The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs have just released Show Your Bones, the follow up to their hugely successful 2003 album Fever to Tell. Born out of the New York garage scene, the single Maps put them on the map and they havent looked back since. I caught up with the incredible Karen O before the band embarked on their latest tour.
Check out the Yeah ,Yeah, Yeahs website
Missy Suicide: Hi, how are you?
Karen O: Good, how are you?
MS: Im doing good. First of all, I just wanted to congratulate you on the new album. It sounds amazing.
KO: Oh, thanks a lot. Thank you, thank you very much.
(giggles)
MS: Whats life been like after the success of the last album and Maps especially, was there pressure to do something similar with this album?
KO: I dont know. I guess the pressure for me was really to get back to living life as it was before, like a person. It sounds crazy, but the pressure I found on myself was to snap back into reality for a little while so I would be able to write music that was inspiring.
MS: How was it trying to balance real life and the life of a rock star?
KO: Its really fucked up. Its really difficult. Its really weird and hard. Especially going from touring to life again, its such an extreme contrast because your so used to being in this total different reality that lies within its self. I think thats why a lot of rock dudes, that are in rock bands, with girlfriends at home think they can just hook up with girls out on the road because they think its just like what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas but its what happens on tour, stays on tour. And to be honest, hooking up happens in so many different ways. So its like a real sort of bubble youre in. Trying to back into real life is really hard and it just takes awhile adjusting. Ya know?
MS: You havent been on the road in what? 14 months or a year or something like that and now youre getting ready to go back out on tour. Is it going to be hard to make the transition back into that life style?
KO: Yeah, it will because it is such a weird way to exist, but once you back there, its like
MS: Youre back in it to win it, sort of?
KO: Yeah.
MS: You said that the guys in bands get a lot of groupies and stuff, are there a lot of male groupies out on the road?
KO: No, I think its a lot different. I think guys that are in rock bands crave girls and want to rip their pants off, but a girl in a rock band the last thing she wants is a guy that wants to rip her pants off.
(Laughs)
MS: Whats it like being a girl with two other guys in a band?
KO: Its like being the only girl in a entourage of dudes. Ya know? Its like being the only girl is a mans rock world. Yeah, I dont know. Its good in some ways and I hate it in other ways.
MS: Because you dont have girls to bond with and stuff?
KO: Yeah, because you dont have girls to bond with, you get your period on tour and its the worse thing ever and youre like I dont really feel well, its not something that they would understand. If you were like Im getting my period right now they would be like EWWW. Its tough not having more people to relate to you as a women and stuff. This time around, there will be two women on tour with me. So thats pretty awesome I think its important for girls to stick together.
MS: How did you get into music because it seems like out of that whole New York scene, you are the only girl that has come up out of that garage sort of New York scene?
KO: Ive always been into music and I didnt start making music until I was 19 years old. Thats when I learned how to play regular guitar, when I was 19. When I was in high school I liked everything from hip-hop or gangster rap to alternative and grunge. Then to hippy, ungrateful dead to hip-hop, indie rock. Then I went to college and was introduced to this whole world of music. I just ended up gravitating towards this for some reason.
MS: Are you just in it for the rock or do you see yourself as a role model for girls?
KO: laugh) In it for the rock? Thats awesome! Im hyper aware of the fact that there are very few women in rock right now. Who is there left right now? Ya know? Im trying to think. Everyone is kind of ducked out for a little while. So I am aware that I am looked at as a WOMAN in rock. That makes me nervous. I want to make a good impression and to lead a good example.
MS: To inspire more girls to be in bands and to be a part of the music scene?
KO: To do that and to have them do whatever the Fuck they want to do. To stick to their guns.
MS: Your on stage personae is pretty tough. Is that how you are in real life?
KO: Ha ha, No. There is definitely a Karen off stage and the Karen on stage. I am WAY more low key in real life, but I still try to be tough love in real life.
MS: If you werent doing music what would you be doing?
KO: I would probably be doing film. I was in film school when we started the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and it is my other thing that I really like doing at this point in my life. I bet I would be doing some sort of film thing like directing or writing or something like that.
MS: Who came up with the concept for the new video for Gold Lion?
KO: The concept was ashes to ashes. From ash to fire back to ash again. It was also kind of like the Pheonix, rising from the ash, it is kind of our were back video.
MS: I get that, it also has a sort of Joan of Arc thing about it in a way. I dont know if that was intentional.
KO: Oh the hair!
MS: Yeah the hair and the way the fire was started on the bundles of sticks looked like the depictions of how Joan of Arc was burned.
KO: Oh wow, I didnt even think about that. It never came to mind, but that is awesome.
MS: What is your favorite song on the new album?
KO: Probably the last song, Turn Into, that is probably my favorite song on the new album.
MS: Is there a process, when you write music as a band? Do you come into it with lyrics already formed? Does the music come first? Or is it a shared experience?
KO: Nothing is done in advance. It is all kind of spontaneous, but it is not like we just get it all out in the recording studio either. Well thats not true, actually Mystery Girl was a jam out actually but in general we all come together and do it together. We DO IT together, ha ha. I usually write the lyrics as we are writing the music.
