By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 30, 2004
You wouldn’t think that sleeping in a coffinlike bunk would be “cool,” but Rachael Yamagata can’t get enough of it.
Prior to this tour, Yamagata never had enough money for an actual tour bus, so as far as she’s concerned, the small sleeping quarters are fine.
Not so for her bandmates.
“The first night, one guy got sick and another guy slept in the [bus’] lounge,” says Yamagata, who will perform cuts from her current album, “Happenstance,” tonight at Metro.
“It took me about six hours to relax and then I was so comfortable. I love it now.”
Phoning from her cell phone somewhere in Tennessee, Yamagata took a break from decorating her bunk (leopard print pillowcases are a must!) to chat.
“Happenstance,” which has been favorably compared to Norah Jones’ work, is a straightforward collection of songs. Tinged with jazz and laced with soul, the piano-based songs come straight from Yamagata’s heart — her often-times broken heart.
“I seem to fall in love with these dark, crazy musicians who are constantly turning things upside down to see what happens,” says Yamagata, who turned 27 last week. “And I’m one of those dark, crazy musicians myself, so that pairing often doesn’t work. I can’t say I have a boyfriend right now, but I’m for falling in love and getting married one day.
“I don’t have any qualms about being over the top about somebody, even if it doesn’t work out. I feel if you fall in love, you should absolutely go for it and take every risk, even if it makes you feel foolish. What greater adventure is out there? It offers me tremendous comfort when someone tells me, ‘Oh, my God, you just wrote my story. Thanks so much.’ But I’m not trying to preach or say I’m better than anyone. I drink beers, I smoke and I curse. I’m just living my crazy little adventure.”
Until recently, the musician was based in Chicago and performed with the funk rock band Bumpus. She gave up her apartment here a year and a half ago and left her cats in the custody of an ex-boyfriend. The rest of her belongings are in her parents’ garage in upstate New York.
“I live out of a suitcase these days and I love it,” Yamagata says. “I’m completely content with my coffin space. I get to decorate it. I get to stay in hotels and I love that, too, whether it’s high end or something as simple as a Motel 6. I’m so comfortable traveling and being on the road that when I’m home for any stretch of time, I get really restless and am wondering, ‘Where do I go now?'”
Yamagata recently returned from a trip to Japan where the natives were excited to meet a Japanese-American rock star. Though some expected her to speak Japanese, they didn’t mind that she didn’t, she says.
“I’m fourth-generation Japanese, so my dad doesn’t even speak it,” says Yamagata, who’s also German, Italian, Scottish and Irish. “I got some books and Berlitz tapes to brush up on the language, but I’m nowhere near fluent. [The Japanese] were all so respectful and wonderful to play for. They were so jazzed that I’m a person of Japanese descent who has a little pop-rock potential. They have a lot of pop artists there, but no one who’s really gotten out there in the U.S. market, so they kind of adopted me. It was really sweet.”
Laughing, she adds, “And they have clothes that fit me there. That was just a nice little bonus.”
