Over the past two years, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' mounting fame has taken them out of New York and across the globe. For a band whose only release to date, Master, is a five-song EP, that's pretty impressive. They've been named the latest indie-rock darlings, and everyone from record companies to fashion magazines has perpetuated the myth that they're the (next) band to "save Rock and Roll".

In this case, some of the hype is true; the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have concocted a perfect marriage of blues, new wave, punk and art-rock that never lingers long enough on any particular style to be slapped with a definitive label; it's stark, exposed, angular and minimal. Their live show is equally impressive. Drummer Brian Chase draws from the power of Art Blakey and Clyde Stubblefield. Guitarist Nick Zinner, dressed in black, coaxes cooler than thou tones from his instrument. And then there's singer Karen O's Hedwig-meets-Missing-Persons persona. In short, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on the sort of shows where you wake up the next day and scramble to the CD shop hoping the disc didn't sell out while you were sleeping.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently passed through my home town, Salt Lake City. After I sent them a series of quasi-stalker e-mails, they agreed to sit down and chat with me before sound check. I brought along my friend Brooklyn for moral support, figuring that the fact that she works for corporate America as a priestess of hostile take-over would come in handy in case the band was too surly. On the contrary: I couldn't have asked for more gracious hosts. We hunkered down in their tour bus, turned on the nitrous oxide (Editor's note: this is a joke. When you see all the giggling that goes on in this interview -- and we removed a lot of it -- you'll understand.) and got down to business.

Splendid: The way I came to know about you guys is, well, I happened to see this photo. (Holds up a pic from Nylon magazine showing Karen and her friend/designer Christian Joy decked out in YYY garb covered in beer and lipstick).

Karen O: Oh, right. (They laugh)

Splendid: And so I thought, okay, yeah, there's lots of hype, but look at this picture. These guys have got to be cool.

Brooklyn B: (laughing) I thought, "Am I going to get wet?" (All laugh)

Splendid: I was at a local CD store a few days after I saw this and I heard this music playing and asked the clerk "Who is this? This is great!" She pointed to the copy of Master on the counter. So I had to get that out of the way: I'm a fan.

Karen O: Cool.

Splendid: I want to ask about the remix project first. You've posted a call for remixes on your web site. How's that going?

Nick Zinner: Um...

Splendid: I read a little blurb about it somewhere

Nick: Yeah. It's not really taking any shape or form yet.

Splendid: Really?

Karen O: Well, we're getting plenty of remixes.

Nick: Yeah, we have lots of really cool stuff, but we just haven't decided what to do with it yet. It seems kind of premature to decide what sort of method to put it out on yet.

Splendid: I read about the woman who sent you her version of "Bang" with her on vocals and Casio.

Karen O: Yeah, it was rad. She has a gift. (she laughs)

Splendid: I'm actually working on a remix, and this (the interview) is going to be part of it.

Karen and Nick: Sweet.

Splendid: It's sort of in a...are you familiar with Kid 606?

Nick: Yeah.

Splendid: It's in sort of a Kid 606 style.

Nick: Excellent. Yeah. The more destructive the better.

Karen O: (making a subtle devil horns with her hand) Oh yeah, we really like destructive. (They all laugh some more.)

Karen O: We love destructive. Foetus! We want Foetus. That's the only "star" we want to remix our shit.

Splendid: Good old Jim.

Karen O: Yeah, we love him. That would be amazing!

Splendid: Cool. Anyway, about the remixes... I figured there were loads of people just putting dance beats underneath the songs.

Nick: Exactly. Just looping something with a (makes cheap drum machine beat).

Splendid: What's the point of that?

Karen O: I know. The scarier the better!

Splendid: (laughing) I'll remember that. One of my professors is working on one too.

Nick: (amazed) Oh, really?

Splendid: I'll tell him to go for scary.

Nick: People have been sending in these soundclash things where they take a loop from one of our songs with, like, Dre rapping over it.

Splendid: (laughing) That actually sounds kind of cool. Anyway... One thing I want to talk about -- I don't want to ask you to save Rock and Roll. We'll get that out of the way. Clear on that. The question is: Master sounds really raw. Is that the specific sound you were aiming for? I mean, did you intend it to sound that way?

Nick: It's just the way it ended up sounding. It's sort of what we sound like.

Splendid: On your new record, are you doing things like, say, more overdubs?