MS: Let Me Know from the EP is amazing! I think it is only available on iTunes now will it ever be released as a single?
KO: I dont know, its the B-side for Gold Lion. I cant tell you if it will ever be released as a single but we probably will start playing it live.
MS: You live in LA but you are from the East coast how long did it take you to get used to LA? Do you have a love, hate or ambivalence to it?
KO: I have been here for 2 years and it took me a year and a half to start to like it. I used to hate on it. That is only because well there were a lot of reasons, but I think once I found the Silver Lake area where I live now there are a lot of really good people on the East side, if you can call it that. It makes all the difference in the world when you have a few really good friends anywhere you are. I dont really socialize out here at all. I tend to stay away from all things Hollywood parties and soirees and things.
MS: Is there anything that you miss about LA when you are away?
KO: The weather is fucking awesome in LA! I miss that for sure. I also miss my house. I live in this place that was a nunnery in the 1920s and it is a really beautiful place with really beautiful vibes and a really beautiful garden so I miss that when I am away.
MS: You are a fashion icon, where do you get your inspiration?
KO: I guess a lot of it has do with Christian Joy she has been my exclusive designer for the last 5 years. She designs all of my looks for on-stage and photo shoots and stuff. I have always had my own sort of style though. Do you mean influences though?
MS: Yeah is there a person or an art movement that inspires your look?
KO: Yeah I think definitely the surrealists and Dada are an influence on me and Christian. It had a sense of humor and it also had an imaginative twist and cleverness to it. I like stuff that is cool but also feels like I am getting away with murder. I like really quirky but sexy things.
MS: Do you have any solo stuff you are working on or is it pretty much Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs all the time right now?
KO: I am pretty much living breathing the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs now, but in the time off in between the records I collaborated with friends on songs and stuff.
MS: Did working with other people reinvigorate you to go back and bring a new perspective to the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs? Does it feel like coming back to your core family when you return to a band you have been with for a number of years?
KO: Yeah it is definitely a family. It is also the biggest commitment I have ever taken on in my life. Apart from my one tattoo I got when I was 20 years old cause I wanted something to stick with at that point in my life.
MS: What is your tattoo?
KO: A Bee on my shoulder. I wanted to like fly. So that is what that is all about.
MS: I know the feeling. Thanks for talking with me, is there anything else you want to let people on SuicideGirls know?
KO: Just come check us out on tour and we promise to rock you.
By: Missy Suicide
Check out the Yeah ,Yeah, Yeahs website
Missy Suicide: Hi, how are you?
Karen O: Good, how are you?
MS: Im doing good. First of all, I just wanted to congratulate you on the new album. It sounds amazing.
KO: Oh, thanks a lot. Thank you, thank you very much.
(giggles)
MS: Whats life been like after the success of the last album and Maps especially, was there pressure to do something similar with this album?
KO: I dont know. I guess the pressure for me was really to get back to living life as it was before, like a person. It sounds crazy, but the pressure I found on myself was to snap back into reality for a little while so I would be able to write music that was inspiring.
MS: How was it trying to balance real life and the life of a rock star?
KO: Its really fucked up. Its really difficult. Its really weird and hard. Especially going from touring to life again, its such an extreme contrast because your so used to being in this total different reality that lies within its self. I think thats why a lot of rock dudes, that are in rock bands, with girlfriends at home think they can just hook up with girls out on the road because they think its just like what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas but its what happens on tour, stays on tour. And to be honest, hooking up happens in so many different ways. So its like a real sort of bubble youre in. Trying to back into real life is really hard and it just takes awhile adjusting. Ya know?
MS: You havent been on the road in what? 14 months or a year or something like that and now youre getting ready to go back out on tour. Is it going to be hard to make the transition back into that life style?
KO: Yeah, it will because it is such a weird way to exist, but once you back there, its like
MS: Youre back in it to win it, sort of?
KO: Yeah.
MS: You said that the guys in bands get a lot of groupies and stuff, are there a lot of male groupies out on the road?
KO: No, I think its a lot different. I think guys that are in rock bands crave girls and want to rip their pants off, but a girl in a rock band the last thing she wants is a guy that wants to rip her pants off.
(Laughs)
MS: Whats it like being a girl with two other guys in a band?
KO: Its like being the only girl in a entourage of dudes. Ya know? Its like being the only girl is a mans rock world. Yeah, I dont know. Its good in some ways and I hate it in other ways.
MS: Because you dont have girls to bond with and stuff?
KO: Yeah, because you dont have girls to bond with, you get your period on tour and its the worse thing ever and youre like I dont really feel well, its not something that they would understand. If you were like Im getting my period right now they would be like EWWW. Its tough not having more people to relate to you as a women and stuff. This time around, there will be two women on tour with me. So thats pretty awesome I think its important for girls to stick together.
MS: How did you get into music because it seems like out of that whole New York scene, you are the only girl that has come up out of that garage sort of New York scene?
