Interview - YOB
1/22/06
Mike Scheidt discusses the end of YOB and the future of AGE
Sam: YOB had a
good run, after this last summer did you just feel
another YOB line-up would've been too many?
Mike: "I played with 4 different
YOB line-ups over the years, but the last one was the
best by far. We hit a certain peak together vibe wise
as Mike/Isamu/Travis. I know I can and will write
songs just as good as the ones I did for YOB, but the
vibe will undeniably be different with new people.
Rather than do the Ozzy/Dio Sabbath thing, a different
band name feels like the best situation. YOB's history
will stand on it's own, and my new material will be
judged on it's own merits. I am pretty sure that fans
of YOB will dig AGE, as it is cut from the same cloth
stylistically, with some new twists."
Sam: Will AGE be another 3-piece?
MS: "So far, yes. So much can be
done with a three piece, and there is a certain feel
and vibe in that number of people playing together
that is magic to me. Examples: pre-We Live Electric
Wizard, High On Fire, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan,
Rush, Floor, Dove, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn,
Immortal, Darkthrone, Sons Of Otis.....the list goes
on and on. Plus it's great in the tour van to only
have three people plus a roadie. I know four and five
+ member bands out there can appreciate that! This
being said, I have tossed around the idea of having
live samples and visual projection behind the band
which would involve a full time 4th member. Not sure
if this will happen though."
Sam: Are you going to distance
yourself at all from YOB's sound with this new band,
or will it be along the same lines?
MS: "I am going to write what
comes naturally to me. So far I have about 30 minutes
of material that is very much in the vein of YOB, but
different all at the same time. As these tunes get
more rehearsed with new people, the tone will
undeniably be different than YOB. The intent will be
the same: to forge dynamic tunes that CRUSH, SPIRAL,
and CIRCLE in distant black holes and explore distant
worlds. Lyrically, the tone will be less rooted in
traditonal mysticism, and founded more in my own
explorations into the VOID."
Sam: Have you already found
members for the new project? If so, who, and are they
local guys?
MS: "I have been jamming with
Scott Headrick on drums and Will from Human Certainty/Fuck
God In The Face/Ahisma on bass. Both of these guys
are killer musicians with the right vibe and
attitudes about both music and their own lives. Both
of them live in Eugene, which is fabulous. This will
be the first time in many years that all of the
members of the band I am playing in are local. I am
not sure in what capacity as of yet, but Scott Kelly
from Neurosis and I have been talking about some
collaboration on AGE as well. Whether it be in the
studio or otherwise, it can only be good."
Sam: Will there be a new website
up soon for AGE?
MS: "I am currently working
towards getting a demo put together in order to get
some label support, hopefully from Metal Blade if
possible so AGE can continue where YOB left off.
If not them, than someone else. Once that is in place,
I will put up a new site for AGE that I will build
with the idea that I will be able to do updates
myself VS having to have someone else do it for the
band. This will make it much easier to keep the site
dynamic and up-to-date as oppsoed to YOB's websites
of the past. Until then www.yobdoom.com
is still up and running and we are selling what YOB
merch we have there until the AGE site is up. We will
continue to sell YOB merch there as well as AGE merch
too. I am very excited about AGE. I feel it will be
the closest thing I have written to trying to capture
what I hear inside my head, heart, and the ether
musically.