Prepare to enter a world where myth, music, and raw emotion collide! Alt-rock band The Yagas, fronted by Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress Vera Farmiga, will unleash their debut full-length album, ‘Midnight Minuet,’ independently on Friday, April 25th. Alongside Farmiga, the New York-based five-piece features Renn Hawkey formerly of Deadsy (keys and production), Jason Bowman (drums), Mark Visconti (guitar), and Mike Davis (bass).
An audacious new band with otherworldly origins, The Yagas borrowed their name from a mystical figure who’s long haunted Farmiga’s dreams: Baba Yaga, a Slavic folklore legend said to devour souls and guard the waters of life. Produced by Hawkey and recorded in part at Dreamland Recording Studios near Woodstock, ‘Midnight Minuet’ showcases the band’s flair for shapeshifting — morphing from metal to industrial to extravagant alt-rock as their songs explore the strangest corners of the human psyche.
In an era flooded with overproduced hype, The Yagas stand apart — no label, no infrastructure, just pure grit, creativity, and a shared love of storytelling. Channeling decades of experience and a fearless DIY spirit, they’ve created something wholly raw, emotionally resonant, and refreshingly real. The 10-song collection’s previously released singles — “Life of A Widow,” “The Crying Room,” and “She’s Walking Down” — offer just a taste of the spellbinding sonic journey ahead.
Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently caught up with Renn Hawkey for a peek behind the curtain at one of rock’s newest and most intriguing creative forces. Here’s what he had to say…
You’ve spent most of your life in and around the music industry — what first lit the fire for you?
It initially began with me playing piano, which is something I struggled with when I studied piano as a kid. I was always drawn to it, but I had a very difficult time with how I was being taught. It was kind of a love/hate thing, because I just really struggled to read music. Even to this day, I can’t read music. My brain type just doesn’t like it. Even earlier than that, my parents brought me to an REO Speedwagon concert when I was one year old. I’m not really sure why they brought a one-year-old to REO Speedwagon! [laughs] When I was two, I also saw Joan Baez. I don’t remember any of these things, but I gotta think they inform me in some way, right? [laughs]
Another huge moment for me was the discovery of my parents’ vinyl in the closet. I remember things like putting on a Beatles album and watching that Apple spin round and round when I was around five years old, when you’re just absorbing the music.
However, I would say, like, the number one for me — and I’m sorry I’m jumping all over the place — was a Queen record, “News of the World.” It’s the one with an image of a robot on the cover, and he’s holding his hand out and there are these dead bodies, and people are kind of running for their lives. I remember putting that record on and hearing “We Are The Champions” and looking at that artwork. I could see what looked like remorse in the robot’s eyes, like, “What have I done?” That kind of fucked me up as a little kid!
That’s understandable! [laughs]
So, to answer the question, there’s something about the connection of visual and music — that marriage — that I’m drawn to. I think if you look at Deadsy, you’ll see that it wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill band. We had a strong visual component to our presentation, whether it was the artwork or how we presented ourselves on stage. I’ve always loved that about things like Kabuki face paint from Japanese storytelling, where they use the heavy makeup. Certainly, up front, Kabuki face might be a little alarming, but you’re not playing to the guy in the front row. The whole point of that makeup was so the guy way in the back could see your expressions on stage. I’ve always liked that exaggeration. And you know, life can be very normal feeling, right? The stage or music is a great place to celebrate, to be wild, to be different, and to be somebody else. I don’t know if you’ve seen the videos we’ve made, but we try to do that.
I think what Vera [Farmiga] brings to this as a storyteller and actor makes The Yagas stand out in a different way. There’s a rawness to how she executes and how she sings as a storyteller.
Obviously, being that we’re in the film and television world, it’s been incredible to have access to a lot of really talented, amazing filmmakers and people who just want to be part of what we’re doing because we’re having a lot of fun! We have a lot of amazing relationships with people who are willing to show up on weekends when they should be with their families, working for peanuts, to help us make these videos. Everything we do is DIY. We have no label, no infrastructure, no money, no support. It’s all roll-up-your-sleeves grit, you know? And yeah, I know that wasn’t the original question, but…
No, that’s great — that’s one of the things that has drawn me to what you guys are creating. It’s authentic and incredibly layered. Most importantly, you are all bringing your own thing to the mix, and it’s in no way manufactured. You can’t ask for more than that from an artist.
