An Interview With Yam Who?
With only two weeks to go until NYC disco band Odyssey touch down at the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath for a gig of colossal proportions, I caught up with Andy from Yam Who?, who has been working with the band in the studio, for a brief chat about what we have to look forward to and how their studio sessions have been going down.
What can we expect from Odyssey’s live show?
“One of strongest disco vocal groups from that golden era, with a well-honed live performance brought about from many years of touring – a ten piece band at the height of their game.”
Yam Who? have been in the studio working with the band recently, how did that come about?
“We were recording new material for the Yam Who? album with a London vocalist called Natasha Watts, who had previously worked with Odyssey as a backing vocalist. That was the hook-up. For us it’s a once in a lifetime experience, just to hear those famous tracks live.”
How have the studio sessions been going, and what have you been working on?
“We have been working on all of their anthems, re-recorded with a live band. We had a direction for the album, in which it should be ‘one-takes’, keeping the over-dubs and editing to a minimum. Their sound is quite diverse and not just entirely disco – some of the tracks Odyssey wanted slightly faster, some given a ‘Philadelphia’ feel. There are new recordings of ‘Going Back To My Roots’, ‘Native New Yorker’, ‘Inside Out’ and many more – even some reggae versions!”
What does the rest of the year hold for the band?
“More shows in London, as well as festivals like the Garden Festival in Croatia. The first single to be released will be Ashley Beedle’s remixes of ‘Native New Yorker’, backed with Toby Tobias and PBR Streetgang reworkings of ‘Inside Out’. The full album will be released on ISM Records in May.”
Posted by Sam Redmore on: http://freestylebirmingham.blogspot.com