YELLOW, an alternative rock band from Berklee College of Music, released a single titled “stonegarden/gawkin’ at mr johnson” Feb. 21 — their first with Green Line Records, a student label at Northeastern University, which they say gave way to a new era for the band.
Formerly called Lunch Money, YELLOW is composed of vocalist and guitarist Will Donahue, guitarist Maxx Nunn, bassist Sammy Scott and drummer Isaiah Rowe. The band started working together in 2022 when they picked Rowe as a drummer. All of the members met through Berklee, but none of them originate from Boston, despite the influence they draw from the city.
Much of YELLOW’s sound comes from the scene around them — namely, Allston DIY. “You have the artists you listen to that you [draw] influence from, and then there’s the people you work with and play with, and I think we get a lot from that,” said Scott. Every member cites different personal influences on their music.
Its variety of sounds makes the band stand out, resisting one definable genre. “I always just say alt-rock ’cause it’s very vague,” said Donahue, who writes the music for YELLOW. “There’s definitely more specific flavors in there, but we don’t go 100% in any of those directions.” The other members listed some of these “flavors,” such as emo, shoegaze, folk and math rock.
Their experimental, alternative rock style carries into “stonegarden/gawkin’ at mr johnson.” The first song, “stonegarden,” is a high-tempo song about realizing that everything will be okay in the end. Donahue described it as saying, “Not only is everything okay right now, even when things aren’t, I still wouldn’t give it up.”
This song flows into “gawkin’ at mr johnson” with “/”, an interlude that smoothly connects the two songs. “stonegarden” and “gawkin’” wouldn’t otherwise have much in common musically, besides the fact that they’re in the same key. “gawkin’ at mr johnson” has a slower, softer sound, and explores a different feeling than “stonegarden.” It’s about the anxiety of looking back at past relationships and questioning whether they were healthy. The two songs represent ups and downs in mental health: a moment of feeling okay, and a moment of guilt and despair.
The title “stonegarden” is reminiscent of a graveyard — a literal garden of stones. This track was initially titled “Pushing Flowers,” but it was scrapped: Donahue found the title more interesting when it wasn’t taken directly from the lyrics. This one was much more deliberate than “gawkin’ at mr johnson.”
Demo file names tend to be the origin for final song titles. “My now ex-girlfriend had this math teacher who everybody thought was really hot. His name was Mr. Johnson, and I was like, ‘Oh, is everybody gawking at Mr. Johnson?’ And I was like, ‘That’s kind of got a ring to it,’” Donahue said.
YELLOW plans to release another EP by the end of the year, hoping to include more songs in their next production.
Additionally, all four band members are graduating this spring, and plan to move to Los Angeles, California, to continue growing their career. Said Rowe, “We feel like we’ve sort of done everything we can do in New England or the Boston scene. We wanna branch out and spread our wings.”
