Every once in a while I stumble across a band or album that completely excites me. The Mistress is one of these albums and Yellow Ostrich is one of these bands. Using mostly vocals and little else, Alex Schaaf, who records under the name Yellow Ostrich, has created an album that is fresh, interesting, and totally original.
When I first heard this album I was intrigued with the way Schaaf layers his voice to create these choral chamber-like vocal arrangements under what are otherwise very poppy and contemporary oriented songs. Wanting to learn more I tracked down Schaaf in NYC where he had recently moved from his home state of Wisconsin.
After listening to his album and talking with Schaaf, I was not surprised to learn that Schaaf grew up singing in church choirs, school choruses, and jazz a cappella groups starting in jr. high. The influences of his musical background, and his obvious appreciation for the human voice as a true instrument, can be heard throughout the songs and albums that Schaaf has written and recorded over the years.
There are so many interesting facets to the way Schaaf constructed the songs on The Mistress, especially the way the vocals/voices and the other instruments are spaced and play off of one another. I asked Schaaf how much of what the listener hears is by design. Schaaf said “For the album, I had a clear concept from the beginning, which was to make the album using only a few ingredients….to try and make a whole song using only vocals, one guitar, and one four top. I think that it is more interesting sometimes to put a limit on things.” He went on to add that he only wanted to add something if it was going to bring a new dimension to the song. “I wanted to keep things as focused as could be” he said.
This new focus is apparent. What struck me when listened to The Mistress and then earlier Yellow Ostrich recordings was how differently he uses his voice here. Schaaf said that he wanted to put out a sound that was more angular, aggressive, and harsh. He said, “I did not want to make the soft beautiful, and lush album. I wanted something more tribal.”
Given how open and sparse the songs on The Mistress can sound and feel, I was amaze to find out that there are as many as 30 tracks on a given song. After learning this, I commented to Schaaf that layering and building songs like this requires such commitment and patience. I asked him what this said about his personality and approach to song writing and playing. His initial response….a laugh, which I appreciated.
Schaaf is definitely a lover of the process of creating and building his songs. He told me that when he gets an idea he quickly lays down some rough tracks to keep the idea fresh in his mind. He then takes that idea and starts to play with it. He said that his favorite part about being a musician “is being in that moment when I begin to figure out how to turn that idea into a song.” He went on to say that he still likes the performing aspect of being a musician, but if he could only do one thing for the rest of his life, it would be to create.
Talking with Schaaf, I really felt a mid-West sensibility about him, which I think also comes through on his recordings. Given this, I was curious if his move to NYC was producing the kind of creative results that he expected when he left Wisconsin. He said that logistically the move was the right one. He said that access to other musicians and a wider audience has been great. He said in terms of the move's impact on his music and songs "it is hard to tell because I think even without moving here, the style would have changed....and I think that it should change. I don’t think that staying the same is healthy.”
One large change in Yellow Ostrich's approach to writing, recording, and playing has come with the addition of drummer Michael Tapper, who joined Schaaf a few months back. “It is really great to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and not feel so isolated…creatively” Schaaf said. He went on to say that a third musician, Jon Natchez, has also recently joined Yellow Ostrich, expanding the band's sound with horns, woodwinds and bass.
As our conversation came to a close, I asked Schaaf if he has a favorite song. He said that his favorite song is always the one that he is creating at that moment in time. Circling back to a theme that we had visited earlier on in our conversation, he said he is happiest when he is creating something new.
If The Mistress is any indication of how Schaaf plans on pushing himself creatively, I have no doubt that he is going to be a very happy musician for many years to come.
You can check out The Mistress and his other albums and EP's at Yellow Ostrich. There is a lot of great music here. I told Schaaf that I particularly enjoyed Happy Birthday on Carousels and the very brief Red Ribbon on Yellow Ostrich.
For those who live in Seattle, Yellow Ostrich will be playing at the Crocodile on March 31th.
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