Yuma Nora

Amy Vecchione composes one-half of Portland duo Yuma Nora--a "free-jazz, opera-inspired noise band"--who, along with drummer Aaron Reyna, acts as singer and waveform generatorist (more on that later). Their new CD, Red Train Graphing the Sunset of All is out now on LA-based Death Bomb Arc records. Yuma Nora celebrate the release of their new CD this Thursday, Nov. 11th at Holocene.

What other projects have you and Aaron been involved in?

I play banjo in (West Coast noise ensemble) Gang Wizard, and have performed in Vholtz, Antelope, Nick St. George, Hux, and Debbie Gibson pronounced Einsturzende Neubauten. I'm also releasing a solo record on the Callow God label; it's a split with Grace Lee from Gang Wizard called Macaw. Aaron was in Hux and the Trembling. Yuma Nora started as an offshoot of Hux in September of 2003 and grew into its own entity. Aaron also mastered the record with Mike Lastra from Smegma.

How did you come to give your band such an esoteric description?

I hate most fusion. We mostly listen to the oldies, John Fahey, and noise punk. We just gathered enough influences, and it became more about message and feeling than trying to be contrived. We never set out to fit in to certain genres. I think that when people make a conscious attempt at fusing disparate genres, it often fails.

What is a waveform generator?

Mark Kepplinger builds them, and Simian from Silver Apples plays one as well. It's a machine that produces square waves and modifies them without pedals. It's a way of manipulating sound from the origin of the sound. There is a pitch pedal inside the generator, and it does some programming, too. I sing through a mic that is a CB radio, and Aaron sings through a contact mic run through a pitch shifter.

What is your ultimate goal?

I'm trying to create a community of people and make them realize their lives can be more powerful than they are. I really want to meet people in noisy bands that no one else understands. CORTNEY HARDING