Alec Ounsworth Says Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Aren't Breaking Up

When Clap Your Hands Say Yeah frontman Alec Ounsworth announced recently that he's releasing a New Orleans-influenced solo album, fans naturally wondered about the fate of CYHSY. But they shouldn't worry, as Ounsworth tells Spinner that he's not breaking up the band because there is no band, at least not in the traditional sense. "The perception among the general public was a little bit different than it was for me, or for us; like that this was strictly a band and we're all together all the time," he says. "It was never like that."

That said, there will be more CYHSY albums, tours and, you know, all the stuff that real bands do in due time. "I'm releasing two records coming up," says Ounsworth. "I could go back into the studio and do another Clap Your Hands album, but I don't really know if I have the stamina for that just now."

That's no surprise considering his current projects. For 'Mo Beauty,' Ounsworth taps into New Orleans' famous resources, enlisting the help of Robert Walter, the Meters' George Porter, Jr. and Galactic's Stanton Moore. "I have another project called Flashy Python, which will actually be coming out before the quote-unquote solo record," Ounsworth says. For that band, Ounsworth is joined by a cast of all-stars from the Philadelphia indie rock scene, including Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman from Dr. Dog and the Walkmen's Matt Barrick on drums.

Fans will remember Ounsworth's work ethic from when CYHSY was in full swing, but perhaps all that overdrive is what led to him giving it a rest for the time being. "It got so crazy that we didn't have time to evaluate what the hell, in fact, that project actually was," he says. "We toured until we were blue in the face, or green in the face, and it was just by virtue of the fact that in the very beginning, we did what we thought we were expected to do."

Now that he has it figured out some more, Ounsworth says that he thinks of himself as a songwriter who writes different songs for different projects and with different musicians in mind. "The thing about Clap Your Hands, as with any other project that I'm involved with at any particular time, is I'll do a record if I feel comfortable with a group of songs," he says. "I'll try to assemble a group of people based upon that group of songs."

Considering the cast and crew of both his upcoming releases, we'd say he's doing a damn fine job of it, too. 'Mo Beauty,' drops October 20th on Anti- Records while details about Flashy Python have yet to be revealed.