Band name, history, influences

[sarahw]

I don't remember which thread veered off for a bit into talking about how it seems like there's a hundred slightly different stories about how the band chose their name. So I decided maybe I should start a new thread. John Rob even references all the questions & grief they get about their band name in the opening lines of "Critical Drain."

Here's another story to make you laugh:

Disgraced Soviet leader Boris Yeltsin was in the news a lot when Philip Dic-key and his friends first formed their pop band in Springfield, Mo.

"There was this one story about Boris Yeltsin's wife and how she played tennis and didn't get involved in politics and she just seemed really nice," Dic-key said. "People were really disillusioned with him then, but we thought maybe she still loves him."

Source: "Daily Me" - ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH; Oct 2, 2010.
URL: dailyme.com/story/2010100200002831/local-bands-unusual-names.html
Edit to add: Link moved. www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/article_4e3a1777-bff7-5f03-89ee-108d3823a103.html

P.S. I've mentioned before that I think all the stories are true, just pieces of the whole, which is a bit too long to tell in an interview.
P.P.S. I like the history behind the band starting, how they took their name, and how the band has evolved and progressed over the years. Their name is really sweet. I like it and hope they never feel like they have to change it, despite the sometimes annoying questions they get about it.

[ray m.]

awswww that story about his wife is so nice. i like that one the best.

i'm pretty sure i have heard a story from phil in an interview where he said he was practicing with will one day and some girls were there and he wanted to make them laugh so he called themselves "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin"

[El Zilcho]

Or the story about wills younger brother writing a paper titled "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin"

[sarahw]

And the story of Will's sister writing a screenplay that had Boris Yeltsin in it --> that got Will's brother interested in him so that he chose him for that paper.

[yourmother]

or the one about Will's mom being in the CIA back in the day and how she broke into a Russian sperm bank and stole a lot of Yeltsin man-seed (Yeltseed?) which she kept frozen in a box of Fudgesicles packed in dry ice and how each of the bands' moms were (Ya know) and how the entire band is actually the love children of the deposed leader who were all secretly trained in Siberia as toddlers to be the power-pop band we all know and love (or still love?)

[sarahw]

Oh yeah, I vaguely remember that Siberia story. Wasn't that the one where they used to put a guitar in toddler-Will's hands and rock him in his bassinet (he still rocks when he plays today), and they started toddler-John on a mic as soon as he could stand but the mic was too tall for him (thus he sometimes still stands on his tiptoes to sing)? The person who wrote the Siberia story totally forgot to mention that they trained toddler-Jonathan on a Fisher Price mixing board, but it wasn't good enough so he rewired it himself when he was three. You can never start kids too soon on music you know. I heard they were going to name themselves Band of Half-Brothers, but then decided it sounded too much like a movie title.

[El Zilcho]

What the f**k is happening in this thread

[yourmother]

You see Sarah knows that one, too.

[gotime]

There was this kid that went to school with Phil and he was really obsessed with Russian stuff, and my brother told me that he remembers that kid talking to people, Phil included, about Boris Yeltsin

[sarahw]

March 1, 2011 interview with [url=http://www.spinner.com/2011/03/01/someone-still-loves-you-boris-yeltsin-sxsw-top-100
]spinner.com[/url]:

Phil: "I've tried to explain this so many times. I can hardly remember now. All the bands around us had these serious names about seasons and sunsets. The last thing I wanted was to be in a band with a name like that. We wanted to have the longest name possible, too. Boris Yeltsin's name was in the press for drinking and being an alcoholic. He was disgraced and his life was in ruins. All of Russia hated him. I was driving home from the mall with my mom when I thought of it. It just seemed that this man had a wife and kids, and maybe a million people hated him, but there was still someone, somewhere who loved him."

[sarahw]

I wasn't sure where to put this interview and I really liked some of the questions the interviewer asked Phil, so I thought I'd turn this thread from strictly a "band name" thread to one where you can also post cool interview answers about other stuff having to do with the band's origin.

Interview posted April 27. You can read the rest at: http://music.minneapolisf**kingrocks.com/post/4990572186/interview-someone-still-loves-you-boris-yeltsin

What originally inspired the conception of the band?
My first wasn’t very good, so I wanted to try to be in a band I would listen to. And “Hope and Adams” by Wheat.

When and where was the first moment you decided you needed to be in a band?
Going to church when I was a kid. I would bring my brown Fisher Price cassette recorder and make bootlegs of the worship band.

Which family member influenced you the most musically growing up? What music did they introduce you to that you would consider formative?
My parents both played guitar and my mom really wanted us to take piano lessons. My piano teacher was insane. Her house was like a castle and the piano was in the dungeon. My sister and I were terrified of her and I think it helped us learn the piano faster.

How has your hometown influenced your musical trajectory?
There was a local music compilation that I bought in 8th grade. I memorized all the liner notes and I can still tell you how each song was recorded (live with vocal overdubs or multi-tracked). I really wanted to be on a local music compilation when I grew up.

[sarahw]

The Seton Hall newspaper interviewed Phil in preparation for the SSLYBY show on their campus today: www.thesetonian.com/pirate-life/someone-still-loves-shu-1.2210523

Seton Hall holds particular significance for Dic'key; his favorite professor, Dr. Maxim Matusevich, currently teaches here. Phil said Matusevich, who taught Dic'key at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, was the first Russian person he asked about his band's name, wondering if it was "horribly offensive," since Boris Yeltsin is a notorious figure in Russian history. Turns out Matusevich was anything but offended.

"He thought it was a funny name and he asked us if he could get a t-shirt," Dic'key said.

Dic'key said Matusevich provided him everything from educational inspiration to book recommendations; he even was one of the band's original fans.

"He was my professor for four years and he would come to our shows in Springfield when no one else was coming to our shows," Dic'key said. "If you're not a history major, I would recommend taking a class with him because I think he's the coolest guy ever."

Matusevich said that he has kept in touch with Dic'key since college; Dic'key even joined Matusevich on a study-abroad trip to St. Petersburg, Russia.

"Philip is likely one of the nicest, most thoughtful, most talented, and most creative students I've taught," Matusevich said. "I remember him as a freshman - very sweet, rather shy but also sharp and analytical. When I first learned about the name of his band I thought it was absolutely hilarious, because it was sort of nonsensical but also the absurdity of it was so creative."

Not surprisingly, when not noted for its music, SSLYBY is often recognized for its mouthful of a band name.

"We didn't really take anything too seriously since we were just a high school band, and we thought it would be a good idea to have the longest name possible. Around that time, Boris Yeltsin had just resigned and his name was in the press and all the comedians on late-night television were making fun of him. I kind of felt sorry for him," Dic'key explained.

Despite his apparent "love" for Boris Yeltsin, Dic'key laughingly added, "we don't endorse his policies or anything like that."