Yeah Yeah Yeahs have roots at Oberlin College



By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Oberlin College was particularly good to New York native Brian Chase.
Odds are you haven't heard of him by name but you probably know his current band, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which has just released its sophomore effort, "Show Your Bones," arguably the most eagerly anticipated album this spring. The band performs Wednesday at Cleveland's Agora Theatre.
"I'm definitely thankful for my time at Oberlin," said Chase, calling from his home in Brooklyn, New York. "I was in the (music) conservatory and it brought together a great collection of people, who were eager to work."
It was on this small Ohio campus that the drummer met Karen Orzolek (now known as Karen O), whose film aspirations lead her to transfer to New York University in her sophomore year. Still, a friendship had been established. So when Chase graduated in 2000 with a bachelor of music degree ("Whatever that's worth," he laughed) and returned home to the Big Apple, Orzolek asked him to join herself and guitarist Nick Zinner. The trio called itself Yeah Yeah Yeahs and soon it became the hit of the indie rock scene, getting caught up in all of the post-Strokes garage rock hype.
"We didn't think anything of it," Chase said. "We were sort of known for putting on a great live show and as time went on, we'd get more of a draw. We always got good slots opening up for cool bands and that was the key thing too. I think we were on the right track pretty much from the beginning."
Next big thing
That was definitely the case with the band's 2003 debut "Fever to Tell," which included a major MTV2 hit with its engrossing track "Maps." For Chase, the ride to the top of the experimental New York scene was both exciting and confusing. After all, it was only a few short years before that he was jamming with fellow-minded artists in sweaty basements on Groveland Street in Oberlin to crowds of 20. Now his band was being cherished as the next big thing, but Chase remained grounded thinking back to his musical coming of age.
"I think the part of the Oberlin music scene that really inspires me to this day is sort of playing at the house parties," Chase said. "I played in a lot of trashy garage bands where people would be into it and it just felt really good and important and right. It was almost like that was my folk music. I think that's definitely an inspiration to this point."
While it took nearly 18 months to finish, the end product appears to be well worth its wait.
"You kind of have to work a little bit [on this album] but then once you're open to it, it will give you everything you're working for," Chase said. "I think on a fundamental level, people respond to truth and honesty and they can pick it up when they see iit."

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