“It’s all on-the-job training at this point for everybody. There is no algorithm of success at this…”
When last we left ex-Deadsy/current The Yagas synthesist Renn Hawkey, we learned all about the formation of this new outfit with wife Vera Farmiga (Vocals), Jason Bowman (Drums), Mike Davis (Bass), and Mark Visconti (Guitars) and their recently released debut LP Midnight Minuet (If you happened to miss all of that then you can catch up in Pt.1 of our interview here) but that’s only part of the story! In Pt.2 we dive into The Yagas’ first live shows, inspirations behind Hawkey’s playing, what it’s like being in a band with your partner and so much more!
Having been a part of Deadsy in some capacity for 25 years until leaving recently, Hawkey has a lot of experience with the in’s and out’s of the music industry so we were curious how much of that experience informed what he does now in regards to The Yagas musical output:
“I’d say a lot. I’d say that It informs everything that I do. Look, it was a different time than it is now. It was a really strange time, but it’s also a beautiful time to be able to be in a position to make music on our terms. And to not have to answer to anybody and you’re not trying to create in a box.
And Deadsy got put through the wash. It was a bit tortuous! We were ready to go in 1997 and our album didn’t come until 2001! Like, officially. That was torture for us. It’s interesting because when you don’t have a record out it’s hard to justify spending the money to go out on tour and to play and build an audience when you’re not supporting an album. And we couldn’t get the album out. We just couldn’t. It was Sire, then it was Sire/Elektra and then that got absorbed under the WEA umbrella and then it was just Warner Bros. and then we jumped from Warner Bros and did the Dreamworks/Elementree and then finally, thank God for Jon Davis (Elementree founder/Korn vocalist). He was the one who was able to finally push this thing out the door. And also put us on tour. At that point we appeared like a new band but we had been around for, like, 6 years, right? It was interesting for us because our first tour was the Family Values tour, right? I mean that just doesn’t happen! It was great exposure for us and “… Gramercy Park” was a cool song to be out there and I think it resonated with a lot of people.
Now we just kind of do things on our own terms, right? That’s why we don’t have a label. I don’t want a label behind me. I just want to release music the way that we want to release it. I don’t know if it’s going to get the exposure that it needs to but unless you’re writing Pop music I don’t really know how any new band, who’s like a genre band like ours, I don’t know of a lot of like new Heavy Rock acts. I know there’s a ton of legacy acts out there right now which are thriving. I don’t know a lot of bands like ours. I’m sure there’s a ton of them, I’m just not familiar with them. There’s so much great music out there. And that’s the beauty of new music culture now. There’s no record labels. No record stores or anywhere to go to now to discover a new band, or a new 7-inch that just came out, right? I don’t know, you gotta mine for it now! It’s not like the best stuff always just seeps to the top. You gotta dig and you have to go down the wormhole, right? I’m a lifelong music fan and it’s also kind of strange right now how new music is promoted. You don’t feel like something is being shoved down your throat. I think we like, as music lovers, discovering music on our own. There’s a lot of nuance in how you promote your music. You also want to feel as if you’re reaching out beyond your existing fan base, too. It’s all on-the-job training at this point for everybody. There is no algorithm of success at this point.”
If you’ve ever heard Deadsy (And if you haven’t, go right here right now then report back…. we’ll wait) not only does the band have a very distinct sound that immediately stood out from the “Nu-Metal” label they were often lumped in with but Hawkey’s synth style is something that is so unique that it carries over into The Yagas’ recent works to which Hawkey quipped: “I’m using a lot of the same gear, man! (laughs)” Naturally, we wondered what influenced Hawkey’s sound and playing to which he elaborated:
“I mean, Gary Numan is a huge inspiration. Look, there’s a million great guitars out there, but I don’t know, if someone put that Strat(ocaster) in your hand first you’ll always play a Strat. Or you’re a Gibson guy. Or whatever it is. My first keyboard was a Juno 106 that Elijah (Blue, Deadsy vocalist/guitarist) sent me and he was, like, “Join my band!” I didn’t know anything about keyboards and he just sent me a Juno 106 from Roland and I was hooked. I was just absolutely hooked. People say that Roland is like the McDonald’s of synthesizers but I gotta tell you, you can’t beat some of those sounds! The chorus sound, that high string sound that you hear in Deadsy, that you hear in The Yagas? That’s all attributed to the Roland Juno 106 chorus sound. It’s a nice dirty, chorus ensemble which just kind of gives it this other life, you know? So my point is that once you find that thing, it’s like, why stop, right? It works!
