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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Tunng
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 11 May 2010
Formed back in 2003, Tunng are an experimental folk band, often associated with the folktronica genre. The band released their debut album ‘Mother’s Daughter And Other Songs’ in 2005 via Caravan, and have, in total, released three albums and numerous singles, while their cover of Bloc Party’s ‘The Pioneers’ was featured in ‘The OC’. In the past year they have performed with three members of Tuareg desert blues band Tinariwen, as well as releasing their fourth album ‘And Then We Saw Land’ via Full Time Hobby. Ahead of their show at The Great Escape on Saturday, we spoke to frontman and guitarist Mike Lindsay to find out more.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started making music with a drum machine, a four-track and a guitar when I was fourteen. It wasn’t all good, but a remember loving making tunes. I did a great metal version of the ‘Neighbours’ theme tune…
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Adventures and new creative challenges. Also, the desire to make a bigger sound whilst still remaining Tunng-like.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating an album?
All the Tunng albums have been put together in my basement studio in east London. I use the computer as a tool for putting together music like a jigsaw puzzle, people come with ideas or come and bounce off ideas that I’ve stuck in the computer, and we use trial and error. Some songs were written independently and then we worked out how to produce them and some kind of wrote themselves on the computer. That said, it’s not a very electronic-sounding music.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Nick Drake, Serge Gainsbourg, Cornelius, ELO, Tinariwen and Isan.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing Tunng’s music for the first time?
Be patient. When you finish the record, play it again immediately!
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
I hope this record takes people to another place when they listen to it, and I hope it takes us to many places we’ve never experienced…
MORE>> www.tunng.co.uk
