands and show interest over decades ... this is wonderful. Metal now has a
rich history - like the blues or jazz etc... so you can begin to appreciate
metal and get into it by liking any of the bands in the last 30 years that
are part of that history.

Which other bands stand out for you at the moment?

I like Tool sometimes and Tomahawk/Fantomas. I am prepared to give Metallica
a go again (despite that napster stuff). I like to new Voivod CD ...

Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

I enjoyed touring the UK - everything about that tour was funny in a sort of
aussie spinal tap sort of way... especially when we played Wales.

and finally, what do you see in the future for Ya Ya Choral?

Very low profile and mostly obscurity. But we could be lucky!