 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
Jenny Owen Youngs is an enthusiastic singer-songwriter, who compares her love of natural history to the Insane Clown Posse song "Miracles."
The Brooklyn-based songwriter's newest album, "An Unwavering Band of Light," will be released today and she'll be playing at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha on Sunday. New Empire will be the supporting band.
Youngs took a break from her current tour to chat with the Daily Nebraskan about the new album and why she's Team Jacob.
Daily Nebraskan: What does your new album, "An Unwavering Band of Light," sound like?
Jenny Owen Youngs: It's a little bit of everything — it's soft and sad, but then it gets live and crazy. We tried to make it sound as live as possible.
DN: Why the live feel?
JOY: When you are in a studio setting, I feel like you can easily overdo it. You're focusing on perfection. We wanted to make it sound like we were playing this song for you right now, like it was really happening. We wanted to capture the energy that happens when we play together.
DN: It's been three years since your last record. What have you been doing since then?
JOY: A lot of touring and writing. We started in September 2010. I was writing lyrics and (producer) Dan (Romer) and I wrote and arranged the music. And then a lot of our friends came in to fill in parts on other instruments. It took a lot longer than we had hoped, but we're glad to release the album.
DN: You're touring in support of a brand new record. What's your approach to making a set list?
JOY: Not everyone's heard the album yet and it's a really weird, scary feeling being up on stage playing songs and people aren't singing along. We're going to play 60 to 70 percent of stuff from the new album, with some older stuff sprinkled throughout the set. Hopefully the fans won't feel too lost.
It's also weird because we're touring as a three-piece. We've got the excellent Elliot Jacobsen with us. He's a beast on the drums. It's hard because we can't cover all of the parts on the songs, so we have to pick and choose which parts we let slide. It makes for a completely different sound.
DN: You raised money for the record on kickstarter.com. What was it like to put the fate of your record in the hands of your fans?
JOY: The response was overwhelming. We set a goal of $20,000 and reached that in just over a day. We reached $38,000 overall, which is totally bananas. It was so meaningful to see that kind of response. It's neat to think, ‘People really want me to make a record.'
DN: Your Facebook page says you are a natural history enthusiast — care to explain?
JOY: When I was younger, I wanted to be an archaeologist or a marine biologist. I've always been interested in how things work. We're all just walking around with perfectly working systems and it just blows my mind. I don't know if you've heard Insane Clown Posse's "Miracles," but it's kind of like that.
DN: It also says your spirit animals are Johnny Cash, Kate Bush, Tom Waits and Jack White. That's quite a group.
JOY: Yeah, I'm just super into really unique badasses and they have been massively inspirational to me. I think they are amazing and they are always at the top of my listening pile.
DN: Anything else you want Nebraska to know about you?
JOY: Well, I'm a Scorpio. I feel a really strong connection to the ocean. I like candlelight dinners. I'm Team Jacob. Edward's all skinny and clammy and creepy shit. Oh, and if you come to the show, there will be complimentary high-fives for everyone.
katiefennelly@dailynebraskan.com
If you go:
Jenny Owen Youngs w/New Empire
When: Sunday, 9 p.m.
Where: Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St., Omaha
How much: $10
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