Cynetia/Music/The Yellow Cross

The Yellow Cross is an experimental band based in Matoria City, Matoria formed in 1986. They've become particularly known for their over-the-top performances, seemingly nonsensical lyrics, and generally non-serious presence. Most of their songs fall under experimental, experimental rock, and indie rock genres, but some have taken elements from hip-hop, electronic, metal, and others.
== Members ==
=== Gaul Wallery ===
Gaul Wallery was born in 1966 in Murley, Matoria. He had an idea to form a band with Henry Bastard in Matoria City around 1986, both of which had interests in music and oddball humor. He typically plays an electric guitar within the band. Fans of the band suspect Gaul to be bisexual, which the band barely confirms or denies.
=== Henry Bastard ===
Henry Bastard was born in 1967 in Matoria City, Matoria. He had an idea to form a band with Gaul Wallery in Matoria City around 1986, both of which had interests in music and oddball humor. He sings lead vocals on their songs most of the time.
=== Fillmore Dirmonn ===
Fillmore Dirmonn was born in 1967 in Matsul City, Grand Rivers Province. He's the third member of the band, approached by Gaul Wallery and Henry Bastard slowly after their idea of forming a band took place. He mostly plays drums within the band. He also designs most of the album covers within the band.
=== Jean Williams Porter ===
Jean Williams Porter was born in 1964 in Sooki, Siluk Province. He's the fourth member of the band. He mostly plays bass within the band. He's the oldest member, tallest member, and only one to prefer regularly using his middle name.
=== Maurice Phillips ===
Maurice Phillips was born in 1966 in Rift City, Duoria. He's the fifth member of the band, approaching Gaul, Henry, Fillmore, and Jean, asking if they were still interested in more band members. He typically provides both lead and background vocals as well as miscellaneous background instruments. He's also planned several performances. Along with Cynetian, Matorian, and Anglese, he also knows the Creote language. He studied the language frequently in his life before eventually going on a year-long trip to Creotia throughout 1988.
=== William Fury ===
William Fury was born in 1965 in Ubent, Pladacostera. Fury was the last member of the band after arriving in Matoria City around 1986, escaping a "rough environment" two years before that both him and the band members refuse to talk about. He had an interest in music theory and songwriting, which he pursued to study further in 1988. Most Yellow Cross songs that are deemed "odd" in terms of music theory were written by William Fury. He also produces much of the band's songs.
=== Outside Collaborators ===
Sometimes, especially with performances, other people get involved with The Yellow Cross. These range from guest performers who come one or few times to long-time collaborators who regularly work with The Yellow Cross during performances.
==== Long-Serving Collaborators ====
* Edward Dromm (1995-present) - Edward Dromm was born on December 13th, 1978 in Matoria City, Cynetia. He started working with the band as a 17-year-old. Interested in their performances, he initially worked in the background to assist with lighting and props. After 1996, he commonly dressed as an old man throughout performances. Later, he became known as the "main old man". During performances of "Drugs Are Bad But I Sure Wish I Was Trippin' / The Tribal Wake", he's often the old man that cries. During performances of "The Third Door (Sorry)", he's often the black-robed man that ingests a candle's flame and breathes fire in the middle of the performance. He's also one of the few occasional performers to feature alone in a song's recording. In the 2002 song, "The Kelovian West", Edward provides screams in the background.
* Carroll Winters (1999-present) - Carroll Winters was born on September 15th, 1975 in Qarendi, Cynetia. She often assists with lighting, props, and technical effects and often assisted the band in trying to execute their performances as cheaply as possible. Her progress with the band has occasionally been delayed by the band she started in 2007, The Mail Jets, with her being the lead singer.
* Jacob Eisner (1997-2018) - Jacob Eisner was born on May 24th, 1966 in Drivore, Cynetia. He often performed as a body double for the band members or as an old man, and generally took the form of any extra used for performances. On October 12th, 2018, he was involved in a serious car crash with a drunk driver in Matoria City. His legs were severely affected in the crash, as was his head. Due to the injuries sustained in the crash, he announced he could no longer work with the band.
