Hailing from Chicago’s lower west side, Yourself And The Air combine Midwest atmospherics with the sweeping sprawl of a skyward city built on electricity and steel. The band is composed of three friends who’ve toured a majority of the U.S. and parts of Canada crammed in a van, lugging their own gear, sleeping outside, crashing on fans’ floors, cooking pasta for pals, hopping hotel fences to swim in pools, drawing on the walls of bathroom stalls. They’ve played with the likes of Chairlift, El Perro Del Mar, Peter Bjorn And John and Portugal. The Man, among other artists. And with three EPs under their belt in as many years (from 2006-2008) Yourself And The Air released Who’s Who In The Zoo on Lujo Records in spring of 2011 — their first for a label — which they performed and recorded themselves in one month after thousands of miles of touring.  Bestnewbands.com chatted with the band’s Erick Crosby about the EP, their upcoming tour and the writing process behind the record.

Daniel Kohn: What do you plan on playing on the upcoming tour? How long is the set going to be each night?

Erick Crosby: We’re gonna be playing songs from the new EP, but also were trying out newer songs yet to be recorded.  We usually hang around 45 min sets, but it depends on the night.

 

DK: What venue and/or city are you most excited to play and why?

EC: I’m personally looking forward to playing in Portland, mostly because were planning on moving there in the fall, so it’ll be nice to hang around the city again before the move.

 

DK: What does the new EP sound like?

EC: Sounds like a home-recorded version of our live set.

 

DK: Where did you guys record the EP and what was the writing process like?

EC: We recorded the disc in my parents’ empty house.  It was awesome, the writing process is kinda give and take…someone throws an idea out there, and the rest will fill in, take away, or change it completely.

 

DK: How is the EP different from the band’s earlier material?

EC: Well, there is a different lineup than previous recordings, and it was the first recording we got to do completely by ourselves which was nice, and stressful.

 

DK: What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2011?

EC: Mostly writing and recording, hopefully we can have another set of songs ready to release by the new year.

 

Check out the band’s website and label site for more info about tour dates and album availability.