Tunng Interview
In the middle of the European tour promoting their critically-acclaimed 4th album, And Then We Saw Land, epic folk disco brass magnificent extraordinaires Tunng, pop into Luxembourg for the first time at the Exit07 on 17th April, hear them roar…
Have you made a voodoo doll of Sam Genders (Tunng’s co-founder and singer who left just before this album) to make him pay for his departure?
Nobody’s pissed off about anything, it’s a decision he made about a year and a half ago. It was a good decision in the end, as it forced us to look into ourselves to find other ways of working. So no voodoo dolls, we’re good friends…
What did Sam think of the new album?
He really liked it. He heard it 6 months before it was finished, and then heard the final thing. He made a few useful comments, but generally really liked it, at least that’s what he said (laughs).
When you went on tour with Tinariwen, which one of you had more groupies waiting outside their dressing-room?
They certainly had more people coming to see them than us, and I can recall a time when Ladu was surrounded by three beautiful women and me by none, so that should answer your question…
Should I file you under Folktronica on my iPod?
I wouldn’t file this album under Folktronica but maybe 5 years ago you could have used the term, I guess… Instead you could file us under epic folk disco brass magnificent, if that fits.
What was your graphic designer taking when he/she misspelt your name on Good Arrows, writing Tunng with two ‘g’s?
It did happen on some promos. We spotted them at a festival in Denmark, where we saw these CDR promos which had the right spelling on the front and the wrong spelling you mentioned on the side. We were pissed off and asked for them to be with- drawn. I guess they weren’t and are probably a collectors’ item by now…
Which are Mike Lindsay’s 5 favourite metal bands?
A 13-year-old Mike Lindsay would have said Metallica, Saxon, Wasp, Black Sabbath and Slayer.
And your 5 favourite bands from the Grand Duchy?
Tricky question, there’s so many I like…
What’s the biggest stereotype you have about Luxembourg?
I’ve never been there, but I kinda heard that there was loads of money there, but I don’t know if it’s true…
The album sounds more pop, should we be talking about maturity or about a will to reach a wider audience and make more money?
It’s a natural progression, I think. This album is quite experimental for a Tunng record. We’d never used electric guitars or drums before so from the outside looking in it’s a very pop record but for us it’s pushing the boundaries of what Tunng is or was…
By the way, what’s on that land?
Peace and harmony… And a long line of people in white robes holding hands, and they were called the brotherhood of the source… †
Jean Gabriel Becker
