Interview - Yellowtieguy

 Today, I have the privilege of interviewing local DMV rock band Yellowtieguy.

The band has been around since 2009 and is the brain-child of lead singer/songwriter and producer Daniel Warren Hill. Over the years, they have cycled through different band members and released two albums 'Play on Words' (2016) and 'Joy in the Mourning' (2011). These days, they released the singles 'I Cry' and 'Information' leading up to their album 'The Inevitable Unexpected'. You can listen to both their singles below:

Yellowtieguy took time out of their busy day to speak with ComputedBeats. Band members Daniel Warren Hill (Lead) , Jamie Rasmussen (Bass), Eric Sanford (Percussion) and Kyle Crosby (Keyboard) each joined to answer questions.

CB: Welcome to ComputedBeats

YTG: Thanks. Thanks for having us.

CB: Tell us a little about you as a band, how you all met and how long you've all been playing together.

Jamie Rasmussen: The band at its inception was really Dan's brainchild and solo project from the start in 2009 but we had all been playing with different bands before in the region and then we all joined to become this sort of "discount supergroup".

Dan Hill: Yeah we all knew of each other by seeing each other play in other bands and then Jamie came in first in 2014 after he filled in for one show and I asked him if he wanted to keep doing it and he accepted. Eric joined in 2018 and Kyle is the newest member of the band and he joined late last year. 

Eric Sanford: Yeah I met these guys multiple times and we jammed a couple of times and I felt compelled to join after Dan asked me to.

Kyle Crosby: I'm definitely the new guy and I only played one show but have felt like our collaboration is much more synergistic, especially now while writing and recording these singles and eventually our album. Even though we all have different tastes, I feel like the music we come up with is better than the sum of all its parts.

CB: That's great. Usually you hear of bands who've known each other since they were little kids but its fun to see it happen this way too. Speaking of different tastes, what music inspires you? Who do you feel moves you in music?

DH: Well for this upcoming album specifically, we were really inspired by the way Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl recorded their album 'Sonic Highways'. Except we really wanted to get the best out of the talent that we know is available in the DMV area. We wanted to record in different studios and ultimately we wanted it to be produced in and of the region. We got a mixing engineer from Baltimore and I was mastering some of the songs myself. We really wanted to capture the collaborative spirit here while trying to work with different producers, engineers, session musicians and other artists. That's who really inspires me too, local artists in the area that are doing great things.

KC: Yeah especially during COVID-19 it was tough to collaborate but we would just use files through dropbox and the synergy of different styles put together sounded great. 

CB: So how have you seen this inspiration manifest itself in your music?

JR: Well I listen to all kinds of music, from 90's alt rock to pop punk to ska bands and local artists, and I feel like we can definitely hear the different influences of these genres in our music because even though we call ourselves a 'rock band' we might have a song that sounds a little more punk or folksy depending on how we write it.

ES: Yeah I'm mostly a classic rock, 90s alt rock and folks and blues guy, and I don't even listen to some of the other genres these guys listen to but when it all comes together and we each bring our own flavor into it, it really adds to our own personality as a band and makes us unique I think.

CB: What's your favorite venue to play in DC?

DH: 9.30 club and any venue we haven't played yet, *laughs* this version of our band has only played one show together really. Now with COVID, its been tough planning new shows at new venues. We had a fun spring/summer tour planned but unfortunately we had to cancel that. With previous versions of the band IOTA in Clarendon was also one of our favorite venues to play. DC to me is really the DMV and not just DC proper.

CB: How about your favorite album that you've released, do you have one favorite over the other or is it just different times in your life when you recorded each album?

DH: Play on Words is really a better representation overall, it's a mix between happy and sad and shows more of our range I believe.

(From left to right: Kyle Crosby, Daniel Warren Hill, Jamie Rasmussen, Eric Sanford)

CB: Just going back a little, how did the name Yellowtieguy come about?

DH: When I was 11, I was attending this youth conference. They asked me to come up on stage in front of around 2500 people for about 3 minutes. I went back 4 years later as a 15 year old and people still recognized me as the kid with the yellow tie on. Back then the yellow ribbon was also a symbol supporting our troops. I was a hippie kid but ultimately grew up in a military family so representing and supporting the troops meant a lot to me so I kind of just went with it and felt good about it.

CB: Amazing story. How do you fill your days with music?

ES: I don't usually like to listen as much when I'm making music but when I'm not I like to go way back and revisit some old punk bands or just go and explore some music I haven't heard before.

KC: I used to room with a chef, and whenever he used to come back home, he never wanted to cook at all. I feel the same way with music, sometimes when I've been working constantly all day mixing and working on a song, I want to go back home and be done with it. Outside of those days, I really am constantly discovering and actively listening to and studying new music. I hear a song or an album and realize or like a new take I've heard. I also like to get out of my comfort zone because I never know what I'm going to find.

JR: I listen to music as loud as I possibly can. I usually do that in my car. Sometimes I listen in so intently and focus on the music that I get annoyed by stuff that's happening on the road. Other times when I reach home, I just sit in the car for 20 minutes just so I can finish what I am listening to. It's usually just old CDs that I have ripped on my phone, I never listen to anything mainstream. To me, pop and mainstream stuff is just noise.

DH: I am constantly engaged in the DC music scene. Outside of the band I am a publisher at Alchemical Records. I usually listen to submissions by artists from everywhere or things that people send me, so I always have music that I need to listen to and I just listen to that and enjoy it.

CB: Speaking of listening, do you have a favorite streaming platform?

DH: I believe Spotify's UI is a little clunky to be honest but I like YouTube for listening. I believe streaming platforms will only improve once artists start getting paid better. When I'm on the app, I'm not discovering, I have a purpose in mind and need to listen to a certain song or artist.

KC: I listen to a lot of West Coast radio stations. I really like Sirius XM because of the human element. There is a DJ or someone behind the music who is curating it for you. Spotify and other machine learning algorithms will only show you or recommend you songs based on what you've heard before, that means nothing to me. I want things I haven't heard before.

ES: I use Spotify sometimes but I don't use it to explore usually, when I go on YouTube I will definitely explore a little bit more.

JR: I don't like streaming services. I rip CDs that I have onto my phone. I was really big into Pandora when they had independent artists but then they stopped that and I stopped using them.

CB: Interesting. For anyone looking forward to your work, do you have any plans going forward? Shows, release date for the album?

DH: If trends continue, we are anticipating a summer 2021 potential release date for 'The Inevitable Unexpected' but we will be releasing singles along the way up until then. Unfortunately we don't have any live shows planned because of COVID. Ideally, I would like to have a festival where I can invite bands where we can play safely and have everyone's safety in mind. Until that happens, we've just been working on music videos, lyric videos and acoustic versions of previous music to show the versatility of our music. Really just trying to make the best out of our time right now and obviously recording, mastering and mixing the album itself.

CB: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with us, good luck with everything in the future!

YTG: Thank you!

Personally, I cannot wait for the album to drop! Make sure to follow Yellowtieguy on all social media platforms:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify 

Thank you so much for reading and as always, stay tuned for more awesome music!