From there, Hawkey turned the tables and asked us a question that revealed some insight into the title track from The Yagas’ new record:
“‘Midnight Minuet’ was a song I had written for Deadsy but it wasn’t called that, it was called “Subterfugue” which was going to be the title track of the new record that we were working on so when I left, I took that with me. Can you tell? There’s a couple more that I’d written for Deadsy also that I’m going to work on with The Yagas and give them a new life.”
And for the record, we went back with a new found appreciation for the song and while we can definitely hear that “Deadsy sound” in there, “Midnight Minuet” is most certainly a song from The Yagas. The recent phone call with Hawkey eventually touched on the live debut from The Yagas as well and how they came off for both the players within and for the audience:
“First show was great, it was our coming out. Two of the guys had COVID so that was challenging but a lot of people showed up and, like, was it perfect? Absolutely not, but nothing ever is. And I mean, I’ve learned from years of playing shows that each one is different. Each venue presents different challenges. Sometimes your perception of it while you’re playing is not real. What it sounds like on stage is not representative of what it sounds like in the house, right? Reviewing everything afterwards and feedback from everybody is that it was really great. The point is it was really an amazing experience. We just played our record! It’s the first time anyone’s ever heard anything from us. It’s a surprise for some people. It’s a bit out of the blue. It was a lot of fun to just share that with people and just to look out and just see reactions. It’s interesting when you’re playing new music for people, it’s very different from playing music that people know and they’re singing back to you. They know what to anticipate because they know the songs they’re moving to! When you’re playing for people who never heard a note from you, their jaws are a bit on the ground there, they’re just staring at it and you taking it in, you know? It’s an interesting experience.
And then we just played Bowery Ballroom with a collection of great New York bands that are on a label called Casa Gogol, which is run by Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello. And we collaborated with him on a song, and he’s a good friend. We did a shorter set, I think 7 songs, and it was amazing. Place was absolutely packed. It’s a great group of bands to be apart of and to be associated with. And then Eugene got up and did a song with us and it was fantastic! A lot of fun. But I had COVID this time for that show, and it was awful! That part was awful but, you know, muscle memory.”
Hawkey and Farmiga have two children together and since Deadsy has not really been a touring presence in some time we wondered what it was like to see “Mom” and “Dad” in a band together which led to Hawkey instantly gushing about the burgeoning Partridge Family at home:
“They are both superb musicians. It’s actually competitive in the household, and I don’t mean competitive for who’s better, like who gets to use the instruments right now! You know, you can’t have the piano and the guitar going at the same time and keys… That’s where it’s challenging at home in fact. We’re in a constant creative competition here just for time and space. My son played on the record and he did guitar on a song that we played live for the first time and he got up and did cello with us on one song. This last show we played at Bowery Ballroom, he was there working the lights. Look, I’ve always been his roadie. I’ve always been there for him. He has his own band called Rosegold. He’s 16 now, but he produced his first EP at 15, and they’re gonna release that soon. I’m really proud of him, he’s just a really super hardworking guy.
And then my my daughter plays guitar, cello drums, a little bit of keys and just starting to sing which is really great to see. She’s just a killer piano player. I wish I had her chops. I just don’t. I just don’t have that. She just incredible. She just flies on the keyboard and has a perfect pitch and knows where to go. I have to do a little bit more work than she does.”
That all led to the question of being in a band with your partner and if there’s such a thing as too much time together as Hawkey, without hesitation, revealed a glimpse into life between he and Farmiga and so much more beyond shared film and music projects:
“We do a lot of things together. One being, raising children together. We also have a number of real estate projects. We have one giant commercial project that we’re working on which is a hospitality/barn restoration project that we’re doing that’s sustainable and historical and has been in the works for 3+ years. Some people I think can’t work with their spouse, some people can. She’s very good, and has always been very good, at leaving work at work. We have that culture in our home, I think, where we have our work hours and then we try to be a family as much as possible. We also have things in television that we’ve produced together and film that we’re working on and have worked on together . She directed a film that she starred in that I produced and did the music for 15 years or so ago called Higher Ground. We love it. The more time together, the better!”
Midnight Minuet from The Yagas is out now and you can secure your very own copy by heading here. For our review of the record head here, and then here or here for all the latest from Hawkey and The Yagas.