Medusa + Kaassouffle

The Yalla Yallas are not a band that is associated with rehearsals. If we’re rehearsing then we’re probably up to something. Last night we were booked in at Eiger Studios in Leeds. This is our regular place to practise. Before the practise I arranged to meet Vince Cayo our new substitute bass player. Vince is stepping in for Dempsey for some of the upcoming tour. I arrange to meet Vince near The Grove Inn at about 7.30pm. I thought I’ll get to The Grove earlier than arranged so I could have a pint before he arrives. I’m surprised to find Vince is already there. He is sitting with Kieran O’Malley. Kieran is a friend of mine who plays a mean violin. He played on my solo record. He had been performing earlier in the day with his band The Sea Whores. I ask Vince why he is so early. He said “I forgot about the fucking clocks”. Ah yes, the clocks. They went back last night signalling the arrival of what feels like an eternal darkness. I actually like this time of year. Sitting at home with the curtains closed, candles lit, and hiding from the cold and rain. I can be anti-social and not feel like I’m being judged. I love it. Kieran tells me to check out an album he made with our friend Nick Wallace. He plays me his favourite track. I forget the name of the song but I ask him to send me the band name. Death Valley Boys Club. I’ll listen to that on Monday evening I thought. We finish our drinks and head off to Eiger leaving Kieran behind.

As we arrive Will is already loaded in and set up. I notice his new Orange cab. It sounds really crisp. I notice another guitar amp. “Is that Dempsey’s? has he brought it for me? he doesn’t need that”. Dempsey had decided that rather than sit about for 2 hours whilst Vince played bass that he would join in and play some rhythm guitar. Will is playing about with some chords. They sound like the chords for ‘Medusa’ one of the new songs I’ve written, but elongated and more arena sized chords. I ask Will to keep playing and I sing over the top. The rhythm is wrong but it sort of works. We decide to work on this idea and end up coming up with a whole new intro to the song. About twenty minutes in we realise that our drummer is missing. We all tried calling Joel. We eventually make contact and Dempsey goes to pick him up. It turns out that he was so engrossed in watching the movie ‘Titanic’ that he forgot about the rehearsal. We decide to add an extra hour of rehearsal to make up for the lost time.

Joel takes about five minutes to set up and we set about working on ‘Medusa’. Joel had convinced me to use this song for The Yallas. I didn’t think it would work. I was wrong. It works as an acoustic-folk anti-love song. It works as a punk song. It’ll probably work as a techno song if someone dare try it. It’s just one of them songs. I love the lyrics. I wrote it as an explanation to a girl I was dating in the summer. She was falling in love, I was still heartbroken “don’t come closer you have been warned, my heart was stolen long ago”. I must admit, I’ve been a little lost for most of this year. After breaking up with my girlfriend in March I’ve been different. Unsettled maybe. I feel cold and heartless at times. Like I’m left with a curse over me. Writing songs is how I fight back. It helps me make sense of the universe. Music gives me strength. It helps me move forward. It helps me understand myself. Medusa is one of those songs.

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We also worked on another new song. This one is less personal. It’s super fun and super catchy. All the words are in Dutch. It’s called ‘Ik hou van Kaassouffle’. It translates as I love Cheese Souffle. When I was on tour with Vince in The Netherlands in July we pretty much lived off Kaassouffle’s. They are like melted cheese in breadcrumbs that are deep fried. We don’t really have anything like it in the UK. Oh man, they are good. I remember being in a train station in Den Bosch joking to our friends Lotte and Sannie that I was going to write a song about Kaassouffle’s, I didn’t think I actually would. A few days ago I got this great little riff in my head and I wrote some words. I wrote a quite a political lyric. It felt too easy. I scrapped them and thought about writing something for the upcoming tour, maybe something in Dutch? It pretty much wrote itself. I thought the band were going to hate it, certainly complain or laugh about it. It turns out they love the song. We filmed a live video  of the rehearsal on my iPhone and uploaded it to Facebook. Instantly our friends on the mainland were sending us nice messages back. Result.



We go through each of the new songs 5 or 6 times and also have a run through some not so regular songs like Intro/Big Idea, and Last Laugh. We would like to have the option of rotating the set list on tour to keep each show different. It’s safe to say that we’re all excited about playing in Europe. There was a lot of energy in the room last night.

Later I get home. My ears are buzzing. I already have tinnitus. A three hour rehearsal doesn’t help. I put on the TV and watch a documentary about the history of Skinhead’s presented by Don Letts. I remember the time I met him in London. I was at an after party at a gig and he was the DJ. He noticed my T-Shirt and confronted me. He was very assertive, you can tell he takes no shit. The shirt in question was a limited edition and he wanted to know where I got it from. In his words only certain people had this tee, including himself. I explained that it was my friend who designed it. We relaxed and had a chat and it turns out we have a fair few friends in common.

I wake up on the sofa about 2am, I must’ve fallen asleep. I notice a message on my phone. It’s from the girl I split up with back in March. It’s the first time she’s explained anything to me. Is it the universe in action again. Do you think it heard The Yalla Yallas rocking out a punked up version of Medusa and decided to give her a nudge? I’d like to think so. I instantly feel more at peace. I decide to remain on the sofa for the rest of the night.

 


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