The Yards - Lawrence, Kansas
Inside The Yards - Interview
By Pat Ferris

One of the most innovative and talented jam bands in the Internet arena hailing from the Kansas City area are The Yards. As a fan of funk, R&B and groove, The Yards quickly became one of my favorite bands I've had the opportunity to 'discover'. I was first introduced to them in the beginning of this year, reviewed their debut CD in February and have looked forward to doing a follow up review and interview ever since!

Modeling in the footsteps of New Orleans funk pioneers of the early '70s, The Meters (now called The Funky Meters), The Yards were obviously influenced not only in the choice of their band name, but in Meters funky sound. Yards founders, Keyboardist Bradford Hoopes and drummer Kelly White (both college music majors), embody The Meters feel with a style of their own, creating their own flavor of funk jazz.

In their short tenure as a band, they have had nearly 10,000 downloads at MP3.com and secured two opening slots for John Scofield's 'überjam' tour, have attracted the attention of national management agency and are planning a re-release of their debut CD with the current band members. The Yards have fallen into the fast track and are making waves in the Instrumental jazz scene.

I met Bradford and Kelly for an online interview and a candid look inside The Yards.

 <HotBands> The beginning is always a great place to start. When were you guys first exposed to music, when did you realize it was your calling, and how did your careers develop to the point that you met?

<The Yards> I began piano lessons at the age of 3, and have been playing with Kelly for the past 4 years in a local variety dance band. A couple years ago, we had an urge to go into the studio together and create on the fly...our first time recording together. We chose some like-minded players and hit Z'gwonth Studios on November 5, 2000.

<HotBands> Are you both originally from the Kansas City area?

<The Yards> I'm originally from the Philadelphia area, went to college in New England, and spent much of the 90's on the west coast. Kelly grew up in Hesston, Kansas, a small town north of Wichita.

<HotBands> Talent is often hidden in people, and I'd like to show a path for readers they may be able to relate with. As far as your musical backgrounds, were you involved in high school jazz band, or other school band programs? You obviously both read and have some sort of jazz background. What led to your musical abilities?

<The Yards> I sang in choirs when I was younger which fostered my ear along with piano lessons, but I didn't discover jazz until I started college at Dartmouth. That's when I started taking jazz piano lessons and discovering incredible music from all over the world.

Hey Patrick, it's Kelly... I started playing at 9 y/o and did all the typical stuff... high school jazz band, private lessons, etc. I was fortunate to run across some amazing teachers and decided to pursue a music degree, actually, after working as a paramedic during the early ‘90s. I studied jazz and concert percussion at Washburn U. in Topeka Kansas and toured several summers with Royal Caribbean.

<HotBands> You were on tour on a cruise ship?

<The Yards> Yeah, cheesy music but great fun, and I got to see some amazing places. It was a great gig for getting my reading together. I spent a few years doing the freelance thing in Kansas City, moved to Lawrence, Kansas to go back to school, and hooked up with Bradford as mentioned previously.

<HotBands> Man, what a life!

<The Yards> Definitely low stress.

<HotBands> Now you're back in the thick of the music creation business! Talk a little about the band. How did you come up with the name The Yards? Who are the band members, instruments, etc?

<The Yards>The name was a play on ‘The Meters’. Current band members: Bradford Hoopes - keyboards, Kelly White - drums, Brian Mitchell -guitar, Brad Maestas - bass, John Byron Menides - percussion. On the record were Tom Johnson - bass, Eric Johnson -guitar and Brian Baggett - guitar

<HotBands> Your CD was recorded on the spot...most of it in one take, right?

<The Yards> That’s true...one day, 11 songs in about 11 hours, but we didn't get them all in one take. Some took 2 or 3 takes, but never more. Arrangements were done on the fly...most of the songs were composed that day.

<HotBands> Talk about some high-pressure inspiration!  I was just going to ask you about your arrangements, and what inspires them. You play a B3 right?

