YokeLoreis the new musical venture of Adrian Galvin, previously of Yellerkin and Walk the Moon. Yoke Lore‘s debut Far Shore EP included “Hold Me Down” which has over 3.9 million plays on Spotify and was a top 10 Hype Machine track. 2017 kicked off with a bang for Yoke, playing shows alongside Shura, Aquilo, Wild Child & Urban Cone and making his debut at SXSW, Great Escape & Field Trip Festival.
You’re walking into a first date with our readers. How do you introduce yourself?
It’s super nice to meet you all. I’m Yoke Lore. I’m here to write and offer music to tell stories about how we’re bound. I want to talk about what we’re bound with and to. I want to have a discussion with the world about how to give those connections more integrity.
For those unfamiliar, how would you describe your sound? What song should someone listen to first?
I’m a drummer by trade, so my music is very drum heavy. I’m interested in telling stories, so my music is very much about vocals and vocal vibrations. In my music, I try to find moments of both intimacy and aggression. I try to create spectrums where more people can fit in and find themselves. Try out “Hold Me Down” and see what happens from there.
This isn’t your first musical endeavor. What feels different about Yoke Lore compared to previous projects?
This is the first time I have been able to do it all by myself. Of course, this takes an army. Playing music takes a village. But this is the first time that I have gotten to put my full uncompromising self behind every note and decision that drivesYoke Lore forward.
How long was the Goodpain EP a work in progress?
Making music for me is a continual process. It kind of leaks out of me. These songs have all been growing into themselves for a while, but there was no specific start date. I’ve started the next release already, but I probably started way before Goodpain was even done.
Is there a song on it that you’re especially proud of?
All these songs are really special to me in that they all kind of revolve around one another. They are all little parts of the same larger motif that Good pain is about. It’s about needing to go through periods of difficulty in order to get to the good part of anything. “Beige” is about the hard parts of a relationship; “World Wings” is about the hard parts of doing what I do (writing stories for people); “Only You” is the hard part of realizing ones own agency and responsibility; “Level Tools” is about using yourself as a orientation tool (which is not that easy); and “Goodpain” is about the idea that you need to be constantly killing off old parts of yourself in order to remain true and alive (also not an easy thing). I think I’m most proud of how I dealt with the idea in “Only You.”
What has been the most rewarding aspect of this project, thus far?
That’s hard. No one part is disconnected from the others. But I am so so so lucky to be able to travel as much as I do. I don’t really have a home these days because I am touring so often, I have been loving being a vagabond. I feel rootless, but I have a thousand places to lay my head. I’m a lucky boy.
Where can fans catch you this summer? Tours, festivals, etc.
I will just be playing some one off festivals here and there before a tour again, probably coming this fall.
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