Words by Ella Reweti
It was this time last year that Australian audiences first heard Young and Restless front woman Karina Utomo crying out to Satan, during Triple J unearthed.
And perhaps her cries were answered.
Young and Restless went on to win the coveted unearthed crown, leading to a succession of eastern states shows including a wildcard entry at Homebake 2006. Their recent Australian tour with fellow party starters Riot in Belgium and Muscles turned dance floors around the nation into surging moshpits. They are now gearing up to tour with Magic Dirt, Midnight Juggernauts & Damn Arms on the back of their highly anticipated self titled debut album.
Lifelounge recently got a chance to sit down with Karina, the woman hailed as being Australia’s answer to Karen O, to have a chat about the band, their music, and yes, that voice.
An eclectic mix, Utomo is backed by guitarists Ash Pegram and Mark Falkland, bassist Ross Paxman and drummer Nugie. “[Our diversity] comes through in our music, you can see that we are all really different [and] it’s a combination of everyone’s personal tastes,” says Utomo. “Every one of us listens to different bands and when we go on tours we have arguments about what we’re going to play. A lot of us don’t like what the others like and so forth.”
Luckily for us, Y&R leave their differences at the door when they are, well, on the job.
There is something ferocious about a Y&R live show. To put it in Utomo’s words “I just want people to see us live and go ‘hey they’re kinda going a bit nuts.’”
It could be the band, or it could be the crowd, but one certainty is that the energy in the room is shared by both. “I want the crowd to see our energy, and I want the crowd to be as energetic as we are,” says Utomo. “I want them to get as sweaty as we do. I want them to just not care about anything.”
Practising what she preaches, Utomo was amongst the crowd half the night, and the other half, she was dancing, stomping and screaming just the same. On multiple occasions she disappeared amongst a sea of grabbing arms, her voice the only sign of her presence.
It seems that this is where she is most comfortable, dancing, kicking, yelling and screaming. The atmosphere is something in between a metal concert and a dance party, a combination not easily achieved, but Y&R have managed it, taking people outside of their comfort zones to somewhere fresh and exciting.
“I think a really important aspect [of our show] is to get people out of their comfort zones,” says Utomo. “It’s really awesome to sort of vary things a bit and see what you can do.” Utomo takes it into her own hands to get people out of their comfort zones at gigs. “[Sometimes] I make eye contact with someone, or just focus on one person, and see how they react,” she says.
An experience she had gotten from being in the audience herself, “I love it when I see a band and the singer is just like, ‘You! I’m going to fucking ruin you, you’re fucked!’ it’s amazing,” she says. “Being on the other side, it’s really awesome to sort of vary things a bit and see what you can do… something different, something challenging.”
To Utomo it’s all about putting these situations into context. In day to day life, staring the wrong person down in the street won’t achieve the same results. The same goes with her voice. “If someone says to me ‘hey can you scream right now,’ I can’t do it,” she says. “It’s really difficult to gather that energy when it’s put in a different situation.”
“Seeing other people to be able to do it especially men, cos they have the power to be able to do it, and trying to emulate that at first is pretty difficult… but when you’re put in a situation where you can just let it rip… I think anyone can do it.”
It was tough times in the recording studio though, Utomo saying that it was like playing 20 straight shows, a little bit of a strain on her voice. The remedy was Vix Vapour Rub, and the results are incredible.
“We tried to emulate our live sound as much as possible,” says Utomo. “It’s us basically – that’s our sound, these are our songs, it’s pretty simple and straightforward.”
“In the words of Nugie, it’s raw but not dodgy, and polished, but not suss.”
Young & Restless’ self titled debut album is out now through Dot Dash.
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