The Yawpers: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Americana

The Yawpers are touring on their latest full-length, American Man, an album that roars and howls and puts a good deal of other rock records to shame. For those of you earnest young men and women playing in groups that fall under the ever-widening umbrella of “Americana,” you’re going to have your work cut out for you. The Yawpers, track by track, will hopefully thin a good deal of the heard of unnecessary contributors to the chasm-like genre. American Man is a delight, a beautiful and extremely angry record. We still have the right to be angry and to participate in reasonable cynicism and hostility; after all, the last time I checked, this was still America the beautiful. Think MC5 with better vocals. Think of most bands and add better lyrics, ferocious howls and chants, and yes, Whitmanesque, barbaric yawps sounding from the stage. To be frank, I’ve grown tired of the word “Americana,” that swallows most music that hails from the homeland. So let’s reject it in honor of The Yawpers, who are pure rock and roll, the way the White Stripes were. Yes, yes—blues was an influence—the way so many great bands were until the generation of smiling and happy-go-lucky pickers and grinners came along. If there is any more happiness exhibited by new Bluegrass and American bands, I’m going to lose it. American Man is a testament to what can be done when three people—three young men, in this case—can achieve in the realm of anger and beauty and power. For you denizens of St. Louis who had the pleasure of catching early Two Cow Garage shows, there’s a bit of that sound in The Yawpers, though the latter have made much better records, and in the case of American Man, have actually made a gritty and fierce masterpiece of roaring guitars, fast drumming, beautiful singing, in the way that whiskey-scarred voices can be beautiful when they are good and true. Off Broadway. April 6. Show up. If you’re in a band, it’s imperative you attend and find your shortcomings and lack of courage in light of this group. The humbling experience will be a good medicine for any pretense you have about you and your promising group. The Yawpers will no doubt play a great set that might have the room in various forms of collective trouble, good, collective trouble for all participants and listeners. Through their superb musicianship, well-crafted lyrics, and hellion-like performances, The Yawpers are opening a space for punk, blues and rock and roll to flourish again. In the wake of safe spaces on college campuses, I have hopes that Off Broadway will be the antidote to all of that, that The Yawpers will create something that is dangerous and challenging. Here’s Nate Cook, singer and guitarist, talking to us at SLM.

There is a lot of ferocity on the new record, American Man. Could you talk about the process of writing and recording songs like “Doing It Right,” for example?

 I don’t know if there is a formula per se, but usually I write lyrics in bulk—as in I write a chunk of songs all at once. Usually it’s over a 3-day period of particular distress, and is usually done during a moment of powerlessness. Deconstructing and obfuscating my circumstances allows me to have some insight into what’s actually happening, and gives me back some sense of control. Given those circumstances, the songs often come off as angry or “ferocious.” When it comes to arranging and recording, we all do what we can to amplify, or at least codify it all into something bigger than it was in my room. 

When did you all discover Walt Whitman and his sprawling, amazing poetry, and how has it influenced you all, other than your name?

 Whitman has been a part of my life for quite a while. I think I discovered his work when I was 12 or 13, which, frankly, is when everyone should read him. His frank discussion of the body and identity really resonate with the pubescent mind that’s grappling with self-disgust and alienation. As far as influence, I don’t know that I draw too much directly from him, but I’d certainly say that he has informed my approach to my art. He had a way of dealing with subjects both directly and metaphorically that I find fascinating. 

You guys really have a way with dynamics and ferocity. Is the writing process, say on the track “American Man,” spontaneous within the context of the whole group or do you have the core of the song before trying it out as a group?

 It depends what you mean by writing process. I generally write the melody and lyrics, sometimes the skeleton of the music, and then as a band we arrange. It’s all done very deliberately for the most part, in that we spend a ton of time discussing, experimenting, and attempting to execute interesting arrangements. Given our sparse instrumentation, dynamics become like a 4th instrument, and it’s a real struggle to use them tastefully, and in new ways. 

What are your plans after this tour? Are you going to keep on the road?

 As long as people will have us, we’ll stay on the road. 

Aside from St. Louis, what are some cities and places you like to revisit and play?

 Frankly, every city has its charms. Alex’s in Long Beach is one of our favorites, NYC, Atlanta, Chicago…we really do love them all.

The Yawpers perform at Off Broadway (3509 Lemp) on April 6 at 9 p.m. Blackfoot Gypsies and Brother Lee and the Leather Jackals open. For more information, go to offbroadwaystl.com.