The YeahTones are a rock band based in Brooklyn New York, consisting of frontman Jake Pinto, Harrison Keithline and Doug Berns. The band recently played a show at El Rocko Lounge here in Savannah. Our staff member Olivia D’Amico got to attend the show and interview the band!
O:If you guys were to describe your band to someone who’s never heard of you, what are The YeahTones about?
J: The YeahTones is a real rock band. An aggressive, high-energy, fun, rock and roll experience; it’s as simple as that.
O: You describe it well! So how did it start? When?
J: The band started around 2, 2 1/2 years ago. I started writing these rock and roll songs on guitar and I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do at the time and I was just playing the guitar a lot and I kept coming up with these riffs and these chores and these grooves and I wanted to see where they went. When it started out it was just me and Doug and this guy Mike Harlan who’s a really good friend of mine who plays guitar but he was playing the drums and we were just doing this trio thing but it helped solidify this kind of very clear and simple rock songwriting oriented idea. It started there, and it started to grow and I started to write more songs that had different vibes and I got a little more nuanced and we brought in this new drummer who helped record-the first half of the album was recorded with this first trio and then we brought in this drummer named Dylan who helped record the second half and he helped expand the band’s direction. All of last year was writing and recording the new album and producing it and everything and we finished it in the beginning of this year and then this year has just been figuring out how to be a band-
O: That’s always the hardest part
J: Yeah, and some of the guys who worked on the album couldn’t really be a part of the band so we brought in Harry on drums-
D+H: *cheering in the background*
J:-who’s been playing with us for about 6 or 7 months so with me Doug and Harry it’s been really tight.
O: So what was it like recording your first studio album? How did that go and what was that experience like?
H: [to Jake] How many records have you made? I don’t think it was his first record. Or any of ours really
O: Oh okay yeah it wasn’t anyone’s first anything
J: Well it was the first record with this band and I have never recorded a record like this but as with most things in this project it was very intuitive for better or worse there wasn’t a lot of pre planning. Beginning of last year I had these three songs and I wanted to record them and we went into my friends basement and we recorded them and I thought they were great it was awesome. Five months later we had like four or five other songs and we went out to my friend’s studio in PA and we were like “Let’s just do it” and we did it we recorded those and both sessions were similar in that it was just recording live band stuff and then we had all these foundation tracks of guitar, bass, and drums and then I just did most of the work of overdubbing at home after, so it was a long process but we learned a lot and I’m happy with the album
O: So who do you think would influence you most? Who were your music influences on this album specifically?
J: I had always been a big Beatles fan, like annoyingly so to a lot of my friends and musicians I play with who don’t love the Beatles as much as me, and for whatever reason two years ago I discovered the John Lennon Plastic Ono Band record, his first post-Beatles album, and that was huge influence on this album like really straightforward, simple rock music. Really aggressive, really raw. And that was the huge influence. Plus I’ve always been into Jimi Hendrix and stuff like that.
O: So are all you guys from New York?
H: Nope!
J: Well Doug is actually the only true New Yorker
O: Really?
D: True story
J: I grew up in Florida, Sarasota
H: And I’m from Rhode Island
O: Yeah I grew up in New York! I live in Brooklyn Heights right now
J: Oh Cool! Well that’s great! You have to check us out when you’re back there!
O: Yeah definitely! So would you say where you guys are from has influenced your music in any way? Because you’re all now clearly from different parts of the US
J: Yeah I definitely think this band is the most Florida influenced project I’ve ever done. I did grow up going to a lot of like Florida jams and there’s definitely an element of that. We just spent a whole weekend playing for Florida audiences and I think that it showed. So that’s one
influence and then being in New York; it’s like you take the influence you grew up but when you’re in New York the level has to rise when you’re there, there’s no option.
D: Yeah, being from New York it’s like the only way we’re able to hear music a lot of the time and feel it is if it’s really loud and fast *laughs* so I guess in that way that’s how it’s influenced for me
O: So do you guys have any other hobbies, any other ways to express yourselves or has it always been music?
H: Football
O: Football?
H: Not playing it just always watching it
J: Doug?
D: Well I’ve always been a really big pro wrestling fan!
J: Oh um
H: What do you Jake
J: I’ve just been doing all this stuff but I like to do other creative stuff like paint when I have time, just like anything. Photography and painting really.
H: I’ve never heard you say this
*everyone laughs*
J: You’ve never seen it!
O:The secrets are coming up
H: You must have like a whole portfolio
O: You could’ve gone to SCAD!
J: I don’t know why this question makes me feel bad, I really haven’t done anything that isn’t the YeahTones in the past six months
O: That’s completely fine!
J: Well I guess I really like traveling and I like experiencing other cultures
O: What do you think is your favorite place you’ve visited?
