Think about it – how many people can you think of that can claim to have actually invented a colour? French artist Yves Klein can. Classified largely as an enigmatic Post-Modernist, Klein is still considered an important figure in post-war European art to this day and, amongst his many lifelong accolades, left his mark by patenting a colour – International Klein Blue.
While they’re not reinventing the colour wheel, Brisbane indie rock quartet Yves Klein Blue are pretty much living the rock’n’roll dream. They’ve been kicking around our backyard for only a couple of years but quickly built themselves a healthy buzz on the back of their debut EP – Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves – and a string of excellent shows.
A combination of boyish good looks, switched-on indie smarts and the penchant for writing hooky pop tunes soon attracted the attention of Brisbane label Dew Process who immediately funded the re-recording of the EP and whisked them off overseas for a number of international dates.
Even as Time Off catches up with YKB’s charmingly humble frontman Michael Tomlinson, the band are in Austin, Texas and have only just completed the shows for South By South West earlier in the day. “I never want to say anything too brash without touching wood,” he muses, scrambling to a quiet alley to complete our conversation, “but I think we went really well. All of this, needless to say, is sort of surreal. We came through Los Angeles on our way here and we played three shows there. Then we came to New York where we were playing with The Panics but most notably – not to take anything away from The Panics – we played with The Vines. That was a real thrill for us; all the high school bands each of us was in all did a cover of ‘Get Free’. Then we’re off to London and after that we’re returning to Australia for the EP launches.”
The original version of Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves was originally released in 2006 and after snaring the record deal, the band felt it didn’t represent them as accurately as they would’ve liked. They wanted a big, powerful recording. Big guitars, not thin and jangly. Big, solid drums. And the list goes on. “We really wanted to put the representation of our best, much like we did on the first EP,” Tomlinson explains. “The songs that we feel show what we are as a band most effectively. It’s a re-recording of sorts; it has the same name. Nothing of the old EP is on there, so it’s illustrating that it’s the same concept as the first EP and how we could’ve done it with more money, more time and if we were able to play the songs.”
With the EP growing from five to seven tracks, it’s more of a mini-album when played in its entirety. Aside from a shiny new production, what’s the newbie got to offer? “I guess you could say there’s two and half new songs on there,” Tomlinson continues, searching for the right words to explain the rare scenario. “I call one a half because ‘Blasphemy’ has a drastically different arrangement, plus there are two other songs. We used a Brisbane producer called Caleb James, who we were really lucky to get on board. He’s an incredible musician, a great producer and really, a guru of sorts. We went down to Byron to record our drums and then went back to his studio to complete the tracking. We had a couple of tracks remixed by Wayne Connolly, who did all the Josh Pyke stuff and The Vines and You Am I. We didn’t want to sound produced or sterile in any way; we wanted as much energy as a live show but sounding as strong for the radio. I think we got there in the end.”
As easy as it is to lose yourself with a string of endless accolades, worldwide trips and mingling with celebrities, Tomlinson and the lads are determined to stay grounded and not completely lose themselves within the whirlwind skyward journey. “It is really surreal, very hard to believe,” Tomlinson enthuses. “But at the moment it’s hard to be anything as we’re not that used to this. To us, we’re still just a local Brisbane band who have a chance to do some really cool things.”
But like every band trying to attract attention from labels and an adoring public, Yves Klein Blue had decided from a very early stage that this little thing called music is exactly what they wanted to do and weren’t willing to compromise to get there. “We tried a lot of stuff when we first formed,” he explains. “We’d already had all the time spent jamming and whatever in high school bands, playing just for the love of playing. By the time we were at uni and I was feeling like I really wanted to play music and we met some guys so we thought ‘If we really want to do this, then we really have to step up’. So we tried to make ourselves appealing, initially. At the end of the day, if you want something like this – without being rude – be good.
“I just think the best thing is not to behave like an arsehole. If you don’t behave like an arsehole, then things might turn out all right. Usually.”
Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention To Themselves out now through Dew Process.
by Ben Preece
taken from: http://www.ourbrisbane.com/whats-on/gig-guide/yves-klein-blue
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