A winter in Pennsylvania is defined by one thing: snow. I found myself lost in a sea of North Face parkas and Ugg boots, as I tried to keep my peacoat dry on my way to a 9 am class in a hailstorm. The Yetis spent their winter writing indie pop from their home in Allentown, PA. The two sets of brothers gathered around a space heater and made their music video, Little Surfer Girl, reminding me that the summer isn’t as far as it seems. Their music is “easy to get behind” as you roll down the windows and dream of being on a beach by day and rockstar by night. I got a chance to talk to Nick about the band's brotherly dynamic, new EP, and some future music videos. Check out the interview below.
POND: How did you all meet?
NICK: We’re two sets of brothers. Me and the drummer are brothers, and the guitarist and bassist are brothers. We all live two minutes away from each other. I met Stefan, who is my age, in music class in fifth grade. We had to draw pictures on our folders of things we liked and we were both drawing guitars. His older brother was the older brother who was always hanging out with us, when they didn’t want him to. I ended up becoming really good friends with him and he asked me to join his band. Later on, we asked both of our brothers to join.
POND: What made you want to get into music?
NICK: The Arctic Monkeys were a big influence in 2009. 50s music was also big, and the Strokes of course. It’s just so cool to play music with your friends. We never thought we could really make anything of it. Only until exactly a year ago, when we got my brother on the drums, did we say “let’s go for it,” and we started doing stuff online.
POND: If you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
NICK: Christian is graduating film school this year, actually. I went to school for English. I wanted to be a writer. I always say something that allows us to travel and make a lot of money.
POND: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
NICK: Someone modern probably, like Kevin Parker. It would be so sweet to have his production. He’s such a good songwriter. Or like Buddy Holly from the 1950s.
POND: What are you currently listening?
NICK: 50s music, there’s this guy, Larry Williams, who wrote the song “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” the Beatles cover. It’s so good for the summer. I’m also listening to some modern music, The Parrots, they are a band from Madrid. There’s a band called The Orielles from England. They are our age, two girls and a guy, that are awesome. I’m listening to this band from Japan called Boys Age. They are two guys on Burger records that are amazing. And also, the Trap Doors, he’s our friend from Allentown, he’s on Soundcloud and he’s awesome.
POND: Who writes your songs?
NICK: Newest two songs [Mysterion and Where You Goin’?] were written by Christian and he sings “Where You Goin?” We were suppose to sing “Mysterion” together but we were pressed for time. He wrote those two, he’s such a creative guy. That was the original partnership, me and him. We write separate, but we probably write best together. These new songs, I’m really happy with them because it shows the evolutionary first step. “Little Surfer Girl” and “Warm California” were really awesome because we wrote them really naturally. They were songs we wrote from the heart because they were kind of blues songs, we were having the blues about our dreams not coming true. They are great debut singles because they are really easy to get behind. These new songs represent how we have always been as artists, not just about surfing.
POND: Tell me about your music video, “Little Surfer Girl.”
NICK: We, originally, tried to shoot a music video at the beach in New Jersey. It’s a place called Surf City, where Patrick and I actually took surfing lessons. We didn’t have enough footage and we were like, wait it should represent how we wrote the song more, which was in the winter in the snow. We wanted to do a free form thing, really have fun and capture spontaneity.
POND: What has been your favorite performance you guys have had so far?
NICK: We do this thing to make money in Allentown. We play at a bar and we have to play for three hours, but there’s only like eight people there. We go crazy with like rock and roll covers.
POND: What’s in the future?
NICK: The EP will be released with Lolipop Records on cassette. We’re going to do like five songs. Also, we are filming a music video for Mysterion with Ryan Ohm who did many of Twin Peaks' videos. I’m psyched about that coming up. Videos are a huge thing because we don’t have the money to get back in the studio yet and they are the best way to keep promoting the band.