Karen O: It's definitely a different level of production, but that's only because our songs are now at a sort of different level of "song" since the EP. So yeah, we're just trying to tailor the sound to the new songs. The EP songs were more just sort of demos and that's what we were at the time: more sort of rough and stripped down. Now we've sort of swelled out the sound a little so it just called for more, you know, production.

Splendid: Yeah.

Karen O: (laughs) Better production.

Splendid: Well the production on Master definitely has a charm to it...

Karen O: Definitely.

Splendid: I like to search for bands on file-sharing sites. I sort of gauge a band's fan-base size by how many files they have. You guys seem to have quite a bit of stuff on there. All songs from Master, plus these radio show recordings -- things like "Rich", "Pin", "Tick". Are all those going to be on the new record?

Karen O: Uh-huh.

Splendid: What do you think about people downloading your stuff for free? Do you really care at this point or is it still just cool to have people listening?

Nick: I'm all for it. If it lets people hear us, then it's fine with me. I don't think we're in a position right now to worry if it will affect our record sales.

Splendid: Well, Master is pretty much a word of mouth kind of thing right? (Nick and Karen nod.) How has radio helped? Has it at all?

Karen O: College radio.

Nick: Definitely. College radio totally picked up on us -- well, basically, certain stations on the West coast. They've been really enthusiastic and supportive.

Splendid: You have a pretty big fan-base overseas, in countries like Sweden and the UK, right?

Karen O: Yeah.

Splendid: Do you think they receive you better, or maybe better understand what you are about?

Karen O: Oh, not necessarily, I just think it's so much smaller over there that we're able to, um, "conquer" so much more in a smaller amount of time. I think that word gets around quicker just because it's so contained. We just did our first Blues Explosion tour in Europe and we went everywhere. We hit all the bases and it was just so much easier to get around. We've only done a brief US tour, just kinda Midwest and down south a little, so we haven't really been around here much. I think once we do, maybe we'll catch on better. I mean, our best interest is to catch on in our home country.

Splendid: I suppose or you could get really big in China. That would be good.

Nick: Oh yeah.

Karen O: That would be rad, man. We're hoping for the Asian continent.

Splendid: Back to this picture: the article talks about how you have someone designing your clothes. How big of a part do the costumes, stage and lighting play? Is it a conscious effort?

Karen O: Of course. Putting on a show and having the raw materials there... It's not a really pre-calculated thing, like we're going to get on the stage and do this and that. But going on stage and having like, you know...hot gear (she laughs) to wear really puts me in the zone much quicker and easier -- it gives me this persona thing which makes it easier, 'cause I'm not quite the same on-stage as I am off-stage. Putting on a good show is what we like to do and what makes (a live show) more exciting is when people rise to the occasion.

Splendid: So how would you describe your music to your moms? (They laugh) Break down all the labels...

Brooklyn B: Have you described it to your mom?

Karen O: (laughing) They come and see it; all of our parents are big fans. Nick, what would you say?

Nick: (chuckles) I told my mother that she would like it cause she hated my other band.

Nick: My father's favorite song is "Art Star".

Splendid: Really? That's unusual. What sort of background does he come from that would prepare him for that?

Nick: Show tunes (laughs).

Splendid: (laughing) That makes sense, then. I'm going to try and avoid the comparisons that you guys get all the time. You're sort of lumped in with people like The White Stripes just because you don't have a bassist. It seems that that gets talked about quite a bit. Why do you think people find it so unsettling for you not to have a bass guitar?

Nick: Hmm...

Karen O: I don't know, really...

Nick: Because it's still such an anomaly to not have a bass player -- like it's de facto that you have to have one?

Splendid: Not having one is no big deal. In the jazz world, guitarists have to settle with playing these three note chords 'cause the bass player and piano are hogging up all the bass notes. You, however, get to fill up the whole spectrum...

Karen O: Definitely. Well, I think that Nick's guitar doesn't sound like a guitar...

Splendid: No, not at all.

Karen O: So that's why I don't think we need a bassist. I think if it did sound just like a guitar, we'd be in trouble. But it sounds like, you know, some other outer space instrument that covers...

Brooklyn: Fills in the gaps...

Karen O: Yeah. Many instruments in one.

Nick makes a face at Karen.

Karen O: It's true!

Splendid: I don't think it sounds like typical guitar playing either...

Karen O: No, no...

