In Conversation: Dan Yemin of Paint It Black
As he readies the release of two new records in a two-month span, Dan Yemin gives up control for creation—and finds survival in the process.
I met Dan Yemin in 1992, in front of his parents’ house in New Jersey. I’d just signed up to play guitar with Ressurection for a summer tour across America with Dan’s band, Lifetime, and the ten of us were all called to his driveway one day to build a loft for the rental van. As I mention in our conversation, he struck me as the most “put together” of our lot; he was smart, well-spoken, and truth be told, better at playing guitar than me. But what I didn’t say is that we all kind of looked up to him. Dan was, and continues to be, a nurturer. That he’d eventually become a clinical psychologist—”Dr. Dan,” as we called him—did not surprise me.
The thing about nurturers, though, is that they often put so much energy into taking care of the people and co…