Yeah, and that’s very different than what I’ve done in the past. I’m not saying Deadsy was manufactured, certainly, but we did have a label. We had several labels. And we had a lot of pressure on us to present or execute in a way that was a lot of pressure for a 21-year-old kid. You’re like, “But I just want to make some music! What is all that?” But now, I have none of that — and I miss it! I’m like, “I wish I had a little fucking support here! Just a little bit!” [laughs] But at the end of the day, it’s like, “No. No thank you.” I like doing things our way. If we had it our way, we would have done a video for every song on the album, but it’s just unaffordable. It’s just too much. There’s a certain amount of hemorrhaging I can allow! I gotta stop the bleeding at some point! [laughs]
When The Yagas first surfaced, it took a lot of us by surprise. Can you give us a little background on how the journey began?
Certainly! We live upstate New York, in and around the Woodstock community, which is obviously very music-centric. There’s a facility there called the Woodstock Rock Academy. Everybody in the band — their children were enrolled in the program. So that’s how we all kind of met one another — but largely it was in the parking lot. It was one of those things where our kids were inside, having a blast in this clubhouse, rocking out, writing on the walls, making friends, and having a great time. Meanwhile, we’re out in the parking lot thinking, “Why didn’t I have this as a kid? Why don’t I have this now?” And then we discovered, “Oh, they have an adult program!” — and that’s how it started.
One of the kids, as a joke, signed me up for the adult program. So I was like, “Ah, fuck it. I’ll do it. What do I care?”
I figured it was a good opportunity to stay primed and maybe have some crazy song assignments to keep my chops up. Vera said, “Oh, if you’re gonna do it, I’ll do it too.” And I was like, “Hell, yeah!” Then we met Mark [Visconti], who is our guitar player there. Jason [Bowman], our drummer, owns The Rock Academy and runs the adult program, which he also participates in. Mike [Davis] is our bass player, and he was in the adult program as well. Through natural selection, we all gravitated toward one another. Then one night, we’re having dinner, and Jason’s like, “Hey, why don’t we write some original songs together?” And I said, “Cool.” I don’t know if you’ve heard the entire album yet, but there’s a song called “I Am,” and that’s actually the first song we wrote. Vera had never done anything like this before. She had only ever done a couple of heavy songs in the adult program. I remember we just started to write, and it came very quickly to us. And I know when that happens, you have to grab it and run with it!
There are so many other times where I’ve jammed with people and it just doesn’t go anywhere. Even playing music with really well-known people — you have huge expectations that it’s going to turn into something amazing, and it just dies on the vine. You hear about it all the time, right? They mix this person with that person, and there’s no magic. But there was a ton of alchemy with this band and how it started. There was just a rawness to it — and a “sum of the parts” vibe where everyone’s just gonna do their thing and see what happens.
The first song, “I Am,” came very quickly, then the next one, and the next. Within a very short time — maybe three months — we had 13 songs written. At that point, we said, “Let’s just go into the studio and track this!” We said we were gonna do six songs, so we booked two days. Surprisingly, we ended up tracking 12 songs. It felt really special, you know? It felt like I had to seize the opportunity with this collection of people. They’re all so fucking talented, such great players, and all so creative. Everybody comes from a very different background and has such different musical influences. I don’t know why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t — but this time, it did!
The way Jason’s playing aligns with Vera’s — to me, that’s the most critical relationship in the band: the drums and the vocals. Right? Everybody else can be kind of okay, but those two have to be locked in. And it’s funny, because Jason plays just a little tiny bit ahead of the beat, and Vera sings behind the beat. And I don’t know why, but for some reason it works! His peanut butter and her chocolate make a really sweet dessert. [laughs]
Vera and yourself have a strong and truly unique bond. What do you feel you bring out in each other creatively?
You know, we’ve been together for 21 years, and we’ve always risen to challenges. I don’t know — maybe it’s because we’re both fire signs — but we kind of ignite each other.
She’s also just the most awesome, supportive, loving, open person. She was the only person I could have married. So when she sees me doing a project, she’s the first to jump in and say, “What can I do? How can I help?” And simultaneously, I do the same with her. I don’t know if it’s easing some of the pressure or responsibility on each other, but that’s what makes it work as a marriage.
It translates to everything — we’ve produced films together, we have TV projects we’re working on, we’ve rebuilt two houses together (one from scratch, the other a renovation), and we have a massive, historic, sustainable hospitality project we’re developing. I can’t explain why it works — or why it doesn’t work for other people — but maybe it’s the nature of her job as an actor. When she’s gone for huge chunks of time, when we do have time together, we really take full advantage of it.
Same thing goes for having kids. It’s really no different. And it doesn’t mean we don’t have pressure — because we all do — but we’re really good at, if one of us is spiking, the other one steps in and relieves the pressure. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a great relationship, but man, I’m so blessed and thankful!