==== Notable Guest Performers ====
== History ==
=== Beginnings and Our Third Album (1986-1992) ===
The Yellow Cross was formed in Matoria City sometime in August 1986. The name was allegedly suggested by William Fury, after coming from a town with a high religious background. They released the songs "We are Making An Album Next" and "Hah Fooled" in 1990 to precede the release of their debut album, "Our Third Album". Some consider this album an extended play as it only has five songs.
On April 1st, 1992, a Cynetian radio station based in west Riverton played "Screaming", "How do I do that", and "My Morning Routine" back-to-back on loop for one hour. The joke was The Yellow Cross's first notable gaining of recognition, becoming popular with underground audiences. On April 26th, 1992, they performed a rock version of the Cynetian national anthem.
=== Yellow Elephants, 1986, and Widespread Success (1993-1996) ===
On [date], 1993, The Yellow Cross released their second album, Yellow Elephants. Around that same time, they started to become recognized for their nonsensical lyrics and over-the-top live performances. In particular, their first performance of their song "Carrots" in Matoria City was picked up by news outlets nearby, consisting of a large bowl full of apples that Maurice Phillips ate and finished as Henry Bastard sang about pears. Because of this, the band became widely recognized within Matoria, and soon other parts of Cynetia picked up on them as well.
In 1994, their songs became more recognized for their more topical lyrics and performances, including songs that were suspected to be political. They performed these songs outside of political buildings in Cynetia, but denied any actual political message or motive. In 1995, they released "Cable Lift", which ended with the lyrics "We hate the new Drivore Cable Lift!". Since then, fans of the band have proposed for a cable lift to be built in Drivore, as there wasn't one around when the song was made, and still isn't today.
On [date], 1996, they released their third album, 1986. The album helped spread their success, especially with the large performances associated with the songs on the album.
=== Experimentation, Unknown Album, and Mainstream Success (1997-1999) ===
1997 marked a very prolific and experimental year for The Yellow Cross. Not only were their performances becoming more connected to their songs, but their songs started to take a more alternative and experimental turn in style. Notably, on October 4th, 1997, The Yellow Cross performed eight of their songs at Tinuketa Beach in Kindport, all acapella while their feet were submerged in the ocean water. This was based off of a dream that Fillmore Dirmonn had at one point of the band going to Kindport just to perform in the ocean. It then became a goal of theirs, but they thought it would be impossible to hook their instruments to sound equipment on the ocean's waves, so they decided to perform acapella. However, on October 4th, 2007, exactly ten years later, the band performed at the same beach with instruments and a working sound system, despite the water beating against it.
On [date], 1998, The Yellow Cross released their fourth album, Unknown Album, with the singles "The Orchestral Calling of the Native Warriors" and "The Crow's Cry" preceding it. "The Orchestral Calling of a Native Warriors" became a hit that launched the band into mainstream media, peaking at #2 on the Cynetian charts, #8 on the Mennerian charts, and overall doing well worldwide. "The Crow's Cry" peaked at #56 on the Cynetian charts but didn't hit the charts anywhere else. Songs like "The Eternal Revolving Door" were recognized for their performance, "Try Something Off" became a fan favorite, and "Drugs Are Bad But I Sure Wish I Was Trippin' / The Tribal Wake" was recognized for its chaotic use of music theory. The album as a whole was a commercial success, and in turn, Yellow Elephants and 1986 also became wide successes.
Throughout August 1999, The Yellow Cross toured around Cynetia in a van, stopping at several roadsides and performing "The Road to Greater Lands" at each one.
