Following their latest release ‘Keep Runnin’, Yeah But No stopped by to chat about their experiences, music, and more.
Fabian Kuss and Alex Niggemann, the founder of AEON, collaborated on the project, Yeah But No. The team is carving out a haunting sound that is well shown in their latest production series: The Shadow Self, which is influenced by mesmerizing techno and outstanding pop music. The second edition attracted support from some of the most well-known names in electronic music, including Dixon, Mind Against, and Adriatique, to name a few, laying the groundwork for The Shadow Self III’s popularity.
Hello guys, we are happy to have you here with us. How did you come up with the ‘Yeah But No’ collaborative project?
Alex: Yeah But No was already existing, when I jumped on to it. Fabian and I were working together on a project during the same amount of period, wanting it to start as a new project. When the former member Douglas decided to leave, we took this as a great opportunity to continue the project, with a fresh face and start.
‘Keep Running’ is an extraordinary release as it copes with a sensual theme throughout the song. Is there much freedom in creating music that touches your soul rather than chasing the trends?
Thank you! We are taking all the freedom we want when writing new music. We just take our time and become creative. When being in the studio you feel when a sketch feels right and tells you to work on it more. And at the end you have something you are happy about or something that needs to go away. That is also inherited in our name.
We know that both of you produce under different solo monikers. How do you guys manage to work together?
Fabian: We are constantly in touch and although we have different solo commitments we are always working on something for Yeah But No. Especially as we are getting closer to performing live again there is a lot of rehearsals going on in Berlin. We are really looking forward to our upcoming shows.
Alex: The advantage of digitalization is that you can be anywhere at any time in the world and still work together.
Your debut album on Sinnbus was released back in 2017. What was it like to create an entire album?
Fabian: It was a process that almost took two and a half years. Douglas Greed and me were collaborative partners in his Douglas Greed Live project since 2012. Since then we worked on a lot of dancefloor tracks. For a couple of years we wrote songs that we knew wouldn’t fit the four to the floor scheme because they had different tempo or vibes and so we decided to „collect“ all these gems and work on them a little harder. There was a lot of back and forth with these tracks as we really needed to lay down our vision for this band. There are a lot of unreleased tracks from back then that didn’t make it to the album.
Alex: and in the meantime in the past 3 years, I think Fabian and I have already written as many tracks that could fill an entire album again. We just decided against it, as though the up and downs in the past, we wanted to generate a constant output, also being flexible, not knowing how it would be like during and after Covid.
You both are from Germany. What’s the scene like there at the moment, especially in terms of what you’re doing musically?
Fabian: The music scene is getting back in track. Promoters and clubs are still handling a lot of troubles and also cover somehow always strikes back but I think the scene is looking much more confident into the future.
Alex: Agreed, though I think the scene will have to reinvent itself for that and find new ways, which already happened to start during Corona. It will be challenging times. But art will always find its way. It’s a creative business.
How do you motivate yourself to create music?
Fabian: I don’t need motivation. I just want to play and I want to experience music and sounds in every possible way. When I go to my studio to me its like finally being back in my world. As a kid I played with Lego most of the day. And now when I sit down on an instrument, sing a vocal melody or I shove coloured midi clips in Ableton I am that kid again.
Alex: I usually don’t need special motivation. The good thing about writing music is, that it is a mirror of your soul at that certain moment. It always has something to say. It also is a good therapy. Sometimes I just need a starting point. An Idea, a melody, a riff or sometimes just a tiny vocal snippet from Fabian. That triggers. My „go to studio“ nerve straight.
What can your fans expect from you in the future? Are there going to be any remixes or live performances?
We have been working on firstly new music and of course on a completely new live performance that we are going to show at the end of May (26.05.22 – Berlin Gretchen / 27.05.22 – Hafen 2 Offenbach). We are also working on collaborations with buddies that have recently done remixes for us.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. We are looking forward to hearing your new music. We wish you all the best!
Thanks so much. See you on the dance floor!
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