J: Brazil. I lived there for a couple months in 2010, and then I was just there this January for a month. I think traveling, experiencing other cultures is why I like touring too.
O: Touring is always so much fun! So when we got your album at SCAD Radio we all loved your matching shirts. Could you tell me the story of how those came to be?
J: Well, it’s fate, truly fate. I have always been into cool, loud clothes and with other bands I’ve been in it’s always been “Ok what crazy thing is Jake going to wear tonight” and with the YeahTones I knew I wanted to
have something cool like there were three shows in the beginning where we were just all wearing different crazy things and then literally this one day I was at a thrift store right outside the city, I go upstairs, go to the mens shirts rack, and there in front of me are four matching blue and purple striped shirts and one of them has diamonds in the blue, and we were like it’s fate! So I bought those and the first year we only wore those shirts actually, like that was our look. And then I swear to god we got new shirts because we went to the same place again a year and a half later and in the same spot: four matching shirts! Same designer!
O: That’s incredible, that’s actually fate.
J: So now we have two sets of these crazy shirts
H: Who gave them up? That’s what I want to know
J: Was it the same person? Is it another band?!
H: The NoTones!
J: The NahTones!
O: Incredible, so we saw you recently released your music video for “A Real Song’’ and we loved it, if you guys had an unlimited music video budget what would you do with it?
H: What a question
J: I mean I do know the answer
D: What’s your answer?
J: The song “Gene”, I would really like to do a very high budget CGI monster, like robots vs monster mayhem video for that song, like half a million dollar budget
O: That sound’s incredible, you could probably get a SCAD student to do it for a few packs of ramen and a slice of pizza
J: I mean if anyone’s out there…
H: We got a deal!
D: That was really in line with what I was thinking like a full narrative CGI thing, and “Gene” would be the perfect song for that
J: And on a more normal level there’s a friend of mine out in LA who had this idea for a video for the second to last song “Believe” that I want to do but it’s just a little bit more than what I can afford right now. But big budget wise? CGI definitely.
O: Another packed question: If you could collar with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
J: That’s such a tough one, I don’t know If I’d want to do a song with Robert Plant, like 70’s Robert Plant. I mean John Lennon would be fun but what would we do, just like do drugs and get f***ed up
O: That would make for a good story, you could write a whole autobiography “Me and John”
H: Butch Vig or somebody for me
D: That’s an idea
H: Which is actually doable
J: I guess making a record with George Martin would have to be the thing you’d want to do
D: *grimaces*
J: No?
D: Not that I’d not want to do that but not with this band
J: Alright well yeah
D: If any of these opportunities present themselves we’ll have to discuss
O: You’d need like a week long discussion or to go to a retreat
J: Or we could do a record with Ringo
H: Do a record with Ringo? That’s gonna suck
*everyone laughs*
J: Well I’m not saying do one! Just get Ringo in, I just want that beat all over my songs, we can just keep going down my list of the Beatles I’d like to do something with because I mean like Paul on a record-
H: Maybe Beethoven..
J: Alive I’d definitely say Paul, Paul McCartney, I mean he’s kinda soft sometimes, sorry Paul
H: He does do that one song with Rihanna
J: I mean I’d also be down to do something with Kanye, like if I could get in a room with Kanye and he like respected me and I was like yeah dude let’s do this.. that would be a great time
O: Who wouldn’t want that?
J: So yeah sorry that’s a tough question
O: Nah we get it. So finally, if you had advice to SCAD students going into the music world, what would you say?
H: Just work. Concentrate on getting good grades, but also f***ing get jobs. Because I went to music school and I work at The New School for Jazz now and I see all these kids who are hot s*** in school and then they go out and they can’t work and they end up in a coffee shop and not working in music so be doing work all these years out there, gaining real skills and contacts so you don’t f***ing have to serve coffee for a living when you get out because that’s sad especially after you’ve spent 200 gs going to art school
D: This just got dark
J: My two recommendations are if you can, try and see past what you’re learning and think about what you want to get out of music and what you’re trying to do. And if you can get even close to that, find guys who you like to play music with, because you like them and you like what they do and their spirit and just make a band and get into that, because nothing comes close to learning by being in a band and just working and that’s ultimately the funnest thing. And secondly, this is probably very New York oriented advice and it might be more obvious here but in New York there’s this mentality of “I want to play with the best guys” and that’s just like the worst thing to do because sure, your recording sounds good because everyone else sounds good but often times you’re not gonna be supportive. I definitely wish I had thought of this stuff earlier and had been like “I just wanna make a band”
D: Be patient.
O: All good advice, well thank you guys! I really enjoyed talking to all of you, best of luck on this leg of the tour and with your performance tonight!
All: Thank you!
Make sure to check out The YeahTones latest record Eviction Notice and like them on Facebook @theyeahtones
