In Conversation with yeemz: Making music that feels like home.

After a string of singles and EP’s, you’ve finally released your debut album, ‘Blame The Gods’, which came out a couple of weeks ago. First of all, congratulations! I bet this has been such an exciting time – what was this process like for you?

Thanks!! It has been exciting! It's my first time understanding the process of releasing a bigger body of work, and that has been a really cool learning experience. In the past, I'd just throw out music somewhat haphazardly, so it has been nice to be intentional and thoughtful about the roll-out and have time to also plan out a visual world to accompany the music. Honestly, not that it's out though, I've been feeling already so antsy about wanting to put out new music! I've been living with this album for a year now, and it feels so great to have it out in the world, I'm already thinking about what's next haha

To describe the album to new listeners, what three words would you choose to describe ‘Blame The Gods’?

Reflective, growth, owning your life decisions! (a lil more than three words, sorry)

Are there any artists that have influenced this albums sound? 

So many!! I listen to a ton of Madison Cunningham, Big Thief, and Samia, so I think my writing is and always will be inspired by those people. For the production style I think we ended up focusing on trying to achieve a really natural, live band style, with moments of cinematic soundscape-y vibes. Leroy Clampitt and I produced the whole album (and wrote some of it) completely on our own in just two weeks, so we couldn't go crazy with production elements or hiring outside musicians, so it ended up settling into a home-y intimate live sound that I think really captured the space of the house we recorded it in. In that sense, the production wasn't inspired by any other artists or albums, but more so by the space we were in and time constraints.

We’ve heard about how big of an inspiration literature is for your music. Were you reading anything during the making of this album that particularly inspired you? 

Oooh! Yes!!! I was re-reading my favorite book, "Upstream" by Mary Oliver, during the summer that Leroy and I recorded the album. The book isn't about any one thing in particular -- it's a collection of essays. But, I love Mary Oliver's connection to nature as a source of inspiration but also her nuanced view of it as a complex and challenging force that isn't always as kind and romantic as artists like to portray it. Reading this book definitely inspired me to include the location of the recording studio (Northern California) in the sound of the album. On multiple tracks, we recorded the stream in the yard, the ocean nearby, the crickets on the deck, the gravel driveway of the house, the birds, etc. I even mimicked whale sounds with my cello (because that's a bit harder to record). Mary Oliver combined with being in the most gorgeous place really inspired me to lean into field recordings throughout the making of the album.

Blending indie-folk with classical elements makes for such a soothing sound! Not many people choose the cello as their instrument of choice – how did you first get into playing the cello?

I started playing the cello in public school! We had to pick an instrument in 4th grade, and the conductor of the middle school orchestra at the time was low on cellists, so he told me that if I played the cello, it would be like having a dance partner all the time. I think that's part of why I picked it. I was so lucky to have such an amazing orchestra program growing up. I owe everything to my teachers.

I know it’s probably like choosing a favourite child, but do you have a favourite song (or two) from this album, and why?

Hmm... I think my favorite song right now is "No Trace". I knew, going into all of this, that that song wouldn't be a single or probably get much recognition from listeners because it's quite slow and meandering, but it like it was the most intuitive song for me to make. Every other song sort of followed a similar writing and producing process -- write verses then choruses, record guitar and cello then drums and vocals, etc. But "No Trace" was a song I wrote in an hour in upstate NY. It was stream-of-consciousness writing, processing my best friend, Trés (sounds like "trace"), moving out of our shared apartment. The production process was somewhat similar in that it was totally unplanned and intuitive, almost stream-of-consciousness. My main goal was to capture the space that we were in, to make the middle section feel like a memory of a home. One of my favorite tidbits about the album altogether is that we used a technique inspired by this piece that I've been fascinated by for ages. It's called "I am sitting in a room" by Alvin Lucier. He records himself reading a block of text, then plays that back and records it, then plays that back and records it, until he's only left with the resonant frequency of the room. We did that for the middle section of this piece, along with mimicking whale sounds on the cello and recording the sound of my feet on the gravel driveway. Overall, I'm just really proud of the way I let my intuition guide the writing and producing of that song. 

Can you talk us through the album’s cover art, it’s so unique and creative. What does it mean to you? Is there any symbolic meaning behind the string in the sky and you being sat on a rock?

The album art really is all thanks to the brilliance of Mimi (Ibe) Van Bouchaute and Emily Kelly. In the winter, Mimi and I took a road trip up to the town in NorCal where I recorded the album, and took the photo that became the album cover. I wanted the cover to feel pensive and questioning -- indecisive almost. I wanted it to capture that idea of blaming outside forces and asking for answers from other people or from above, prompting the realization that we own our own fate and that we ourselves already have all the answers that we need (because that's what the album means to me). This photo of me on the rock felt like it captured that feeling (I was actually looking up at hawks circling, but they're cut out of the frame). I had the idea to have an element of string or something jumbled up to represent all the confusion and learning and thinking that led to writing these songs. Emily then added the yarn in the most perfect and beautiful way as well as the offset text. She's a genius. I'm so grateful for the help I had with this -- I couldn't have ever envisioned it looking the way it does now, and it feels so perfect and fitting!

You’re set to go on tour with Billie Marten in September and I couldn’t think of a more suitable support for her. Which song are you looking forward to performing the most?

Ah that's kind of you to say! I am SO beyond excited for those shows. Billie's new record has been, without a doubt, my favorite record of late. I'm mainly looking forward to listening to HER play every night to be honest.... but hm.... I love playing Beta Paradox live. I think people really react to the banjo in a fun way, and I often like to end with it because it feels really upbeat and silly, even though it's sort of a serious message. 

Can fans be expecting to hear these songs live at a headline tour soon?

Oh! Haha if they listen to the album enough, then maybe... ;) For now at least, I have a release show on Aug 7th in LA that I am so excited for. I've been working really hard on string arrangements for it because I'm having a bunch of my high school orchestra friends join me for it. It's going to be a blast!