Just fiddling around
Yellowcard member parlays fiddle training into pop-punk stardom
John Kendle

In Canada, the notion of a fiddle or violin being part of an alternative or art-rock band is not unknown.

Nash the Slash of Toronto prog rockers FM — and later a solo artist — is perhaps the best-known purveyor of violin as rock instrument. Especially as Invisible Man bandages are also part of his spectacle.

Cape Breton bad boy Ashley MacIsaac has had a couple of hits with his fusion of rock and fiddle music, both on his own and with Mary Jane Lamond.

In the U.S., country and roots acts often feature fiddlers, and the likes of Alison Krauss and Lisa Germano have even become stars.

But Yellowcard’s Sean Mackin has to be one of the very few punk rockers who plays violin. He’s certainly the only one to play the instrument for a multi-million-selling act.

“I was six when I started playing. My mother is Japanese, and she was very encouraging about me learning to play from an early age,” says Mackin, who grew up in Florida but now calls Southern California home.

“I actually quit for two or three years from about grades six to eight because I just got sick of taking so much crap for playing the violin,” he continues. “But then I went to an arts high school and started playing again. At the time it wasn’t so much about being the best violinist in the world as it was about being able to play something and to write my own music.”

Now 26 and a member of Yellowcard for the past eight years, Mackin says he and his bandmates are treating their current Wish We Were Canadian tour as a welcome stress reliever. The band spent nearly all of 2003 and ’04 on the road, helping their 2003 release, Ocean Avenue, sell 2.5 million copies worldwide.

After a three-month break early this year, the quintet recorded its crucial follow-up album in early summer and has spent the past couple of months discussing just how to mix the record, which they have described as edgier than the prototypical pop/punk sound of its predecessor.

Now Mackin says the group — which also includes guitarist Ben Harper, singer/guitarist Ryan Key, bassist Peter Mosely and drummer Longineu Parsons III — is happy for the distraction of a two-week tour.
“We took our time in writing the songs, and we wanted to make sure we recorded the songs the way we wanted them to sound,” Mackin says. “Now we want to make sure that the mixes are right. The last record was very polished, and we don’t want this one to necessarily be so smooth.”

Produced by Neal Avran, who helmed Ocean Ave., new album Lights + Sounds is slated for a Jan. 24 release. Mixmaster Tom Lord-Alge, who mixed the previous album, is also set to do the same with the band’s 14 new songs.

“Our last album was our major-label debut (after a couple of indie albums and an EP), so we followed the rules a bit with it. Now we want to express ourselves a little more,” Mackin says.

“It’s very exciting to have new material again,” he says, adding that it’s also inspiring.

“I don’t know how we did it. We grew up together, went to school together and to make this level of music together while retaining our friendship — that’s a real Cinderella story for us.”

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