I’m very excited to begin the second wave of the “get to know your blogger” by featuring Jerry from Yeti Don’t Dance. I’d be surprised if you aren’t familiar with Jerry’s site, but if not you should head there ASAP. You can also be his friend on MySpace. I’m very excited about the interview below, and I hope you guys get a chance to check it out. Thanks Jerry!

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Let’s get some general background on you. Where do you live, how long, etc.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I’ve been here seven years now. New York is addicting. It’s like a delicious holiday cheeseball.

I want get an idea of your musical taste evolution if you will. What were some of the first albums/tapes/CD’s you bought?

R.E.M.’s Out of Time was the first album I ever bought. I listened to it about four times before disowning them. I also briefly got into M.C. Hammer and Dr. Dre. And of course, the masterful Shaq Diesel. I’ve come a long and tortuous way.

How about some of the more recent CD’s you’ve purchased?

I’ve been doing a lot of catch-up recently: some older Okkervil River, Two Gallants, and a little Irving. I’m trying to understand where these guys came from with their sound, and where they might be headed. Sometimes you have to go back first, -that is- go back to the future. Part II.

Where do you buy the majority of your records? Do you support a particular record store in your area, buy online, and if so, where?

I use eMusic about 40 times a month. It forces me to use my credits on stuff I’m questionable on. That’s how I fell in love with bands like the Joggers.

I enjoy the idea of Other Music on East 4th, but I rarely buy my albums there. Maybe I just like the wafting aroma coming from the greatness of high-density quality music. Smells like a holiday cheeseball.

When I started listening to music, there were certain musicians that led me in the path of a lot of other bands. Did you have any similar experiences with bands growing up?

Matthew Sweet lead me solidify my tastes and shift from dumb radio music to what it is today, but only his album 100% Fun. Back in the day, I tended to really love an artist but then not buy any other album by them. Furthermore, with a title like 100% Fun, what else is there? 33% Even More Fun ? I admit he came close with his next album, calling it The Best of Matthew Sweet. And then there’s 100% Fun with Bonus Tracks. That has 2 extra songs, which makes it 16.67% more fun.

What are some of your favorite records of all time?

Let’s see, some older ones would be… They Might Be Giants’ They Might Be Giants, Weezer’s Weezer, Presidents of the United States’ Presidents of the United States, pretty much any James album.

Some more recent favorites have been Clap Your Hand Say Yeah’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Palomar’s Palomar (III), Voxtrot’s Voxtrot , and Tapes ‘n Tapes’ Tapes ‘n Tapes.

Any idea how many albums are in your collection?

Currently a lot of what I acquire is partial albums. Yet this last year I added about 80 full-length albums from 2005. I’d say I have a total of 300-400 full albums and triple that in partial-albums.

I still only have half of the Shout Out Louds, but I’ve played those tracks dozens of times. It’s my favorite album I’ve never really heard.

If you could spend time with 3 musicians, who would you choose?

Edie Argos, Kele Okereke , and Ricky Wilson. All at once. If we got along, we’d form a band: Okereke River.

or Edie and the Argosnauts.

I’m sure you’ve seen some great concerts. Can you tell me what the first concert you saw was and when? To follow that up, are there any particular shows that stand out in terms of being favorites?

My first show was Rusted Root when I was fifteen. I fell in love with live music then and there. I love albums, but I enjoy the performance of them even more.

There are a lot of great shows I went to this past year. Doveman is a phenomenal act in person, and it gave me goosebumps last time I caught them. The best shows are the ones where you know the band is too awesome to be in that venue. I felt that way for We Are Scientists, pre-Virgin (heh-heh), and now I get that with Voxtrot and Tapes ‘n Tapes. The biggest surprise of the year was how good the Presidents of the USA… still!

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What are some bands that you haven’t gotten the chance to see live, but would really like to?

Nirvana. They should reunite. Get a new lead singer, and hit the road. Joachim Phoenix. What is he up to? Does he still think he’s Johnny Cash?

I wish I got to see James, but Tim Booth left the band to do his solo project. James hasn’t played the US of A since 1994. 199freaking4!

How did you choose the name of your blog?

There’s a childrens show, the Backyardigans, where they sing songs about various adventures, and one episode was about Pablo being a yeti. “Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Doing the Yeti Stomp.” It’s a great song. One Saturday, I was drinking a Budweiser at work and started a blog called No Yeti. Then I switched to blogging about mostly music and added the “dance.” It’s unfortunate because now people think I don’t dance. In fact, I do… but oddly enough I’ve been told it is more like stomping.

Can you tell me what got you into blogging, and are you surprised by the popularity your blog has attained?

I did it because I saw how other people had awful blogs and I knew I could do better. These were mainly dumb girls talking about dumb things. Then I started mine, discovered the whole world of mp3 blogs, and realized there was no way I could ever compete. So, I just do my thing anyway. I like going to shows a lot in New York, so I write from that perspecive. As I’ve said, it’s a fun city and I love a good holiday cheeseball.

What are some of your favorite blogs? Music or otherwise.

Every blogger reads his own blog continually of course, and thinks to themselves “I am oh so smart.” But seriously, my music tastes are summarized by adding: Brooklyn Vegan + Loose Record Goodtimes + Central Village + Underrated + Gorilla Vs. Bear. We also all share the same taste in red wine and chewing tobacoo.

How important do you think music blogs are in general? Do you think they will continue to be as popular as they are today?

Well, in the future they will be on hoverboards. And yes, they will be as important and popular as today. We will rule the earth by 2016 by forming our own political party, a bloc party.

Let’s get away from music for a bit. What are some of your favorite movies and television shows?

I just saw Arrested Development for the first time a few months ago, and then had to buy the DVDs. best decision of my life. My addiction to that is pretty unhealthy. I need more. Favorite movie has always been 2001: A Space Odyssey. Open the Pod bay doors, Hal. Hal?

Outside of music do you have any other interests or projects?

I play Bocce in the summer, and in the winter enjoy nice lengthy 19^th Century European novels. Right now I’m reading the Man in the Iron Mask. After that, I’ll hit up the Count of Monte Cristo. I like Dumas.

A lot of people have a favorite concert t-shirt, do you have one?

Just a plain solid green T for me. With white stitching. I love different colored stitching. I just got a hoodie for Christmas that has a yeti on it, but I doubt I’d ever wear it to a concert. I don’t like to blatantly self-promote.

In your opinion, what’s the best place to eat on your city?

Zaytoons. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sings a song about it, called “Zaytoons Said Dance.”

Animals dressed as humans. Funny or not?

No. But a human dress as an Emu? Definitely: