Roll of the Dice: 7 questions with Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes

Features, Interviews, Roll of the Dice

When Pittsburgh rockers dropped their sophomore LP,
Supertinyinfinitedans, last month via , the band pikced up steam and has steadily grown their audience across the US. Guitarist Dan Hagendorf was kind enough to sit down with TGEFM about their influences, the new album and what's coming next.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! Congrats in advance on next month's new album. What should our readers know about the members of Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes, your history and your Sound?

Phew oh boy let's try to summarize 9.5 years of being a band. Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes, or Yes Yes/ for short, has existed in a number of different forms over the years, but our current line-up is Dan Hagendorf (guitar/songwriter), Cameron LeViere (bass), and Ryan Ruff (drums). The band started out in December 2013 as a mathy, twinkly emo/punk two-piece with Dan Hagendorf and Dylan Chieffalo; we weren't even friends starting out, we just met up to jam one day at Dylan's practice space because we'd heard through mutual friends that we'd mesh musically. I'm not sure why we kept meeting up because we were relatively awkward and rude to each other during those first couple practices. It must've been because we came up with the main riff for “Haunted Houses Are For Losers” during that second practice and kinda looked at each other like, there's something here right? It didn't take long for us to grow into best friends.
Dylan was booking a lot of shows–and played drums in a lot of bands–in Pittsburgh at the time. He'd established a sort of informal system of booking shows and tacking one of his bands on to each bill, so Yes Yes became a part of that show rotation from its inception. We started out incredibly strong, playing our 5-song/12-minute set at our first few shows with Prawn, Rozwell Kid/Mike Bell and the Movies, and one of my favorite bands of all time, Tera Melos (I knew I had peaked when their bass player Nate told me we “sounded pretty good from outside”).
We recorded our first full length LP, Not Once, Not Never, throughout late 2014 into 2015 with Dave Cerminara at Treelady Studios and released it through Broken World Media on 5/20/16. Dylan and I toured  the East Coast a couple times in 2014 and 2015 as a two-piece, trying to rock it but still subconsciously insecure about trying to do so much without additional members. I tried to recruit several people to play bass and second guitar in the band throughout 2015, but they each ended up being the wrong combination of talented and flakey. We tried recording two songs for a split with Philadelphia's Roof Doctor but we didn't end up liking how they turned out (those files still have to exist on my laptop somewhere). We found a couple people, Allegra Eidinger and Ben Gardner, to settle in playing bass and guitar in 2016 and managed a two-week tour as a four-piece. Jason McCarty ended up replacing Allegra on bass in late 2017 and started playing shows with us within a month.
It was looking like we'd finally found our furr-ever line-up with the addition of Jason there for a while. From early 2017 to early 2019 we worked tirelessly on writing and practicing most of the songs that comprise Supertinyinfinitedans, getting it ready for recording. However, I had mental and physical health issues that'd been building up that entire time and resulted in a mental breakdown of sorts at the end of 2018. I ended up quitting my lab scientist job and moving back to the Philly suburbs with my parents and brothers to heal and regroup; Yes Yes disbanded suddenly and by default in early 2019. Shortly after moving home, I started getting daily migraines and incurred a mysterious rib injury that's stayed with me to this day, four years later. (Perhaps you're smelling fuel for a song called “Numb Sum” by now?) The ribs issue is a whole thing—I'm very thankful to still be able to sing and play guitar comfortably.
After a year, I was able to get my shit together and landed another geologist job back in Pittsburgh in late 2019. Yes Yes's former members were happy to hear I was feeling better, but had understandably moved on and weren't interested in continuing where we'd left off. Shortly after moving back, serendipity struck when I officially “met” Cameron LeViere—we'd been acquaintances / seen each other at Pittsburgh shows over the years but never talked much—and we quickly became best friends. They happened to be living with Ryan Ruff at the time (we also quickly became besties); Ryan told me he'd gone to school for audio engineering and played drums in Cam's band Lawn Care and something just clicked. We joined each other's bands—Lawn Care's bassist happened to be quitting that month—and the rest is history; the pandemic hit three months after we decided to join each other's bands and we started diligently practicing in Cam's backyard (to maintain social distancing), attempting to prepare the “Supertinyinfinitedans” tracklisting for recording. We started recording the LP in March 2021 and finished in January 2023.

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?

