A Dirty Dozen with THE YAGAS – April 2025

Photo credit: Franco Vogt

According to a recent press release: “Today, alt rock band The Yagas, fronted by Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress Vera Farmiga, has released their full-length debut album, Midnight Minuet. The 10-song independent collection – already hailed as an “unexpected masterpiece” and a “spellbinding sonic journey” – includes the previously released singles “The Crying Room,” “She’s Walking Down” and “Life Of A Widow” as well as new focus track “I Am.” Midnight Minuet was produced by keyboardist Renn Hawkey (formerly of famed alt-metal band Deadsy), mixed by GRAMMY® nominee Brian Virtue (Deftones, 30 Seconds to Mars) and mastered by GRAMMY® winner Emily Lazar (Beck, Coldplay). On Midnight Minuet, The Yagas – also featuring Jason Bowman (drums), Mark Visconti (guitar) and Mike Davis (bass) – adorn even the darkest moments with unexpected bursts of ineffable beauty, as evidenced by the album’s opener and the band’s debut single “The Crying Room.” Paired with a darkly enchanting video co-starring Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz, the primally cathartic track was partly inspired by the horrors endured by Farmiga’s extended family since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Follow-up single “She’s Walking Down” fully immerses the listener in a brutal but exhilarating tale of violence and vengeance. The track’s hauntingly beautiful music video – directed by Farmiga, marking the first piece of art she’s directed in 15 years – depicts a dark dream that Farmiga repeatedly had about her young daughter in peril.” We get Mike Davis (bass), Mark Visconti (guitar), and Jason Bowman (drums) to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Mike: Hmm, our latest release is also our first release, so we’re on a maiden voyage. I do think our record will unfold with repeated listening. There are so many layers musically speaking that help the lyrical stories come to life. Renn (on synths) especially added so many punctuations and bits of nuance and mood to each song. They are subtle but really support each song’s narrative. It’s similar to the experience of watching a film with a really effective score. When it’s good, you don’t notice it unless you are listening for it. In my opinion, Renn’s synth work is like that. Sometimes it’s in a lead function, but often the listener might not realize that’s what’s hitting them, grabbing them. I think it’s something about our sound and this record that is unique and will reveal itself more and more with repeated listening. Aaaaaaaand, may every fan eventually be diehard!

Mark: Midnight Minuet is a dense, layered, and sometimes dark musical painting. Each band member added their own colors, sometimes shading, sometimes structure and foundation. I recommend listening with headphones – but cranked in your car sounds pretty cool too.

Jason: If you play it backwards it says “Satan wears our panties.”

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Mike: I honestly can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to be a musician. I suppose there was a switch from being an obsessive collector of music to NEEDING to play it myself. Going way back, I remember show and tell in first grade when kids were bringing in a toy or something odd they found in the woods. One week I brought Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. On other weeks I brought in Hotel California, A Night at the Opera, Ziggy Stardust, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (I did not play “Big Balls,” though I wanted to). It was around fourth or fifth grade when I started listening to Rush and Yes that I realized two things: I needed to actually play music and I needed to play it on bass. Geddy Lee and Chris Squire really made making music mandatory for me.

Mark: I have been a fan of music for as long as I can remember. A former Music Therapist, a current High School and Middle School Music Teacher, and a performing and recording musician for about 30 years. It’s always been a part of my personal and professional life. Creating and composing, performing, and just general listening, Music is my life source.

Jason: Well, music got me into music. Life is drab and colorless without it. Try watching a scary or triumphant scene in a movie. Then turn the sound down and watch it again. The scene often becomes comically bland without the music to guide your emotions.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Mike: My taste is really eclectic. By high school I had gone deep into the goth and “alt” of the 80’s and then transitioned deeply into jazz. Jazz took over for a long time, but I still found myself listening to and performing just about everything. I can say that the greatest live performances I’ve seen over the years, ones that moved me to tears, were Keith Jarrett Trio, whom I’ve seen several times, and Bjork while touring Vespertine. Both artists are absolutely and utterly connected to the moment while on stage in a way that just rips me to shreds.

Mark: There have been so many musical moments that have shaped my life:

• Hearing Cheap Trick for the first time in the back seat on a family trip. Their album, Live at Budokan, would be the first album I would buy with my own money at age 8.
  
• Seeing Judas Priest (with opener Iron Maiden) in 1982. My first of about a hundred metal shows, this performance introduced me to the metal community and the general spectacle and power of a true heavy metal concert.
  
• Seeing U2 for the first time – Joshua Tree Tour, 1987. This remains the best show I have ever seen. As a teenager, U2 gave my musical palate a soul and a social conscience. They showed me how music can actually change the world. They are and have always been “my Beatles.”
  
• The album Lay It Down by the Cowboy Junkies. This record is my favorite album of all time. Beautifully simple and dark, moody and beautiful.
  
• Playing with Steve Vai onstage. This was an improv jam he started, and I can say I “held my own.” Steve is my zen master of the guitar. A true genius and gentleman. I continue to learn from him more than any other musician.
  

Jason: As a child I was forced to go to state fairs to watch repeated Gary Puckett and the Union Gap performances. My thought was I want to do the opposite of that. No hate to GP.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Mike: I feel like The Yagas in collaboration with Peter Murphy would be killer. He’s one of my all-time favorite artists, and I feel like our aesthetics would combine seamlessly. There you go…I’ve made a wish, now I’m blowing out the candles!

Mark: I would call St. Vincent. She is my favorite musician right now by a mile. Always changing, pushing boundaries in writing and production. She is my Muse.

