Yard Act have shared a surprise collaboration with Elton John.
Sir Elton is seemingly a big fan of their debut album ‘The Overload’, and has given them support on his Apple Music radio show. A keen supporter, Yard Act reached out and – remarkably – the post-punk outfit hit the studio with the Rocket Man himself.
Choosing to re-work an album cut, ‘100% Endurance’ was picked apart alongside producer Ali Chant, with the project split between Parlour Studios and historic West London complex Metropolis Studios.
Discussing the collaboration, James Smith comments:
Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art’ – it means what it means. You make stuff because you want to make it, and you throw stuff you’ve made into the world because you’d rather share it than not and then you leave it alone and let it do its thing. That thing you did can take you to places you didn’t intend to go with it, but it’s out of your control really. You have no control over the mad shit. It just happens (when you do art).
Elton John saw our stuff and he started telling the press he thought we were good and then we chatted on the phone and after a few calls I said ‘Elton, do you want to come to the studio and play piano on a tune?’ because, fuck it, it doesn’t matter if he says no. Anyway, he said ‘yes’, so it doesn’t matter that he didn’t say no. I don’t know what else to say. He’s brilliant. Switched on, hilarious and an amazing musician.
For his part, Elton is a huge fan of Yard Act’s lyrics, and compared his experiences with those 60s session cuts from early in his career. “From the first moment I heard Yard Act, I fell in love with James’ lyrics, and the way he’s delivered the song. Their sound is such a breath of fresh air. When James called and asked if I would come into the studio I instantly loved the idea.”
“I started out as a session musician in the late ’60s and I absolutely loved it then. It was such a thrill to be thrown in with musicians I’d never met before, it pushed me out of my comfort zone and I became a better musician. During lock down I had the time on my hands to really start doing that in a concerted way again, and I fell in love with the challenge and the process all over again. They’re a very special band, with a massive future ahead of them and I’m honoured they’ve let me be a part of their journey.”
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