Splendid: I think of your sound more like, maybe, early Bauhaus...

Nick: Yeah? Thanks.

Splendid: I hear a lot of Daniel Ash channeling through you. I don't know if that's true.

Nick: You're a guitar player, right?

Splendid: Yes. Bauhaus is the reason I really got into music. What do you think of the comparison of you guys to a post-punk sound?

Nick: It's really good company to keep and really flattering.

Splendid: Your guitar style involves plugging in and playing without relying on too many pedals. Is that how you prefer to work?

Nick: Yes. I mean, I don't want to be too flashy.

Splendid: What guitarists did you look up to when you were first learning to play -- or now, for that matter?

Nick: Roland Howard, who played with Birthday Party and Nick Cave...pretty much all the guitar players that Nick Cave had, like Blixa Bargeld, who played with (adopts German accent) Einstürzende Neubauten. I like Daniel Ash too, and Jon and Judah from Blues Explosion are terrific.

Splendid: Who -- inside or outside of music -- inspired you to form a band?

Karen O: I don't know. It's hard to say. I mean, I'm pretty young. I'm just 23, and when I was in high school, I lived in Jersey, and there was that whole crop of New York City bands like the Blues Explosion and this band called Jonathan Fire*Eater. I'd go into the city to see them and they'd just rock my world. I like that level they're on -- that sort of underground and sort of...it's just a really good space where they are. It's a New York space. I think that's what really inspired me. I mean I never imagined we'd be going overseas or anything like that. So when we started the band, we were looking around us to see who our peer bands were and we weren't really impressed. It was really...un-rocking. So we thought, "Hey, let's see what we can do". I think we were more influenced by that and what was going on locally.

Splendid: Who are some acts that were around you that made you wonder, "Why did they make it?"

Karen O: You mean not happy about? (She laughs) I don't know. It's hard to say...

Splendid: I mean, of course you don't wish ill on anyone...

Karen O: Oh, of course. It's kind of like...well the first bands that really made it were, of course, The Strokes, and The White Stripes, who of course are not from New York. I think we were sort of growing when they were already big, so we never saw any bands around us get big before we were in that position. Now we see bands every day getting snapped up...the ones that were around before or after us that were total crap.

Splendid: I know you have lots of record labels chasing you. Have you settled on anyone yet?

Nick: Yeah.

Karen O: Close.

Nick: We've narrowed it down to a couple.

Splendid: Obviously the ones you've narrowed it down to "get it", right?

Nick: Oh yeah. Yeah, most of them don't get it. Although they insist that they do, they don't.

Karen O: They really don't -- they don't seem to get anything at all, especially in the music. What's discouraging is we're seeing all the "greats" -- producers, and music...what's the word...landmarks? You know, the people who are just legendary in music and they get injected back into the majors as these sort of lures. We hear, "We have so and so and he produced these cool and amazing bands," but he did that like, twenty years ago...

Brooklyn: And this is supposed to entice you?

Karen O: Right! We're looking more for the people who are doing it today. It's sad, because there doesn't seem to be anyone in the right position of power who has the passion for music like they did in say the late '70s, early '80s.

Splendid: Like whom?

Karen O: People like Seymour Stein. There's so many. We've met them all; they're so old...

Splendid: Are you working with outside producers on your new album?

Nick: Yes and no. We worked with a producer (Dave Sitek), but he's inside our circle. He's a really good friend of ours and actually on tour with us...

Karen O: He's our roadie.

Nick: Yeah, he's our roadie.

Splendid: That's cool, because he's there listening to you and seeing you live and he knows what you're about, as opposed to some guy who comes down from his mountain to oversee you.

Nick: He's worked with bands that we really respected.

Splendid: Like who?

Nick: He worked with this band called Love Life. They're from Baltimore -- really fantastic.

Splendid: Have you had any really weird offers from record companies like, "We'll set up orgies for you"?

Brooklyn: Yeah, how do they woo you?

Karen O: (laughing) They court you.

Nick: We've had quite a few hotel rooms.

Brooklyn: Are they just shameless, pandering to you?

Karen O: Well, our manager is shameless about it. We would have been really reserved about it unless we had him around. He's a loose cannon and he's really put the fun in it all. He really likes to use business, um...

Nick: Expense accounts (He laughs).

Karen O: (laughing) Yeah, expense accounts. It's been really fun, because we get countless rooms and business class flights.

