Young Statues Interview

(Justine and Carmen of Young Statues after their show at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA April 1!)

I was excited to ask Carmen from Young Statues some questions after meeting him and the rest of his band after their show at the Middle East, especially since their full-length has been spinning in my record player non-stop now for a couple of weeks. We were able to discuss their releases so far, previous tours, and other plans in the near future regarding the band. For fans of The Shins and Band of Horses, you’ll love this band. My advice is to check them out now before you’re the only loser who hasn’t listened to them yet!

1. Young Statues released their full-length Young Statues in November of 2011. When did you guys form as a band and what techniques did you use to write these songs and make them into the recordings that they are today?

We didn’t form as a band until after the record was finished. I made it on my own, after leaving another band I was in previously. Although, most of the guys in the band now helped add to the songs later in the recording process.

As far as technique, I have always just written songs starting on acoustic guitar and building from there. If the song sounds good with just an acoustic guitar and my voice, it will only become that much better with all of the additional elements.

2. When and how did you guys start talking to Jeff from Run For Cover Records to help prepare for the release of the LP? How do you like being part of the RFC lineup?

We finished the record completely and then sent it to Jeff. He was interested pretty quickly and It just went from there. I love being a part of RFC. Jeff, Tom, and everyone else there are great people, and also great at what they do. I feel privileged to be a part of it.

3. How did you come up with the ideas of the Young Statues artwork and the vinyl colors?
My friend Brian came up with the artwork entirely on his own. We knew we wanted something simplistic and clean, and he knocked it out of the park. You can check out his work here.

With the vinyl colors, I spent a lot of time thinking. We knew we wanted black and purple, but the third color was the real wildcard. I think coke bottle looked cool on just about everything I’ve seen so we went with it. I love how it turned out.

4. In February 2012 you guys released an Acoustic EP with four songs off of the LP. How was the recording process different this time around? Did you have a specific approach to make the songs sound different than the full-length recordings? Was it easy picking these four songs to redo acoustically?

We recorded it in a house, and relatively quickly. We had no specific approach; I would mess with the songs in figuring out the best way to translate them. Then, after recording the initial guitar and vocals, our guitarist Matt did a great job mixing them. It was easy to choose these 4 songs for me, I played the entire record acoustically, and those felt the best.

5. Young Statues participated in the Holiday Tour with The Early November and Man Overboard. How did this tour opportunity come up? How much fun was it?

We were offered the opportunity to do it, and naturally we said yes immediately. It was a ton of fun; both the Early November and Man Overboard are great friends. Spending time with them is always a blast.

6. You just got off a month long tour with Mansions and A Great Big Pile of Leaves. How did it go and what were your favorite memories of this tour?

This tour was great. Easily my favorite thing we’ve done as Young Statues thus far. There were so many great times, and the shows were amazing. My favorite memories would probably have to be the hotel room we shared with Mansions in Orlando, and our final dinner. We made a mess! Well, I did…

7. Any exciting tours, releases, or plans involving Young Statues that we should know about?

In May/June we are going on tour with The Early November, The Wonder Years and The Swellers! Dates on our facebook or website.

Always working on new music, as for releases, nothing close enough to report yet. I hope soon!

8. Can you explain where your favorite places to play are and why?

I think every place we play has something unique and awesome about it. That being said, the best shows from this past tour had to be Chicago, Lansing, and Boston. So those are the favorites right now, everyone at those shows seemed to be having just as much fun as we were, which is always great to see!

9. Who would you love to tour with in the near future?

I have so many friends that are also in great bands that I respect, so it would be great to be able to tour with them, for both of those reasons. Hellogoodbye is a fantastic band, and some of my closest friends. Also, Make Do And Mend is a great band that I would love to play with. Balance and Composure I’ve know for a really long time and I love those kids. They are an amazing band as well, so that would be fun to do. How about eventually we tour with everyone??

10. What are you currently listening to?

FATHER JOHN MISTY! It’s Josh Tillman formerly of Fleet Foxes. Definitely my favorite right now. Check it out, seriously!

11. Anything left to add?

Thank you to everyone who has bought our record, come to a show, or given us even a few minutes of their time. We appreciate all of the support, and look forward to the future. Thank you thank you thank you!

Check out the music video for Young Statues’ song “Spacism”

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