Formed in the unpromising surroundings of Hoboken, New Jersey in the mid-eighties, Yo La Tengo have been responsible for the consistent production of a fascinating, and sometimes willfully eclectic, body of work. The core members – husband and wife Ira Kaplan (vocals/guitar) and Georgia Hubley (vocals/drums) – were joined by bassist James McNew in the early nineties. This threesome were responsible for 1997's happy-sad 'I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One' which included the fragile harmonies of Sugarcube and Autumn Sweater as well as the speedy soundscape of Beach Boys cover Little Honda. Last year's follow-up, 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out', only served to further consolidate their position as purveyors of intelligent and heartfelt pop.
On stage, Yo La Tengo are in their natural habitat, developing an amiable and witty rapport with the audience while they trade vocal duties and instruments throughout the set. Playing in Dublin last year, McNew and Kaplan performed a spectacularly comical choreographed dance to You Can Have It All – this year we can only hope…
Caroline Hennessy: The last few times you played in Ireland were in the Mean Fiddler, Vicar Street and at the Witnness festival. This time you're playing in the slightly more reverential surroundings of the Olympia Theatre and it is a fully seated gig - will that be strange for you?James McNew: I hope it won't be strange. No, we've played in seated venues many times, last night in Malaga, for example. ''Slightly more reverential surroundings'' than Witnness translates to me as indoor bathrooms, something I always appreciate.
CH: Last time I saw you, you played a hilarious version of You Can Have It All - have you got any more karaoke versions in store for this gig? JM: Hilarious? I have no idea what you're talking about.
CH: You played the Velvet Underground in 'I Shot Andy Warhol', Mary Harron's film about Valerie Solanas. Did you get to work with soundtrack producer John Cale? Would you be interested in doing more film-based work? What do you think of Mary Harron's last film, 'American Psycho'? JM: No, no work with John Cale. But we did get to meet Lili Taylor, who was infinitely more appealing. We absolutely prefer writing music for films, as opposed to just lending album tracks. At the end of April, we're performing live at the San Francisco Film Festival, providing live musical accompaniment to a series of short silent films. I didn't see 'American Psycho' because the scene where we appear as Huey Lewis & The News was cut.
CH: In an ideal world, who (alive or dead) would you most like to collaborate with and why? JM: I don't know, we've been pretty lucky so far. In the last few years we've collaborated with Ray Davies, Neil Innes, Sonic Boom, David Kilgour, Mac McCaughan, Robyn Hitchcock, Susie Ibarra, Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter, Roy Campbell Jr., Lambchop, Q-Unique, Kit Clayton, Nobukazu Takemura, AND we were on 'The Simpsons'. I'm happy.
CH: What three albums had the most impact on you when you were growing up? JM: 'Damaged' by Black Flag, 'What Makes A Man Start Fires' by the Minutemen, and the Modern Lovers LP.
CH: Plans for the future? JM: One day at a time.
Yo La Tengo play Dublin's Olympia Theatre on Wednesday 11 April.
