Yautja plays lurching, uncomfortable music, so it is fitting that their new album is called “The Lurch.” I first met Kayhan back in approximately 2010 when I was on tour with Weekend Nachos and we stayed at Kayhan’s place in Birmingham, Alabama. At the time, Kayhan was in a band called Legion (funny enough), and since then has gone on to play in several excellent hardcore and metal projects like Coliseum, Die Young, and — of course — Yautja.
Yautja’s most recent record is fantastic, so I wanted to get Kayhan on the podcast to discuss how they write such weird but catchy songs. The conversation also took a detour into some of Kayhan’s wild experiences working at his family’s convenience store during a pandemic, so stick around for that as well.
Check out the full conversation with Kayhan below.
Listen Here
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- Overcast
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Learn more from Kayhan and Yautja here:
- Bandcamp: yautja.bandcamp.com
- Instagram: @yautjagram
- Facebook: @YautjaTN
- Music video for “The Spectacle”:
- We discuss Tyler’s absurd and creative drumming on the podcast. This live video is a great way to experience what we mean:
- [01:29] The power of naming things “Legion”
- [06:50] Being viewed as an off-the-rails weirdo due to an interest in extreme music — and the differences between music, sci-fi, and fantasy fandoms
- [15:04] Getting into hardcore and punk, and the benefits of a mid-sized scene on creativity in Birmingham, Alabama
- [20:28] Straddling genre lines with Yautja and being the misfit band on most concert bills
- [29:17] The impacts of the country music industry on the Nashville underground music scene
- [35:07] Yautja’s songwriting process — and the importance of rhythm, variations, and other subtleties in their compositions
- [47:17] Yautja plays difficult and weird riffs, but is not really a “technical” band
- [57:55] Yautja’s plans as the US emerges from the pandemic
- [01:03:29] Kayhan’s comical and frustrating experiences working in his family’s convenience store during a pandemic
- [01:14:14] How to purchase “The Lurch” and support Yautja
- Weekend Nachos
- Legion
- Deicide “Legion”
- Integrity “Dawn of a new Apocalypse”
- Legion in popular culture
- Birmingham Legion FC
- The Home Despot
- Wish
- Machine Head “Burn My Eyes”
- Keep Staring I Might Do a Trick T-Shirt
- Doctor Who
- The Lord of the Rings
- Robert Jordan
- George R. R. Martin
- Darkman
- Virus (1999 film)
- In Defence
- Revocation
- Exhumed
- Rivers of Nihil
- Voivod “Dimension Hatröss”
- Morbid Angel “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh”
- Morbid Angel “Gateways to Annihilation”
- Hella
- Gnarwhal
- Mutilation Rites
- Alraune
- Steve Cloutier and Luc Lemay of Gorguts guitar lesson
- Gorguts “Obscura”
