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Within the weird experimental post-rock world of Montreal, Yoo Doo Right and Population II have been holding a wicked court through live shows and heavy albums—somewhat independently from each other. Now they have a collaborative project, You II Avec Nolan Potter.
As the name suggests, they paired up with Austin, Texas’ wacko multi-instrumentalist, Nolan Potter (Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band) for a two-hour impromptu madness recording session during this year’s SXSW. The result is a bit of krautrock-inspired insanity with a dash of free jazz noise. We spoke with Nolan Potter about this collaboration and its influences ahead of their “secret” show at the legendary FME.
PAN M 360: How did you meet up with the Yoo Doo Right and Pop II boys, and what led to this improvised album?
Nolan Potter: I’ve been friends with Pop II for several years. We met on tour in the States when we were both signed to Castle Face Records. We found we had a lot in common in terms of obscure musical tastes. I’d also been aware of Yoo Doo for a while as like-minded musicians, and SXSW finally allowed me to see them. Absolutely bonkers.
PAN M 360: Was there always the idea to make this into an album or just a jam?
Nolan Potter: I definitely didn’t think it would be getting the full LP treatment on the day we recorded. I’ve done a lot of improvised recording projects, and they usually end up as Bandcamp-only releases, a fun diversion from writing and obsessing over details. But it was clear as soon as we hit record that something special was happening.
PAN M 360: You’re a multi-instrumentalist, but how did you decide what to play and add in each song (flute, saxophone, organ, etc)
Nolan Potter: On the day of the session, Tristan (Pop II) and Justin (Yoo Doo Right) had the guitars and keyboards fully covered. I looked around at what I had at the studio and thought wind instruments would be a nice addition and a departure from the styles of both bands. There’s a bit of a nod towards the electric era of Miles Davis that we all love too. I don’t really know how to play saxophone very well, but that ignorance led to some interesting choices.
PAN M 360: Where did the song titles come from? You wanted that French style since they’re both based in Montreal?
Nolan Potter: We struggled a bit coming up with a unifying theme for everything since it’s an almost entirely instrumental record. Do we give the songs silly names? Do we just number them? Track 1, 2, 3, etc? All credit to Pierre-Luc from Pop II for nailing down the titles and concept. It’s loosely based on the story of a doomed French explorer whose journey ties us all together geographically. The movie that plays in my mind is like The Revenant meets Aguirre, the Wrath of God. And yes personally I always wanted the titles to be mostly French. I wanted to do as little as possible to assert American influence on this project.
PAN M 360: Did you guys talk music influences, or just plug in and play?
Nolan Potter: Over the years, Pop II and I have spent hours talking about musical influences. Any time I’m with them I’m constantly taking notes on what I should be listening to. When I met Justin and John from YDR it was clear we were on that wavelength as well. As a huge Can nerd their name alone told me we were on the same team.
PAN M 360: Can you talk about the vibe in the room during the recording process?
Nolan Potter: It was heavy! My experience of “jam sessions” in the States is that it’s a generally very loose process that emphasizes fun over the finished product. This was not that. This was like being on a Viking longboat. The two bands were pushing and pulling in sync and extracting incredible sounds out of the air. We took advantage of every single minute in the studio and took no prisoners.
PAN M 360: Were there any overdubs on You II, or is this 100% improvised?
Nolan Potter: I would say 90% of what you hear is improv. We added more layers remotely from our home studios. But the most fun for me was the editing. We had 90 minutes of music and had to get it down to 45. Cutting the tracks down is when I started to feel the album come to life, like a statue from a block of marble. It’s like time travel honestly, looking back at momentary, improvised decisions and making edits in the present that bring the best moments to the forefront. You can surprise yourself this way.
PAN M 360: With every band being “successful” in their respective hometowns and genres, were there any egos in the room?
Nolan Potter: Not from my perspective! I can have a big personality in the studio, but was being very careful as the lone American in the band to not trample on the delicate nature of what we were doing. I have a massive amount of respect for both of these groups, and they’re honestly the sweetest guys.
PAN M 360: And now you’re about to play this Yoo II album live. Is that also going to be quite improvised?
Nolan Potter: Yes and no. I think we’re all very attached to the way the album turned out. It seemed to write itself. It was an inevitability. That being said, there’s a lot of room to improvise within that framework, and some of the jams deserve to be way longer than what can fit on an LP. So we will stretch and expand, react to one another and see what happens!
photo by Rose Cormier
