Colin Ferguson from Yves talks about Coffin Boner Records and Oklahoma City’s music scene

By Sandeep Sehbi

I sit down with Colin Ferguson from Yves (OKC) and talk about Coffin Boner Records, the OKC scene at large (and the OKC comp he’s traveling with), and the rest of the Yves tour.

IATU: So what’s the deal with the comp? Its OKC bands? How did you guys put that together?

Colin: So, its all bands that I know that I’ve played with, and its uh… friends of ours that we all record together and stuff like that. The OKC scene is very communal and pretty much when I ask people who wants to be part of a compilation I get a million answers.

IATU: Tell me about the DIY meetings you guys hold [in OKC]

Colin: So twice a week we meet at a coffee shop and bring our laptops and we have a Google doc that everyone is a member of and uh, we have separate sections of all the important things. Like we have whose making food for the bands, whose bringing the PA, whose letting the bands sleep at their house. Who is uh finding the local bands blah blah blah. Its pretty easy to make the flyer, make the Facbeook event, or whatever.

IATU: How long have you guys been organized like that?

Colin: Um, I’d say probably three months, its pretty new.

IATU: And how long have you been doing the comps?

Colin: This’s the second compilation I’ve made, I like to take them on tour because its better to get them out to people who aren’t in OKC, so I made one last winter and this one this summer, and I’m gonna keep doing it.

IATU: What’re your thoughts on spreading DIY [ethos] while on tour to cities that aren’t quite as organized?

Colin: Well its all about talking to people, and making friends. And making connections and just explaining what youre doing, uh, to other people and … uh trying to get them involved like, we try to do alot of splits, and bring other cities into what we’re doing with the cassettes.

IATU: You guys were talking about a warehouse you guys have access to in OKC?

Colin: Yeah, so there’s a DIY space we call ‘The Shop’. And its kinda just like garages, with cars and tractors and stuff. Our friends parents own it, and they’re really happy to host shows, so we have alot of shows there. There’s place for bonfires in the back, there’s dogs that live there. It’s collectively… we keep the keys and unlock it for each other, bands’ll practice there. It’s a really [sweet] spot.

IATU: Thats really awesome to hear.

Colin: Yeah, totally.

IATU: Tell us a bit about your tour, where you’ve been and where you’re going.

Colin: So we’ve been through Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan, and we’re hitting the East coast after we hit Ohio. And then we’re going down the East coast and going down South to Okhahoma.

IATU: How longs the tour?

Colin: It’s about a month long.

IATU: And you visited columbus with your band Happy Birthdayy a few months ago, was that your first time in Columbus?

Colin: Yeah. So that was my first time in Columbus, and we made a bunch of friends, we stayed with Charity [Betsy Ross], so I knew we had to hit Columbus again because its such a supportive town.

IATU: Tell us about your label that you guys have.

Colin: So we try and produce cassettes for free for any band that needs merch, and we use alot of our friends from OKC and other cities. And we try and just make it all and share some with the bands so that they have merch to sell for free, and then we’ll distribute them to other cities or online.

IATU: Whats it called? And where can we find it online?

Colin: It’s called Coffin Boner records, and there’s CoffinBoner.bandcamp.com

IATU: When can we exect to see you again?

Colin: I’d say definitely next winter!!!!