2008 Woodie Awards
Local band Read Yellow poised for big time
Mary Beth McGee
Issue date: 10/20/04 Section: Arts
Read Yellow has come a long way since their days playing in the lounge of a Chinese food restaurant. Over the past three years, this art-punk quartet from Amherst, Massachusetts have gone from playing dorm shows at UMass to opening for such musical legends as Morrissey and the New York Dolls in England.
Read Yellow (pronounced red) is a band known for their raucous live act and a raw sound that has been captured on their first full-length album, Radios Burn Faster.
Released in May 2004 on Boston label Fenway Recordings, Radios Burn Faster features Evan Kenney on vocals/guitar, Jesse Vouna on guitar/vocals, Michelle Kay Freivald on bass/vocals and Paul Koelle on drums.
The album has been reviewed in big name publications such as New Musical Express and even has appeared on Rolling Stone's "Hot List."
Most recently, you may have noticed the band on the cover of the Improper Bostonian's music issue. They have toured with The Rapture, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead and Division of Laura Lee among others. Read Yellow certainly gets around.
I spoke with Jesse about Read Yellow's "road to fame," coincidentally as he was driving from Amherst to Boston, a route very familiar to the band.
Read Yellow was formed in 2001 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Vouna said the band's beginnings came out of the friendship between him and Kenney. Playing around on guitar led them to seeking out a bass player (Freivald) and eventually a drummer (Koelle). In those days, Read Yellow were known as "The Sharks;" playing shows on campus and a local dance night put on by friends. The band later changed their name due to legal issues.
When asked about musical influences, Vouna credits "the D.C. bands" on the Dischord record label such as Fugazi and Rites of Spring. Vouna describes the bands' sound as "noisy and have a lot of power to it...the ability to capture an audience." Judging by Read Yellow's live performance, it is obvious that they have a similar power over their crowd.