I had the pleasure of coming across this LA-based, UCLA-bred band, Alto, at the Acoustic Coffee House performance/competition (featuring Lady Danville) at UCLA a little while ago. These two girls—both strikingly tall and poised with vintage, quirky appearances—wowed not only me but the judges with their talent and sound. With Jessica Jones on the upright (or double) bass and Nicolette Yarbrough on the violin, Alto runs along the lines of Neko Case in terms of folk, Regina Spektor in terms of vocals, with a hint of bluegrass and classical. The result? A gorgeous, unique sound that won Alto a free day of recording in Santa Monica, and will surely win your attention, too.

Claire Gallagher: Alrighty, who’s who? What are your names, what instruments do you play, etc?

Nicolette Yarbrough: I’m Nicolette Yarbrough, and I play the violin! I am majoring in ethnomusicology [at UCLA].
Jessica Jones: Hullo, I’m Jessica Jones and I play the double bass. I am double majoring [at UCLA] in music performance and music education.

CG: Where are you guys from?

NY: I was born and raised in San Francisco.

JJ: Well I was born in New Mexico, moved to Mexico for a year, and then moved to Modesto, CA when I was in the fifth grade. I like to think of myself as a New Mexican but I have lived in CA for the majority of my life.

CG: How did the band come together?

JJ: We met during orientation for UCLA (our freshman year), so we have known each other for about a year and a half. We are also roommates.

NY: I heard Jessica play solo a couple of time before we were a band and I thought she was awesome. We knew each other through music, so we started hanging out and jamming.

JJ: I had a band during high school, so I really missed writing and performing my own music. As a Classical major, I had a lot of opportunities to perform, but nothing like the band. I heard Nicolette playing in the UCLA Bluegrass Hoppers and I thought she was an awesome fiddler. We were in freshman theory class together, and we often had composition assignments, so we both heard each other’s writing/voices.

CG: Did growing up where you did influence your music at all? Do you feel a kinship with your hometown?

NY: Definitely! I didn’t really write and play my own music until senior year of high school, but the open mics in San Francisco were a great environment to start out. I also took a song writing class that helped me to start writing my own music, so I developed a passion for it. I feel like if I had grown up anywhere else I would be a different person. San Francisco is a such a vibrant city, so a lot of my taste and style comes from having lived there.

JJ: Growing up in Modesto had a huge influence on my musical development. We have a great show series called Off The Air which is an independently owned and locally operated production company that puts on amazing live shows. It’s pretty rad to have these great shows where you can showcase your talents and network with other musicians. I am very lucky to be a part of this musical community.

CG: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

NY: I love Bluegrass music! I listen to Allison Kraus and Nickel Creek* almost every day. I am also really into country rock, like Wilco and The Band.

(*EDITOR’S NOTE: This is NOT Nickelback. We at Bestnewbands.com do not condone the use of Nickelback in any fashion.)

JJ: Well as a Classical major I am definitely influenced by the Classical style. I love composers like Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, because they write some really badass bass lines! I’m really into the blues, especially Chicago style. Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, and Willie Dixon are my go to guys.

NY: We are obsessed with The Dirty Projectors, PUNCH BROTHERS (note the caps haha), Crooked Still, and Andrew Bird. Most of these artists have a syncretic (genre combining) style that we admire and strive to incorporate into our sound.

CG: You guys utilize classical instruments to create a modern sound. How do you blend the two? Tell us about your unique style.

JJ: We like to describe ourselves as “Indie” Folk with a Classical twist. We play string instruments that are used in a variety of genres. We are both Classically trained, but we also play many other styles of music, including Bluegrass and Jazz. I think our style comes from the fact that we listen to a ton of very different music. Our vocal parts and song format is very indie-pop influenced. However, we tend to draw from our backgrounds. For example, Nicolette has a lot of experience playing fiddle music so there are a lot of unique bowing techniques that she can employ. Similarly, I can play [the upright bass] in higher positions and I use the bow because of my Classical background.

CG: What can new listeners expect from your music? What bands do you think you sound like, if any?

JJ: I guess we sound like a mix of the vocals from the Ditty Bops, and the string parts from Andrew Bird—or at least we like to think so! [laughs]

CG: What do you think you would be doing right now if you weren’t a musician? What did you want to be when you were a kid?

NY: uuummmm… (Sigh) I would… probably be a different type of artist. (Photography, fashion, or visual arts.) I did a lot of that as a little kid. Or a farmer! Or a cat breeder. I can’t really imagine myself doing anything else.

JJ: That’s really hard. Both Nicolette and I grew up in musical households (her father is a professional violist and my mother teaches music) so picturing a life without music is incredibly difficult. I would probably be a professional fortune cookie writer.

CG: What has been a personal high and a personal low about your musical career so far? Any particular moments of awesomeness or embarrassing blunders?

NY: Being accepted into the UCLA ethno[musicology] department. Performing is very important to me. If a show goes well, I end up feeling proud of myself. It’s kind of like the moment of truth because if it doesn’t go well it’s a pretty low moment.

JJ: The UCLA Philharmonic is playing in the Disney Concert Hall in April! [The UCLA Philharmonic plays this Saturday, the 16th. For more info, click here!] I know it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m pretty damn excited about it. One of my favorite bands, Agent Ribbons once asked me to play with them at SXSW but I couldn’t go when I was in high school. So that’s both a high and a low all in one!

CG: So what’s the story behind your band name? How did it come about?

JJ: Alto is the vocal range we can both sing in, although Nicolette is technically a soprano and I am an alto. As a violinist, Nicolette reads treble clef, and as a bassist, I read bass clef, so I though a nice compromise would be to use alto(clef) to identify ourselves. Alto also means tall in Spanish haha and I’m tall. I think we both like the way the word sounds!

CG: What is next for the band?

NY: We plan on recording an EP. We won the Acoustic CoffeeHouse, so we have an entire day of free recording at 4^th street recording in Santa Monica. The goal is to have an EP sometime by the end of this year. We aren’t really moving on to another project/sound because we are just starting out. We would love to go on tour, but I’m not sure we have the funds to do that just yet. Right now, we are planning to take advantage of our situation, and hopefully get some more gigs in LA.

 

Be sure to check out Alto’s music on their bandcamp page, and download their track “Boho Chick” (a witty stab at all those too-cool-for-school kids) to get a feel for their honey-sweet sound. Also, check out Alto’s facebook page for more updates and events!