Yearn-ing for music

Meet Yearn. A shoegaze-influenced band from Atlanta who made a quick start into the underground music scene. Read the article below to see how the band started and where they're going to end up.

Q: Tell me a little bit about you guys and how you got together and how you guys started. 

Justin: My name’s Justin, I started the project in October. I just released a single and was like, hey, I’m going to try my hand at getting into a local event. It seems really cool. From that point on, that single ended up doing pretty well and I was like, oh shoot, people are asking me to go perform. 

So I found my work homie, Athena, and my longtime friend, Shawn. I was like, hey, let’s start a project together. Then I met Colton because Athena introduced us to one of our friends and he knew him. I was like, dude, this guy’s a crazy drummer, let’s adopt him too. That just started happening, and we started playing shows. 

We made a music video to our song “blackhole," and from that point, the Masquerade saw and they’re like 'oh shit y’all are cool. Let's put you on a show with Ringo Deathstarr.' That was a very big jump and from that point on, it kind of got us more known. Now we just have a bunch of stuff lined up. That’s pretty much it, that’s our mini lore. It hasn’t been long, it’s been less than a year.

In less than a year, Yearn has managed to make a quick dent into the Atlanta music scene. They went from playing small shows to getting noticed at the Masquerade, playing in a festival hosted by 1018, and continuing to return to the Masquerade. It was a jump straight out of the gate and I would be surprised if the band wasn’t a little stressed. 

Justin: Initially I was like let’s just make music and release it. Once we started actually getting shows, I was like, well, I haven’t performed in years. Have you performed? 

Athena: I’ve never performed. 

Justin: Shawn's performed, but he’s only DJ’d.

Colton: So it wasn’t too crazy to hit the ground running, but it still happened fast. 

Justin: Yeah, no, it definitely did. It was definitely scary. We were pretty nervous. Well, I was mostly nervous, I’m not gonna lie. I was kinda stressing everybody out, I got anxiety. 

Yeah, dude, it just did start really fast, but I think I kinda just went into it under the pretense of just do it. Like, if you don’t take the opportunity, you’re gonna regret it, you know? And I just was like, yeah, I’m screwed. Let’s just full send it. 

Like these 2 have been great, and freaking Colton’s been so good. He’s been good at carrying. I’m not gonna lie. Just with his veteran knowledge, but it’s like everyone’s been really good support for me, and I really hope that they can say the same for me. Because it’s like, yeah, if it weren’t for them, I would be like a super stressed, nervous mess. 

Here's a little more background on the band before we continue. Yearn is made up of four members. Justin Yang acts as the frontman, holding most of the songwriting credits, as well as playing guitar and vocals. Shawn Wong plays guitar for the band and also masters and mixes a lot of their songs. Athena Xiong masters on the bass as well as helping Justin out on vocals. Colton Clements helps tie the band together by playing the drums.

So with three singers (Shawn also features on some songs vocally), one can't help but wonder if that helps or hinders the songwriting process for the band.

Justin: I write basically all the songs and Shawn also writes a lot too. So basically what we’ll do is I’ll come up with something and then Sean will come in and he’ll just start playing. I’ll start playing too, and then something comes out of it.

Shawn: It’s mostly about the flow and the feeling in the moment and just getting into that and maintaining that throughout the process. Even through the mixing process and mastering the process. 

Justin: I really try to only release things that give me some form of emotional catharsis, I suppose. As corny as that sounds, if I don’t feel something from what I’m writing then I don’t want to release it. So everything that we’ve dropped, it has come from somewhere.

Shawn is a beast at like mixing and mastering and doing all that stuff. So we record everything at home. We haven’t been to a studio before, all of our music is just made on my laptop. Athena is art direction and marketing. All that stuff has just been like such a help too. We just have a really good team. All of us are strong at something and together we make it. 

It was very easy throughout the show to tell that all these guys were close friends. Their stage presence was quiet and unassuming at first but as they got more comfortable on stage and the music started to flow, they connected with the audience easily. Sure it took some time but it's not easy to be a band on stage at Purgatory in the Masquerade playing to a crowd where half might not know you but the other half are your biggest cheerleaders. 

When it came to who inspired each member the most, all the answers had a common genre which easily explained how Yearn got their sound. Justin finds influence from bands like Whirr, Slowdive, and more shoegaze classics. Shawn derives inspiration from heavier bands like Split Chain and trauma ray. As far as genre influences, Athena mentions J-Rock and the band as a whole finds Math Rock to be a huge influence. 

Q: Are you guys planning on releasing your unreleased song "Field Trip" if you can tell me? What was the inspiration behind writing it? 

Shawn: That one was a very collaborative song. 

Justin: Dude, I wish I could give you a better diagram of what we do. But it's literally just like, we just go and do it and it comes out.

We do plan on releasing it. Actually that one we do want to release in the studio. We want to record in the studio because that song we've played so many times that we're just like, we should record this song

Make sure to keep an eye out for new music from Yearn. I know I'm hoping for "Field Trip" to be released soon! Also be sure to check them out in their upcoming show at 529 in the East Atlanta Village on October 15th! Show begins at 8pm.

Special thanks to Justin Yang, Shawn Wong, Athena Xiong, and Colton Clements for letting me interview them! Thank you to Luis Cano, management for the band.