Splendid: Man, he's great.

Karen O: It was great, but it's all gonna end any day now.

Splendid: I guess, keep thinking that way and maybe it never will. I saw you have Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (the game) back there. How else do you stay sane on tour?

Karen O: This bus has made all the difference in the world.

Splendid: Did you tour in cars or vans before?

Nick: Yes, minivans (laughs).

Karen O: This bus has saved me. I think the worst thing about touring is sleep deprivation. And food, though I guess that never changes. But sleep deprivation is definitely the worst. The bus gives us bunks where we can sleep, as much Tony Hawk as we can play and we can smoke as much weed as we want.

Brooklyn: Is the bus a recent acquisition?

Nick: We've only had it a week and a half.

Karen O: It's our first tour bus ever.

Splendid: Wow, so it's still fresh and exciting.

Karen O: Dude, endlessly, endlessly exciting. You have no idea.

Nick: The road is really repetitive, but this at least allows a means of escape: it's comfortably repetitive.

Splendid: So what would the "Day in the Life of the YYYs" reality show be like?

Nick laughs.

Karen O: On tour? I don't know. We don't see much of each other. I guess...wake up around one or two or...eleven (she laughs), find something to eat, and well, Tony Hawk has really taken over our lives in a bad way.

Splendid: I have a friend who can pull off these one million plus point moves where he keeps chaining tricks together. He gets really focused despite me telling him he's going to crash. He just says, "No I'm not" and he pulls it off.

Karen O: Wowwww. Dude, he'd be a star on this bus.

Splendid: You mentioned a few bands earlier, but who would you say is...

Nick snaps our picture.

Splendid: Whoa... (Everybody laughs) All right, who would you say is making music that's really worth listening to?

Nick and Karen: Liars.

Karen O: They're amazing. Who else? Flux!

Nick: Yes.

Karen O: Flux Information Science. If you ever get to see them live, there's close to nothing like it. I mean, what they do is so right on, so on point in a way you've never seen. It's hard to buy their album and listen to it and get an idea of what they're about without seeing a live performance. It just blows your mind.

Splendid: That's something I see in your music, too. I saw a few clips online from a show in New York and you sound like your CD, as opposed to other bands who make these walls of overdubs on their albums and then you're disappointed when you see them live. That's one of the reasons why I see the comparison between you guys and Bauhaus's early stuff. What you hear on In the Flat Field is what they sounded like live. (Pause) So what rumors would you like me to spread about you?

Karen O: Let's see... Man, this is a golden opportunity.

Nick: We could say I'm dating Fairuza Balk.

Splendid: (laughing) All right, there's one.

Karen O: Um...I don't know which way to go with the lead singer. The crazy thing is just really played out, the reserved thing just wouldn't work and the religious thing would be just too much. I can't think of another direction to go...

Nick: Acrobatic.

Karen O: Um...(laughs) I'm not very flexible.

Nick: You'd have to do triple back-flips or something.

Karen O: Probably not...

Nick: We breed pets; we breed hamsters.

Splendid: (laughing) Okay, I'll mention all the wood shavings I see all over the floor.

Nick: Brian's hobby is breeding lhasa apsos (laughs).

Karen O: That's great, 'cause Brian hates dogs; he's terribly allergic to them.

Nick: I've always tried to start the rumor that Karen was born with a tail.

Splendid: Oh yeah?

Karen O: Nooooooooo.

Splendid: Like the woman on (David Byrne's) True Stories...the pathological liar woman who keeps hers in a jar in the medicine cabinet.

Karen O: When I was really young -- like four or five years old -- I was convinced that I was born a guy and my parents decided to cut "it" off and make me a girl, and I believed this for a long time because I developed boobs really late in life. I was convinced that I was a man.

Brooklyn: So now I see why the custom girlie costumes.

Karen O: And I was born on November 22, the same day as Jamie Lee Curtis...

Splendid: (laughs) Oh, I just heard about that rumor...

Karen O: So maybe it has something to do with that day.

Splendid: What are your guilty pleasures? Things you read or listen to?

Nick: Guilty...

Splendid: Or does such a thing...

Nick: (resolute) Motley Crue.

Everybody laughs, again.

Splendid: That's not so guilty.

Karen O: I think just the '80s... anything '80s is a guilty pleasure. It's so shamelessly shameful -- the gaudiness...

Splendid: Yes, the pink shirts and the long bangs.

