Exclusive Q&A: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Go Hysterical

posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Features • Rock

Starting from their plebeian beginnings in Philadelphia and Brooklyn to their meteoric rise to fame, indie rock darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have gone through tremendous periods of flux. After rising to indie rock stardom through their critically- acclaimed self-titled debut album, CYHSY’s sophomore album was deemed a disappointment by critics while various side-projects threatened the band’s very existence. Despite all of this, the group is back with their third album Hysterical, which they are releasing today. To aid us in understanding the manic being that is CYHSY, drummer/percussionist Sean Greenhalgh stopped by to give us some insight into the album, what went into it and the Internet’s effect on the success of the band.

OS: Members of CYHSY have been involved with pretty diverse side projects in the past few years.  What kind of influences did you guys bring back to the table after those different experiences?

SG: Yes, everybody’s been really busy over the past couple of years. Alec made two records with different groups of people, Lee has been working on soundtrack material, Tyler’s been studying composition and playing in a band with Robbie called Uninhabitable Mansions (also an awesome record label!). Robbie’s been playing in UM and also Radical Dads where he sings and plays drums. I’ve been producing records with artists like Gabriel & the Hounds, Conversion Party and Tom McBride. I think these experiences lent themselves to making Hysterical in intangible ways. The more you’re involved in making records or any collaborative endeavor, the more you learn what works and what doesn’t. If nothing else, I think the time spent on other projects helped us to appreciate the kind of chemistry we have together when we play.

OS: A few song names from the new album have “crazy” themes (“Maniac”, “Hysterical”, “Ketamine and Ecstasy”).  Is this a coincidence, or a reflection of how you guys were feeling during the writing process?

GS: To my knowledge, “Maniac” and “Hysterical” are lyrically sort of a response and a rejection of the idea of insanity, both within the band and in response to the times. I think those two songs in particular might be asking for people to be accountable for their actions. Very grown-up for rock songs. As far as “Ketamine and Ecstasy“, I think that one’s more of a narrative and not particularly related.

OS: We hate how the stigma of sophomore album slump unfairly affects good releases like your second record.  What effect did the critical response to your second album have on the recording and writing process for Hysterical?

GS: I think the critical response to SLT had less to do with a different approach to the recording and writing process than a genuine desire to make something different. From start to finish, this one was made in a different fashion. SLT was made in short three week spurts while we came off some pretty brutal touring in 2006. There wasn’t a lot of time to work out arrangements beforehand. This one was made a little more deliberately over about eight months, in Brooklyn and Philly and was more of a collaborative effort. We worked through many, many different versions of the songs together before arriving at what’s on the record.