=== Cry Out and Directional Sounds (2000-2004) ===
On February 16th, 2001, The Yellow Cross released their fifth album, Cry Out. "The Presentation", "Kelovia in Mastistan", and "Old Way" were released as singles prior, all in January 2001. "The Presentation" was released with a music video on January 19th, 2001, which The Yellow Cross doesn't commonly make. The video consists of Gaul Wallery dancing to the song shirtless in a low quality square format video. Cry Out was a success upon release among the public. However, due to the single "Kelovia in Mastistan", both Masa and Kelovian politicians criticized the song. Masa politician, Hain Venma, criticized the lyric "Two friends inside each other", calling it a "lewd portrayal of our two countries". The Kelovian government threatened to ban The Yellow Cross from performing within the country. The Yellow Cross had normally avoided questions about these songs, but later did claim that there were no political intentions behind them. During the production of the comedy film "Big Head Summit", released in 2002, producers approached the band asking for approval to use "Kelovia in Mastistan" as part of the movie's soundtrack. The band members denied usage of the song and later sent a poem about salad to the producers instead. The poem is hidden inside the film.
=== The Hidden Track and Other Ventures (2005-2008) ===
== Discography ==
=== Songs ===
Lyrical and melodic transcripts of these songs can be found here.
* Screaming (1987)
* Smashing Guitars (1987)
* The One Liner (1987)
* How do I do that (1989)
* My Morning Routine (1990)
* We are Making An Album Next (1990)
* Hah Fooled (1990)
* Our Third Album (1991)
** He Signs of Toilet Paper
** The Ending Of The End
** A Foreign Language
** Carrots
** Our Second Album
* Cats (1991)
* Burnout (1991)
* Our Final Song This Year (1991)
* You Thought, Didn't You? (1992)
* Whiteout (1992)
* Hehe (1992)
* The Little Place That I Call Home (The Yellow Cross Version) (1992)
* Water In The Sky (1992)
* Billa Bam Bam Balli Bam Bam (Original Version) (1992)
* The Song Which I Refuse To Sing (1992)
* Yellow Elephants (1993)
** Billa Bam Bam Balli Bam Bam (Album Version)
** The Macrowar, The Microwar And The Microwave
** I Am God
** We Are Utterly Crazy
** www.october.com
** They Speak of the Unholy Like Saints
** Insane Insanity, Wacky Wackiness
* We live Laugh Love but when They Die Who knows? (1993)
* The Yellow Cross (1994)
* The Song That Is About To Start (1994)
* Military Drums (1994)
* Corrupt Old Liars (1994)
* Going To The Bank (1994)
* Sorc Wolley (1994)
* Yee (1994)
* The Rise And The Fall (1995)
* The Beating Of The Drum (1995)
* Cable Lift (1995)
* Leave My Establishment (1995)
* Better Weeks (1995)
* He Who Screams The Name Of The Capital City Of Mastistan (1995)
* 1986 (1996)
** One - Generations
** One - Calculators
** Nine - The Breath Does Not Stink
** Nine - Hunger Cometh
** Eight - No Future
** Eight - Blinded To The Facts
** Six - The Ancient Cynetians
** Six - Women Of Kelovia
** 1986
* An Important Talk About How To Fight Your Demons (1996)
*Song No. 86 (1996)
* Jean Williams Porter Goes Mad (one-time release) (1997)
* Chant to Call (1997)
* My Loving Wishes (B-Side) (1997)
* I Hate Music Festivals (1997)
* Molten Rock (1997)
* Oh How I Could Kill (1997)
*Naming of Names (1997)
*Social Distance (1997)
* Bread (1997)
*The Wig of Saint Halls (1997)
*Barcode (1997)
*Chain Reaction (1997)
*Ode to Matoria City (1997)
*My Stepfather's Sister's Brother's Cousin's Aunt (1997)
*Goodbye... (1997) [To be written]
*Unknown Album (1998)
