Darby and Erin Yule had worked too long and hard at building their presence in music to give up when their first band expired.
“We’ve heard a lot that it’s impossible to make a career out of something artistic and creative. The joke we made was, we were going to become rock ‘n’ roll statistics, so that’s what we decided to call ourselves,” said Erin.
They had been the driving force behind teen band Lost Cause 34 (2005-2012) but when other members faded into various shades of life, the brothers couldn’t let that stop them. They had developed too much as players of their instruments, developed too many relationships in the rock world, picked up too much momentum at such young ages. They are the sons of musicians / school teachers so they grew up in a house full of garage rehearsals and kitchen parties, and dinner table conversations always drawing their attention to the structural details of songs. It was almost a matter of inevitability that they would be crafting their own ditties, jamming in studios and booking their own gigs before they’d finished junior high.
Maybe it was because it was aggressive, young and simple that they gravitated to punk sounds. There was plenty of it around. They had Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Billy Talent and Reel Big Fish to look up to, back then. They also lived in a city at the crossroads of a lot of styles, cultures and geography. Prince George frequently hosted shows by alternative greats like Bif Naked, Gob, Big Sugar and other notable heavies of the day. The Yule boys also had local guitarist/vocalist Dave Rosin in town just before he struck big as a member of Hedley. Their table was set for feasting on alterna-rock music.
“One difference between us and a lot of our peers was, we were really paying attention to what we were listening too,” said Darby. “When Green Day dropped an unexpected guitar solo into East Jesus Nowhere instead of a chorus, it blew our minds. I know that’s a little detail, but it was a lightbulb moment for us as songwriters. This message suddenly got through to us about how seriously we had to take this, these clashy pop-punk bands were schooled musicians and really knew how to compose, and if we were going to be part of that world, we had to step up the quality of our work. We weren’t just out there to make noise with guitars and beat on the drums - each song had to be crafted.”
With that epiphany and the experience they’d built (the Lost Cause 34 album, several gigs and earned-media coverage), The Statistics started to calculate a path forward out of their teenage years.
The sums have been impressive. First they released the album The Boy Who Would Be King in 2012 to kick things off. That got Erin and Darby some live shows, web attention, and media coverage – all of it positive about their new life as The Statistics.
Also, it confirmed they were on a solid path in the direction they wanted to go as a duo (they bring in other musicians as the songs see fit). It pointed them towards a hometown university show with Malcolm In the Middle lead actor Frankie Muniz’s band Kingsfoil, then a slot on the Crankworx (big-air bike showcase) stage in Whistler with Bend Sinister, and their first regional tour alongside Yukon prog-rockers Speed Control. They picked up gigs at coveted out-of-town nightspots like The Cellar and The Railway Club.
The success was based on the popular album, but came to life on the stage. Sensing a concert audience starting to build, they released Do You Bleed Like I Do?, a semi-acoustic live album. That propelled them from 2013 into a timeframe of periodic performances, a brief residency in Vancouver to deepen their base, and all the while writing new material.
That new stuff wasn’t going to be wasted on a half-baked production effort, Darby and Erin decided. They pooled their band funds and booked FaderMountain Sound (formerly the famed Little Mountain Sound music house) co-owned by super-producers GGGarth Richardson and Paul Boechler, among others.
The Statistics called in Boechler himself (Yukon Blonde, Raised By Wolves, etc.) to sit at the controls.
They wanted to keep their jangly punk edge, but slip comfortably into some Brit-pop threads and build a bed of analogue warmth around it all. The result is Haunts, a six-song EP that punches well above its weight.
“The reason we went to all this effort and expense is because music matters so much to us,” said Erin. “We could just keep it all in the basement and have our fun, but the whole point of music is sharing it with other people, and if you’re going to invite people to listen, you’d better give them your very best.”
“I can’t describe what it feels like when someone comes up and tells us they like a certain part of a song,” said Darby. “I must look like a weirdo, because I just melt. We are so grateful to get that feedback. For us, those are the triumphant moments and the reasons we try so hard for people.”
For more information like photos, sound samples, T-shirts, and all the band’s statistics:
or The Statistics Musician/Band on Facebook.
DARBY YULE: Guitars and Lead Vocals (but other musical touches, too). Influenced by Muddy Waters and Buddy Holly at one end of his spectrum, Dave Hause and Coldplay at the other.
ERIN YULE: Drums and Keyboards (other musical tasks as needed). Influenced by John Bonham most prominently, Steve Gadd, and Gaslight Anthem. He plays SJC Drums exclusively.