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Music

Extreme Magic

Michael Yonkers makes some of the greatest music you will ever hear. Seriously, the guy’s a genius. Since he started playing guitar in 1962, he’s consistently been making some of the strangest and most amazing rock n roll, noise and...

Photo courtesy of Michael Yonkers

Michael Yonkers makes some of the greatest music you will ever hear. Seriously, the guy’s a genius. Since he started playing guitar in 1962, he’s consistently been making some of the strangest and most amazing rock n roll, noise and experimental music ever put to tape. And we’re lucky to even be hearing it—not just cause it’s great but also because a series of bullshit prevented much of the music Yonkers has made over the past 40 years from being widely released until early this decade. Why? Long story. But here’s a short version: Yonkers and his band recorded an extraordinary album, Microminiature Love, in 1967. Sire was set to release it until the shit went down, as it does, between him and the label and it was shelved for 35 years. The band broke up and Yonkers spent a few years making music on his own and self-releasing his recordings on a small scale. In 1971, Yonkers broke his back in a factory accident, when 2000 pounds of computers fell on him. Experimental surgery resulted in a condition called arachnoiditis, which is extremely painful and makes playing live a rare occurrence. Yonkers kept making and recording music but until Clint Simonson of the awesome label De Stijl tracked him down and released Microminiature Love on vinyl (with Sub Pop following with a CD release) no one really got to hear it. Now another side of Yonkers has been revealed. A bit softer but no less amazing, and odd, is his album Grimwood, which has just been released on CD for the first time since it was recorded back in 1969. Vice decided to see what Yonkers is up to and how he feels about all the fuss. Vice: Grimwood’s a magical record. How does it sound to you thirty years after recording it? Michael Yonkers: It sounds magical to me, also. The most magical part is that I’m listening to it on a CD, after recording it 40 years ago. That is a difficult feeling to explain. Was Grimwood recorded at home or in a studio? Grimwood was recorded in my parent’s basement. I had purchased a couple of reel to reel recorders. I was very disturbed by what I saw going on in the world. I found comfort in being able to do this music all by myself. It was an escape. It was also an opportunity to use some of the effects that I was starting to experiment with. The drone you hear on the song “162” was significant. I had found that a toy being sold then had a solid-state tone generator circuit in it. I purchased some of these toys, removed the tone generator, added some switches and controls and made a primitive synthesiser. How come you started making your own effects? I started experimenting with different ways to make sounds on my own, because there was almost nothing like that available. It’s hard to believe now days but when I started playing, the only available guitar effects were ‘reverb’, ‘echo’ and ‘tremolo’. And these were normally built into the amps. I was listening to a lot of old blues and tried to imitate some of the inherent distortion of the early small, electronic amplifiers by cutting slits in speakers with a razor blade. As time went on, I developed electronic ways to make the sounds. What music are you making these days? You’ve just done a Blind Shake CD? Over the last few years I have recorded with (the new) Michael Yonkers band. The purpose of this band was mainly to record a CD named Unbroken, which we did. We also got to do some wonderful live shows. I just finished a project with a musician named GR, who lives in France. We did the project by sending music files back and forth through the Internet. The CD is named The High Speed Recording Complex. Also, just released is an electronica LP named Circling the Drain. There is a ‘surprise’ recording in the process but after that is done I will only be doing projects on my own, again. Doing collaborations and studio type recordings are way too difficult for me now. That’s fine though. I’m looking forward to getting back to my ‘loner’ approach. Over the past few years you’ve gained a whole new audience and generation of listeners. What are your thoughts about that? It has given me great hope. The audience and generation that I have been fortunate enough to have as listeners seem to be the ‘cream of the crop’. Over these last five years I have met people, on a continuous basis, that are the kind of people I could only dream of meeting. It has been like a dream. Before Clint from De Stijl tracked you down, did you ever imagine that your albums would be re-released? Meeting Clint was perfect timing. I was just about to release Microminiature Love on a CD-R, on my own. I had just purchased my first CD burner… all I had to do was find the master tape. My plan was to just make my own CD-Rs and give them to people. Clint’s way (LP) was way better. I never, in my wildest imaginations, expected it to end up on the Sub Pop label. Clint inspired me to take my music more seriously. I am thrilled that he has put out Grimwood. You came to Australia a few years ago and played. How did you find that experience? Travelling to Australia was a dream come true. I never thought that I would get to go there but thanks to a temporary pain relieving medical procedure known as a ‘prednisone burst’, which I am able to have 3–4 times a year, I was able to make the journey. The experience of playing there, and I mean this sincerely, was one of the top three music times of my life. It was perfect. And I loved the country, as I knew I would. It was a pleasure to meet and play with the Bird Blobs. The Australians that I have met have a ‘life attitude’ that I think we have lost in America. I hear you’re quite the dancer. Could you tell me about your dancing? I started modern dance classes in 1967 on the advice of my Korean karate instructor. I was doing well at this until I broke my back in an industrial accident in 1971. I had major surgery in 1973 but unfortunately a test that they used to do before surgery back then was a disaster. They used to drain the spinal fluid from the spinal cord and replace it with a chemical in order to get better x-rays. This chemical turned out to be extremely toxic and highly allergenic to many people. I almost died as the chemical was being inserted. I was advised that getting back into dance for the therapeutic value would be a very good thing. I did this and I am glad I did. I started doing character roles in dance school productions in order to get free classes as I had no money (a lifestyle for me). Up until a year ago, I was performing in dance concerts. I was a long-time member of the Continental Ballet Company where I did really cool character roles. I was also a long-term member of the Hauser Dance Company (modern dance). I had to quit both companies last year because of a terrible allergic reaction I had to a new drug that was being tried for my spinal problems. This reaction was so terrible that I nearly died from it three times in one week. The chemical reaction dissolved away much of the muscles in my body. I am still recovering from this. I am not sure what is going to happen with dance. Only time will tell. What does your average day involve? Right now, my daily thing is focused on physical therapy. I spend about three hours a day on stretching, strengthening, traction and hydrotherapy. Then I have to spend about another three hours encased in a plastic body cast. After that, I typically play and sing for a while. If I am in the mood, I might write a song or go through some dance type activities. One of my oddities is that I have never cooked a meal in my life. So, I don’t spend much time on food. I tend to just grab stuff out of the fridge and eat it by the sink. I only own one bowl, one spoon and one knife. I use plastic cups and paper plates when I need them. I also like to walk and ride my electric assist bicycle. What are you listening to at the moment? I was born in 1947BR (Before Rock). The first radio I had was a ‘crystal’ radio. One wire that came out of it had to be attached to something like a metal sink pipe. Another long wire had to be stretched out for an antenna. Then you had to carefully tune in an AM ‘country and western’ radio station. That is where I heard my first rock music. I was totally blown away by it. Since then I have been hearing so many bands, for so many years, that it is impossible to single any out. I really enjoy classical music, western (old school), polka, Cajun and free jazz. In terms of making music, I am still having trouble with seeing nothing that is moving—I still want to see tape reels going around and needles on meters going back and forth. I still see recording as a ‘lever and knob’ thing rather than a ‘mouse’ thing but I’m slowly shifting over. I am in awe of what is available, and possible, recording wise, at the present time. YULE TIDE
Grimwood is out now through Stomp. Go to www.michaelyonkers.com for info on his other recent releases.