Band Name: The Yeomen

Location: Ithaca, NY

Formed: Febuary 2011

Members:
Devin Castaldi-Micca (guitar, vocals, organ, other stuff)
Dylan Henderson (lead guitar)
James Jordan (guitar, noise, percussion)
Julian Ciany (drums, vocals)
Pat Gaughan (bass)

Releases: Nothin' formal yet, but we have some rough demos and live cuts on our Bandcamp:


Tell us about yourselves!
Hey, this is Devin from the Yeomen. We formed last winter as a Tom Waits cover band. We learned a song or two of his but moved pretty quickly over to my originals. Many of our songs started as my bedroom recordings, but the full band has helped bring these songs from whispered and restrained bedroom folk to sweaty loud rock songs. We pride ourselves on our genre jumping, playing everything from folk-punk to garage, shoegaze, noise, punk, stoner metal and whatever the hell else we have a good time playing. We got off the ground playing in a friend’s garage, often in the freezing cold, the brutal heat, and generally at the ire of the neighbors (and once while a skinned raccoon was being bled onto a piece of cardboard). The other guys in the band are involved with other groups or solo projects, Julian and Pat both play in local mainstays Zgress (http://www.zgress.com/) and Kin Ship (http://kinship.bandcamp.com/).  Julian also plays in a band back home in Providence RI (http://www.myspace.com/vejaduri). Dylan and James are involved in a local trip-hop project and James also creates noise compositions. Dylan is also involved with a noise rock group out of Brooklyn.

Don't miss The Yeomen live, kicking things off at The Space @ GreenStar, 700 W Buffalo St  with Arvid Noe (Boston) and StageFright (Ithaca /  Long Island) - 8PM $5 All Ages

 
Providence, Rhode Island's Tinsel Teeth are one of the few bands whose live performance has been tuned to match the intensity of their music - bludgeoning you with thick noise-rock and bizarre female vocals while throwing themselves into the crowd, soaking themselves in fake blood, props, skin, mayhem... all in the hope of entertaining YOU the fuck out. Bubba Crumrine catches up with Will for the story.  Their new official video for 'Stock Footage of Stuntmen' is at the bottom!

IU: Hey Will, you and Brandon were the founding members of the band, correct? How did Dave come into the picture and where the hell did you find such an amazing front woman like Stephanie?

W: Brandon and I met at work and started playing music together.  He and Dave had been in a band together called "Spheres" that broke up.  Dave was also Brandon's roommate at the time, so when he heard us playing in the basement and was into it, he just came down the stairs.  That part was pretty easy.  As for Steph... the first time we met her she was easily and instantly drawn into our web of spells and magic.  She has never been the same since.

IU: Did any of the blood, props, and nudity come first or did your live shows start out of the gate at the extreme level they're known and loved for now?

W: We did talk a lot at an early point in the band about what we wanted to see in a live show.  We were all bored with going to shows and not being entertained.  Not seeing the package of killer music and rocking the fuck out.  So it definitely became a focus for a Tinsel Teeth show to be a party.  Once we started playing out, the actual progression show to show to what you see now came pretty naturally.  I can say that one of the first 2-3 shows we ever played was at "summercamp" in Providence.  After we set up our gear we ran downstairs, took off all our clothes and covered each other in shaving cream.  That was a shocked crowd when we came back up and one hell of a show.  It's what I believe set the tone for Tinsel Teeth.    

IU: How much fake blood do you go through in an average year?

W: Too much, someone sponsor us.  I dare you. 

IU: Have members of the band (or gear) ever been subject to injury at the hand of the live show?

For over a decade, Providence, RI duo THE BODY have been clawing past the false and leaving releases of utterly bleak heaviness in their wake.  Turn the page to 2010 and the band drops "All The Waters of the Earth Turn To Blood" - 2xLP of stunning creativity, originality, and pure heaviness - on the unexpected masses.  An additional 30 musicians joined the duo on this epic, including the entire Assembly of Light Choir into the record - an accomplishment in itself and an outright success in their ability to still sound like themselves. Doom, noise, drone, throat singing, and more collided into something freshly evil. The album adorned many year-end "Best of" lists and set a new bar in the avant leanings in doom metal. Ithaca Underground's Bubba Crumrine catches up with the band during a brief break between recording and hitting the road for their next tour which includes a stop on the Scion Rock fest with the likes of Morbid Angel, Agalloch, Floor, Bastard Noise and more. The trek also boasts their first performance in Ithaca, NY at CMSA with locals Hiroshima Vacation, Iwo Jima Medkit, and Genital Holograms on Saturday, Feb 26th - 8PM $5.

IU: "All The Waters of the Earth Turn To Blood" was one of the most ambitious, creative, (and best in my own humble opinion) heavy LPs of 2010 - how did the idea for such an immense collaboration spawn?

We just have really talented friends, it came together pretty organically, someone would happen to be in town and we’d be heading into the studio so they’d come lay something down.

IU: Did you two have a general idea of which musicians you wanted involved and the final result or was it simply a product of all of those people getting together?

We knew we were using the choir and we wanted WORK/DEATH to do some noise parts but  mostly it just kinda came together naturally.

IU: What's the story of syncing up with Assembly of Light Choir for their involvement with the album?

Our friend Chrissy Wolpert started the choir and she’s like our musical soulmate so, it made perfect sense.  Everything she does is so great and we were honored she agreed to record with us.

IU: How have you two been adapting the album for a live setting?

Bridge Nine boys Soul Control are ready and willing for their first appearance in Ithaca, NY at this winter's Big Day In on Dec. 4th, 2010 with Young Widows, Bridge & Tunnel, and 9 other bands from around NYS. You may recognize some familiar faces from bands like Achillies, Verse, and What Feeds the Fire but the band has been setting themselves apart from their former/sibling projects over the last few years with their slew of EP's and last year's kicker, "Cycles".  Bubba Crumrine chats with them regarding the past, present, and future of the band...sort of, but not really.

IU: To start things off, lets get a little history on the band. You guys each spent (spend) time in quality bands like Verse, What Feeds the Fire, etc - how did you meet and what brought you to birth a band like Soul Control?

SC: We met at the top of the empire state building after Eric's son called into a talk radio show and said he wanted his dad to find a new band.

IU: How did Rory come to be in the band later on?

SC: Well, we'd just parted ways with our singer and begun the process of auditioning new ones. Meanwhile, Rory had been working a shitty day job and at night singing in a Soul Control cover band called "Dance of Shadows." I guess some SC fans heard we needed a singer and they sent us a tape of Rory performing with his band. We were impressed and got in touch. He came down and belted out "On Survival" in the booth and blew us away.  That was that.

IU:  How did you get hooked up with the folks at Bridge Nine?