Naomi Yang (musician)

Naomi Yang (born September 15, 1964) is an American musician, graphic designer, photographer and filmmaker. She was a member of the dream pop band Galaxie 500, psychedelic rock band Magic Hour and is half of the psychedelic folk duo Damon & Naomi. She has also made videos for a wide number of artists including Future Bible Heroes, Waxahatchee and Julia Holter.

Naomi Yang
Yang performing with Damon & Naomi in London, 2007
Background information
Born	(1964-09-15) September 15, 1964 (age 60)
Genres	Indie pop dream pop psychedelic folk
Occupations	Musician graphic designer photographer filmmaker
Instruments	Vocals bass guitar keyboards harmonium
Member of	Damon & Naomi
Formerly of	Galaxie 500 Magic Hour
Website	www.naomivision.com

Music

Yang was bassist and occasional vocalist with dream pop band Galaxie 500 on all their recordings from 1987 until their split in 1991. She then recorded three albums and toured with the psychedelic rock band Magic Hour. Since Galaxie 500's split she has worked as duo with her partner Damon Krukowski as Damon & Naomi who have collaborated with notable musicians such as the guitarist Michio Kurihara and members of the Japanese rock band Ghost.

Publishing

In 1989 Yang set up the independent book publisher Exact Change with her partner, who specializes in publishing 19th and 20th century avant-garde literature.

Graphic design

Yang has been responsible for designing the covers of all of Exact Changes publications as well as the sleeves of all of Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi's releases.^[1] She has also done design work for a wide number of clients including The John Cage Trust.^[2]

Photography and film

Yang's photographs have been reproduced in a variety of publications including Giant Robot

In 2011 Yang moved into film-making, directing and editing videos for a wide variety of musical artists.

Selected videos

• Meg Baird – "The Finder" (2011, Drag City) ^[3]
• Julia Holter – "Our Sorrows" (2012, RVNG Intl.) ^[4]
• Future Bible Heroes – "Living, Loving, Partygoing" (2013, Merge Records) ^[5]
• Tanya Donelly – "Mass Ave" (2013, American Laundromat)
• Marissa Nadler – "Drive" (2014, Sacred Bones)^[6]
• Waxahatchee – "La Loose" (2015, Merge Records)^[7]
• MV & EE - "Feel Alright" (2016, Woodsist)^[8]
• Heather Trost – "Agistri" (2016, LM Duplication)
• Lee Ranaldo – "New Thing" (2017, Mute Records)^[9]
• Steve Gunn – "Vagabond" (2019, Matador Records)^[10]

Fortune

In 2013 she directed and edited the short film Fortune which has screened around the world usually accompanied by live accompaniment by Damon & Naomi.

Selected screenings

• Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University (2014)
• Pop Montreal (2014)
• Istanbul Film Festival^[11]
• Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle (2017)

Exhibitions

In 2011 The Aviary Gallery in Jamaica Plain, MA presented a solo show of Yang's photography and video.^[12] She has also exhibited as part of the gallery's Sound on Sight group exhibition in 2016.^[13]

Personal life

Yang's father, the noted landscape photographer John Yang,^[14] was born in China, and her mother is American.^[15] She was born in New York City and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[16]

Yang graduated from Harvard in 1986 with honors in Visual and Environmental Studies. From 1986 to 1989, she studied architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.^[17]

Yang is married to drummer and author Damon Krukowski, whom she first met in the 1970s while attending the Dalton School.^[18]

Yang is the subject of "Naomi", a song from Neutral Milk Hotel's debut studio album On Avery Island. She later created an unofficial music video for the song, in which she lip-syncs to the lyrics.^[19]