Oregon Yurt Works

Ex Mint Chick's mysterious new band

His former band The Mint Chicks gave up their American dream, but guitarist Ruban Nielson is chasing it anew. He talks to Duncan Greive.

He knew things were getting desperate when his wife called to say they were running out of firewood, and there wasn’t any money to buy more. At the time, Ruban Nielson was in the early stages of his first tour with his new band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a psychedelic sequel to his work with art-punks The Mint Chicks.

His wife Jenny was home in Portland, Oregon, caring for their two young children in a yurt. Even allowing for her pliant disposition and general acceptance of the trials of being married to a musician, running out of firewood in the middle of winter was surely beyond the pale. Nielson decided to finally call Fat Possum, the record company he’d been stubbornly refusing to commit to for weeks.

For Steven Bevilaqua, the A&R man charged with signing Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the dwindling fires at home accomplished what his aggressive courting had been unable to. Already a fan of The Mint Chicks, Bevilaqua had become obsessed with UMO, and determined to sign them. He flew to Portland to offer them a deal on the day of their first show.

Nielson had all but committed to joining another label. In desperation, Bevilaqua emailed a mutual friend who had been advising Nielson. It read: “Tell him he’s at an ATM.”

“It was one of those things you just don’t see every day,” recalls Bevilaqua, from the Fat Possum offices in Mississippi. “So we got real aggressive. We’ll go any route we need to get something we feel like we need as a label. That’s the truth.”

Nielson backed away from the other label, but didn’t get round to signing with Fat Possum either, until Jenny’s phone call forced him to get his priorities straight. Neither party wants to disclose the figure, but according to Nielson it was the biggest he’d seen in 10 years as a professional musician. “It’ll carry the band and my family through to the middle of next year, depending on how frugal I am,” he says from a Holiday Inn, a far cry from the “crack-den motels” and filthy floors he slept on during tours gone by. “It was a lot of money to me, having made the album in my basement.

Oregon Yurtworks, LLC: Staff of Oregon Yurtworks

Wendy here, Admin Assistant and the friendly voice on the other line when you call our office. Prior to becoming a staff member at OY, I'd never realized these round structures were formally called "yurts", let alone been in one. At first glance, I thought the building looked really small from the outside, but stepping into one, they are spacious and beautiful! Cedar makes it warm and inviting, as do the high ceilings. I'm a believer, I would totally own one. Amazing product, well-priced and they can be built a million different ways. What else could a girl want? :)

I just heard from Star that one of our clients had to put his project on hold due to his contractor going bankrupt 1/2 way through the project leaving subcontractors and suppliers unpaid. In this environment especially it is important to make sure you contractor uses the funds you pay him to pay his employees, subs and suppliers. You can protect yourself by issuing joint checks.

Yurts, living in the round

The Coevolution quarterly

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