** The Great Many Architects
** The Orchestral Calling of the Native Warriors
** Dyslexic Organization
**The Crow's Cry
**The Eternal Revolving Door
** Fe6 27
** []
** []
**Transform My Heart
**[]
** Try Something Off
** []
** Drugs Are Bad But I Sure Wish I Was Trippin' / The Tribal Wake
** [album is to be finished, placements of next possible songs are rough and can be changed]
* The Road to Greater Lands (1999)
*The Chirping Colossus (1999)
*Baboon (1999)
*Fingers (1999)
*The Fourth Calling of the Sky (The Fifth Calling of the Sky) (The Seventh Death) / Johnson Fitzgerald (2000)
*Johann Strauss Sebastian (2000)
*A Message To Whoever's Elected (2000 Election for Cynetia) (2000)
*Fog (ft. The Master of the Grand Train of the Northwestern Portion) (2000)
*Cry Out (2001)
** Old Way
** Kelovia in Mastistan
** Factor
** My Death [To be written]
** []
** The Presentation
** Tissues
** Relationships
** Annodominion
** []
** Mellowed Out Song (w/ hidden track Bucket of Piss and Anger)
** [album is to be finished, potential song placements are rough and can be changed]
*Directional Sounds (2003)
**West (2002)
** The Third Door (Sorry)
** Vinyl
**Old Man of the North
**Preston James
**The Kelovian West
**Track 6 (Tracks 7, 8.6, and 59) [To be written]
**Let Me Call The Sky (For Your Love) [To be written]
**The Man Preaches The Beliefs of a Fool [To be written]
**Nine
**Demode Treusi [To be written]
**The Sad Face [To be written]
**The Door to Electric Bills
** Menneria Is to the West 
**East (2003)
**Lettuce
**Ballyoudelf
**On a Shelf!
**Templeton
**Party
**Johnson
**By Malls (Buy Malls? Malls!)
**8 (Guitar Sounds)
**The Great Birth
**Directional Sounds [Being written]
*Moo Shrooms (2004)
*Confrontation (2005)
*The Green Piss (2005) [To be written]
*I Cut My Heart Into Little Pieces For You (2005) [To be written]
*Sway Gently in the Wind (2005) [To be written]
*1994 (2005)
*Screaming 1 (2005) [To be written]
*Screaming 2 (2005) [To be written]
*Screaming 3 (2005) [To be written]
*Screaming 4 (2005) [To be written]
*Screaming 5 (2005) [To be written]
*Collect For The System (2006)
*Rubber Band (2006)
*Film School (2006) [To be written]
*[unknown] (2006) [To be written]
*He Lives Inside My Head (2006) [To be written]
*The Hidden Track (2007)
**Volume 1
**Volume 2
**Volume 3
**Volume 4 [To be written]
*This Song is About a Town That Exists and Not Much Else (2009)
*The Paul Heimer Show (2013)
*Dot Dash Dot (arghel?!?)
*Facken Motor Oil™️ (idk uhhw hee)
=== Main Albums ===
Name 	Release Date 	Songs 	Other
Our Third Album 	[date], 1991 	5 	Some consider this an extended play rather than an album.
Yellow Elephants 	[date], 1993 	7 	First ever Yellow Cross album to be released online, digital downloads became available for the album in late-2003.
Extended version released in 2008.
Singles:
* Billa Bam Bam Balli Bam Bam (date, 1992)
1986 	[date], 1996 	9 	First album to be performed in its entirety, in order, by the band. 1986 was performed multiple times at the Haddaway Amphitheater, a concert venue built in Sunnyvale, Menneria in 1986. Similarly, this also produced their first live album. 1986 (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) was released in 2006, along with performance videos all from their concert on April 19th, 2005, while the Haddaway Amphitheater was under the threat of bankruptcy. Money from the concert and the album was donated to the amphitheater.
Unknown Album 	[date], 1998 	13 	First Yellow Cross album to have charting songs, with The Orchestral Calling of the Native Warriors being a worldwide success and The Crow's Cry being a national success.
Singles:
* The Orchestral Calling of the Native Warriors
* The Crow's Cry
Cry Out 	February 16th, 2001 	11 (+1)	The album was banned in Kelovia due to the single "Kelovia in Mastistan". The Kelovian government later argued that "Old Way", "Factor", and "Annodominion" also had political connotations that could "incite a riot".
