by Zach Fraley
photos by Victoria Sanders
Finding your niche can be one of the only ways to break through, especially in an industry as heavily saturated as the music business. Some have tried crowd funding, which artists like Wu Tang Clan have tried the more unique approach of only selling one copy of their album. If you’re unbridled indie rock band The Kickback, however, then one way you attempt to draw in fans is by hosting over 130 episodes of your own podcast, both allowing your fans to keep up with the goings on of the band, and learn what the lives of the average struggling tour musician is like.
Billy Yost, vocalist and lead guitarist of the kickback, helped start DISASTOUR, a podcast run by the band with the intention to share stories from the road and give fans more than just a newsletter’s worth of information. Yost notes that once he gets his heart set on accomplishing a task, he rarely lets that obsession go.
“I look back on when I watched Mighty Ducks and tried skating backwards in my driveway for weeks. When I find something I wanna do I try really hard at it. I thought we had an interesting perspective: a bunch of broke guys servicing their lives for music, doing what they could to stay on the road. It used to be every van blowup gave us something to talk about. Now, every third episode isn’t about an instance where we thought we might die. I like the idea of when I’m old and decrepit, being able to look back when someone hears our song on a tampon commercial or something, there’s a document of that.”
One topic of discussion that’s come up recently is the band’s first full-length album, Sorry All Over The Place. Released in September of 2015, the CD features 10 songs that are chock full of loose guitar riffs, catchy and consistent drum work, and vocals that range from ethereal to purposeful. Yost recalls that one of the most memorable aspects of making this record was receiving help from producer and former drummer for Spoon, Jim Eno.
“I was really excited to work with Jim Eno. What I wanted to draw attention to was the rhythmic sounds. All of my favorite records have a pretty slamming rhythm section. It was great to have the snare drum hit you in the face – tastefully I hope. The rhythm sounds on all the Spoon records I think are the best in music, so I wanted to take some of his talent for our album.”
Yost, a South Dakota native, decided to uproot from his small town and move to Chicago in 2009. While there, he posted a series of ads on Craigslist asking for musicians to join him in forming a band. Yost notes that after several failed attempts, he finally found the crew he was looking for.
“I found success in making ludicrously detailed ads [on Craigslist]. If you’re gonna look for people to play with, you can’t be vague because you’re going to encounter a lot of men in their ’50s who have jobs and families who only want to play once a month. If you’re trying to find people you want to live with and always play with, then you need to be very up front. I have only had one instance where I thought I might be murdered by a keyboard player. If you bring someone along to help you, then your body might not end up somewhere in Nevada. All jokes aside, I’m pretty grateful.”
The Kickback’s Facebook page details how the band enjoys juxtaposing distressing material with catchy beats – something that Yost explicitly attempts to create when writing music.
“I like to challenge myself. It seems like my stuff is always on the verge of breaking. I like to play without a set list, which drives the other guys nuts. I’m pretty lazy, but when I play music I like being able to overcome the odds. I enjoy the more morose subject matter, but I want the people to dance to it. I want people to get their butts moving to something that would otherwise depress them or bum them out. There’s only so many ways to play a show, and I like to tap a few buttons that some other people might not have pressed yet.”
During the opening show of their current tour, Yost tripped and fell on stage in a video present on their Facebook page. While not injured from the fall, Yost admits that mishaps like that happen practically every show.
“Unfortunately, that’s sort of a nightly thing. I think we’re on night five, and for better or worse it gets a little messy on stage. We spend a lot of time at Guitar Center trying to piece things back together. We spend a lot of time in the van as well, so when you’re finally on stage, I think I get a little unsheathed.”
While he doesn’t regret moving to Chicago, Yost does admit to missing his family, his friends, and the small town he left behind in South Dakota.
“I miss a lot about South Dakota. It always feels like home when I’m back. It’s a different way of living that’s hard to put into words. I like knowing everybody, and there’s something that never really leaves your DNA about it. I sort of feel responsible for trying to be an ambassador for the state. You start to feel responsible for trying to impart the Midwestern politeness to people who might not have experienced that before. I miss my mom and dad a lot. Most of my family is there, and most of my childhood and college friends are there too.”
Fans can catch The Kickback at Kung Fu Necktie on the 24th, and while the band is excited to be in the area, Yost wants to make it clear that they will likely avoid the heavily trafficked attractions that Philadelphia has to offer.
“We don’t want to be tourists, so I think we’ll skip the Philly cheese steaks for now. If there’s any skeeball in town, that’s where you’ll find me. I usually try and hustle people when I can, but it almost never works out.”
