What are some of your earliest musical memories? Did you sing a lot as a child?

Circuit des Yeux: My earliest musical memories are mostly public school stuff. Singing in choirs, being little, and recognizing the resonant ability I had at a young age. I did sing a lot, but only in private. I was a very shy child and my parents weren’t aware of my acute, serious interest in singing until I was around 13 or 14 years old. I have two sisters and we would always sing Christmas songs at the top of our lungs on Christmas Eve when driving home from my Aunt’s house. My dad would call us “The 3 Fohrs” like we were some doo-wop group from the 50s. We had a piano in the house. Music was never a central point, but the fact that I could tinker and experiment in hindsight, is very remarkable.

Growing up in Indiana, were you surrounded by any local music that made an impact on you at a young age? How were you getting access to music?

My first introduction to alternative music was through my father. He loves all the music that good Indiana dads like—Green Day, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd … things of the classic rock nature. I remember sometimes feeling really frustrated and he would invite me out to the garage and we would sit in his 1988 gold Chevy Nova and listen to his CD collection. He bought me DVDs of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and a Led Zeppelin documentary that would become very influential to me. I started dating a boy when I was 17 who was in a punk band and showed me where the record shop in town was located. I remember my first vinyl purchase was Billie Holiday and The Brainbombs, which isn’t too dissimilar to where my music ended up, sonically speaking. Downtown Records hosted shows for bands from out of town. I saw Be Your Own Pet, Cheveu, and other garage rock bands around at the time. That’s when I decided to start my own punk band. We were called Cro Magnon. We were basically a rip off of Teenage Jesus and The Jerks. The only place we were allowed to play was a gay bar called Zoolegers. It was run by my choir choreographer teacher at the time. He was queer and knew I was underage, but would let me be there and play music anyway. I guess I found the cracks in the wall of my town and learned how to make music in them.

What drew you to lo-fi and dissonant music? When did that click for you?

I think I turned to lo-fi and dissonant music because of my parameters. I come from a lower middle class family and couldn’t really afford any instruments. I used money my grandmother gave me for graduation to buy a four-track cassette recorder that had an internal microphone. It really cut the learning curve for me and I used that internal microphone for just about everything. I am self-taught on all instruments, hence the embracement of dissonance. I never really learned cover songs or proper chords, which is why a lot of CdY chord structures have unique voicings and get kind of clustery. Someone recommended a compilation called No New York around the same time I started dating my boyfriend at 17. It really excited me. Once I was listening to Glenn Branca and James Chance, I felt compelled to express myself without worrying about my ineptitude as an instrumentalist.

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