Yves Klein Blue has come a long way since first forming in 2006; they have won MTV’s kickstart competition, toured internationally and built a ‘bad-ass’ reputation for themselves.
Taking their name from the artist Yves Klein, and his theory that a blue paint does not lose its brilliance over time, the band hopes their music, like the endless blue, will be timeless. “I hope that in 20 years time a fan will dust of our record (CD or mp3 file) and still enjoy listening,” says drummer Chris Banham, “I think every band hopes to have some kind of timeless quality to their music.”
Describing the early days as a band “in the words of the mighty boosh” as “classic times, crazy days” Banham reflects on the difficulties in building a reputation. “It’s always difficult to build a good reputation; we jumped at every opportunity and practiced a lot in the early days.” Though for some it is all about building a ‘good’ reputation in terms of music, for Yves Klein Blue it was also about earning a bad-ass name. As “four scrawny white boys from private schools” it was difficult for the band to build up their bad-ass reputation, but Chris is still working hard. “I never return the shopping trolley to the appropriate bays and I never indicate when leaving a round-about, so I guess that makes me pretty bad (ass).”
Looking at the band’s success to date it’s hard to imagine that Yves Klein Blue have only been together for two years. They recently performed at the ‘South by South West’ music festival in Austin, which Chris named, a “once in a lifetime experience… Mundane tasks like carrying gear around actually become fun when you’re doing it in Austin.”
Their victory on MTV’s Kickstart helped fund their current EP with $20,000 of prize money. “The competition gave us some good exposure and also enough money to record our current EP” and if they hadn’t won… “If we lost I could have become depressed, walked into a casino to gamble away my money and then hit the jackpot on the pokies with my very last dollar. Alternatively, I could have become a Himalayan Sherpa, helping mountaineers carry gear up Everest.”
Thankfully they received their kick-start and used the prize money to make a killer first EP. Their current and first release Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention to Themselves has brought a new variety of music to the Australian music scene and with plans to record in November, their first full length album might have a few expectations to meet.
The band is “giddy with excitement,” Hoping to release an album in the first half of next year. But for now, you can check out the Immaculate Confection Tour which Chris promises to be “more fun than you could have watching a TV marathon of ‘Happy Days’.”
