I Love You (Yah Tibyah La Blu) (band)

'I Love You' (Yah Tibyah La Blu) is a rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, the largest city in Missouri. Their music is typically classified as indie rock or noise rock, and contains elements of pop, dub, broken beat, minimalism, and Afro-beat. Their name is officially Yah Tibyah La Blu, a phonetically anglicized phrase meaning 'I Love You' (formal phrasing) in the Russian language, but they are generally referred to by the English translation for practical reasons.

Background

'I Love You' began when Kevin Kesterson, Justin Randel, and Jeffrey Schlette first improvised music together in the spring of 2004. Randel and Kesterson had known each other since working together at a deli in high school, and Randel had recently met Schlette in a music class at the University of Kansas. Calling themselves Tobacco Painless, the three recorded a few noisy, chaotic demos before Schlette left town for the summer. At that point, Randel was playing drums, Kesterson was on guitar and vocals, and Schlette was doubling on guitar and electric violin.

By January 2005, they had evolved into Yah Tibyah La Blu, a more straightforward indie rock power trio, with Randel on guitar/vox, Kesterson on bass/vox and Schlette playing the drums. They played frequently in Kansas City and Lawrence and took occasional road trips to play shows in St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee.

In 2006, 'I Love You' undertook their first tours, traveling throughout the Midwest, Southeast, and Texas in a 1992 Chevrolet Lumina APV. "Six Trick Pony", their first EP, was recorded in the spring and released in the fall. That summer, they teamed up with Lawrence's Davan to independently release a 12" split LP.

In January of 2007, the band made its first trip to the East coast. Later that spring, Kesterson, burned out on the rigors of DIY touring, left the band. Undeterred, Schlette and Randel began working with live samples and sequencers, creating a more rhythm-driven sound. By the fall of that year they were back on tour and working on a new album, "Drone, Drugs and Harmony". In November, they were filmed playing in Brooklyn and featured on Punkcast, a DIY video site.

So far, 2008 has seen a tape and CD release of "Drone, Drugs and Harmony" and an extensive tour schedule.

Discography

" Six Trick Pony " (CD) 2006
" Davan/I Love You " (12 inch split) 2006
" Drone, Drugs and Harmony " (CD and tape) 2008

References

[http://www.pitch.com/2008-06-26/music/i-love-you/ The Pitch: I Love You - June 26, 2008]

[http://www2.ljworld.com/events/2008/mar/15/25020/ Lawrence Journal-World: Majongg/Coat Party/I Love You - March 14, 2008]

[http://punkcast.com/1222/index.html Punkcast 1222: I Love You - November 2, 2007]

External Links

[http://www.myspace.com/yahtibyahlablu Myspace]