“I’m convinced I could out sniff some rockstars” Jack Yates 2022
I went to the pub with lead singer Jack, 22 and rhythm guitarist James, 24, who make up two-fifths of the upcoming band Pastel. The band is made up of Manchester cousins Jack and James and Swansea boys Joe Anderson (lead guitar), Rhys Wheeler (drums) and Liam O’Shea (bass).
The boys met with me in a Manchester pub where we spoke all things, song writing, proudest moments, and Liam Gallagher. Jack and James were with their mates Benno and Alfie who you will see mentioned below.
Pastel have two EPs out, with their first single, She Waits For Me being released in 2020. Despite their short time in the industry, they have so much behind them already and with much more planned for 2023.
How did you all meet?
Jack: How did we meet James?
James: Um, good question
Alfie: You two are related
James: Are we?
James: Me and Jack are cousins, so we’ve actually known each other all our lives, haven’t we jack?
Jack: I think so, yep
James: I can’t remember when I met him
Jack: I actually can’t you know, genuine, I don’t know when I met him
James: Well probably because you were about fucking three days old
Jack: Yeah probably, yeah yeah
James: But then the rest of the band, me and jack are from Manchester, but we moved to south Wales a few years ago because our dads went to rehab down there. so, and our dads moved down there, we moved down there, and that’s where we met the rest of the boys in Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil and stuff like that.
When did you form the band?
Both: Before we formed the band
Jack: Before we started playing together, yeah, pretty much straight out the gate, me, James and this guy called, well I don’t know his name anymore
James: Can’t remember his name
Jack: Some little gimp, started a band, we didn’t even start a band, did we, we just said let’s start one, and then uh three days later Reece fell into our hands and a bass player
James: And the rest is history
Jack: History
Why did you choose the name Pastel?
James: Because it sounds cool for one, and two, there’s a lot you can do with it, like colour wise
Jack: And fruit pastels
James: Like that t-shirt is quite pastelly… for the record, she’s wearing a pastelly coloured t-shirt, for the record
How did you start, pubs/scouted/reach out?
James: No, we started out, we knew nothing, we knew no one, about anything and along the way we’ve just like, I think it’s because were not dickheads right, so people like us, and we’ve just like, gained friends along the way. Like people in the industry and stuff, and they like us, and they take us under their wing. We get a lot of shit from people who will say like ‘ah you know you only got to play Knebworth because of like Charlie lightening, you know, whatever, but I didn’t know Charlie lightning
Jack: Fuck off, he was a fan you prick
James: What I mean is, I didn’t know these people, before we started the band, I just met them along the way, and yeah that’s it basically
Who writes the songs?
James: We pay someone, his names Alfie Gildea, he lives in Texas, and he literally, it’s like, he just takes 80% of the royalties for the songs and he sends us a tune back, and we just go with it
Jack: We basically took too much acid, and he met aliens and that’s where the songs get given to us, through out of space, aliens
Alfie: You talking about me?
James: Nope! No, we write the songs
Jack: We write the songs
James: We definitely, don’t listen to what he just said, we definitely write the songs, uh me, jack and joe, will write the songs and we just like, Jack will come at us with an idea…
Jack: And they will tell me its shit
James: And the three of us will just sit there and manifest over it, massage it,
Jack: Give it a rub down
James: Give it a rub down, give it a happy ending and then thats the song
Who are your biggest influences?
Jack: Alfie Gildea
James: Benno
Jack: HA Benno
James: Um Shack
Jack: Abba
James: The Talking Heads, Stone Roses, who else Alfie?
Jack: You had it at Shack there didn’t ya
James: Yeah, Mick Head, New Order, just anyone cool really
Jack: Talking Heads again
James: Acid is a big influence, as well but it’s not a band
Jack: Yeah, I think drugs are a big influence DRUGS
What has been your proudest moment so far?
James: Ooooo
Jack: That’s fucking…
James: Great question…. my proudest moment is meeting John squire, just that’s it, that’s mine done
Jack: Getting recognised in front of a bird that hates me, that’s it, that’s the best moment that. You know when they just eat their words, they call you a dickhead, call you shit and then someone’s like can I get a picture? Fucking sit on it mate. That there right there that’s it, proudest moment
When did you find out you’d be playing Knebworth?
James: At Jacks mums funeral
Jack: FUCK, he’s not wrong
James: Genuinely, honestly
Jack: Yeah, at her wake, every time someone dies, or something bad happens, something really good happens, so I might become a serial killer just to see what happens
James: Jack doesn’t know it yet but it’s actually a sacrifice
Jack: It’s actually a sacrifice yeah, yeah at her wake yeah um
James: Yeah, we got the email, at jack’s mums funeral and me and jack were just kind of sat there like half in tears, just an emotional roller coaster
Jack: So, we got on!
James: And then our manager just phoned us up and was like, aw you’ll never guess what, and then told us. And it was just like the worst but best day of our lives at the same time. Unbelievable, an emotional roller coaster some might say
Did you get to meet Liam Gallagher?
Jack: More than meet, bloody heeelll
Jack: We got to meet Jesus that night
James: Yeah, we did yeah. We had a party with him on the Saturday afterwards
Jack: We all drank tea and watched the price is right, we cuddled on a couch
James: We had a game of catchphrase, we won, he lost, we beat him at catchphrase, um and we had a nice game of cluedo, but we never got to the end of it
Jack: We never got to the end of it, why though?! who was the killer?