I was 10 years old when School Of Rock starring Jack Black came out. That movie ended up having a tremendous impact on my family. After watching, my dad started his mid-life crisis in the form of immediately hitting up the nearest Sam Ash and buying a beautiful Tama birch kit (he had played drums in a band as a teenager but gave it up in his early 20's to follow in his father's footsteps and be a laminator in the family business). He also bought my younger brother Alex a Squier guitar and an electric bass for me–I had just started playing double bass in orchestra at school. I was envious of Alex's guitar and snuck into his room when he wasn't around to play it behind his back for about a year (I don't think “Smoke On The Water” was intended to be played as a secret). Eventually I admitted to it and asked my parents for a guitar and some lessons.
I saw Dr. Dog play a free performance in Rittenhouse Square back in August of 2008, right after the release of their incredible album, “Fate”. I already knew I was into this band before seeing them there, having just been exposed to their music via my friends that trekked to that show with me from the Philly suburbs. I think this show made me fall in love with them, though–I was awestruck. Dr. Dog made me want to be in a band, but I was still young and didn't have any serious musical ambition at the time.
The bands that made me really want to be in a DIY band and go on tour, made me think I could do it and might have a future in music were Bellows (NYC) and Saintseneca (Columbus, OH). I remember seeing both of them in Pittsburgh at Garfield Artworks–Bellows promoting their first album As If To Say I Hate Daylight in 2012 & Saintseneca promoting Dark Arc in 2013–and being so inspired by their performances, songwriting capabilities, and vocals. I was just gaining confidence in my guitar skills and feeling like I could write worthwhile songs. Seeing these incredible bands (along with local indie/rock n roll band Brightside) at this critical time in my life definitely emboldened me to believe in myself musically.
As far as particular singles that really hit me at that time, I remember feeling really influenced by Bellows's song “Like A Saint” and Saintseneca's “Only The Good Die Young”.

How did this recording compare to the experiences you had with Not Once, Not Never?

Our experience recording Supertinyinfinitedans couldn't have been more different than tracking Not Once, Not Never. Our first LP was relatively rushed, we were a new band and wanted to get some solid music available online asap. [To be completely honest I taught Dylan one of the songs–”Use Yr Powers For Good”–the morning of our first day of tracking before rolling up to the studio. “Little Mouse Pirouettes” was already completed from some sessions I did at Drexel University for my solo project that never materialized, we recycled it by deciding to include it on this record during tracking]. Also, we recorded “Not Once, Not Never” in a studio, with Dave Cerminara at Treelady Studios. That gave us access to some awesome equipment and professional engineering skills, but limited us time/money-wise. We ended up going way over our originally proposed budget and were always stressing about whether or not we'd actually be able to finish. Also, Dylan basically refused to play to a click at the time—I ended up convincing him to try it for a few songs—so that obviously gave Dave some considerable difficulty in tempo-mapping most of the songs and editing drums/everything.
Supertinyinfinitedans was recorded completely by us, slowly, in a basement and a couple bedrooms, with a bunch of gear setbacks and a steep learning curve. Ryan was the only engineer/tech. A lot of the songs have been evolving and refined over years and years, some existing through multiple line-up changes, marinating, even picking up some subtle additions/changes through the recording process since we had the time and flexibility to experiment. Recording this LP also took longer than we originally planned–much longer–but after a certain point we were committed to making it the best it could be. Admittedly, I was stressed by how time consuming it was from a personal weekly schedule perspective, and stressing about how we hadn't released any music since 2017. However, we were a bit surprised by how well it seemed to be turning out (maybe some of the love labor was shining through into the final product?) and decided midway-through that it'd be a mistake to try to hurry up and just get it finished for the sake of releasing something.
I think my voice has changed a little bit, at the very least my confidence in my singing voice has grown, and I've had all these extra years to mature as a guitar player and songwriter. I've tried to approach songwriting with a more symphonic style lately, focusing on harmonious, complementary interactions between multiple guitars and bass, rather than just one cool guitar part with everything else supporting that part. Like letting the Whole of the song wash over you, if that makes sense?
Both experiences have been incredibly humbling (you think you're good at playing guitar and singing until you hear yourself played back all sloppy and naked a thousand times!), and very important learning experiences. I think the main similarity between the two albums is that I recorded them both with my best friends during the respective times.

The world has been going through some shit over the last few years, and that's impacted the album release, but there's a true sense of optimism in your sound, even the single “Numb Sum,” faces the failing health systems with snark and a smile. What effect, if any, have the cultural (and/or political) landscapes of the last few years had on your music and how do you maintain the positive outlook despite the challenges the world has presented?

