ACEFACE: FOON YAP
There is lots of magical people in the city of Calgary. Sometimes they are right in front of you, sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes, like Foon Yap, they are right in front of you but have a certain aura of mystery surrounding them. Foon Yap, the energetic violin-playing pixie in Calgary’s Woodpigeon, has an interesting musical history and future that is lesser known than her recent claim to fame. Also playing in the all-girl surf band The May Pangs, which includes the female members of Woodpigeon, Foon is constantly surrounded by music. Currently, working on her own solo project, multiple collaborations, and an EP expected out soon, this girl is busy. Luckily, I got the chance to sit down with the songstress in her incredibly huge closet to talk about music and eat delicious confections!
Kait Kucy (KK): Okay, so here we are in your closet.
Foon Yap (FY): Oh my god, I’m nervous all of a sudden. I think I need some alcohol!
KK: Well, our interviewee just left the room, she’s scared apparently.
……
KK: So, anyways, we are here in your huge closet and I was wondering what you do in here normally besides host dinner parties?
FY: I write music in my bra and then I break in my high heels at the same time so I can walk around in them without looking stupid. I multi-task, I break in my high heels and make music. And look good.
KK: Anything else happen in here?
FY: Not yet…
KK: Your present fame is directly linked to Woodpigeon, but what people don’t know is that you didn’t always play violin in an indie folk band. You actually started off as a classical musician. How old were you when you started?
FY: I was four when I started playing violin. I had an intense Polish Communist teacher and she would only teach you if you were talented. So, all my siblings went through her but she sent them all away and she kept me as her project. I think she had a vision of me becoming an intense classical violinist but I don’t think she predicted that I would be so wayward. The classical world is very rigid and you just interpret other people’s work. I was just a bad classical student – I think I was just bored.
KK: How long did you do it for? I think when I first met you, you were just finishing that all up.
FY: I was in the conservatory from age 12 until 17. You do chamber music, everything. But I dropped out the year before graduation. I don’t think I would ever go back. It’s just too different. It’s like ballet versus just dancing for fun. Anyways, how I learned to play music with other people is my Mom forced me to play music in church. She is super Catholic and I always looked so bored in mass, so she made me play with the church band. That’s how I learned how to play music by ear.
KK: You said you would never go back to the classical world, but do you take aspects of it with you?
FY: Yes, totally. I still practice classical violin every once and awhile. I like that it gives you a solid technical base, so I can do whatever I want. Fiddle or gypsy, or I can play indie folk. It makes me versatile.
KK: You are working on some solo stuff right now. Sounds pretty romantic, I would say. Do you find inspiration in just daily life? Or if not where?
FY: A bunch of things. Daily life, for sure. Also, sometimes I don’t know what I am writing about until I am done writing it. School. I am totally inspired by school all the time. Going to university, I don’t think I would ever drop out of my degree because what I learn in school I totally use in my music all the time.
KK: I know you plan on collaborating with some other local songbirds for your EP, do you mind naming a few?
FY: No, of course not. Definitely Kris Ellestad because when he sings I feel like I die inside. He has such a beautiful voice. And Mark (Hamilton of Woodpigeon) is going to produce it, so I am going to be working with Mark a lot. I am pretty anal, so I want to keep it at just that. I want to have really strict creative control over this stuff. Oh, and Kiarra Albina. [At time of interview...] I haven’t talked to her yet about it but I am sure she’ll do it. Not for the EP, but in the fall I want to do a show where she makes a piece based on a song I write and then I make a song based on one of her pieces. Then we do a song together and draw and paint and sing at the same time. And THEN at the opening, she could draw and paint on me….I don’t know – we need to talk about it. But I think that will be my fall project.
KK: What is exciting to you right now?
FY: Right now I am really excited about all kinds of beans. Especially black beans because they are so good for you. I am really excited about KNOTS (Neil Moignard). And also Laura Leif’s stuff. I guess I am just really excited about my friends’ stuff. Del the Funky Homosapien! I am very excited about him.
KK: I am really in to TOP 5s and TOP 10s right now, so I was wondering if you could give me a TOP 5 records of the moment?
FY: I don’t really buy CDs… Hmm… Marianne Davies. I’ve been watching youtube videos of her singing all the time. I also have been listening to a lot of B-52s. I love them. There is a Chad Van Gaalen song called ‘Molten Light’ that I will put on repeat over and over and over. There is Bob Dylan song called ‘Lay Lady Lay’ that I put on repeat as well. Oh and ‘Shake Your Coconuts’, the DFA remix!
the delicious closet afternoon meal prepared by miss yap
***interview & photos by kait kucy
