Green Mind presents YARD ACT

The two had been pub associates for years, but their new living circumstances served as a catalyst for their friendship and creative partnership which saw them fuse James' interest in spoken word with Ryan's primitive proto-punk demos using an ancient drum machine and borrowed bass guitar. They released their first material in March 2020, coinciding with you-know-what, and with just three singles (The Trapper’s Pelts, Fixer Upper and Peanuts) and three gigs to date, Yard Act have staked out a territory all their own. Setting up their own imprint Zen F.C. they released their debut 7” which can now only be found for exorbitant sums on Discogs, they’ve scored two 6music playlists, and they’ve won a growing fanbase with their coruscating, narrative driven, spoken word dance-punk. Now girding their loins for a 2021 filled with new music, new recordings, debut novels, and (fingers crossed) plenty of live shows, Yard Act have most definitely marked our cards as one of UK’s most exciting prospects.

BAND STATEMENT 

Right, gigs are back on for the time being!

We ain't wading back into all this victorious over the virus like our noble leaders assured us we would be, but we can't undo the choices they've made by doing everything about one thing and nothing about another.

Live events and social interaction are too important to too many people to neglect any longer. We all understand that, but the virus doesn't, so we're gonna be cautious as we dip our feet in again and do our best to make sure it doesn't go away once more.

Everyone does have their part to play in this,  and even if different festivals and different venues have different policies; If you're coming to our show, we want you to try do what we're asking out of respect for the band, our crew (BIG UP PETE!) and everyone else in the room, whether they're working the event or attending the show. 

Echoing what many other venues and promoters have said already, please do this out of respect for others. A lot of us aren't scared of DYING from this virus, but many of us have to be cautious for family, work or any other number of reasons you won't be aware of when you're out there BREATHING like a FREAK. Beyond how it might personally affect us, out of respect for the vulnerable in our society, everyone who is in a safe enough position to get back out into crowded spaces should still do the decent thing where they can.

YARD ACT FACIST REGIME IS AS FOLLOWS

1. For our headline shows, you will need to bring a negative PCR or lateral flow test for attendance, even if the venue is not making this mandatory for other shows, we will be for ours. This will be communicated with necessary venues and you will be informed in advance.

2. I wear glasses so I hate face masks, but I will be wearing one indoors at all times except for the duration of our performance (tried singing with one on, didn't work) and we ask that if you can, you do too, even when we are performing, if poss. There is nothing I love more than supping fresh pints of lager whilst eyeballing the competition (i mean watching other bands) but that means taking a mask off, so if you can keep your mask on when not sneaking a sip, please do. Obviously we can't enforce this and we wouldn't anyway. Masks are crap, not least in a sweaty crowded space, we get that. Our set is short. We are lazy. Please try and keep it on whilst you're inside.

Funny how it feels like a lot to ask, whilst also asking very little. We want to be transparent about how we feel. We've barely played any gigs ever because of this virus. We can't wait to see you all, we can't wait to connect, and we will. but we'll do that better if we can all be in sync about what we want and need. There exceptions to all rules, we want good vibes only, let's take it steady and keep it real.

James.