We're facing a myriad of obstacles to protecting organized human society and staving off ecological collapse, two of the largest threats being global nuclear war and anthropogenic climate change. It seems like there are only a few, very specific courses of action needed to avoid certain global catastrophe due to climate change that we aren't following yet. Living over a century after the dawn of industrialization through late-stage capitalism, extreme political polarization, and hyperbolically speedy technological evolution is enough to leave anyone jaded and depressed. Our brains aren't wired to efficiently/comfortably process and adapt to such rapid and ubiquitous change. There's this human imperative to continue on and progress, despite the cognitive dissonance one feels when facing the void of a most-likely dark future (especially depending upon where one falls within the matrix of oppression).
We've got to grapple with the fact that petroleum companies like Exxon knew about the imminent existential crisis posed by continuing to burn hydrocarbons in the '70s and went ahead doing business as usual anyways. The U.S. government has steadily established itself as the de facto world police, maintaining its geopolitical prowess with the unnecessarily massive military industrial complex, as well as means of leveraging soft power; it's also been steadily attacking the rights of anyone that isn't a straight white male domestically. The cultural and political landscapes of the last few years have left me feeling overwhelmed and anxious. I've also been feeling a bit of disbelief at the willful neglect of U.S. politicians to enact meaningful policy changes that seem so obviously needed to me and my friends/loved ones, and the anger that comes with processing that. This has absolutely affected my writing process; truthfully, I usually feel too tired or depressed to create.
The present tends to have this palpable, pervasive urgency to it. With so much to care about, so many things I'd consider problems that need fixing, it can feel childish and disrespectful to write about anything else other than imminent dangers to society. Sometimes I find myself speechless or paralyzed in trying to decide what to write about, considering my privilege as a white, male-bodied person from a relatively middle-class family. I get in my head about whether I deserve a platform to say anything, and that even if I do, if what I say is going to be interesting.
My feelings on this are obviously ever-changing. It's really easy to feel hopeless and pissed off and entitled to a better future (or any future at all) in the face of such uncertainty and scary geopolitical conditions. And it's really easy to come off cheesy and naive when going down the whole “I know it seems bad, but…” positivity rabbit hole. The fact is, though: in a world systematically designed to overwhelm, distract, and discourage you, it's a radical act to not give up. Optimism doesn't mean you're a sucker, it's not uncool to have hope. It takes a lot of fucking courage to maintain a positive outlook nowadays, and while I don't pretend to be able to maintain it all the time in my daily life, I think it's important that we strive to embody it in our art.

One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think
they should?

feeble little horse of Pittsburgh just released an absolute banger of an album, Girl with Fish, through Saddle Creek, smart fuzzy pop with interesting vocal melodies and some cool chord changes. I highly recommend checking them out.
One of my favorite bands right now is Seth Engel's recording project Options, based out of Chicago. Seth is such an incredible and prolific songwriter; I just had the rare opportunity to catch them playing live in Pittsburgh and had my mind blown by some of the crazy chords he was playing, definitely took some notes. “Wind's Gonna Blow” is a masterpiece album that you should 100% listen to right now.
One of the only shows we played in 2022 was with Gentleman Speaker out of St. Paul, MO. I'd never heard of them beforehand but they're absolutely on my radar now, I wouldn't be surprised if they deservedly started blowing up soon! Highly infectious melodies and lyrics with song structures that don't ever feel stale, not to mention they're incredibly nice people.
Sneeze Awfull, also of Pittsburgh, is one of the most unique bands I've come across in quite a while. They're a noise pop band with a cello player that shreds, hauntingly pretty & ethereal vocals, and tasteful inclusion of all kinds of samples, confidently weaving through crazy, weird, and dancey soundscapes. 10/10 for catchiness and creativity.
Finally, I think everyone should know about another Pittsburgh band, String Machine. Their two most recently released albums, “Death Of The Neon” and “Hallelujah Hell Yeah”, are perfect LPs that flow together so well and contain some great storytelling elements. They're a dreamy blend of indie rock, folk, and power pop with heavenly harmonies, catchy riffs, and a whole bunch of members that you can tell are having a blast when performing.

What's next for Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes?

We're going to try using this new release as a springboard for gaining accessibility to bigger shows and media opportunities, as well as a broader demographic of listeners. I'd like to do a national tour sometime in 2024 if we can swing it, and play at festivals we've never been to like SXSW and FEST. We're also going to be looking to perform some live music sessions.
Right now, we're planning on recording an EP this winter/early 2024 and writing songs for another new full-length. I've got the songs written for the EP and some of an album, just need to teach and evolve most of the songs with Cam and Ryan. Some of the song topics include quantum mechanics and skateboarding. We'll also have some new merch available and I'm going to try to learn how to make a decent video on TikTok, pray for me.

Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

As I mentioned above, Cam, Ryan, and I are also in a band called Lawn Care, sometimes described as post-ska mathy punk, with four horn players: Dan DeSimone, Tyler Handyside, Jarrett Hayden, and Connor Freer. Lawn Care is the brain-child of Cam and we're about to start recording an absolute banger of a concept album about the history of Pittsburgh and Cam's family history/personal relationship with the city. Be on the lookout for new Lawn Care music next year!
Marge Barry (@maarjereen) is the incredible visual artist that created our album artwork for “Supertinyinfinitedans,” as well as some shirt designs for us. I highly recommend supporting her in any way you can!
Ross Ribblett is the director and editor of the music video for our song, “Dead Eyes, Clapping In Unison.” If you need a highly skilled, sweet human being for photography or video production work in the Pittsburgh area, please hit him up!
Obligatory self promotional plug: please follow us on Instagram and Twitter:)
Instagram: @yy1kxy
Twitter: @yy1kxy
Email: yy1kxy@gmail.com     

Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.