(Interview) Yee Loi: " This album it really is Yee Loi and it's as solid as it gets.
- Sam McNaughton
- Aug 11
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 12
Touted as the best up and coming punk and rock'n'roll band in the world, Family band Yee Loi consisting of siblings Rose (guitar and vocals), Matilda (drums and vocals) and Don Don (bass) have been on a rollercoaster. Having toured with icon Adam Ant the group shared some insight with us into the recording of their upcoming album as well as latest single "Down In The Bunker."
Yee Loi supporting Adam Ant, Photo by John Hayhurst
You've had really amazing traction in the last few months. Can you take us through that roller coaster of when you can really feel the ball start to roll?
Rose: I think it kind of started last year, out the blue. We were coming back from the States and we got a phone call. Well, my mum got a phone call because she's our mumager.
She got a phone call saying something about supporting Adam Ant, but I didn't know what was going on. And my mum said to me, she went, Rose, what do you think about Adam Ant? And I went, I actually really quite like him. And she went, how do you feel about supporting him on a national tour? I went, yeah, I think I'd like to do that a little bit. And then so after that, the ball's just been rolling since then and we've been in the studio for a lot of this year recording our debut album, which will be out in January. So we're busy with that and doing like, little individual gigs and stuff like that.
What insights can you give us into the writing process that you have been going through?
Matilda: It's quite collaborative. I do the lyrics, most of the majority of the lyrics and the melodies and stuff, while Rose does the guitar riffs. So she'll come to me with a guitar riff or something like that and we'll work on it together. And that's usually how it's been from the beginning.
Rose: Well, it's good because our bedrooms are like one wall apart, mine and Matilda's. So if I have an idea, or if she has an idea, we just knock on the wall and then come in and discuss it. And then that's how, it's pretty much how every song has been created.
Do you find that the lyrics tend to come first or will it be the melody or what does that look like?
Matilda: Yeah, it can vary. I think most of the time Rose will come to me with a riff and then I'll try to work out some melodies and lyrics for it. But there have been times where I've had a melody for something and I'll make her write a guitar riff to it.
Do you feel like the writing process is producing tracks along the lines of like, "Why Ask Why" and "Ghost of Vegas" or do you think it's moving in new directions?
Rose: I think we finally got our sound with how we want to be because the past couple of EPs that we did, don't get me wrong, as good as they are. Some of them, you could listen to them and go, this is Yee Loi trying to do some kind of West Coast thing or going a bit too country. But then this album and the singles that you've heard from the album, it really is Yee Loi and it's punk rock and roll without going off anywhere too far. It's as solid as it gets.
For the new releases, you've got a tour upcoming with Transition Vamp. How does that feel?
Rose: I'm pretty excited for that. Because I don't see this as a job. So the fact that I get to travel the country, hang out with people who tell me I'm awesome, play music every night, of course, and also get paid for at the same time. I mean, it's like, it's a bit of the dream really. And we've spoken to, you know, Wendy from Transition Vamp and she's as excited as we are, which I think is really good to have someone who's really on board because some people don't really care too much about a support act because, you know, they've had so many in their time, but she's really enthusiastic and so we're really enthusiastic.
What are your favourite songs to play live at the moment? Which are the ones you're like, okay, this is going to hit?
Matilda: I really like playing "Down in the Bunker", which is our newest single. I really like playing that one as well as "Why Ask Why". I think those are two of my favourite ones.
Rose: I like this new one that we play live that's not been released yet, but it's on the album. It's called "Picture Perfect" because I get to show off a little bit when I play. So that's the one.
Don Don: And then I like "Ghost of Vegas". It's just a personal favourite of mine.
You have a burgeoning relationship in the recording process with CJ Ramone, as I've been told, and you'll be writing with him while you're out in America. Can you give us any insight into what it's like working with such iconic people, as well bringing in writers in that way?
Rose: Well, we've always been against bringing in outsiders to write because we've had this discussion before, with like, our label and stuff where they had ideas for co-writers and stuff like that because that seems to be the way forward in music these days because apparently people need help. But that's something that we don't believe in because I don't think that there's anyone out there that will be able to get inside of my head and know what I want to put out.
But this is our first time so I'm working with CJ Ramone in this way because he's actually just been a family friend, a musical family friend up until now. Like I met him when I was 9 and we bonded over our love for chickens so it wasn't actually like that. But he is someone that I think would understand because obviously he was in my favourite band. So I think he's going to know how to write songs that I like. But I think then it will be very much like us as well, because I don't think he'd want to put his foot in too much. Do you know what I mean? Because as I said, it's a family unit. So obviously we think and act differently and stuff like that.
Who are your main influences and who are you listening to now?
Rose: Well, my favourite band of all time is The Ramones. And so for inspiration, they're like my biggest inspiration because that's how I learned how to play guitar. And you can still see that I play with loads of downstrokes. And then my second favourite band of all time, and I'm actually listening to them loads at the moment, is Stray Cats because I actually just went to go see them two days ago again, so that was pretty exceptional. Because that's some of the best guitar playing ever. Brian Setzer is just the best. And then it sort of varies depending on like what I'm doing while I'm in the States, it sort of changes, but I always like my like Thin Lizzy and the MC5. I like the Detroit stuff a lot, the Detroit proto-punk, I like the Stooges and stuff like that.
Matilda: I really like Thin Lizzy, but in terms of lyrics, Phil Lynott is a big inspiration of mine. I just love the songs and the stories that he does, so that's a big one of mine. And right now I'm listening to more pop punk stuff like Green Day, Blink 182 and The Offspring.
Don Don: And then for me, I'd say I like the Ramones are my number one favourite because it's just like, I love the music and the way I play, like all downstrokes. And then my second, I'd say the Clash.
Rose: The only band that ever mattered, apparently, according to them.
Once the album is all put together, what are the next steps that you are looking towards?
Matilda: I think like we want to play a lot more festivals.
Rose: We want to want to have ourselves in front of more larger audiences.
Matilda: So playing like the new songs from the album, in fully live sets.
Rose: Yeah, pretty much just, you know, showing people that we are the best punk rock and roll band there is, and they will have to hear it whether they like it or not, but they should like it.
*Edited for readability
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