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When asked, ?What does YMI stand for?? lead singer/bassist Baris Adil grins and says, ?Not telling??
What we do know is, YMI is a three piece hard-edged alt-rock band comprised of these key elements: harmony, melody, rhythm and energy. Citing Hendrix to Morrissey to Van Halen as influences, YMI strives to create a sound that screams originality. The band started to take shape in an early-?90s voc-tech high school in Baltimore, where Baris became tight with guitarist Johnnie Page. The two were YMI, determined to build a following without bending to the cover-band demand local club owners swore by.

By mid-?90, they had released YMI?s first studio EP, Uninvited Welcome, marking the start of a strong local fan base. But, a year later, Johnnie and Baris bitterly parted ways. ?I had always envisioned me and Johnnie as musical soul mates, and this tore me apart,? Baris admits. Four years passed before they met up again. ?Johnnie approached me at a bar. I had told myself I would never play with him again, but I was missing something in my life.?
And so they resumed fulfilling their high-school rock-band dream. But this time around, they were different. They were focused. They were centered. They had matured. And they meticulously weeded through the hundreds of songs they?d written together. ?This was a drawn-out process. We had to find our niche again,? Baris explains.

Johnnie and Baris briefly collaborated with Delaware-based Krome before meeting up with Tony Koch, a drummer who shared YMI?s no-covers philosophy. It all came together at a company bull roast for the Mars grocery store chain, where Johnnie and Tony both worked full-time. Over pit beef and beer, YMI had discovered its missing link. ?Tony is fuckin? awesome,? Baris boasts. ?He?s like our socialite. Everyone knows Tony. Tony is an invaluable part of YMI, and I?m so glad we found him.?

YMI has kicked off a buzz that is snowballing on the music scene. The three committed bandmates spent their summer in the studio cutting a debut CD The Otherside. It?s due for release any day now.

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