Yossarian Lives - The Official Band Website

Pre-Olympia Media Round-Up

Posted on April 27, 2012 by rob

Only one more sleep til Yossarian Lives support the Magnetic Fields in the Olympia Theature, Dublin! While you wait, here is a little round-up of all the articles and references to our support slot that have cropped up online in the past week. Let us know if you spot any others we’ve missed.

MCD
http://www.mcd.ie/home/fn.php?c=3015902&ar=themagneticfields&cat=all

Swear I’m Not Paul
http://www.swearimnotpaul.com/2012/04/download-yossarian-lives-out-demon-doubt.html

Golden Plec
http://www.goldenplec.com/news/news-in-briefs-elijah-wood-yossarian-lives-tara-stewart-alias-empire/

BBC (Gig Guide only)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/acrosstheline/gigguide/

Entertainment.ie (Gig Guide only)
http://entertainment.ie/event/Gigs/Olympia-Theatre/The-Magnetic-Fields/2612599.htm

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Supporting the Magnetic Fields in the Olympia Theatre

Posted on April 18, 2012 by rob

I was walking home on the night of February 5th 2011 when I stopped outside the Olympia Theatre. The Olympia is my favourite venue in Dublin, and I’ve lost count of the amount of gigs I’ve seen there. At the time, I was five days into recording Out, Demon Doubt, and my head was full of music and dreams of success. So, in an uncharacteristic moment of optimism, I took a photo of the gig listings affixed to the Olympia’s façade and tweeted that “By the end of this year, Yossarian Lives will be here” (view that Tweet here).

Well, it took slightly more than a year, but I am delighted to announce that Yossarian Lives (myself, Ger, James and James) will be playing the Olympia on Saturday 28th of April. And, even better, we will be supporting my musical heroes The Magnetic Fields!

To those who don’t know them, the Magnetic Fields are indie-pop legends with a penchant for clever, quirky lyrics and catchy melodies. I was particularly gushing about them in the Yossarian Lives interview with Dave Fanning last year. So, basically, this couldn’t be more of a dream gig for me, and we are all hugely thankful to Stephin Merritt, Claudia Gonson and co. for giving us this wonderful opportunity.

With a new single and video on the way, an upcoming mini-tour and the Magnetic Fields support slot, 2012 is looking to be Yossarian Lives’ year. Thank you for sticking with us thus far, dear reader, and I hope you’ll hang about to see what we do next.

See you in the Olympia!

Rob

Buy tickets on Ticketmaster

The Official Magnetic Fields Website

Posted in Gig, Magnetic Fields, Out Demon Doubt! | 1 Comment

A Good Sign

Posted on February 26, 2012 by rob

Practical art project time, guys!

When we play gigs, anybody who has never read Catch-22 (whence the phrase ‘Yossarian Lives’ cometh) has a hard time remembering our name, let along spelling it. The solution? Create a sign with our name on it! That way, rather than spelling out our name between each song, we can fill the between-song gaps with some seemingly off-the-cuff but actually well-rehearsed banter.

The 3-Step Process:

1) Step one was to choose a medium. Crayon on a bunch of A4 pages taped together? Spray-paint the back wall of every venue we play at? The more practical option settled on was oil on canvas (it’s what DaVinci would have wanted).

2) Next, I very roughly sketched the sign in my notebook, pictured here with my thumb:

3) Then, it was time to break out the old oil paint kit & canvas and ruin a nearby jacket with paint splashes. See the arty results here (click to enlarge!):

This beautiful sign will be accompanying us at all future gigs, to prevent teenage girls mixing us up with One Direction. So, next time you come see us play, keep an eye out for the sign, and soon you will be the envy of your peers (unless your peers are Ace of Base, who have apparently already seen it).

Posted in Art, Gig, Out Demon Doubt! | Tagged painting, sign | 1 Comment

Gigs, reviews and the future

Posted on February 16, 2012 by rob

This one slipped through the cracks. It’s a brief review of our Fighting Chance show from the Daily Mail. Click it to enlarge.

Gig review in the Daily Mail, 14th December 2011

Regarding gigs, we’ve been laying low the last while and will be for another month. We’re working on new material for a forthcoming 4 or 5-track EP (it depends on how good the songs are). I’m going to start posting more frequently on the writing and recording process, so stay tuned if you’re interested in photos and videos of other people working.

