Yezda Urfa

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This US band does not really need any introduction. Their two albums was regarded as classics and very hard to find before released on CDs not so many years ago. Alongside Cathedral, this band is regarded as one of the lost US prog bands from the 1970s.  
Thankfully, they agreed to do an interview with PA and here is the answers from Mark and Marc.
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Your
band has always been mentioned alongside the likes of Cathedral as
the great lost US band and the Boris album was once as mythological
as the UFOs in Arizona, the assasination of president Kennedy and so
forth. Please tell us where Yezda Urfa was created, your musical
inspirations and why you choose that name.

Mark
Tippins: I thought we were mentioned alongside a mosque.  The
name was created in my bedroom with a dictionary.  I suppose
eclectic music was the appeal.  I don't know why we chose that
particular word combination...perhaps the end of the alphabet? 

Marc
Miller: You are probably referring to the UFOs in Roswell, New
Mexico, but Arizona's close enough!  Yezda Urfa was created in a
small town in Northwest Indiana, about an hour's drive from Chicago,
where four of the five of us grew up and went to high school
together. Musical inspirations were many. I became very engrossed by
progressive rock, I honed my bass playing via Chris Squire (but he
doesn't know that), mesmerized by King Crimson, etc. Really got into
classical music. Contrary to what Mark says, I believe we came up
with the name Yezda Urfa in Brad's parent's basement, but Mark's
bedroom is close enough!

How
was the music scene in your area when you started ?

Mark
Tippins: We had a Hendrix clone, Black Sabbath tribute, bummer,
pickup sock hop bands, brass influenced, and a 3 piece band with
smoking coconuts. 

Marc
Miller: I dunno, we didn't get out much.

Let's
go straight to the first album which is the great lost American
record Boris, but now re-discovered again. Please tell us more about
this album.

Mark
Tippins: I recall it was done quickly and we tied up traffic on a
busy Chicago street getting our equipment up to the studio. I was
nervous as hell and could not play a classical piece I had been
working on.  That sort of set the tone for me.  I should
have done that last, if at all.

Marc
Miller: It was a demo album, produced on a shoestring budget, paid
out of our own pockets. We never, ever expected it to become such a
sought-after record. I am always amazed by comments that Boris is a
better album than Sacred Baboon. I always felt the opposite. It was
our first time in a real recording studio. I wanted my bass to be
recorded via microphone off my amplifier. The recording engineer kept
telling me that won't work. Finally he had his assistant set up a mic
on my amp but also put a direct box on my bass. I think they recorded
the bass direct and never actually turned on the mic. BUt it made me
happy. What did I know? Our manager drew the guy for the cover art.
What is that thing anyway? I never did understand.

Please
tell us more about Sacred Baboon too. Another lost and found album.

Mark
Tippins: It has some real interesting passages.  I have to say
in all my abundant years, I haven't heard anything quite like it. 
I would love to hear Umphrees or Phish do a cover of "Doggie
Head." 

Marc
Miller: Sacred Baboon was intended to be a self-produced album for
sale (not a demo) with the intention of drawing attention from record
companies if we could make enough sales. In other words, we couldn't
get their attention directly, so we hoped that by selling the record
ourselves we could demonstrate that we were worth their
consideration. We financed and produced the recording ourselves, ran
out of money, and shelved the recording. We started recording at the
same studio as Boris but ran across a guy with a more modern studio
(and probably better rates) (and not in downtown Chicago) and so we
switched in the middle of recording. We went from a 16 track to a 24
track and that caused the engineer some headaches. To get the
16-track tape from the original studio, Phil told them Brad had died
and we were ceasing the project and wanted the tape.

Both
of them were recorded decades ago, released as demos, then hidden
somewhere and entered the realms of mythology and then picked up by
Greg Walker in Syn-Phonic Records. Please tell us the whole story and
what the Yezda Urfa band members were up to in the break between 1981
and the Nearfest gig.

Mark
Tippins: No good? I went to school, raised a kid, and got employment
outside of music.  I pretty much made my living off of playing
and teaching music up until 1990.  I still play around and
record things 

Marc
Miller: The whole story is long. The short story is Boris was
released to anyone who would take a copy (record companies didn't
seem to want a copy. Such fools!). Sacred Baboon was shelved until it
was made available to Greg Walker about 15 years later. After the
band dissolved in the early 80's, I moved to New Mexico (that's part
of the United States for those who think they need a passport to go
there) and have worked for a national laboratory as a network
engineer. Brad continues working as a millwright and plays drums in
local bands. Phil moved to Los Angeles and writes film scores and
computer software. Mark was abducted by a UFO in Arizona and hasn't
been seen since (I'm not sure of the accuracy of that. Maybe it was
New Mexico). Unfortunately Rick Rodenbaugh passed away two years ago
and will be missed.

Both
Boris and Sacred Baboon were eventually unleashed from the realms of
mythology and onto CDs and Yezda Urfa came back together again with a
homepage and a gig at Nearfest 2004. This gig was released as a live
album last year. Please us more about this live album and the gig. 

Mark
Tippins: I wish we could have played some small venue before jumping
to that after 25 or so years. It was a memorable experience that
ushered me out of my 40"s.   

Marc
Miller: We had tried for about 10 years to get the band back together
to play at Greg Walker's Progfest, but Greg ended the festival
series, and we gave up on the idea of a band reunion. Then in 2000, I
was contacted by Chad Hutchinson of NEARfest, asking if Yezda Urfa
would be interested in a reunion performance. I checked with the band
members and we had one "no" so I told Chad we couldn't do
it. Then I was contacted by a fan in 2003 after he returned from
NEARfest 2003, suggesting that Yezda Urfa should perform at next
year's festival. So I again contacted the band and again got one
"no", but this time, rather than giving up, we decided to
go on with a new member. The gig was a fantastic experience, a dream
come true. I wish we could do another one. Or ten. The live album
took six years to produce and release due to technical issues and
other realities. Although the songs on the live album are the same as
on Boris and Sacred Baboon (except for L.A.) they were arranged as
hybrids of the two albums, making them somewhat unique. Please buy a
copy!

So,
do you have any plans to do anything under the Yezda Urfa name this
year or in the future ?    

Mark
Tippins: You never know, but I think I am the biggest drag to the
process. 

I
am making a living outside of music.  I am showing my youngest
how to play guitar.  He is already a pretty good drummer. Music
comes and goes for me now. 

Marc
Miller: No, nothing planned.

What
is the Yezda Urfa members up to now ? 

Mark
Tippins: I am making a living outside of music.  I am showing my
youngest how to play guitar.  He is already a pretty good
drummer. Music comes and goes for me now. 

Marc
Miller: I have been musically busy over the past few years. I have
taken up the guitar. I play bass in a progressive/alternative trio.
Got offered to join a Bluegrass band today but I think I'll pass.

To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this
interview ?  

Marc
Miller: Thanks to all our fans. 

Thank you to Mark & Marc for this interview

Their PA profile is here and homepage's here