Singles:
* Old Way (January 5th, 2001)
* The Presentation (January 19th, 2001)
* Kelovia in Mastistan (January 26th, 2001)
Directional Sounds (West)	July 20th, 2002 	13 	
Directional Sounds (East)	April 15th, 2003 	 	
The Hidden Track 	January [date], 2007	 	
=== Compilations and Collections ===
Name 	Release Date 	Songs	Other
Directional Sounds 	April 15th, 2003 	 	A combination of Directional Sounds (West) and Directional Sounds (East), both large albums originally released separately. The Yellow Cross considers them two parts of a whole album.
A Collection of Yellow Elephants 	[date], 2004 	 	Demos and unreleased songs from The Yellow Cross re-recorded in 2003-2004
Yellow Elephants (Bonus Edition) 	September 14th, 2008	12 	Contains two songs re-recorded on A Collection of Yellow Elephants, the single version of Billa Bam Bam Balli Bam Bam, a song written for the album but never released in any form prior, and a song written for the album in 2008.
Yellow Elephants (Bonus Collectors Edition)	September 14th, 2008	21 	Same contents as the bonus edition, but along with demos of each song, including original recordings of "The Chosen Path" and "On The Wagon", which are on the album in their 2004 re-recording form.
=== Extended Plays and Singles ===
== Videography ==
Name 	Release Date 	Summary 	Other
The Presentation 	January 19th, 2001	A low quality square format video of Gaul Wallery dancing shirtless to the song. 	
The Door to Electric Bills (Directional Sound) 	July 20th, 2002 	A video of pixelated lines spinning throughout the song's duration. 	
Menneria Is to the West (Directional Sound) 	July 20th, 2002 	A black and white video of Gaul Wallery playing guitar and making highly exaggerated mouth movements out of sync with the song. In the middle and end of the song, his head is pixelated. Maurice Phillips bounces a large ball as he's walking by, Henry Bastard sets fire to a cheap speaker, and William Fury sits by the fire shirtless. 	
The Third Door (Sorry) 	October 1st, 2002 	A video version of what the band typically performs for the song, except the ending is slightly cut off, ending after tomatoes are thrown at the band. In places where a performance isn't set, some other parts are also put in place, scenes of several people in cloaks and costumes walking around and even getting into a fight as Maurice Phillips raps in a room with moody lighting. 	This was the first Yellow Cross music video to be aired on music-related channels. It's also the first Yellow Cross music video to go over $500 in budget.
Party 	April 4th, 2003 	A completely still video of a pillow on a bed. At the very end of the video, the pillow explodes without explanation and the video is cut off. 	
Party (Unofficial Version) 	January 1st, 2004 	The band members are shown wearing ski masks and heavy black jackets, desperately trying to place a bomb into a pillow as it cuts between shots of Gaul Wallery in a bedroom reading and sitting down. A group of men in clown masks appears and starts attacking the band, everyone getting into a brawl. An old man then falls from the ceiling and also attacks them. The fight ends when the pillow explodes in the middle of all of them.	The video was released on very small platforms by the band members, many of which are now defunct. Nowadays, the video is most accessible through leaks.
One - Generations (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
One - Calculators (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Nine - The Breath Does Not Stink (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater)	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Nine - Hunger Cometh (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Eight - No Future (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Eight - Blinded to the Facts (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Six - The Ancient Cynetians (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
Six - Women of Kelovia (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
1986 (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performance of the song on April 19th, 2005. 	
1986 (Full Album) (Live at Haddaway Amphitheater) 	January 2nd, 2006 	The live performances of songs from 1986 on April 19th, 2005. 	
glurg 	May 25th, 2009 	Consists of an orange being thrown at Gaul Wallery in a two second clip. 	Despite not being paired with a released song, it was labeled as an "official music video". Other Yellow Cross music videos are bought with the song/album. Because this video had no song or album, it was free, and sometimes came in a disc sold with their other albums.
? 	2019 	A spoof of a series of social media posts made by Gaul Wallery while drunk on July 2nd, 2018. The video features Maurice Phillips dressed as Wallery, singing gibberish, jumping in and out of taxis, and even kissing a male taxi driver. 	
