INTERVIEW – DAVID YOW/QUI

Interviewing bands is so boring sometimes, what with the listless torrent of tiring self promotion and tour stories. Luckily I just spoke to David Yow and now I feel like I could bare-knuckle box Mike Tyson. David was the guy that used to get naked and frighten off audiences in Scratch Acid, the Jesus Lizard and now Qui. He is better than you.

Vice: Hi David, how are you?
David Yow: I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday but I managed to nip it in the bud with some chicken broth, orange juice and whole bunch of hippy shit my friend gave me.

Hippy shit? Like herbs that you smoke?
No not that, just some pills.

So what have you been up to since the Jesus Lizard split in 1999? I heard you were a mean cook.
Yes I cook, in fact on this upcoming tour we will have Qui aprons for sale. Mostly though I have mostly been working in photography. Mike Patton told me that I was making him a solo record for Ipecac whether I liked it or not so I’ve been working on that a little and then I hooked up with the Qui guys.

You used to get naked a lot in the Jesus Lizard. How naked do you get with Qui on a scale of 1 to 10?
With one being fully clothed and ten butt-fucking-naked? Maybe 5. With the Jesus Lizard I had certain choreographed naked moves. The “Tight & Shiny” involved an 8 minute build up to testicle exposition. With Qui I get a little naked but not the whole way. No one wants to see my wrinkly, hairy old crack. It definitely shares the same maniacal spirit though.

You used to clear rooms with some of your antics. What is the most extreme crowd reaction you’ve had with Qui?
I think people kind of know what to expect by this point so being needlessly confrontational is pointless. I got a pretty crazy reaction from something I said at the Vice SXSW party this year. It was all you guys’s fault though. We turned up late and you said that we couldn’t play so we just started getting into a whole load of beer and stuff and then we ended up going on later in the day. As I looked out from the stage, I was pretty intoxicated and I could just see a sea of white faces so I shouted: “Where are the niggers at?” I’m not a racist. I just think I am funny. That didn’t go down so well though. There were some bottles thrown and booing and some girl hit me repeatedly on the head as I walked offstage. She was a very small girl though so it did not really have a big effect.

Uh oh. That doesn’t sound so good. Your record is entitled “Loves Miracle.” What is the miracle of love for you?
I am not sure. The record was originally going to be called “Pussy Cheeks” so it could have gone either way really.

How did you end up playing with Paul and Mat in Qui?
I knew them from around as friends and they got me to record vocals for a Zappa cover and then we did it live. It just felt really natural. It is nice to play loud music with dear friends.

– “Loves Miracle” by Qui is out now on Ipecac Records