Yassassin come from all over the world, with members hailing from Sweden, Italy, England and Australia. But it was the East London music scene that drew them into each other's orbit. After appearing on the same bills with their previous bands they started frequenting the same parties and became friends.
When guitarist Moa Fahlander and lead vocalist Anna Haara Kristoferson were sitting at home early last year, the Yassassin ball began rolling. “We thought it would be a shame not to try out what we could do,” Fahlander explains. A few texts and phone calls later and they’d recruited bassist Raissa Pardini and guitarist Joanna Curwood.
Sans drummer, they ventured into the practice room and wrote Social Politics, their debut single, in that initial session. A month later they poached drummer Ruth Nitkiewicz from another band after seeing her play a show in Homerton.
Yassassin are difficult to pigeonhole, and therein lies their charm. Their music is a chaotic fusion of ‘60s pop, off-kilter ‘70s rock, and grunge, while their lyrics are statements made with tongue-in-cheek wit. They opt for depth, not whimsy.
“Writing songs is a way to deal with reality and to process things,” Fahlander says. “When you put it into your songs it makes sense and you can see it from a different angle. It becomes alive in a different way and it’s there forever.”
Accompanying their disparate backgrounds are varied influences, from acid jazz to riot grrrl. The band reconcile these differences by embracing them. “It’s boring for me to write with people who think exactly the same,” Kristoferson says. “I’d rather write with people who come up with things that I would never have come up with. That’s how you take it to the next level.”
For their debut EP, ‘Vitamin Y’, Yassassin joined forces with producer Dave Allen, who has records by Depeche Mode and the Cure on his résumé. Thanks to sharing a manager with Neneh Cherry, another of Allen’s past collaborators, getting the band’s demos to him was easier than you might think. What was not expected, though, was how excited he became about them.
Yassassin remember their first meeting fondly. Allen arrived at one of their rehearsals armed with beer. “I remember when he came and he was wearing a furry jumper and a sparkling backpack and I was like: ‘Oh my God, this guy, he is probably the same age as my dad’," Kristoferson says. "He’s great. We’ve got so many stories.”
In the studio, Allen’s experience was evident in his ability to make them feel comfortable. He pushed them and allowed them space to come up with new ideas. “He has a young mind,” Fahlander says.
Despite the power of their frenzied four-track EP, Yassassin are still looking to push the envelope further and capture the chaotic energy created when they play live. “That’s been a big learning curve for us,” Curwood admits.
“We love that element about us, in fact that’s one of the things that we enjoy the most, playing live and the energy. Trying to capture that in the studio is what we want to do from now on. I don’t know if we’ve achieved it to the point we want to yet. You’ve got to sound like a human. Otherwise you might as well have just got a robot to record it.”
With ‘Vitamin Y’ out now, the band are poised to hit the road this autumn to do what they do best. After that, their attention will turn to album one. “We’re constantly writing,” Curwood says. “We’re getting material together for the album as we speak.”
Yassassin Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu September 21 2017 - LEEDS Lending Room
Sun October 01 2017 - BRIGHTON Prince Albert
Sun October 08 2017 - BIRMINGHAM Hare And Hounds
Thu October 12 2017 - LONDON Waiting Room
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