YAAAAAS Sir: Denver Band Rules the Local Scene and Supports the Queer Community

Denver’s local music scene kills it, from homegrown hip-hop and alternative rock to blistering metal and spacey dubstep. The local queer scene is also lit, but it’s rare that the two blend into one glorious, cultural melting pot. With local soft rockers Sir, however, that blending does happen, and it’s a wonderful thing.

Made up of “two lesbians and a straight boy super-supporter,” Sir try their best not only to make it in the local and national music world, but also to support the queer community. They are performing this year at Aurora Pride and making a general effort to get their name into more LGBTQ spaces. We spoke to the band about Pride; the local scene; and sexy, emotional rock-pop.

Please give me all of your full names, instruments, and pronouns.

Sarah Angela–lead vocalist, synth, guitar, she/her

Kim O’hara–electric guitar, she/her

Luke Mehrens–drummer, he/him

What is the meaning behind your name?

Sarah: We wanted something that wasn’t feminine or masculine and worked with the lead vocalist, and we thought it fits the feeling of our music. Also, my nickname has kind of always been Sir Angela because of how it sounds when you say my name fast.

How would you describe your sound?

Sarah: I would say that our sound is sexy, emotional rock-pop.

How did you all get together and start playing music?

Sarah: I’ve been harassing Kim for the last 10 years ever since I moved here, pushing her to be in my band, because it was just me doing music for quite some time, and finally she caved and realized how much she loved me. Luke was in a band called Della; they were one of my favorite bands when I moved here, and they had me open for them a few times, but their band dispersed. All of a sudden I was at a show with Kim, and he walked up and asked if I was looking for a drummer.

How do you feel about the local music scene?

Kim: I think for me at least it’s a love/hate thing, because I love our scene and everything. There is so much good music that comes out of Denver, but I think the hate side of it is not enough bands that show enough support of each other. We are lacking a really strong industry here.

Sarah: Clearly the music capital of the world is L.A. and Hollywood, and we’ve had to go there to record and get a lot of our guidance. There is like one music lawyer here and a couple booking agencies, but they have their hands full. There is not much of an industry.

Luke: It’s growing; bands move here now to do music. Musically it’s awesome, but industry-wise I think it could still grow for sure.

What made you want to play Aurora Pride?

Sarah: We got invited, and we were super stoked. We played Denver PrideFest for a total of five years, so when we got the call to do Aurora we were like, ‘Hell yeah!’

Luke: It was an interesting thing to support, something we believe in. We jump any time we get to do a show like that.

Sarah: Kim and I are both lesbians, and Luke is our straight boy super supporter.

What ties do you have to the queer community in the Denver metro area, and how do you advocate for it?

Sarah: We’ve been trying to advocate more; we want to be more involved. It seems seems as if as we’ve been a growing community and things have been more nationally accepted. The theme started to die off and of course, with our new Trumpian administration, people are starting to stand up and make changes.

What specific ties do you have to Aurora?

Kim: I don’t think we have specific ties, but I lived in Aurora for a few years. We are excited to meet new people, get in font of new people.

What are you looking forward to about Aurora Pride?

Sarah: I didn’t even know Aurora had its own Pride until now, and we are stoked to be able to add to that community. I don’t view Aurora as a particularly gay-friendly community, and I’m excited to be able to promote equality. We are gonna rock out as hard as we can and expand our fan base!

Is there anything special you have in the works that you want to announce?

Sarah: We have a really big show with some really awesome bands on August 25 at Globe Hall, and we have a show on October 5 at Bar Fly. Beyond that, our next big tour is gonna be West Coast, and we are hoping to be back in the studio by the spring.