10 Questions with | Yoder the Band
Yoder the Band is made up of brothers Jayce (Vocals and Guitar) and Jevin Yoder (Drums). They originate from Kansas, but that just means the bring a midwest attitude to everything they do. Only having released one song so far, they may just be beginning, they have big plans for the future. Indie Boulevard talked to Jayce & Jevin about new single, creative process and future plans.
IB: Hello Jayce and Jevin. I always enjoy talking with young bands who are just starting out in the music industry. I'd like to start our conversation with a question about your journey. Your tracks sound high quality and with an understanding of their genre and the business in general. How long ago did you guys start making music? How and when did the idea to form a band and present your work to the world come about?
J&J: Thank you! We are brothers and grew up playing and singing music regularly at family gatherings. Our parents started both of us with piano lessons at an early age, but after several years Jevin switched to drums and Jayce to guitar. We teased the idea of making music together when we were both in high school, but didn’t devote much time to it and Jevin moved away to college soon after. Six years later, after each of us had graduated from our colleges, we found ourselves with the same dream - to make music for a living. In 2019 we moved in together in Fort Worth and began our journey as Yoder the Band. We hit our first couple of milestones in 2022 when we released our first song and played our first show.
IB: I noticed that in 2022 you have already released 6 singles. Music is a full time job. How do you manage to balance your personal life and your musical career?
J&J: Communication and organization are key. We both have full time jobs outside of music so time management isn’t optional. Even so, our sleep and social lives sometimes take a hit even when we try our hardest for them not to.
IB: How do you create tracks and what plugins and programs do you use?
J&J: The DAW we use is Studio One. While all of our songs include some element of collaboration, each one of them came together a little differently. For example, sometimes Jayce will pull out the guitar and start playing. Then an idea will form on the spot and a song is made. A couple of our favorite plugins are Thermal and ShaperBox 2 - both of which just make stuff sound cooler.
IB: What do you think "perfect mastering" should sound like?
J&J: Mastering isn’t meant to drastically alter a song. Instead, a perfectly mastered song would sound amazing on earbuds, headphones, car stereos, and anywhere else it might get played.
IB: In your songs you are constantly experimenting with sounds and shapes, and this can be heard in your new single "Overwhelmed". You use rock riffs, pop motifs, synths, almost dream-pop vocals, but your signature electro-dream sound can always be heard. Can I say that you definitely found your genre or are you still searching for the best sound?
J&J: It took a while to truly find our sound, but we can confidently say our most recent two releases (Headphones and Overwhelmed) are our sound. That doesn’t mean that our sound palette won’t expand and shift in the future as we both grow and change as people, but we aren’t searching for a different sound.
IB: Your music conveys a sense of lightness and joy. I think that's what the world needs right now. An island of peace and friendship. How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music?
J&J: That’s exactly what we want people to think when listening to our music. Both of us deal with depression, anxiety, and worrying about life in general. Music is a way to help us get through it. If our music brings joy and hope to others like it does to us, we have accomplished something wonderful.
IB: Is there an artist or band whose outstanding example spurs you on to achieve your goals?
J&J: Jon Bellion. He is an inspiration to us as a songwriter, a musician, and a producer. If we can follow his path of making music along with producing, songwriting, and living a life full of music. That would be our dream.
IB: Everyone who is engaged in creativity wants to become popular, that's a fact. What heights do you want to reach as a musician?
J&J: We’re reaching for the sky! Not only do we want to become the best at what we do, we want to be able to collaborate with other amazingly talented folks in the music industry. We want to be involved with the creation of music that impacts the world. The first step is reaching a point where we can quit our day jobs.
IB: Guys, the frequency with which you release singles tells me that the world will soon hear LP or EP. Tell me about your plans for the future.
J&J: We have been writing songs like crazy over the past few months and hope to release some more singles along with an album within about a year. It hasn’t even been a year since we released our first song and we have learned a lot since then. Next year will be even better!
IB: And the last question. Imagine that you have become worldwide pop stars. That's an incredible pressure and responsibility. How are you going to deal with the stress?
J&J: Ooh that’s tough. Take one day at a time and remember where we came from. It would be an incredible honor to make it to the top and we would have to keep ourselves accountable to not get swept up in the new challenges of fame.
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