== Legacy ==
=== Influence ===
* The Mennerian satire country and folk band, GoHZ, has stated that The Yellow Cross has helped them be more confident in what they were doing within the music industry, and had even stated wanting to work with them. The Yellow Cross posted "Go Herz. It's coming, November 5th. Be ready." on October 29th, 2015.
* Medium X, a young artist that broke out on social media in 2020 and went viral in July 2022 due to his chaotic song, "Clattering Noises", has stated numerous times that The Yellow Cross is one of his biggest influences. On August 23rd, 2021, The Yellow Cross replied to Medium X's post about his song, "The Fact Check". The reply reads "Orange juice". Medium X replied with "nice." The Yellow Cross denies ever making such a post.
* Cynetian activist and troll, Timothy Timison, played "Going To The Bank" in a Matoria City park in 1999 with two pictures of the mayor of Coyote, Cynetia facing the speakers. Timothy Timison had been asked several times whether he was a fan of The Yellow Cross or not, dodging the question every time. One such instance being in 2014. When asked if he was a fan of the Yellow Cross, he replied "Religion is the heart of the soul and the fish feed off of it as much as we do." When the interviewer thought he mistook the band for an actual religious term, he replied "Me and the land they mean what they say and the souls that follow do too." Similarly, when The Yellow Cross was asked if they knew of Timothy Timison later on, William Fury responded with "Mmm, delicious fish these folk serve. They do taste quite exquisite, like the moon made out of cheese and phosphate itself. Wonderful nightly breakfast." On March 7th, 2023, the day that Melissa Borgartman organized a troll at a government meeting with Timothy, The Yellow Cross posted "The Great Man Speaks Of Many Different Words" with an image of a carrot attached. It's unclear whether these events are correlated. On March 12th, the band met with Timothy Timison on the streets of Drivore and took a picture with him captioned "Hey guys look we took a picture with this random guy on the street".
=== Potential Recognition ===
== Trivia ==
* The Yellow Cross has occasionally been examined by politicians for potential political undertones in their lyrics, particularly in Military Drums (1994), Corrupt Old Liars (1994), Going To The Bank (1994), and Kelovia in Mastistan (2001). Particularly with Kelovia in Mastistan, politicians from both countries have criticized the song. Masa politician, Hain Venma, criticized the lyric "Two friends inside each other", calling it a "lewd portrayal of our two countries". The Kelovian government threatened to ban The Yellow Cross from performing within the country. The Yellow Cross had normally avoided questions about these songs, but later did claim that there were no political intentions behind them.
* The song "Cable Lift", released in 1995, ends with the lyric "We hate the new Drivore Cable Lift!", despite the fact there is no Drivore Cable Lift. However, since the songs release, many Yellow Cross fans have petitioned the city to make a Drivore Cable Lift.
*In the song "Fog", an artist is featured named The Master of the Grand Train of the Northwestern Portion, which has released no other songs under this name. In 2006, after multiple speculations, the artist was revealed to be multiple things rather than one person. The voices of James Hutch, Adam Fields of The Yellow-Jackets, and Jean Williams Porter provided voices under the name, Jean's being heavily filtered the entire time. Even part of Gaul Wallery's electric guitar was transcribed as a lyric under the artist's name.
*While producing the song "Tissues" for Cry Out (2001), William Fury accidentally deleted the production tracks. Despite the rush to re-complete the track, this did not affect the album's intended release date. This moment was referenced on the detailed set of notes written on the bottom-left side of the album.
*Every election year in Cynetia, the Yellow Cross has performed a rock version of the Cynetian anthem on April 26th since 1992. Since 1996, they followed that with performances of other songs. In 1996, they performed "Going to the Bank", "Military Drums", and "Corrupt Old Liars". In 2000, they performed "A Message To Whoever's Elected (2000 Election for Cynetia)".
== Credits ==
The entire band was thought of by Hiuyju. I am merely working on less than half of it.
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