The Obelisk : In Conversation With YOB’s Mike Scheidt

JJ Koczan of The Obelisk recently conducted an interview with Mike Scheidt of YOB, and it features questions focusing on the band’s second album for Profound Lore, called Atma, which will be released on Aug. 16,  and much more.

The Obelisk: At this point, do you have something that’s a definitive YOB sound? You said before that ‘Prepare the Ground‘ is a basher in the YOB sense, and I think that’s very true, but what does that mean for you?

Mike Scheidt: “It means equal parts having a recognizable sound that is ours and not deviating too far from it – we’ve had a certain sound that’s been based on our own musings, my own weird guitar style and certainly the influences of our record collection – but also, every album, and I think part of what YOB is as a sound too, brings some new element that the record before it didn’t have. It brings in a new twist or a new vibe that also is us. That becomes the new us, but without ever abandoning what it is that we do. It’s very important to me that as soon as the first song hits, that it’s instantly like, “Wow, okay. This is the new YOB, and it already hits me differently, but it sounds like YOB.”

I don’t ever want to be in a place where somebody grabs one of our records and goes, “Yup, sounds like Slayer. It’s another Slayer record.” Because that’s how I feel about Slayer. I love Slayer, but I think their best albums are many years behind. There’s always one or two great songs on each record, and they’ve never abandoned their sound, and to that I’ll throw them the horns forever, but I also want each record to be a challenge in itself, or have something on it that’s really challenging to a listener or to our fans.”

The Obelisk: Other than the production, which we talked about, what are some of the elements of growth that you tried to bring into Atma?

Mike Scheidt: “Some more complex timings and riff structures. I really pushed myself hard on my vocals. I wanted the most dynamic range of singing I could possibly have, that I had in me, and I really spent a lot of time with that. We spent a lot more time with samples and noise and textures like that. I wanted a very deep record, that on headphones would yield new stuff, that maybe you didn’t notice while blaring even in your face, or in a show, or on a stereo, but then you put on your headphones and go, “Oh, there’s a whole bunch more going on here.”

I think I wanted styles of riffs that were recognizable to us, but had twists in them that were also new, which I guess also falls into the timings and swing. So yeah, there’s a lot of that. Just a lot of exploration that felt really great. And also too, to bring in Scott Kelly, which is also a growth for us – we’ve never had a guest performer before – so our sixth record, we bring somebody in, and he brings something new to the table and also collaborate with somebody we respect a lot. I think all of that makes for, “Wow, okay, this is really a new album.”

The Obelisk: Your having Scott on the record was kind of a surprise for me. After five albums, you don’t see that kind of thing coming, but damned if it doesn’t work. That part in “Before We Dreamed of Two” is killer.

Mike Scheidt:  “He stunned us, man. We wanted some Tribes of Neurot / Through Silver in Blood-style percussion, and we definitely got that from him. Over the years, Scott and I – it’s not like we talk a lot, but we definitely are friends. We have a lot in common and definitely enjoy each other’s company whenever we are hanging out. We were invited to do the two Neurosis shows around New Year’s Eve, and I saw them do their tribal drum circle onstage and thought, “Man, maybe Scott’ll do that on our record.” So I asked him and he was way into it. We brought him into Eugene – he doesn’t live too far from there – and we were having a great time hanging out. We set up drums for him and he did his parts, and it was killer, and kind of in a very last-minute thing, “Maybe you could sing too,” and (laughs), and he was like, “Yeah…” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to at first, and he was like, “Man, I hear you’re doing some really off the wall and cool stuff, and I don’t want to get in the way of that,” but then we talked about it some more and found the perfect spot on the album.

He just sat down, and in about 15 minutes, he wrote out his part. He wrote out his own lyrics, and we set up the mic for him, and he’s out there mic-checking and we’re all in the control room talking and laughing, and doing what you do, and then he started singing. It got real quiet. We’re just like, “Wow.” It was a revelation in that moment that, this guys we’ve been listening to for 20 years and have on the highest pedestal, was singing. In the next room. On our record. It’s like, “Yeah, Scott Kelly’s on our record,” but in that moment, the gravity of that for us personally hit, and we’re just like, “Holy shit.” He did an amazing, amazing job, and we talked about having me sing with him, and so I just did some backup things with him, harmonies, and sang a couple lines with him, definitely not trying to get in the way of his power and what he was doing, and he loved what we came up with, and so did we. We’re just both really thrilled with it.”

Continue reading: The Obelisk » Blog Archive » YOB Interview with Mike Scheidt: Breathe in the Power Held in This Moment.

Tags: Atma, doom, JJ Koczan, mike scheidt, profound lore, The Obelisk, yob

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 4:55 am and is filed under 2011, Interviews, Roadburn Recommended . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.