6 minute read
No Yeah
Party On, Y'ALL
By Frank Etheridge
The dudes in new local band No Yeah are giddy about what promises to be a tricky treat of a Halloween season for the instrumental riff-rock trio.
“We gotta get a three-piece costume,” bass player Ryan McCrea, 40, says to his bandmates as they chill outside Maltitude on Broadway.
Clearly of like-minds and similar spirits from the second you tune into their frequency, the three easy-going, genuine and humble members of No Yeah – guitarist Matt Fairbanks (37) and drummer Zack Robinson (37) in addition to McCrea – skip on suggestions obvious (ZZ Top) and silly (Three Stooges) – and, as is key to their heavy-jam, live performance based sound, improvise a bit to stretch it out and arrive at … Wayne’s World.
“I’ll be Wayne, he’ll be Garth,” Matt, pointing at Zack, says before gesturing toward Ryan to add, “And you’ll be Cassandra.”
“Why do I have to be Cassandra?” Ryan shoots back.
“Because she plays the bass,” answers Matt, half-joking, half-not.
No matter the band’s costume choice, they will certainly be busy. On Friday, October 25, they will return to where they had their first gig, Blue Canary Records (1250 Broadway), when they played a stellar set in the hip, intimate vinyl shop and venue’s opening celebration last August. For the special Halloween weekend show, No Yeah shares the bill with a band they are stoked to see, the Preacher Creatures, an instrumental surf-rock horror show from Brunswick. The next night, the band hits underground spot The Plughouse (2213 Laurel Drive), where it gets spooky at Fallout Fest, a heavy-metal bonanza put together by No Yeah’s homies in Avian Theory, a Columbus-rooted, Alabama-based metalcore band.
“We’ll be the softest band there,” Matt says, laughing with his bandmates about their non-threatening font among all the fierce-looking letters found on the Fallout poster, dominated by the depiction of a nuclear explosion. “But our sound is not soft. Not soft at all. We’re too heavy for most places.”
The wild spree across Halloween climaxes on November 7, when the band will trip the light fantastic for a visually stunning show planned for their first spot in the always outstanding, good vibes-only Silvan Sessions. “We’re going to go in there a week early,” Matt explains of the acoustically pristine space, an old brick warehouse attic above local luthier Frank Schley’s Silvan Guitars shop (1245 6th Avenue) and a coffee-roasting facility. “We’re going to work to make it a big deal, musically and visually, to do something that’s never been done at Silvan Sessions before.”
There’s some debate between the three as to how many shows No Yeah has performed. One says 10, another says 20, then it’s decided to be no more than 15. The cosmic cohesion makes sense when you consider their present-moment approach to their craft.
“We’ve all known each other for a long time, in and out of hang-out groups, playing in a lot of different bands,” Zack explains.
“It started off just hanging out at my house, jamming, trading off and picking up different instruments,” says Ryan, noting that his home office has become No Yeah’s rehearsal space, prompting occasional questions from curious coworkers on Zoom calls. “There were four or five dudes coming and going as a collective when this line-up came together. It solidified and we started stacking material. But even then, it wasn’t like, ‘Let’s record some songs, let’s book some shows.”
“It fell together and just clicked,” says Matt. “Musicians, you know it when it clicks. When you’re practicing and you hear it, like, ‘Oh shit - that’s awesome!’”
“We love the power-trio format,” Zack says. “It’s simple but it’s also tough. There’s a lot to think about. It gives everybody room to fully go, to do whatever they want to do. We want to rely on something much cooler than barre chords.”
The band has nine finished songs with two in the oven. They’ve recorded an EP at Spinnaker Studios with producer Jason Ezzell (whom they call “a sweetheart” and “a shredder”) along with co-producer Marty Ortiz, whom they credit for teaching them to play with intention in studio.
“I first got to see No Yeah during the grand opening of Blue Canary Records and thoroughly enjoyed their sound,” Jason Ezzell recalls in a chat with the Local. ”I’ve always had a love for instrumental rock and thought they really had something unique.”
“It was really easy to work with them - they were very well rehearsed and knew exactly what they wanted,” he said.
“We’re a live band,” Matt says. “The way we practice is very organic and loose and not a whole lot based on song structure. We like to give the songs a chance to evolve. We have one tune that’s changed a lot – added on a part, then a whole other reprise – and it’s a 9-minute song now.”
“But it’s in three parts,” Zack chimes in with perfect timing.
Titles for the jams come from stupid YouTube videos, puns, inside jokes and, sometimes, the first thing they see, like the “Avocado Socks” Ryan wore as they created perhaps their most popular number. The band has plans to record another 3-song EP soon and release it in a “trickle,” a new music-industry way to maximize traction in Spotify’s Almighty Algorithm.
No Yeah unabashedly claims the style of play known as math rock. Matt calls it “nerdy guitar rock” while Zack says it’s defined by “odd time signatures and alternating codas.” It’s music that’s not always easily accessible and often requires a sophisticated palette on folks who like to boogie in filthy jams. Still, the group has already earned a solid fanbase, particularly in the college towns of Auburn and Tallahassee, and look forward to hometown shows such as the Lost on Lemons - Black Friday throw-down at The Loft last year with co-conspirators, The Velvet Cab, and the Normas.
So what is the plan for a power trio with a power-of-now philosophy?
“I’d love to be able to pay my bills with this,” says Ryan. Zack goes on to say: “Do the best we can and accept what comes to us.”
“And if it comes to us,” Matt says next, “we’re taking it.”
To keep up with the guys, come to any of the shows coming up and of course, follow them on Instagram @no_yeah_band.