I hear that! That’s such a rare thing and something for all of us to strive for. Speaking of pressure — you produced ‘Midnight Minuet’ yourself, which is a huge undertaking. What were the biggest challenges you faced wearing the hats of producer and performer?
I had never produced before, so that was the biggest challenge. As I said earlier, this is DIY, and we had to use the tools that were available to us. I’ve always done a lot of the pre-production work in Deadsy, and a lot of the demo stuff. So, I have some chops with respect to Pro Tools, Logic, and demoing songs. I took on this responsibility because I felt I needed the challenge, one, and two, I had a specific sound in my head that I was chasing. And also — we didn’t have any money to pay a producer! [laughs] So it had to be me!
We used Dreamland Recording Studios. First of all, it’s an amazing environment to record in — and it was there and available. Jerry Marotta, who owns it, gave us a deal. It was like, “Yeah, come in for a couple days!” As a band member, everyone has an equal vote as creatives. However, at some point, between being one of the band members and then having to take the reins and produce it, the other guys put their faith in me to just go for it. So it wasn’t difficult in that respect. I really felt emboldened and confident because of them — and they gave me a lot of great stuff to work with.
To be honest with you, it’s not like the recording was just set-it-and-forget-it. But when you’re working with musicians who are of this caliber, they make your job a little bit easier.
At Dreamland, we recorded the drums, the bass, and the guitar. Then Vera and I did all the vocals at home. I did all the keyboard stuff afterward — once the vocal performances were done. I think the keyboard melodies have to dance in and around the vocals. I don’t like them dictating what the vocal should do — if that makes sense.
I imagine releasing an album like “Midnight Minuet” in this day and age is a unique experience.
Yeah. I think if you’ve heard the three songs that have been released so far, they’re all very different from one another. I’m not trying to define this as some sort of genre, because it’s very genre-bending. But when you hear the whole album, I think it makes sense. I don’t think it’s scattered, even though all the songs are very different. We’re an eclectic group of people, bringing very different references and experiences to it. I’m just really excited to share it with the world.
I don’t know how people are going to discover us. The album is coming out next week, and we’re doing our best to promote it — but not in a gross kind of way.
I know it’s cringe now to be over-promoting your shit, but at the same time, you want to create that discovery, right? You want people to stumble upon your music and fall in love with it the way we did as kids. Back in the day, you’d go to a record store, pick something random, and find a piece of gold — and it felt like you had ownership because you discovered it. Nowadays, it’s like everything is being shoved in your face — “Hey, like this!” or “Buy this!” It’s a delicate balance. I know that’s not exactly what you asked, but it’s a weird, delicate space — like, “God, I just hope people are patient and don’t try to put this in a box.” I hope they can just listen to it as an album, experience it, and just let it be what it is. So often, we immediately want to say, “Oh, it’s this,” or “It’s that.” We do that as humans — it’s a defense mechanism for security. We have to compartmentalize things so we know where to park them.
How has the response been to the new record, and what’s next for the band in terms of new music and live shows?
The response thus far has been pretty incredible. It’s been great! I just want to make more music with the band. The way these things go, we’re releasing a record that we wrote a year ago. All these things have happened in the last year, and we’re writing more stuff. It can be a little painful. You’re like, “Oh, God, I just want everyone to hear this new stuff too!” We have 25 new songs — not fully completed, but 25 solid ideas. And that’s a weird thing because it doesn’t happen all the time. I’m excited to explore those and get back in the studio. Because of the limitations with all of our respective careers, we can’t be out touring like the Deftones or Korn or whoever. Maybe one day we can do that if the opportunities arise. But right now, we can’t pile into a van like a brand-new band and grind it out. Everybody’s got lives, you know? We’ll see! Maybe there will be some one-off gigs, which would be great. I’d love to do some of those. We’ve played in New York a couple of times — it would be nice to go to other places and bring the music over there. We have a huge global audience — and when I say huge, I mean scattered everywhere: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Greece, Ukraine, and all throughout Europe. It would be nice to bring the music to those people, for sure.
I gotta thank you so much for your time. I’ve gotta say, I really do feel like I found something special with “Midnight Minuet,” and thanks for giving me the opportunity to hear it early. It’s been such a unique find, and it really speaks to what you’ve done in the past and how bright the future is for you. It’s just got such a great vibe — I can’t wait to see where it goes. In the meantime, we’ll be out here waving the flag for you.
Jason, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Take care, and I’ll talk to you soon.
The Yagas’ debut album ‘Midnight Minuet’ will be released on April 25, 2025! Stay connected and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
