“We don’t usually do this sort of thing, a disclaimer before the show. We had a run of stays at smoking room Super 8 motels and we’ve all come down with a sickness. Yes, those still exist.”
The crowd gathered at Babylon Nightclub laughed, and Yamantaka//Sonic Titan’s drummer Alaska B clarified that it is the smoking rooms, not the Super 8 motels, that still exist.
The band wrapped up their North American tour for their second album UZU, Nov. 7. The venue was tightly packed and both of the local openers, Blue Angel and The Yips, were well received. The YT//ST announcement made a few in the crowd nervous, but those fears were forgotten as soon as the band took to the stage.
Sitting down at a dinner table before the show, the band talked about everything from Teddy Ruxpin, to safe spaces, to rock operas. They were welcoming and relaxed, a change from their larger-than-life stage presence featuring impressive makeup and elements more closely associated with theatre.
YT//ST are more than a band—they are heavily influenced by theatre and focus on performance with extensive props and costumes.
“We’ve learned how to adapt the performance to touring,” lead singer Ruby Kato Attwood said. Part of the challenge for the band is not knowing the type of space or how large it will be until arriving there a few hours before, she said.
“It has been taking the big thing we used to do then making it more portable and feasible for our set up,” Attwood said.
As the band moved out of underground venues, even their lights had to be redone.
“Our original light system in the band was a whole pile of light switches on a back of a chair that was ripped off. Then we bolted the switches and wired up this insane circuit thing with lights running everywhere,” Alaska B explained. “There were smashed bulbs and cords running everywhere. It was not electrician-approved and as we got out of underground venues they told us that we couldn’t hook it up.”
Instead, the band built a high-powered LED to tour with. It fits in a suitcase and is “ultra light,” Alaska B said.
“Now we have a full fading system. It is more synchronized with the show,” she said.
The band embodies a do-it-yourself attitude that ends up in all elements of their work. The props are self-made, the music is all produced by Alaska B, and even the album artwork is made by the band.
YT//ST manages to balance all these elements perfectly and have learned to adapt a show so people can interact without being at risk. 
“People can be rowdy. It is why we scaled it down and tried to increase the physical presence on stage. We are working with our intros and exits and challenging the norms of how people perform,” Attwood said. “When people are expecting a crazy raucous thing we try to make it more subdued. When its quiet we try to add something explosive to play around with what would be perceived.”
Ottawa for them has been one of the craziest places in terms of fan reaction.
“The people here fucking rule. We had our first crowd surfer last year at Zaphod’s,” Alaska B said.
“We are seeing people coming to our shows that aren’t even people who normally come to shows. They kind of get ignored or erased. They feel more comfortable coming out and putting together,” she said.
She credited this to the composition of the band itself. They incorporate a wide variety for cultural representations into their music—from aboriginal, to Asian, to east coast influences, the band strives to make an inclusive space.
“We aren’t some white dude band, we’ll never be one, and you don’t have to be a white dude band.”
