Yellow Dudes is a dreampop band from Tepic, Nayarit, México that we’re excited about. We talked with Carlos Gil and Columba Benítez of Yellow Dudes recently about their music, creative process, and a new EP they’re working on.
The band formed with two close friends, when Carlos and Ramón started making together in Carlos’s room. Carlos plays bass and guitar, and Ramón plays guitar. Mario Alvarado (guitar/bass), Ramsés Cervantes (drums), and Columba (vocals) would eventually join them. They all connected over shared music tastes, such as Men I Trust, Beach Fossils, and Alvvays, and quickly became close friends.
Carlos shared, “It all began three years ago when the current group was formed, and the name Yellow Dudes was made to stay. We’re a band of friends who one day, not knowing if this would last, started making music in a garage.” From there, the band developed.
They released their first EP in 2018, Backstage Escenario, a three-track EP of some of their earliest straight-forward dreampop songs. In 2019 they released their second EP, Parking Spot, one that has six tracks that are dreamier and less rock than their debut. These songs are better written and more complex, showing the growth of this band after spending three years writing music, jamming, and performing together.
Carlos shared with us about the recording process of the first two EPs, and how they’re approaching their next collection of songs. “The two past EP’s have been recorded in two different studios, we are currently recording our demos and the next EP will be produced and recorded entirely by us in our small DIY set up.”
Parking Spot EP opens with …The Endless Space, an instrumental that places you on the moon. Audio from Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon open the track, a monumental moment that communicates that Yellow Dudes is inviting us to take the EP as a whole, one experience. The standout track on their Parking Spot is the title track for the EP. This is the song that first grabbed our attention.
“We connect chords and ideas, dreams, and thoughts, motivated by the response of those who liked our music and with a friendship that not only consisted of music but also movies, art, even memes that made the band stronger with unconditional emotional support that sometimes feels more like family,” expressed Columba.
You get a familial sense while you listen to Yellow Dudes. The layers in their songs are are well thought out, each serving the other in building a dreamy landscape.
Columba dives into the way this project has helped them grow as individuals. “Making music together has helped us to grow, to trust ourselves, and to overcome the insecurities that come with a project in which you put your heart and soul.”
I’m always curious about how bands approach songwriting, whether it’s one person bringing music to the band or if the music is formed together. “Usually one of the members presents a basic demo in which we all began to work, add instruments, voices, modify the structure and also sound effects that help create an atmosphere to the song. Sometimes one of us starts playing and the rest of us go along with it until a song begins to form. Once we’re all happy with the song, we go into a studio where we usually take turns, first the drums, bass, then the guitars and finally the vocals and the key’s, details go in the end.”
The new EP will find the band growing in their influences and sounds, relying a little less on dream pop, and adding in new flavors. Carlos explained, “We are trying a type of RnB and Neo-Soul genres with touches of Dreampop, but without leaving completely our sound behind, adding fresher details that can help up create the aura of the EP. This way we incorporate elements that we like and merge them into a spacey Bedroom Pop, along with a more solid instrumentalization accompanied by somewhat more personal lyrics.”
He went on and shared their vision for the next EP. “The main intention of the new EP in contrast to the previous two is to try different things, experimenting with new sounds, performance, instruments, and even in the way we record and edit, to make it feel more complete.”
We’re really looking forward to hearing more from Yellow Dudes. They have such a great sound, the next EP sound very promising. This is a band to keep your eye on.
Yellow Dudes links:
