Chicago - Jonathan Avram “Yoni” Wolf of WHY? and David Cohn, better known as Serengeti or Kenny Dennis, have formed the wickedly clever duo Yoni & Geti. This isn’t the first time the Midwest underground alternative hip hop stars have worked together. Five years ago the two worked on Serengeti’s experimental rap album Family & Friends. Though, that collaboration also involved Advance Base, making the two a true duo with this most recent project, Yoni & Geti. Chicago native Serengeti left the Windy City to hole up with Yoni Wolf in Cincinnati, Ohio and create the album Testarossa, which was inspired by a failed screen play the two purportedly penned while on tour, which follows antagonist Davy, a touring musician forever dreaming big while perpetually failing in his personal life, as his frustrated wife Maddy turns to Davy’s best friend for a little more than comfort. Testarossa serves as the soundtrack to this (yet to be made, probably will never be made) film, with Yoni & Geti becoming a modern day Simon & Garfunkel – okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but Best New Bands promised the boys that’d make it in.
Just before Yoni & Geti set off on a North American tour, Yoni Wolf and Serengeti chatted with Best New Bands about Testarossa, while the two cracked jokes and filled us in on the significance of that Ferrari. Check out the hilarious interview below.
It’s been five years since your last collaborative release. How does it feel to be back at it, working together again? And does it feel different now or more official, as you’ve officially made an entire project as the duo Yoni & Geti?
Yoni Wolf: Terrible, fucking terrible. [laughs] No, it’s great!
Serengeti: It feels great. We did a lot of traveling, and we talked about a lot of stuff. One of the things we talked about was this script. You know, we’re in the car five, six hours, just driving. Yoni was like, “Yo, we should write that.” So, Yoni tried, but it wasn’t the best. It feels good to take something that we thought of and do something with it. That aspect feels great. Other than that, being in Cincinnati, with this guy, not so much. But you have to make sacrifices.
I was going to ask about that. So, you went to Cincinnati. Were you there the whole time?
Serengeti: Yeah, I stayed there. He has like a little basement, cellar thing. He put me in there. When we first did it, I was there for seven days. It was pretty damp and dark, but we worked during the day. After that, I pretty much went back to my allocated area.
Yoni Wolf: Well, I’m not going to have him walking around freely around my house. You know, I have nice silverware and china. I mean, come on, you can’t blame me.
Serengeti: Dude, we would travel together. I’m not gonna take anything from your house.
Yoni Wolf: Look, I offered him a cot to sleep on. I wasn’t going to make him sleep on the streets.
Well, times are tough, so you never know. [laughs] This album is a conceptual piece, focused on a fictional love triangle. Where did this idea come from? Was it partially inspired by actual events or people you know?
Serengeti: We traveled, and we just talked a lot. Like I said, we came up with little scripts. Me and Yoni, when we were real tight, we used to go to a lot of movies, when we first met, in Oakland. We always had that bond, and whenever we do talk on the horn, it’s usually about movies and stuff like that. So when we were in the car together, we came up with this script idea. We tried to write it, and the first draft wasn’t the best. We made a soundtrack for certain parts of this story that I mostly came up with, but he tried to write.
Are you still planning to actually make a movie and then this will be the soundtrack?
Yoni Wolf: Are you offering funds? Are you offering to be a producer on this film?
If I had money, I totally would! [laughs]
Yoni Wolf: Can I take that as a global contract?
I teach part-time, and I’m a music journalist, so you know, I’m pretty poor.
Yoni Wolf: Alright, alright.
I have to ask about these personas of Davy and Davy’s old high school best friend and ex-bandmate. I know Dave [Serengeti] you’ve taken on personas before, particularly with Kenny Dennis. Here you are playing Davy. When writing and performing, do you go in character as Davy, similar to say method actors?
Serengeti: No, it’s just pretty much just with the words. There’s no real character. The soundtrack is not the dude performing the songs.
Yoni Wolf: They’re songs by Yoni & Geti that are about that. For example, you had Simon & Garfunkel do the soundtrack to The Graduate, but they weren’t playing the character of Mrs. Robinson and the Dustin Hoffman character. They made these songs that were meant for the movie. You know what I’m saying? That’s sort of what we did.
So you guys are like a modern day Simon & Garfunkel. [laughs]
Yoni Wolf: Write that! Print that!
I’m totally going to!
Serengeti: [laughs]
Does the order of the songs on the record serve as a chronological detail of Maddy & Davy’s relationship or a telling of the story?
Yoni Wolf: No, the album is not in chronological order in relation to the movie, but it is in an order that reveals the story… If the movie was made, it wouldn’t be in the exact order of the soundtrack.
Serengeti: If the movie were made, certain scenes with certain songs would be like, “Oh, yes!” It would really click.
Perhaps you guys can make a series of music videos instead of a movie?
Serengeti: Again, if you’re talking about funding, I’m totally on board.
You need to make a GoFundMe.
Yoni Wolf: Come on, the thought of your name on the big screen?
Anyway, I watched the music video for “Madeline.” It’s awesome! How involved were you in the creative process and the making of the video? And was it filmed entirely in Cincinnati?
Yoni Wolf: It was filmed entirely in Cincinnati. We were involved in the idea process for sure. We were integral in that part of the process, but we have to give respect to Scott Fredette, who directed the music video, and who really put a lot of work and effort into making it what it is.
Serengeti: We at first were actually going to do a cast. We cast a Davy and a Madeline. We were sort of going to do it in the scope of the actual film, but that changed. We just took it as a one-off.
Yoni Wolf: It ended up being not strictly about the story line. We were going to get professional actors to be Davy and Madeline, but some things fell through, timing wise. So we thought, well alright, we’ll just act in it.
Okay, what’s with the Ferrari Testarossa? Throughout the album you sing about bringing home a model Testarossa car to make with your kids, there’s a song titled “I, Testarossa,” and there’s the album cover with the model car. Where did this idea come from, to use this car for so much of the album’s imagery?
Serengeti: That’s from his trip. Davy would be out of town, missing his kids, trying to buy them stuff, so that they don’t forget about them. He tried to provide. He hadn’t seen his kids in a long time, so he buys them this model car.
Yoni Wolf: To answer that, to an extent, the car represents him. His last name is Testarossa – Davy Testarossa – so the car is like his little shtick. Like, “Testarossa is me,” so he represents himself with that because he thinks it’s cool. That’s my impression.
Did you guys actually put together a model Testarossa?
Yoni Wolf: I actually have, as a kid. But that one was done by our friend David, who did the album cover.
Is this duo going to be a one-time thing, or do you think you’ll keep collaborating?
Serengeti: We’ll have to see about that. You know, Yoni has an attitude sometimes.
Yoni Wolf: I still have that cot in the basement!
Well, I think if there’s a next time, you need to come to Chicago, Yoni. It’s only fair.
Serengeti: Yeah. Yeah!
Yoni Wolf: We’ll see. Karma’s a bitch, and I’m not sure I’m ready to fuck that bitch.
Testarossa is available for purchase through Joyful Noise Recordings. Yoni & Geti are on tour now. A full list of tour dates can be found below. Follow Yoni & Geti on Facebook.
Yoni & Geti Tour Dates:
6/1: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall*
6/2: Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot Pike Room*
6/3: Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness*
6/4: Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop*
6/7: New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge^
6/8: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall^
6/9: Providence, RI @ AS220^
6/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer^
6/11: Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar^
7/13: Nashville, TN @ High Watt
7/15: Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
7/16: Austin, TX @ Sidewinder
7/18: Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
7/19: San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
7/21: Los Angeles, CA @ the Echo
7/23: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall%
7/25: Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios%
7/26: Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile%
7/28: Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
7/30: Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
* w/ Advance Base
^ w/ Tall Tall Trees
% w/ GO DARK
Photo by Liz Wolf. Album artwork by David Woodruff.
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Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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