Interview by: Harro for LifeMusicMedia
Harro: Yves Klein Blue are named after artist Yves Klein’s famous IKB, a blue paint that does not lose its brilliance over time, which is a metaphor for your bands aspiration to create music that will never weaken with age. Whose idea was it to pick Yves Kleins masterpiece as the name of the band?
Charles: Michaels. I blame it all on him. I must admit, the analysis for the bandname has come up in hindsight, but it still seems like a good idea.
Harro: How does it feel to be touring with The Holidays whom are one of the bands that you look up to the most?
Charles: It will certainly be an interesting tour. I mean we’re going to Perth and Adelaide! We’ve never been there before, though I think the Holidays have. They’re hardened road warriors.
Harro: Who came up with the interesting name of the tour Immaculate Confection?
Charles: I think someone within our circles came up with the name. Deciding on certain things between two bands is hard. Deciding on things within our band is difficult enough. We just decided on the first HILARIOUS pun we could think of. Genius isn’t it?
Harro: All of your tour dates with The Holidays are 18+, so how is the atmosphere of an age exclusive crowd different to that of an all ages one?
Charles: Under 18s are sometimes a little more subdued because they’re not drunk like many 18+ crowds we play to. But what can you expect, band + bar = drinking. Some beautiful mathematics there. To get the kids moving you have to play the pop numbers. Get the girls swooning over Michael and the boys punching the air.
Harro: You released your EP Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention to Themselves in early April thanks to winning MTV Kickstart and I remember talking to you when you were first signed by Australian record label Dew Process. You said its all a whirlwind. Has it sunk in yet that you are a part of the most eligible indie bachelors?
Charles: I guess it’s fairly whirlwind like, though I’ve never actually been stuck in a whirlwind. I can imagine it would be something like this, just with more dust and wind. As a band, it’s hard to stand back and look at what you’ve done without saying “we haven’t really done anything yet”. We always feel there’s more to come, I don’t think any of us could stop now and be content with what we’ve done. There is always more ground to cover and more shows to play and records to make.
Harro: I can only imagine how much stardom you have gained over Australia since the launch of your EP, who in the band is the ladies man who actually lives up to the reputation of drawing attention to themselves?
Charles: None of us are ladies men really. We do all draw attention to ourselves in other ways. Chris often wears dresses and Michael performs iconic scenes from “Singin’ in the Rain” whenever we’re in public spaces. It’s a habit of his. Sean will rant about how amazing Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” is. I’ll just stand there. Not too many ladies to speak of, sorry!
Harro: Yves Klein Blue have played at some very different venues, (small and large, etc) over the years Whats the best gig you ever did? And why?
Charles: Well I guess Splendour was pretty amazing. To get the opportunity to play a gig like that was pretty great, and we didn’t have atrocious technical difficulties thanks to our cool friends. And we had a guest horn section. We’re like the best value all-star revue. So many stars.
Harro: Whats the background to the favourite song Polka, who or what inspired it?
Charles: People on drugs inspired it. I think. I don’t really know as it’s Michaels song and I’m not Michael. It is a pretty early YKB song. I don’t even think we were called that back then. That was when we were called either “Exploding Heads” or “The Amber Ladies”. I think. Either way, it has a come a fairly long way since those days, as we can now play our instruments, and we have a bass player. Always helpful to have.
Harro: What’s your dream gig and out of any other band, who would you choose to share the bill with?
Charles: We’d all be onstage in “The Last Waltz” playing along badly with The Band and Bob and Ron Wood and Neil Young and everyone else there.
Harro: What’s been the highlight of your musical career so far?
Charles: Going overseas and attending and playing SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Weird, weird place during the festival. The place is full of bars, all full of bands, all full of people watching them. It’s quite remarkable. I remember drinking free beer illegally and watching this great stoner rock band, and then seeing J. Mascis. That was pretty cool. Then I realised his band “Witch” was playing. That was very cool.
Harro: What else do you hope to achieve in the next year?
Charles: Well we’re recording an album! We’re all very excited about it. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say anything about it because it’s very classified information. I can just tell you it’s happening. We’ll be touring quite a bit in the new year, and will hopefully spread our musical seed around festival season. So come and watch us and we’ll attempt to not f@#k up.
Links: Interviewer – Harro