Deez Yellow Swans’ existence has
coincided
with a seeming insurgence of noise music in popular indie culture. Has
this been a primarily positive trend or are there now a glut of
noise-music sucker MCs?
PETE SWANSON: I think it’s been
[partially] a
positive thing, but some things have been diminished due to the growing
popularity of abstract music. On the plus side, there’s the growing
ability for weirdo bands to be sustainable—for folks to pay for
practice spaces, to not lose money on tour, to be able to get shows at
all, which wasn’t the case even five years ago. There’s also been a
great network established for the distribution of completely obscure
releases by even more obscure bands. And a good deal of respect has
been given from a lot of media
outlets, which has sort of
established oddball stuff as being more valuable than it was considered
previously. All that is great. The flip side is that there are ONE
MILLION noise acts now, which is
overwhelming, and the majority of
them are not extremely
interesting. Another thing that’s occurred
is this fragmenting of noise into tiny subgenres.
GABRIEL MINDEL SALOMAN: Ultimately, I believe that
listening to and playing noise music is a real step in the evolution of
consciousness, and whether it leads to financial or social success is
hardly as important as that.
Your first two “proper” full-length releases, Bring the Neon War Home (Narnack) and Psychic Secession (Load), both dealt with personal
agency and engagement with more massive cultural energies. Do you feel
like your new record, At All Ends (also on Load),
does as well?
PETE: I think At All Ends continues that
thread. Over the course of the records, the lyrical content has gone
from a vague antiwar narrative to a more assertive narrative of
personal resistance to
oppressive constructs. This last album is
sort of about combating the absurdity of the perpetual end of humanity.
It seems like we’ve been on the verge of a species-wide meltdown since
time began. I’ve had a lot of friends completely obsessed with the end
of the world, and, well, there’s this quote from Stanislaw Lec, “Don’t
expect much from the end of the world,” which I find totally hilarious.
Basically, the album has a cyclical theme—as a culture and as
individuals, we’re coping with our own mortality constantly; we go
through these cycles of panic and resolve. It’s so silly on some
level—
extremely self-centered and infantile, but ultimately
understandable. On an animal level, we are wired to want to continue
the family line and there’s nothing more counter to that than the
apocalypse.
It seems like some bands certainly extend themselves
further than they should while others (like, say, Boredoms) continue to
make new and wonderful music for decades. How do you regard the
soon-to-be Departed Yellow Swans in these terms?
PETE: I think we managed to cram a lot of different
ideas into a relatively short existence. By the time we’re done, we
will have basically been a band for seven years and spanned almost the
entire Bush administration. We’ve successfully realized a lot of
different approaches and I honestly feel like we’ve worked through a
lot more ideas than most bands do in 20 years. Hopefully some of our
music will remain vital for a while.
What do you hope to do with your collective and
respective musical futures? Do you foresee a Jay-Z-style return from
retirement in a few years?
PETE: I’ve just started a new record label, Freedom
to Spend, which I’m focusing a lot of energy into right now. I’m
working with some completely unknown, extremely odd bands, and I’m
hoping that I can help them with booking tours and getting them press.
As for a YS reunion, I wouldn’t count on it.
Bonus question: Do you feel there is ever a time,
artistically speaking, when keeping it real goes
wrong?
GABRIEL: I can look at someone like Genesis
P-Orridge or Merce Cunningham or Ornette Coleman and say that some of
the choices they made were pretty cringe-worthy, and yet as a whole
they have an artistic life that I greatly admire. I don’t suppose that
making art without any concern for what people think is possible, but
if you’re speaking your truth, you are unimpeachable. You may lose your
audience, but there is no shame in that. You have your own life to be
accountable for and not much else.
PETE: There are too many reals to keep and too many
wrongs to endure. If you’re talking about not compromising your vision,
if you even have one to begin with, any artist should realize that the
more individualized your music is, the more marginal you will be. An
artist has to be prepared to compromise or exist in obscurity or
somewhere in between. On some level, making your art available to
anyone is a compromise. As an artist, you will perceive a reaction from
those engaging in your work and that will inform your future endeavors
whether you like it or not. For this band, I think a lot has been
compromised. A lot of the compromises have produced great successes
artistically and logistically. Some have been completely stifling. I’m
looking forward to moving on. 
D. Yellow Swans play Fri April 11 at Vera Project, 7:30 pm,
$8/$7, all ages. With Iron Lung, Sissy Spacek, Blue Sabbath Black
Cheer.