Young Light are well-known as being one of the hardest working bands on the scene. With one album in five years, the duo have shown a work rate that puts the competition to shame. The band first hit the scene in 2013 with their Great White Arc debut album drawing comparisons with My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala and No Age.
But it wasn't until Desert Mine released their stand-alone single, Blank Dice, that things got really exciting. So where do Young Light go from here? There are plenty of great interviews with Young Light out there, but we wanted to go a step further to see what really makes this band tick. So we tracked down the band's charismatic lead singer, Michael Feerick, and asked him ten thought-provoking questions. Watch the Blank Dice video here.
1. Rock stars are well known for their excess and bad-boy lifestyles. How do you stay in shape when you are on ‘the road’?
Well, over the years I've developed a tried-and-true tour regimen which I adhere to vigorously. I start the day with an elixir of Alka Seltzer XS and Berocca dissolved in a bottle of still Lucozade Sport. Once in the van I'll sip a quadruple-shot Americano whilst working through a series of clenches, crunches, ankle rotations and arm stretches. Upon arrival at the venue I begin my daily retox of 12-14 cans of Red Stripe. Back at the hotel post-show I'll have a nightcap of Jameson and Corsodyl anti-bacterial mouthwash, get 2-3 hours sleep and begin the whole process again.
2. As well as Young Light, you have other side-projects like Amusement Parks on Fire. How do you balance such a phenomenal work load?
It's tough, let me tell you. I've found that the only feasible way to keep on top of everything is to limit releases from each project to one or two per decade, performing live on average maybe once every three or four years. It makes it almost impossible to build momentum in terms of PR and fanbase but what can one do?
3. Young Light’s drummer, Micah, lives in Los Angeles, and you live in the UK. Does this make band practices difficult?
Not so much difficult as just untenably expensive and infrequent. But that just adds to the musical magic. The results of which are there for all to hear on our critically-acclaimed back catalogue.
4. The Young Light Twitter handle has an unorthodox font. Do you fear that this could put off any potential fans?
That hadn't occurred to me until now actually. I do fear that quite a bit now you mention it, yeah. You can't censor your own singular artistic vision for fear of alienating theoretical fans that may never exist though, right?
5. Young Light is a two-piece band. How can you be sure that both of you are putting equal effort into maximising sales?
That's one of the bonuses of being a two-piece actually, it's very apparent if one of us isn't pulling our weight. It's like being on a see-saw, if you're not both suspended in mid-air, perfectly balanced, then something is amiss.
6. How do you retain such an enigmatic persona whilst promoting Young Light’s music on social media?
That is one of the main quandaries of being a public-facing musician in 2018. Mystique is very difficult to achieve. I'm currently experimenting with the extremities of the hypothesis that less = more.
7. Does Micah ever allow you to play his drum-kit?
I've never dared ask.
8. Your Blank Dice single earned some significant sales revenues on Desert Mine. How did you spend all of that cash?
It was quite intimidating actually, suddenly coming into such a substantial sum. You're very abruptly promoted to the higher rungs of society, interacting with it-people and influencers. With wealth comes power and with great power, they say, comes great responsibility. As I'm of a philanthropic persuasion, in addition to investing in various property portfolios, I thought it only right to commit a sizeable portion of the funds to various scholarly institutions and community outreach programs.
9. Has Young Light ever accidentally or purposely ripped off any other band’s music or sounds?
Totally.
10. Young Light is something of a super-group. If you wanted to make it even more superb, which musicians would you add to the line-up?
Why attempt to improve perfection...?