Karen O: And all the videos. Also the roller rink music...what was that...

Nick: Egyptian Lover.

Karen O: Yeah, Egyptian Lover, that synth, disco, funk-pop...like electro. That stuff is so terrible, but so good.

Splendid: I keep hoping people like Ladytron and Fischerspooner are going to hit around here, but I doubt it...

Nick: No, it's really a "city" thing.

Karen O: It is. It's a very urban thing.

Splendid: What is your writing dynamic? Does one of you go away and emerge later with music and lyrics?

Nick: Well, it used to be that Karen would come to me with some lyrics and I'd come to her with some music and she'd write some music and we'd make a union. But lately we've been starting at the same point and seeing what happens.

Karen O: We really only like to spend five or ten minutes writing a song, anyway. Then we just take them on the road to work them out.

Splendid: The Year On The Road test, then?

Karen O: Yeah, definitely.

Splendid: How do you keep from getting bored of playing the same songs night after night?

Nick: Well, hopefully you get to a certain frame of mind when you're playing that you can see and think outside that, and you're not thinking "Oh, I'm playing to same song again".

Karen O: What I find is that when we do sound checks -- which is like one out of five shows -- we just get a feel for the room, you know? You decide, "This song is definitely gonna fucking rock this room." I keep it fresh by tailoring the songs to the room, the space and, of course, the crowd. Otherwise I'd go insane, I think.

Nick: We write different set lists every night and we usually change them half way through.

Splendid: Do you do any covers?

Karen O: (laughs) That's one thing we've been terrible, miserable at. We can never seem to agree on them...

Splendid: It's great that you're side-stepping that instead of taking the approach of most bands, where they start with covers only and sneak in a few of their own songs.

Brooklyn: It's good you're doing the remix project early too.

Nick: The one that we agreed on is (Madonna's) "Burning Up", but (drummer) Brian's other band already did it.

Karen O: I'd be interested in asking my parents to request a cover because that's the first question they ask about making music: "Is it your own songs?"

Splendid: "You did that?"

Karen O: (laughs) Exactly. They think you just play everybody else's songs.

Splendid: So is your new album done?

Nick: It's pretty much done. We just have post-production stuff left to work on that's going to take what seems like forever.

Splendid: Were you finished recording before you came on this last tour?

Nick: Well, we recorded what we thought was going to be the record last March, but then we just scrapped it, basically because we went on tour and did exactly what we mentioned before -- we road tested the songs and learned to let them grow their own little feet and walk around.

Splendid: What do you want the readers to know about you?

Karen O: About us personally, or the band?

Splendid: Either.

Brooklyn: Do you have any groupies?

Much laughter ensues.

Splendid: Besides us and Fairuza Balk?

Karen O: We've had some strange fans, but some are really sweet and cool.

Splendid: Any stalkers?

Karen O: I don't know -- it's hard to say...

Splendid: There's a fine line between fan and stalker.

Karen O: There was this one guy and he was extremely, extremely enthusiastic about us. Actually, I do have quite a few Karen O. girl fans who sport "the glove" that I wear sometimes, and they dress up in Karen O. style.

Splendid: Are these teenagers?

Karen O: Yeah, like younger girls...

Splendid: See, then it will catch on in China and you're set.

Karen O: Totally, and Japan too. Hopefully there will be this low-key Karen O. underground movement of girl groupies. The front row is usually girls screaming at us as if we were Elvis. It's great.

Brooklyn: Your own sub-culture...

Nick: And I have all the hand-launchers in front of me (hand high above head and making the rock-on sign).

Karen O: They're all, "What is his guitar tuned to?"

Splendid: (laughs) Exactly, all the tech-heads -- "Is that a Strat he's playing?"

Splendid: Do you have any questions about me or my lovely home town of Salt Lake City?

Nick: How accurate was SLC Punk?

Splendid: Um...the part about going to Wyoming to buy beer is pretty accurate.

Karen O: What do you guys think about The Strokes and The White Stripes?

Splendid: I really enjoy The White Stripes because they remind me of Led Zeppelin.

Drummer Brian Chase enters.

Brian Chase: Hey.

Karen O: Hey Brian, what rumors would you like spread about us?

Brian Chase: About us? Um, what about the one that one of us has a tail.

Much laughter ensues again.

Brian Chase: That's the only rumor; all the rest is true.