KO: Ive always been into music and I didnt start making music until I was 19 years old. Thats when I learned how to play regular guitar, when I was 19. When I was in high school I liked everything from hip-hop or gangster rap to alternative and grunge. Then to hippy, ungrateful dead to hip-hop, indie rock. Then I went to college and was introduced to this whole world of music. I just ended up gravitating towards this for some reason.
MS: Are you just in it for the rock or do you see yourself as a role model for girls?
KO: laugh) In it for the rock? Thats awesome! Im hyper aware of the fact that there are very few women in rock right now. Who is there left right now? Ya know? Im trying to think. Everyone is kind of ducked out for a little while. So I am aware that I am looked at as a WOMAN in rock. That makes me nervous. I want to make a good impression and to lead a good example.
MS: To inspire more girls to be in bands and to be a part of the music scene?
KO: To do that and to have them do whatever the Fuck they want to do. To stick to their guns.
MS: Your on stage personae is pretty tough. Is that how you are in real life?
KO: Ha ha, No. There is definitely a Karen off stage and the Karen on stage. I am WAY more low key in real life, but I still try to be tough love in real life.
MS: If you werent doing music what would you be doing?
KO: I would probably be doing film. I was in film school when we started the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and it is my other thing that I really like doing at this point in my life. I bet I would be doing some sort of film thing like directing or writing or something like that.
MS: Who came up with the concept for the new video for Gold Lion?
KO: The concept was ashes to ashes. From ash to fire back to ash again. It was also kind of like the Pheonix, rising from the ash, it is kind of our were back video.
MS: I get that, it also has a sort of Joan of Arc thing about it in a way. I dont know if that was intentional.
KO: Oh the hair!
MS: Yeah the hair and the way the fire was started on the bundles of sticks looked like the depictions of how Joan of Arc was burned.
KO: Oh wow, I didnt even think about that. It never came to mind, but that is awesome.
MS: What is your favorite song on the new album?
KO: Probably the last song, Turn Into, that is probably my favorite song on the new album.
MS: Is there a process, when you write music as a band? Do you come into it with lyrics already formed? Does the music come first? Or is it a shared experience?
KO: Nothing is done in advance. It is all kind of spontaneous, but it is not like we just get it all out in the recording studio either. Well thats not true, actually Mystery Girl was a jam out actually but in general we all come together and do it together. We DO IT together, ha ha. I usually write the lyrics as we are writing the music.
MS: Let Me Know from the EP is amazing! I think it is only available on iTunes now will it ever be released as a single?
KO: I dont know, its the B-side for Gold Lion. I cant tell you if it will ever be released as a single but we probably will start playing it live.
MS: You live in LA but you are from the East coast how long did it take you to get used to LA? Do you have a love, hate or ambivalence to it?
KO: I have been here for 2 years and it took me a year and a half to start to like it. I used to hate on it. That is only because well there were a lot of reasons, but I think once I found the Silver Lake area where I live now there are a lot of really good people on the East side, if you can call it that. It makes all the difference in the world when you have a few really good friends anywhere you are. I dont really socialize out here at all. I tend to stay away from all things Hollywood parties and soirees and things.
MS: Is there anything that you miss about LA when you are away?
KO: The weather is fucking awesome in LA! I miss that for sure. I also miss my house. I live in this place that was a nunnery in the 1920s and it is a really beautiful place with really beautiful vibes and a really beautiful garden so I miss that when I am away.
MS: You are a fashion icon, where do you get your inspiration?
KO: I guess a lot of it has do with Christian Joy she has been my exclusive designer for the last 5 years. She designs all of my looks for on-stage and photo shoots and stuff. I have always had my own sort of style though. Do you mean influences though?
MS: Yeah is there a person or an art movement that inspires your look?
KO: Yeah I think definitely the surrealists and Dada are an influence on me and Christian. It had a sense of humor and it also had an imaginative twist and cleverness to it. I like stuff that is cool but also feels like I am getting away with murder. I like really quirky but sexy things.
MS: Do you have any solo stuff you are working on or is it pretty much Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs all the time right now?
KO: I am pretty much living breathing the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs now, but in the time off in between the records I collaborated with friends on songs and stuff.
MS: Did working with other people reinvigorate you to go back and bring a new perspective to the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs? Does it feel like coming back to your core family when you return to a band you have been with for a number of years?
KO: Yeah it is definitely a family. It is also the biggest commitment I have ever taken on in my life. Apart from my one tattoo I got when I was 20 years old cause I wanted something to stick with at that point in my life.
MS: What is your tattoo?
KO: A Bee on my shoulder. I wanted to like fly. So that is what that is all about.
MS: I know the feeling. Thanks for talking with me, is there anything else you want to let people on SuicideGirls know?
KO: Just come check us out on tour and we promise to rock you.
By: Missy Suicide
VIEW 25 of 40 COMMENTS
Well, I'd be her willing man servant if that's what she desired. Anything to get to hang out with such severe radness!
SuperCrunch said:
I wanna have her babies!
yes.... me too.