James: I don’t know, basically I’ve got anger problems and halfway through
Jack: lashed out
James: I flipped the board, so we never got to find out who the murderer was
Jack: Someone was holding Liam back, someone was holding James back, and then it just got really weird when they got really close and started kissing… and that’s where the night ended really
James: And then we met him again a couple of weeks ago at his premiere for the Knebworth film
Would you say your music is inspired by oasis?
Jack: To a degree I’d say
James: I think so
Jack: Early on it was like one of the first bands you’d listen to do you know what I mean, it’s like a stepping stone for music, an easy listen
James: Sometimes, I think oasis like, when people get so deep into music you forget, they pretend that oasis is shit or whatever, and it’s like you’re fucking chatting out your arsehole
Jack: You can’t deny they’re good
James: You can’t deny how fucking good oasis were and not even, like their music’s unbelievable but just everything about them, their attitude, they don’t give no, Liam Gallagher to this day, still does not give one single fuck about nothing, and no one, apart from football and clothes and I love that, that’s my vibe
So, what was it like opening for Liam Gallagher then?
James: Normal
Jack: What?
James: Normal
Jack: Yeah, skipped out, easy
James: Like it was meant to be, we shouldn’t be playing shit pubs, we should be playing Knebworth
Jack: Yeah, it felt like, not like we had arrived, arrived at the right place where we should be, it wasn’t like oh my god look how big this is, like fucking nice right, I’m not playing a pub, this is where it is, yeah, felt like home
So you weren’t nervous before Knebworth, so what were you feeling?
James: A bit pissed
Jack: A bit fucked
James: Excitement, I think, that’s probably the best way to describe it
Jack: Yeah excitement, aroused, that’s a good word, horny for it
Do you think you’ve had your “I’ve made it moment” yet?
James: No, no
Jack: Not until I’m sat on a large amount of… never mind, no, not until I’m on top in LA or something mad, with Alfie Gildea massaging my feet
James: And Benno feeding me grapes
Jack: Just with a leaf over his crotch
James: Likes treating me like an Egyptian princess
So, you came up on peoples Spotify wrapped this year, so which is obviously quite cool
James: Very
But who was on your Spotify wrapped?
James: I’ll have a look
Jack: I don’t have Spotify… ooo maybe I do, maybe I have it now… I’ve not paid me phone bill
James: So, my top 5 groups, number 1, The Talking Heads, number 2, New Order, number 3, The Las, number 4, The Beatles, and number 5, The Happy Mondays. But I don’t know what my songs were, I didn’t screen shot that one, I can’t remember. I know there was a lot of… I know there was two Mick Head songs, one called Kismet and the other is called American Kid but I don’t know what the rest of the songs are I didn’t screen shot it
Jack: I don’t know if I paid my phone bill… James let me use your hotspot I wanna see whose on mine, that’s a sad little comment that innit, aw Gorilla free Wi-Fi, you’re lyyyiiinnn
If you could only listen to one song or album, what would it be?
James: Okay so song, Naive Melody by the Talking Heads
Jack: That’s a double that one there
James: And the album would be, Water Pistol by Shack
Jack: It’s weird, but same
And then, other than Knebworth, what else has stood out to you this year?
James: The afterparty of Knebworth
Jack: The afterparty of Cardiff
James: Yeah, maybe playing, with Liam again in Cardiff
Jack: That was actually quite light that was
James: Playing soccer AM was pretty cool as well, I think Soccer AM
Jack: Ahhh Soccer AM, shit yeah
What are your plans for next year?
James: Album
Jack: Just survive
James: That’s where we’ve just come from, yesterday, is we record in Hull, in a studio in Hull, we’ve just started recording our first album, so hopefully sometime next year, maybe the summer, the album should start to come out, that’s the plan anyway
Jack: If we have the songs, have we written the songs?
James: We’re currently working on our first album… some is recorded, and some is yet to be written, but its mega!!!
Me: What genre would you say your music is?
James: I think the best way to describe our music is a bunch of scallys making psychedelic music… let’s call it scallydelic
Me: I think that’s everything!
Jack: Do you have any more [questions], anything else, anything random?
Alfie: What’s your favourite cheese?
James: I just go cheddar me
Jack: Standard cheddar, something funky, let’s get pretentious
James: what’s YOUR favourite cheese (to me)
Me: Idk like brie?
Jack: Brie, that’s solid
James: Nice choice, what’s your favourite cheese (to Kenz)
Kenz: I don’t like cheese
joint disappointed shouting
Jack: What the FUCK, hang on, interview him, he doesn’t like cheese?!
James: Why don’t you like cheese?
Kenz: It’’s a bit complicated actually, I like cheese on things
James: But on its own?
Kenz: Yeah, I won’t eat a cheese sandwich
Alfie: Yeah, I wouldn’t have a cheese sandwich
Kenz: But I have cheese on a spag bol
James: So, what’s your favourite cheese on something then?
Kenz: Cheddar
Jack: I put cheddar on anything
James: Really what can you not put cheese on
Jack: Your knob, I mean it grows there
James: Oh, that’s my favourite cheese, the stuff that grows behind my bell end when I’ve not had a wash
Jack: That is fucking rank that
James: Don’t knock it till you have tried it Alfie
Stay tuned as Pastel are only going to get better. Find them on Instagram @PastelBandUK for tour updates, music releases and merch! You can also catch them on Sunday Brunch tomorrow, bringing in the new year!