Boston-based indie rockers You Can Be a Wesley (YCBAW) will release their full length EP, Nightosphere, on November 1st, and plan to celebrate with an album release show at the Middle East Upstairs.
YCBAW has inspired comparisons to 90s infused bands such as Pixies and Broken Social Scene. Guided by singer/guitarist Saara Untracht-Oakner’s youthful and sweet-sounding vocals, Nightosphere provides 22 minutes of lyrically driven garage-pop.
The band self-released their debut album, Heard Like Us, in 2009. They then raised money to record their more musically mature Nightosphere on the creative funding platform www.kickstarter.com.
The band first took shape in a dorm room at BU’s very own West Campus. Recording on a broken laptop and substituting drums with cardboard boxes, YCBAW has taken great strides in recent years, to say the least.
“Recording with the laptop was pretty funny,” Untracht-Oakner said in a phone interview. “It came out, and that’s about as much as we got from it.”
The band is made up of Untracht-Oakner and fellow Bostonians Winston Macdonald, Nick Curran and Dylan Ramsey. The band recorded Nightosphere at recording studio 1867 in Chelsea, MA. With the help of producer Chris McLaughlin, YCBAW spent five days recording and two days mixing.
“It was awesome and intense. We would go in at noon and be there until five in the morning,” Untracht-Oakner said. “It got pretty weird by the second day because we were all so tired.”
YCBAW has maintained an active role in Boston’s music scene. From regularly performing at local venues to befriending similar artists in the community, the band lives and breathes creativity.
“We’ve become good friends with local bands Mean Creek, Banana Phonetic and more,” Untracht-Oakner said. “Being surrounded by creative people is really important and keeps us motivated.”
YCBAW draws musical influence from their local musical friends as well as whatever the band members are listening to at the time.
“The past year we all lived in a house together, and now Nick and I live in a house together.” Untracht-Oakner said. “We’re usually on the same page with music and bands we’re listening to.” Lately, they’ve been listening to Smashing Pumpkins, Tame Impala, Deerhunter and Menomena.
In recent weeks, YCBAW has been shooting the music video for their single “Giants,” and has been preparing for Nightosphere’s upcoming release and short tour in November. In the meantime, listen to “Old in Florida” and “Talking Science.”
To learn more about the band and upcoming shows, visit http://youcanbeawesley.com/.