Also, don’t forget that we’re on Twitter! I’m @RobGoesSolo (really should change that, what with the band and all).

Posted in EP, Gig, Irish Daily Mail | Leave a comment

An Interview with Dave Fanning

Posted on January 12, 2012 by rob

As promised, here is multimedia legend Dave Fanning interviewing the four of us, intercut with performance clips:

Posted in Dave Fanning, Gig, Press, TV, Video | Leave a comment

Videos of us performing on Dave Fanning’s VenueOne show

Posted on December 22, 2011 by rob

Missed Dave Fanning’s VenueOne show last week? Fear not! Here are videos of the four songs we played!

I Tried To Win Her Back

Being The President (A Colour-Coded Guide to a Successful First Term)

A Big Enough Stick For The Moon

Love Is

We had a great time doing the show. Dave Fanning was not only a real pro but entirely approachable, and gave a great interview (which we’ll be posting in the new year). He even played A Big Enough Stick For The Moon on his national 2FM radio show the following day, which marked another milestone for Yossarian Lives.

It was a wonderful to share the bill with the Lynchburg Mob, The Riot Tapes, El Hombre Jokes, Howlin’ Downlin and Retrosdead. We met some of them and can say that there was a good feeling of camaraderie on the night.

Our thanks go to the VenueOne team, the Grand Social and Fighting Chance. We enjoyed performing, and hope you enjoy watching the above videos!

Posted in 2FM, Dave Fanning, Gig, Radio | 1 Comment

Legendary DJ Dave Fanning presents Yossarian Lives, broadcast live around the world

Posted on December 8, 2011 by rob

If you’ve yet to see Yossarian Lives live, now’s your best chance! On Tuesday December 13th, our gig will be broadcast live on the internet from the Grand Social in Dublin, on a night hosted by legendary Irish DJ Dave Fanning.

Modelled on the “Later…With Jools Holland” format, the night will be professionally filmed and streamed live on http://www.venueone.com/. So, even if you’re abroad/lazy, you can still watch us online between 8 and 10pm GMT!

Tickets are 5 euro at the door, all of which goes to Focus Ireland (a charity for the homeless). However, check back on this site in the coming days, when we’ll be running a competition to win some free tickets!

And you know you’ve made it when your event is listed on Entertainment.ie:
http://entertainment.ie/event/Gigs/The-Grand-Social/Fighting-Chance/2611870.htm

We hope to see you there, or at least for you to see us on http://www.venueone.com/!

Posted in Dave Fanning, Gig, Irish Daily Mail, The Apprentice | Leave a comment

Folk Watcher reviews ‘Out, Demon Doubt!’

Posted on November 28, 2011 by rob

Just spotted this nice little review of my last album ‘Out, Demon Doubt!’ on music review website Folk Watcher.

The guy says a lot of nice things, but my favourite quote is easily this:

“Seriously give this guy a listen, chuckle and be a bit happier.”

If my music can have the above affect on someone, even to a slight degree, then my work as a musician will have been worthwhile. Read the full piece here:

Folk Watcher reviews Out, Demon Doubt!

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Zooey Deschanel is single again. Thanks, Obama!

Posted on November 2, 2011 by rob

In an unexpected turn of events, singer/actress Zooey Deschanel is newly single following her split from husband Ben Gibbard. All I can say is, “Thanks, Obama!”

(Watch the following video of Yossarian Lives’ “Being The President: A Colour-Coded Guide to a Successful First Term” to understand what I’m talking about):

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Free Stuff Bonanza: the Daily Mail CD and our last album ‘Out, Demon Doubt!’ ENTIRELY FREE

Posted on October 22, 2011 by rob

It’s finally here! The Fighting Chance CD is free with today’s Irish Daily Mail. Go and buy it now before the paper sells out due to overwhelming demand!

To celebrate, we’re giving away our last album ‘Out, Demon Doubt!’ for FREE this weekend! Download it here:
Download your FREE album

Here are some photos of the Daily Mail CD in case you’re abroad/can’t afford the 99 cent. Don’t know who that ‘Shields’ lad is though.