| Yaphet Kotto | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Orgin | California |
| Genres | Screamo |
| Years Active | 1997-2004 |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Labels | Ebullition Records, Council Records |
| Associated Acts | Staple, Suicide Nation, Envy, This Machine Kills |
| Official website | http://www.councilrecords.com/ykotto/ykottotop.html |
Yaphet Kotto was born in early 1997 following the demise of band called Staple that Mag and I were playing in at the time. I sang and Mag played guitar, but we wanted to start a band where I sang and played second guitar, along with Mag. My longtime friend Pat said he would play bass. We couldn't find a drummer for the life of us. Eventually we talked our friend Luke into the job. We played a handful of shows and recorded what would later become our first 7" in my living room. My friend Rachel and I threw some money together and the rest is history.
By this time Luke left to play full-time in his other band and Mag moved to San Fransisco. During this time Paul Cameron filled in on drum duties.
In the Spring of 1998 we recorded another four songs which have been dubbed "The Ebullition Sessions". The line-up at that time consisted of Me, Mag, Pat and Paul. To date, Kent McClard has the only copy of this recording aside from us. All the songs were later rerecorded for our first LP, but it would be nice to put them on a CD one day. After the hearing those four songs, Kent expressed interest in releasing the Yaphet Kotto LP and we immediately began to work on it.
A month before our first tour we kicked out Paul and hooked up with Scott on drums. We did a full US tour (half of which was with Seein Red). The LP was recorded in the Fall of 1998 and released in the Spring of 1999. Another full US tour followed. In the Fall of 1999 Pat left the band. This was especially difficult to deal with since I considered him such a close friend, but we decided to stay together as a band and find a new bass player. I talked to Keith Miller from Philadelphia and he said he was down to move to Santa Cruz and play bass. We recorded two songs (one for the split 7" with Suicide Nation and another that is as yet unreleased) soon after Keith joined the band.
A few shorts months later, Keith moved back to Philadelphia and we recruited Chris Story to take over bass duties. We had played numerous shows with Chris' other bands and I was playing in a side project with him at the time.
With this line-up we continued to play shows, recorded our 2nd full length LP for Ebullition Records and completed (well, sort of) another full US tour in the summer of 2001 with Volume 11. And here we still are…
Members
Casey - Guitar/Vocals
Mag - Guitar/Vocals
Chris - Bass/Big Hat
Scott - Drums
Discography
Yaphet Kotto (1996, Analogkid Records)
The Killer Was In The Government Blankets (1997, Ebullition Records)
Yaphet Kotto VS Suicide Nation split (2000, Council Records)
Syncopated Synthetic Laments for Love (2001, Ebullition Records)
Yaphet Kotto (2002, Council Records)
European Tour 12" (2003, Scene Police 040)
We Bury Our Dead Alive (2004, Ebullition Records)