An interview with Nick Zinner

“I've always just say we're a rock band” says guitarist for the newest sensation Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Zinner. While the band has been filed under the same garage rock revival genre as the White Stripes (whom they are currently on tour with), The Hives and the Strokes, YYYs stand out as totally unique. Fronted by the sexually overt Karen O is a big reason why this group has garnered so much press. She prowls the stage like a tiger in heat, occasionally falling to her knees and rolling around which harkens back to a 1970’s Iggy Pop concert. The group has drawn from many past ground breaking artists to create a sound that is completely their own. “JSBX have definitely had a huge influence on us, by being heroes to me, Karen, and Brian equally. Others would be PJ Harvey, Birthday Party, The Cramps, Jonathan Fire*Eater, and ESG. After that it’s really a question of who's been listening to what that day. We never really set out to purposely sound like anyone or anything, it’s more of just what happens when we write or play” Says Nick. Critics have also picked up on subtle similarities to Siouxsie & the Banshees, Pussy Galore, and Blondie. Even though punk rock had a major role is sculpting the groups the sound, they don’t like being branded, “I've always found any type of label or genre classification to be pointless, and eventually limiting. But having said that- punk is ok. William Burroughs said "a punk is someone who takes it up the ass". I wouldn’t disagree with him, but I’d also add that the only qualification for making punk rock is doing as much as you can yourself, regardless of what anyone else says or suggests you do, and doing it full-blown.”


The story of Yeah Yeah Yeahs begins at Ohio’s Oberlin College where Karen and Nick met. Nick was with a punk group named the Challenge Of The Future as well as another band, Unitard, at the time but was immediately drawn to Karen’s poignant song writing as well as her tough yet sensual vocals and consequently left both bands to play acoustic with her. “There was a point when I was playing in COTF, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Unitard, as well as three other projects. I had decided to whore myself out and see what I could learn from playing with other people. I think it was around March of 2001 when I decided to quit everything else except Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Unitard, because basically I wasn’t happy in any other projects” explains Zinner. Shortly after, they recruited drummer Brian Chase they plugged in. Instead of hiring a bass player, Nick decided it would sound rawer to run his guitar through two amps. Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrote a slew of songs at their first rehearsal and soon wound up supporting the Strokes and the White Stripes. The band began playing at New York hotspots and was well received for their minimalist style. “Actually, after our very first show, someone came up to us and said we should play in England because people there would like us a lot. we were like " hhh...yeah....sure". For about the first year, we'd play the few clubs in Manhattan that would have us, opening up for bigger bands, and play loft parties in Brooklyn. the vibe was always loose and silly- we didn’t have any real preconceptions that we would be eventually signed or become famous, even though we told everyone that.”

The newly formed trio quickly entered the studio to record a self-titled EP which received rave reviews. Early the next year the band stepped into the international spotlight, appearing at South By Southwest, touring the U.S. with Girls Against Boys, Europe with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and headlining their own U.K. tour. Their reception in the States was luke warm in comparison to the bands welcome in Europe. Nick stated, “England is just quicker to catch on to things that are "new", and because they are so celebrity and media obsessed, they raise people's levels quite quickly. Our EP did quite well here too; it just took longer because we were distributing it ourselves for the first year, before Touch and Go re-released it.”

Slowly but surely the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were finding a fan-base in the US and after the release of their second EP, Machine, Interscope took notice and quickly signed the band. Their major label release, Fever To Tell, was an instant hit and the band could now tour as a headliner rather than an opening act. “It’s been great: we've been playing most of the songs on our LP for the last year anyways, so it’s nice when people in the audience know them. I'm still surprised that kids are there to see us and not waiting for us to finish so the headlining band can come on.”

Sudden success has its ups and down and the band recently canceled some shows in due to emotional and physical exhaustion. “We've gotten a lot better at not taking press and hype seriously. It fucked with us a lot in the beginning because although we were happy to have people know about us, we felt the attention to be invasive and awkward. We're a bit more comfortable now because when we're off tour, we don’t really leave our houses/apartments. The only pressure we feel now is really from ourselves to write new songs. We get bored quickly, and need to be constantly creating new material. honestly, the question of whether what we're writing now will end up on a record or not is the furthest thing from our minds.”

Karen, Nick and Brian recently played with a couple of legendary bands who inspired them to pick up, plug in and kick ass. This was further proof they breaking new ground as well as gaining respect from their elders. “We played with Sonic Youth and The Liars, which was amazing. There's nothing quite like having your heroes sincerely compliment you, and then be a cool Motherfucker. It was an honor, sir!”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are well on their way to superstardom and will undoubtedly be remembered as pioneers in 20 years and Fever To Tell will join the ranks of most influential records just as Nirvana’s Nevermind, The Pretender self-titled debut and The Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bollocks. Oh Yeah, this you can count on.






TONY ENGELHART