On the eve of the launch of their debut album ‘Kill The Cop Inside Your Head’, we managed to catch a few moments with busy bass behemoth Laura Ankles from the band (and all the bands) to ask a few questions.
Why ‘Yakkie’? Is it a deliberate non-word (like, er, ‘Chumbawamba’) or, if there IS a meaning would you even tell us? We promise not to spread it about about on the internet.
YAKKIE is actually Chumbawamba in Swedish.
The album is a brilliant snapshot of your live set right now. It rocks, with a nice mix of different styles which your bandcamp labels ‘punk.grunge.metal.’; was there a deliberate plan to merge those in pursuit of a particular sound, or did things evolve more organically?
Thanks so much!! We all definitely went in with slightly heavier intentions musically than what a lot of our other projects are – we were all teenage metalheads so it kind of feels like it was a long time coming! With the songs themselves, it felt like more of an organic process, but maybe with some of the production choices and sounds we were thinking a bit more deliberately about who our influences were. We listened to a lot of 90s grungey stuff in the car and it SHOWS.
A question from Charley ‘F.’ Stone: Can you tell us about the recording process; did the (self-imposed) sense of urgency and telescoping of taping/mixing/mastering contribute to the result? (“It almost feels like they tapped into that ”other” space that sometimes comes into a room when different minds are all intensely focused on one creative endeavour in one moment”- CFS)
It definitely left its mark on the album! Making art with limited means, whether that is in terms of resources, time, whatever, can lead to some fucking cool results in my opinion. It left us with less time to deliberate over things – we had to make creative choices in the moment and it has given the album a sense of urgency. Plus there’s a couple of tasteful little mistakes in there and I love that sort of character in playing. Most importantly though, that sound of the tape machine firing up makes my brain go BRRRRRR.
There‘s an overt and proud capital-P political stance behind most if not all of the lyrics (some present as more personal so it’s harder to tell) and onstage statements – more than most bands, and a bit more thought-through beyond the typical subjects. Does that come from being slightly older-wiser, more ideological, more intersectional?
All four of us have been involved in activism of various kinds over the years, but also the writing is very much informed by our lived experience. Even the more personal lyrics are coming from a perspective where our very existence is politicised, whether we want it to be or not. If people are expecting you to be angry or opinionated or whatever, you might as well just lean into that – and be articulate about it whilst you’re at it!
What are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just started rereading the Discworld books as they were my faves as a child, and they’re holding up pretty well! I re-read Are Prisons Obsolete on a train journey recently, which is definitely recommended reading alongside listening to YAKKIE I’d say.
You’re all busy with families, other bands and commitments. We’re extremely glad you had the time to make this LP, but should we anticipate more, or wind our necks in and enjoy what there is? If we’re allowed to get our hopes up, what’s next for Yakkie?
We definitely initially had a vision of being a “one and done” kinda band – like, put out a record and then peace out, but to be honest making our album and playing so many shows has just fuelled the fire and we want to make more! So yeah… we will be writing more this year and then I guess we’ll see what happens.
Where can people grab the album, see you live, get in touch with the band?
You can buy Kill The Cop Inside Your Head directly from us via bandcamp, or you can stream from the usual places except Spotify or Amazon cos fuck those companies. We are on tour with the inimitable Dead Pioneers at the end of February and our album launch show is 21st March at the Victoria in Dalston. Follow us on instagram 🤮 or better yet sign up to our mailing list!
Yakkie join us at the LOUD WOMEN stage at Rebellion Festival this summer
