Yard Act on humour, social unrest and making “prog, honky tonk” with Elton John
27.07.2022 - 11:07
/ nme.com
Yard Act have spoken to NME about what this year’s shortlist for the Mercury Prize 2022 says about guitar music – as well as plans for their next album and working with Elton John.The Yorkshire band were speaking to NME from the London launch event for the prize yesterday (Wednesday July 27), where their acclaimed debut album ‘The Overload‘ was named as one of the Albums Of The Year alongside albums by the likes of Sam Fender, Nova Twins, Harry Styles, Little Simz, Self Esteem and more.They were in attendance without frontman James Smith, “because of the trains,” said guitarist Sam Shjipstone, adding: “support the strikes.”Asked what the Mercury Prize shortlist says about music in 2022, Shjipstone replied: “There’s quite a lot of guitar music on it, which is quite weird. People are finally realising that the guitar is the greatest instrument ever made!”Bassist Ryan Needham added: “There’s quite a lot of rage and unrest lyrically across the whole thing, which is nice to see.
It just kind of reflects the general vibe of the country and probably the world.”As to why their own album ‘The Overload’ made such a breakthrough, Shjipstone put it down to the band’s attitude.“There’s a lot of humour on there, buried among the more social commentary aspects of it. That’s quite refreshing,” he argued.
“We’ve been lumped in with the post-punk thing, and there’s not a lot of humour among those organisations historically!”It’s been a busy summer for the band, with Yard Act recently revealed as the most booked act of European festivals this summer. Asked if the four-piece were feeling the strain yet, the guitarist told us: “It’s not really started yet, so I’ll tell you in a couple of months.
We’re raking the money in! Only joking. It’ll
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