YKB play Nova Live and Loud @ EkkA on Saturday 9 August 2008.
Described as a blend of classic pop, old punk, gypsy jazz and indie rock, Yves Klein Blue’s eclectic sound is catching on.
The four-piece started life as a couple of school friends jamming through lunch breaks. Now, as the titleholders of the MTV Kickstart competition for 2007, YKB have secured support spots with international acts like Biffy Clyro, Tokyo Police Club, and Vhs or Beta.
With their single ‘Polka’, from the EP Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves, the band is getting radio airtime. They’ve also enjoyed a recent slot at Splendour in The Grass and are gearing up for the Great Escape Festival in Sydney.
“We all come from pretty different backgrounds,” explains songwriter/guitarist Michael Tomlinson of the band’s evolution. “It’s been a melting pot ever since we met of showing each other new bands and finding new bands together.”
A myriad of influences can be heard on the EP.
“We recorded all the drums and stuff in Byron Bay and we recorded everything else in Brisbane with producer Caleb James,” continues Tomlinson. “I can’t say enough good things about Caleb. He was sort of like a guru.”
“We had heard about him and the music community had said, ‘This guy can play everything [and] he can arrange everything. If you want to do something properly, next time, you should use him.’”
“We had only been together about a month when we recorded our first lot of demos. When we got some money together we really wanted to make something that would attract people’s attention, hence the title, that’s when we looked him up.”
To create the cover artwork, Michael took some inspiration from their namesake and got out the paintbrush.
“It’s a bit of a hobby really,” say’s Michael. “I hadn’t done anything like that since the demo EP the year before. It’s quite a time consuming process. I did a lot of stuff after school but kind of slowed down once the band got more busy.”
The impact MTV’s Kickstart competition had on the band can’t be understated. Street Press began to write about them, and they caught the eye of local A&R at Dew Process.
“Dew Process Recordings is a record label based out of Brisbane,” continues Michael, “we are very pleased to be a part of that. We recorded the EP with the winnings from the Kickstart competition. It was an incredibly important thing that happened to us. We’re very fortunate as a band. You never dream that you’d get so lucky.”
Before they knew it, YKB were on a plane to the USA.
“We got off the plane at LaGuardia [New York City], we then caught a massive black car with this really nice guy pointing out places. Everything was a landmark for us. We went straight on to play with The Vines. It was totally surreal, a complete ‘What am I doing here?’ experience. It was like a pilgrimage of sorts. I thought I was dreaming or something.”
With a lengthy line up of gigs scheduled and plans to record their debut LP later this year, YKB are working hard to keep up with demand.
“We are knuckling down now to get all the tracks finished and we’ll hopefully be going somewhere in the world to record [the album]. We are talking to some people now to see where it will be and whom it will be with. Hopefully it will be out next year, but it’s certainly something that’s a daunting task. It’s really something we feel we have to make count.”
One gig the band are looking forward to is their upcoming Up Late slot at GoMA.
“That’s really cool that UpLate thing! We get to play amongst Picasso’s private artwork at like ten decibels or something. The calibre of the stuff at GoMA [and] the shows that they are getting are so amazing for Brisbane.”
YKB play Nova Live and Loud @ EkkA on Saturday 9 August and Picasso Up Late at the Gallery of Modern Art on Friday 29 August 2008.
Draw Attention To Themselves out now through Dew Process Records/Universal.
