Q&A: Yumi Zouma
IT ONLY TAKES ONE LISTEN TO BE CAPTURED BY YUMI ZOUMA. Not every band gets the opportunity to open for Lorde, especially for their first live performances, but not every band is the synth-pop prodigy Yumi Zouma. The all New Zealander group consists of Christie Simpson as lead vocals, Olivia Campion on drums, and Charlie Ryder and Josh Burgess on guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards. Their latest single “Bruise” is a bubbly, ethereal gem that you can’t help but bob your head to. Read on for Simpson’s insight into the band and their dreamy tunes, and catch Yumi Zouma on tour across New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia this October.
LUNA: “Bruise” is kinda like opening a new chapter for you guys & breaks the traditional album/EP mold. Do you think moving forward there’s gonna be a shift towards smaller projects?
SIMPSON: We do feel like the release of “Bruise" has been the start of a new chapter, however subconscious or unintentional this may have been. I think as a band we are lucky to have always been quite driven and prolific, so we're always antsy to get music out - we don't like having long periods with nothing new out there, so that's where the idea of releasing “Bruise” as a sort of standalone item came from. We also felt that it didn't quite fit with the rest of the music that we've been working on - it had its own special mood that felt separate to the other tracks, so we thought we'd let it live out on its own!
We've always tried to do things a little differently and think outside the box, but that being said - all of us definitely love the process of getting together and writing for an entire album, and I don't think we'll stray too far from that anytime soon. It's been a while since our last full-length album (“Willowbank,” October 2017) so it definitely feels like it's time to get another full body of work out there.
LUNA: How would you compare your newer/upcoming music to your previous music?
SIMPSON: As would make sense with a band like us, I think with every new release our tracks become more refined and more pop-centric. Charlie & Josh only get better and better at production with every project we work on, and I think with our songwriting being a little more integrated these days it has subtly changed the way the songs end up sounding. Our new music does feel like a continuation of the mood from “EP III” - but it's sounding quite varied so far! I think there are a few tracks that people will be pleasantly surprised with - I'm definitely very proud of what we've been working on.
LUNA: How do you think the rise of genre blending / genreless music has shaped Yumi Zouma sonically?
SIMPSON: I think sonically we've always been a little bit of mish-mash of genres as a band given that we do all have quite varied tastes and influences - and seeing so many artists blurring the line between the pop and indie world has definitely had its influence on us. I think seeing so many artists bending boundaries - even big pop acts - kind of expands the audience and makes that path somewhat easier to travel for us smaller bands.
LUNA: Even though you all listen to a variety of music and each bring your own flavor, are there artists that you can all consistently look to for inspiration? Have there been any artists lately impacting you?
SIMPSON: As I mentioned in the last answer, I think we've all got a fondness for the pop music in 2019 that pushes the boundaries a little - bands like The 1975 and the way that they write and produce in such a pop way, but with such strong art-directed visuals and such willingness to break the mold at the same time. It's hard to speak for the rest of the band as we haven't all been together in one place for a while (and this is when we have most of our mutual-music-loving discussions) but I've been loving a lot of pop or pop-adjacent stuff released this year - Lana Del Rey, Maggie Rogers, Shura, that Mark Ronson album! I've gotten pretty deep into a Phoebe Bridgers/boygenius/Better Oblivion Community Center obsession this year too, there's something about how raw and beautiful and real that music is that has definitely had an impact on me.
LUNA: What advice do you have for young women, in particular, trying to find their place in the music industry?
SIMPSON: Ah, it's a hard one. It doesn't seem to get much easier, even with so much more representation these days than when I was a teenager! My best advice is to stand your ground and find your thing and just do it. You don't necessarily have to be tough and assertive to be strong. Don't let anyone make you feel like you're being a diva, or being too precious. Something that always irked me in the indie scene is this expectation of chill, low maintenance, no-makeup indie rock dream babes who just waltz out of an 8-hour drive in a tour van and still have to look great on stage!
Also vocalists - make sure the sound tech mixes your vocal loud enough. In my experience I've found that women's voices often get mixed too quiet (and my voice is naturally quieter in volume too.)
LUNA: As the year comes to a close, what do you want the rest of the year to bring you?
SIMPSON: A super-fun 2 weeks on tour, a clearer picture of Yumi Zouma's 2020, and apart from that - peace, happiness, sunshine and lots of beach swims! So stay tuned and we'll see what happens.
FIND THEM ON TOUR
6 October - Wollongong, NSW @ Yours & Owls Festival
9 October - Sydney, NSW @ The Lansdowne
10 October - Brisbane, QLD @ What’s Golden (at The Tivoli)
11 October - Melbourne, VIC @ NGV Friday Nights
12 October - Yogyakarta, IND @ Land of Leisure
Tickets at http://yumizouma.com
