Indie outfits Toucan and Tigertown caught up with Ripe to discuss their debut EP’s and upcoming show with Charlie Mayfair at The Vanguard tonight.
Hey there TiGERTOWN, If you could start by telling us your name, your role within the band and your favourite local act. Charlie Collins, I sing and play guitar and I like The Rescue Ships. How did TiGERTOWN come about? My brother and sister and I, have been in a band together our whole lives, in a country town. Two years ago I met Chris in Sydney and started writing with him. Pretty soon we were married and both our families were playing in the band so we started TiGERTOWN in April this year. How would you describe your sound? It’s definitely a dreamy acoustic based sound, but when all six of us get going it gets pretty full on. We like having boy and girl vocals, it reminds us of Fleetwood Mac. Tell us a little bit about your self-titled debut EP. The songs on the EP were recorded in our apartment in Cronulla. They came from the time Chris and I met and also at the time our old band was ending, so it’s a nice way to start things off. The recordings weren’t originally meant to be released, but they ended up sounding exactly how we wanted them to sound. If TiGERTOWN was a movie who would play the leading male? Johnny Depp, just I because I think Chris looks a bit like him haha. You’re supporting Charlie Mayfair in September for their first headline show at the Vanguard. What can new listeners expect of a TiGERTOWN live set? We just ended a little run with Melbourne band Husky, so we’re feeling pretty warm. We like the way the set has a transcendental thing going on. Genre wise “Indie/Folk” seems to be the new black. What do you think separates TiGERTOWN from the mass of other local acts in the same scene? We actually just decided to take the word ‘folk’ out of our description for that reason. I guess the fact that we are all related creates a different vibe on stage and hopefully creates a world for people to go to that’s a little further away. Who are your main musical influences? I grew up on Jonny Cash and that led to my favourite current artist being Ryan Adams. The story telling in their music is what I try and capture. I know Chris grew up on James Taylor and Jackson Browne which brings the same idea but in a different way. As a band we like the energy Fleetwood Mac had. What’s next for TiGERTOWN? Next week we are filming our first music video for our single Go Now. We have a bunch of shows coming up towards the end of the year which will be really fun. Hopefully there’s a record in the near future too.
So keen to play with Charlie Mayfair.
Welcome Toucan! Please tell us your name, your role within Toucan and the best gig you’ve been to this year. Hi I am Jess, the singer and cowriter of the Sydney duo Toucan. The best gig I have seen this year is John Legend at the State Theatre. Shea and I realised early on that we liked writing together and that our different musical backgrounds made for a fun collaboration so we got together and started from basics writing acoustic songs before moving towards what you hear today as Toucan. Growing up I learned the piano and from that I became really influenced by writers such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Ben Folds and Elton John. I then began to dive into the Sydney jazz scene and am now busily trying to check out more Australian music, there is just so much great music out there! The Toucan project has really been our little adventure in combining our different writing styles and loves. We usually start out writing songs at the piano and then take them further in the digital world and throughout the recording process. Through Triple J Unearthed - We were featured artist on the site in July and Charlie Mayfair were also featured earlier this year. Unearthed is a great way for Australian bands to connect and when they asked us to play with them we we’re excited to jump at the opportunity. We’re really looking forward to our show with them this Thursday (1st of September) at the Vanguard. We are still building the live show and writing more songs so I hope that answer will come with time. At the base of it Shea and I just love music and we hope that you can hear and feel that in our songs. We will be letting a single out of the bag in September before looking to release an EP in the following months. We are also doing a range of upcoming shows and most importantly are excited to be working on new songs!
How did Toucan come about?
What are your main musical influences?
How would you describe your sound and tell us a bit about the writing process?
You’re touring with Brisbane band Charlie Mayfair in September. How did that relationship come about?
What do you think distinguishes Toucan from other acts?
What’s on the agenda for Toucan for the rest of 2011?
