Interview: Gary Arce | Yawning Man | Guitarist

Gary Arce is a guitar player that got his start in the early ‘80s playing hardcore punk. In 1986 he drifted away from the punk scene and started to dive into English bands and The Grateful Dead leading to the formation of his long-lasting band, Yawning Man.

Starting music was an accident for Arce as he said, “I was just hanging around my friend Mario’s house and I decided to pick up his guitar when I was bored. He showed me some punk music and we just decided to form a band.”

When Arce was in a band he knew he needed more power than his friend’s acoustic guitar. “I got my first guitar coincidentally. I was in a McDonald’s parking lot in San Diego and a guy walked up to me in his underwear holding a guitar. He said I could have it for twenty bucks and that was exactly what I had in my pocket.”

Arce began playing parties and local shows around Palm Springs in 1982 and 1983. He said his influences were “The Germs and seeing punk shows. Seeing D.O.A. changed my life.” He also noted Husker Du as being another important show he saw.

When the punk scene began to die down around 1984, Arce decided to step in a new direction. “We drifted away from punk music, but we kept the punk attitude. We started to jam and found a style with a mix of The Grateful Dead and The Meat Puppets.”

The new approach was refreshing to Arce. “I got more into orchestral and instrumental music. The sounds meant more to me and they seemed to speak for themselves.”

With the band in a different direction, they needed a different name. “Yawning Man came from some movie about dolls. I don’t exactly remember the title, but there was a doll in the movie named Yawning Man who sang a song to put the rest of the dolls to sleep. It reminded us of what many people had said about our music in that it was so ambient it almost put them to sleep.”

The band didn’t release any official recordings until 19 years after their start. Arce said, “I, along with the rest of the band never thought we would get this serious. We were just a band that got together to kill time. Then we toured with Queens of the Stone Age and saw a lot of interest from labels in Europe.”

When asked what advice he would give to a young musician Arce said, “Don’t follow trends, stay unique and stick to what you believe in, pay attention to the business side of things when you start to get serious, and never sell your gear because it will be worth a ton of money in time.“

Yelp a Help to Local Businesses

Recently I discovered that many local businesses have very few reviews on Yelp. The ones that did seemed to only have negative ratings. I asked local businesses what they thought of Yelp and if they think it affects their business.

Are you aware of your business’ reviews and ratings on Yelp?

“Yes, I am aware of the reviews of all of our businesses on Yelp. In fact, I have set up to receive weekly updates regarding feedback, click-throughs (to website), visits & calls for directions from Yelp.” – Frederick Coffee Company.

“I’ve never personally read the reviews on Yelp or any of the other rating sites.” – Village Tavern

“I am aware of our reviews/ratings on Yelp.” – King’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant

What were your first reactions when you saw your rating?

“The first time I read through the reviews, my heart was racing. King’s has been around almost twenty years and we have wonderful, loyal customers who love us, but you never know what people may say about your product or service. Thankfully, we are rated well and have positive reviews.” – King’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant.

“When I first saw our reviews and ratings on Yelp, I was very pleased to see how positively we have been received at each business. It’s scary to think that we may not have met a customer’s expectations when your business’ philosophy is to exceed them. We are so very pleased to see & hear that we have typically done well at our job.” – Frederick Coffee Company.

“I’ve heard from others that there are some bad reviews out there, but I take them with a grain of salt. Likewise, I never rely on these sites when choosing my own destination to dine.” – Village Tavern.

Do you think Yelp has an effect on your business?

“I think that Yelp will bring a comfort or ease of mind for consumers on the fence about a decision to go somewhere – that is, if the responses are positive. If they find a skew to the negative in Yelp reviews – they may think otherwise about patronizing a business.” – Frederick Coffee Company.

“We have had many customers say they came to King’s because of our Yelp rating/reviews and other social media. It’s the new “word-of-mouth”. I loved having a couple [people] from Bethesda, Maryland come to King’s because they asked Siri where to find the best pizza!” – King’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant.

“It’s been my experience that those with a legitimate complaint will address me directly before leaving the restaurant, and I always do my best to make it right. Unfortunately there are those who choose to take to the internet instead. And while these sites may be considered helpful to some, I think most people realize that these sites are just one person’s view and often not the whole story.” – Village Tavern

With social networks becoming more prominent, do you think Yelp will have a crucial effect on your business?

“I believe that social networking and marketing are far more appealing & interesting than just reading the very subjective reviews on Yelp. I believe that monitoring reviews and feedback is a critical part of growth and building a better /stronger business. One should never be too proud to take suggestion, criticism and review. So, does Yelp drive my business? No – I believe other networks drive business, but Yelp is an important quality control measure to never lose sight of.” – Frederick Coffee Company.

“Every week, users find us on Yelp and either click onto our website, click for directions, or dial us directly through the app. Being an independent restaurant in an area with a significant amount of competition from big chains, it is especially great to have a credible place where our customers can vouch for us!” – King’s New York Style Pizza and Restaurant.

“I don’t think these ratings really affect our business one way or another.” – Village Tavern.

Social media is largely taking over many areas of our lives. We’ll have to wait and see if Yelp will have the same impact as the rest.