Jason: Rob Halford. Umm because it’s Rob Halford. The MF is fearless.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Mike: More than anything else reading is how I like to unwind. I read and read aaaaand read. I generally have at least a couple of books going at any given moment, a fiction and a non-fiction. My all-time favorite book is Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. It was his second novel, and it’s just beautiful. I’ve read it 5 or more times. I also will grab my upright bass and just play jazz standards by myself. I do it throughout the day and right before bed.

Mark: Just being a husband and a dad. I do enjoy watching movies, reading the occasional music biography, listening to music, and of course, playing guitar.

Jason: Unwind? What is that? Please describe.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Mike: Someone at some point referred to The Yagas as musical shapeshifters, and I like that a lot. We are a new band, but not a young band. We have come together after each of us having played for decades in very different styles and genres from each other, and we each contribute our tastes and experiences. The songs so far have a few throughlines which may or may not be purposeful. Many of our songs involve the processing of difficult emotions or experiences. There is mourning, anger, catharsis. It’s not light-hearted fare. I think (or at least hope) that there is a large audience out there for emotionally challenging music. So far, I feel good about the comparisons people have made between us and other artists. Nothing cringy comes to mind.

Mark: I would describe The Yagas’ music as a mix of heavy and light, ethereal and precise. One comparison I don’t really get is Type O Negative. But that’s Ok.

Jason: We are a synth driven psychedelic metal band. I haven’t seen anything that made me cringe, but I did see a comment by a fan that I really liked. He said our music wasn’t a combination of old genres, but the start of something new. Thanks man!

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Mike: I’ve figured out that Renn is a cookie eating machine, so (somewhat to his chagrin) I regularly bring cookies to rehearsals.

Mark: I would say Vera would be the cook, unless we’re grilling, then Renn. Renn and Jason would be making drinks. Mark and Mike would be chatting about music and current events. Renn would grab the acoustic first, followed by me.

Jason: Wrong band.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Mike: I’m not sure why, but I’ve never been a starstruck type. There was a funny moment back in the mid-2000’s. I was in a fish and chips place in The Village in NYC called A Salt and Battery. It’s a very small shop, and I was eating and chatting with a friend when suddenly the place became silent. I stopped talking as well once I realized my voice was the only sound in the room. I looked up and realized David Bowie had walked into this tiny shop, and everyone went awkward and hushed. He ordered, he waited, he got his food and then left. It was at that point that the 7 or 8 people in the shop exhaled and started chatting again. That is not a normal NYC experience. People usually just ignore celebrities in the city, like in a good way. I guess I got caught up in a mass starstruck experience.

Mark: Seeing and standing next to Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. Both he and I were at a Rock Academy show that my son and his daughter were a part of. He is one of my favorite singers and performers.

Jason: I passed Mavis Staples backstage once and I almost died. She is the greatest in my eyes.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Mike: I feel like this is a question for a younger person who has not had so many ups and downs. I’ve already been a musician but also worked as a photographer, run a pet-sitting company, produced records, “taught” online as a gaming club facilitator… I suppose I’ve always been a musician. Sometimes it has been my job, AND pretty much always something else has also been my job. I’m relatively peaceful about it. Of course, now that I type that, owning a used book and record shop with a coffee bar and live music and just minding the store was a vision I had as a young man in the 90’s… and it still sounds pretty nice.

Mark: The best part of being a musician is when you pick up your instrument and just play. You let whatever is in you flow out, but mentally stay present in case the universe gives you a compositional gift. I also love the experience and discipline of writing – when you create something new and continue to refine your idea.

Jason: A salesman like maybe in a haberdashery. What size do you wear, sir?

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Mike: I’ve always wanted an interviewer to ask how many kittens I can juggle. No one has ever asked me that, and I have to just work it into conversation so that they know. The answer is zero, by the way. I won’t even try. It seems dangerous to the kittens, and I’m shocked you would even ask me something like that. As for questions I’m tired of answering, it’s getting old having to continually describe my skin routine. I’m aware I look great for 90, but there is more to me than my age-defying appearance.

Mark: What question do I want to be asked? Who are your favorite guitarists and why? What question don’t I want to be asked? Describe The Yagas – Have a listen (or 2) and decide for yourself.

Jason: Question: Can I give you $1M? Answer: Yes, thank you.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Mike: As I answer this question, I am aware that it’s never too late. I would not keep putting off recording, performing and promoting my own material. I worked as a sideman and producer for many bands / songwriters, and I put my own material on the back burner. Decades go by like that, and I excuse the habit a million different ways. I regret that.

Mark: I wouldn’t call it a misstep, but I do have a lot of solo instrumental music that needs to be recorded and, in some cases, developed further.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Mike: This is an interesting question. I had a professor named Paris Rutherford. He taught jazz arranging at The University of North Texas. He said we should find and listen to records we wish we’d made. If something you listen to hits you that way, there’s a reason. The reality is that there are many I feel that way about. Some are incredibly quiet and introspective. Others are loud and angst-filled. There are plenty that just make me feel great in a way I want to make others feel. Instead of choosing one, I’m going to choose five records that give me that “I would love to have been part of this masterpiece” feeling.

1. XO – Elliot Smith
   
2. Belonging – Keith Jarrett Quartet
   
3. Ocean Rain – Echo and the Bunnymen
   
4. A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
   
5. “Baby Shark” – Whoever the hell made that banger
   

Mark: Lay It Down by the Cowboy Junkies. My favorite album. I would love to see the mics used and witness the live recording of those tracks. Operation:Mindcrime by Queensrÿche. One of my favorites as well. One of the best concept albums of all time. Chris DeGarmo still is one of my favorite writers and guitarists. Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle. From a production and writing perspective, this is a perfect album, top to bottom. Billy Howerdel is a big inspiration for my writing.

Jason: I would’ve loved to be at the recording of Coltraine’s A Love Supreme to witness the majesty and might present in that room.

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Category: Interviews