Yard Act on imposter syndrome, bullying and their heavier new sound

On the opening track of Yard Act’s new album, Empty Pledges, James Smith proclaims: “I’ve got absolutely nothing – absolutely nothing new to say!” Later in the same song he asks, “Do you feel like an impostor for every new level you ascend to too?” I meet Smith and bassist Ryan Needham in a London bar to talk about You’re Gonna Need a Little Music and the uneasy honesty that runs through it.

Smith shifts between confidence and self-questioning, and even invents an alter ego, Janey, to represent the restless part of his brain that keeps pushing for more. Needham says the band once felt like “competition winners” and had to learn to accept they “deserve a seat at the table,” while stressing it’s about self-belief rather than arrogance.

That mixture of doubt and assurance, they say, has kept them steady.

yard act, james smith, ryan needham, empty pledges, janey, impostor syndrome, bullying, london, self-belief, heavier sound