<The Yards> I play an old Hammond M2 organ that my dad used to play when I was younger. I would dance around on the floor like a crab while he played old Jimmy Smith tunes. Quite inspiring! As far as the arrangements on the record, we listened to old Meters records from the late 60's and early 70's and loved them and lived with them constantly before the recording, and it seeped in. Much credit is due to Tom Johnson, who engineered and played bass that day, and was a never-ending stream of great ideas that day, both from the bottom up, and song-form-wise.

<HotBands> You grew up in a piano-playing family...did your father play professionally?

<The Yards> Yes, my dad played professionally up until 1974, when he decided to pursue business interests. My grandmother on my mom's side still teaches about 35 piano students, and she's in her 80's!

<HotBands> Your band was created in the studio in November...what's happened in your musical careers since then, and why did you change band members if you liked what they were doing on the CD?

<The Yards> Well, that IS a story. Right around the time The Yards was recorded, another band in town was recording a record. Brent Berry made his 'Inland' record the same month as The Yards, and Tom and Eric Johnson were both heavily involved with that reggae project, and are with him still.

Early this year, Marty Nolan of Maverick Artist Management in Boston discovered our mp3 site, fell in love with our music, and we've been working with him ever since. He was able to hook up some opening slots for us with John Scofield on his recent uberjam tour. So we got to play Mississippi Nights in St Louis and the Fox Theater in Boulder to packed houses. It was a tremendous experience for us.

<HotBands> Great! John Scofield is such a giant in the jazz arena...I'm sure that was a big boost in your credentials as well as confidence! How did the crowd react to your performance?

<The Yards> It sure was, and he was so down to earth and cool, as was his whole band. Great people, great music. We learned a lot. The crowd really loved it. We recorded the Fox Theatre show and have it up on our mp3 site. The Scofield band seemed to enjoy in, too, especially Adam Deitch, the drummer

<HotBands> How did you find HotBands.com?

<The Yards> I found HotBands through mp3 radio stations. I think it was though some friends the Tiki Brothers, in Vancouver.

<HotBands> When I first reviewed you at the end of February, you had about 2500 downloads. That number has nearly quadrupled in the last 90 days. Where are you getting most of your downloads? Have you had any radio airplay?

<The Yards> We hooked up with an NMA out of Germany, Interconnected.de and they put up a review on their home page and we've been flying ever since. Not much radio play, although I understand we'll be featured on Joe Kelley's program 'The Upper Room' out of Connecticut soon.

<HotBands> What is NMA

<The Yards> NMA is New Music Army, a community networking deal on mp3

<HotBands> What do you think of the Internet music revolution? MP3.com paid out a lot of money to artists in the beginning, but after the restructuring, the pay-for-play deal shrank to a fraction of what they were originally offering artists. How do you view this, and what is your intent as far as using the Internet to promote your band?

<The Yards> I love the Internet as part of the music revolution. It’s allowed many musicians to at least get their sound or product out there, without needing a deal. Getting paid for plays has always seemed a little odd to me...who pays for it? As far as using the Internet for promotion, it is a fine tool, and one that has yielded some degree of success for us so far, so I'm guessing we'll keep using it.

<HotBands> What are the plans for The Yards? Are your shows going to be on the jazz circuit? Do you have plans of adding a vocalist, or as keeping it an instrumental band?

<The Yards> We anticipate being part of the new vintage jazz-funk collective...No plans for a vocalist. The Yards are an instrumental outfit. We're re-releasing our record with an up-to-date lineup and new pictures and graphics, and possibly a bonus track. We should have our website up by the end of the week, www.theyards.net and then we're looking to get out this fall on some more opening slots and regional touring, and eventually make it to the coasts.

<HotBands> You got a great break in the industry, but a great quote I like is ‘The harder I work, the luckier I seem to get’. What words of inspiration can you offer others that may hear your band or your story?

<The Yards> Do what you love do what you enjoy. if it works out and you get a 'break', keep doing that, if not keep doin what you love anyway. kelly and I have over 50 years of collective musical experience, and that's what we bring. We're doing what we love and loving what we're doing.

<HotBands> I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview, and look forward to hearing more from your band!