M3LOMANIA RETURNS for you with the AWESOME -- TAPIR!
whose fantastic debut album is out now on Heavenly Recordings from the UK!
INTERVIEW WITH RONNIE LONGFELLOW OF TAPIR!
Billed as “Indie Folk,” the UK sextet Tapir! is actually cutting a much broader swath. With cornet, cello, and synths, their Heavenly debut “The Pilgrim, Their God, and the King of My Decrepit Mountain” is structured into three distinct acts like a Prog group. Furthermore, while it is admittedly Lo-Fi in production style, every song is high concept. More earthy than esoteric, Tapir! is less about showing off their layered melody and more about how the combinations affect you emotionally. With kindred spirits like Neutral Milk Hotel, Midlake, and the obscure Trees, Tapir! is Ike Gray (vocals and guitar,) Will McCrossan (keyboard,) Tom Rogers-Coltman (guitar), Ronnie Longfellow (bass,) Emily Hubbard (cornet and synths) and Wilf Cartwright (drums) tied together in melody and message.
MM: What is the genesis of Tapir! It looks like an art project (esp from the State 51 video) that took shape around some beautiful songs?
RL: It's nice to hear you say it looks like an art project because that's what we've always said it is! "The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain" is a multi-medium art project that involves paintings, dance, pottery, set design, poetry, theatrical elements, costumes, film, and all other fun stuff - the album is the music part of it. The State51 video is a little glimpse into what we do.
MM: When we listen to your album it brings to mind a combination of a more pastoral Black Country, New Road, and the prog-pop sensibilities of British Folk. What are the influences you bring to the table?
RL: When Ike and Will started playing music together, they were keen to write narrative-focused songs inspired by Randy Newman. Folk definitely inspires the guitar playing, but we also have a lot of electronic inspirations that inspire the drum machine sounds and beats, etc. On our press release, we've always put Richard Dawson and spellling as two of our influences, so I'll put them here too!
MM: Most “band” albums need to take shape around the cohesion of the band on their instruments, Tapir! seems so much more loose-limbed, ready to switch sounds and instruments yet the singing voice and especially the horn act as “identifiers” to lead this sort of nature-based narrative thread along. How do you feel a track has enough contributions to take the shape you want? Is there any real balance you achieved on an album cut that you could talk us through as an example?
RL: Most of the songs were recorded when the band was a 4 piece (no drums/cello or cornet). We initially recorded “My God” with our friend Yuri Shibuichi in his bedroom, and we enjoyed the process so much that we just kept doing more songs with him and Hywel Pryer (the engineer). At the same time, Joe Futak approached us at a gig we played with Lilo at The Cavendish Arms and said he'd like to record some songs, so we ended up doing a couple with him (“Grassy Knoll” & “Gymnopedie”). So there's a cool quirk of the album that we approached it a bit patchworky and very collaboratively.
As the concept and the narrative were developing, so were the songs and lyrics and how they fit together and stuff. It was a very organic process and when Wilf (drums/cello) and Emily (cornet/vocals) joined, we added their parts to the songs we all felt could do with extra bits of stuff on them. Some songs, like “Eidolon,” for example, we decided to keep more sparse, and songs like “Gymnopedie” just got bigger and more grand.
MM: There is a lot of nature on this album. Your lyrics are Romantic in that traditional way like Wordsworth or Keats becoming aware of the changes in nature (“Swallow”) mirroring the lessons we should learn from life. Were you learning while making this album? Now that it is finished, does it feel “different” when you listen?
RL: It definitely feels different listening to it now since it's been quite a long time since most of the songs were originally written. Personally, for me, it's nice to have closure really.
MM: A lot of what makes your album so enticing is that most cuts never sound the same next to each other but it still feels cohesive (my example is XTC’s “Skylarking” where they feel like movements of a larger suite.) Did you test different running orders (live even) to find the right evolution to show your writing and the band?
RL: In terms of the running orders, we really tried to keep the set in chronological order (in the narrative). Some songs moved places in the story though.
MM: Is there a cut here that was a total surprise? Perhaps you wrote at the last minute. Thought that it might not make it but then in the studio - it just fell right into place?
RL: The song "Act 3 (The King of My Decrepit Mountain)" was a very late addition. We had a different song in its place for a long time, but we weren't ever too happy with how it fits in the narrative. Tom whipped it up by himself not long before we delivered the album and he did a great job with it I think.
MM: On the flip side, is there one you labored over and really had to just do take after take or mix after mix to meet your standards?
RL: We didn't spend huge amounts of time on any of the songs really. “Mountain Song” had a lot of ideas and theoretical ways it could have gone, so we thought a lot about that one.
MM: How does the album differ when you play live? Are you a little freer with the order?
RL: The big difference is that on the album, most of the drums are a drum machine whereas live now we have Wilf playing live drums on most of the songs. It lets us go heavier/louder/more intense than the record. I really like how both Tapir! experiences sound quite different!
MM: How do you feel about the reception so far? Have people understood your album? It is not one of those records you can imbibe once and get all the pieces. Even ten or twelve listens in, we were still noticing subtle parts and connections. (In all truth, it took a solid three for us just to pick a single for play - “Gymnopedie”. Then second thoughts led us to the beautiful opener because it always leaves us wanting more - and isn’t that the purpose of a good single?)
RL: Really happy with the reception - people have been so kind. Really means a lot. Won't ever forget how nice it's been!
MM: Are you touring now? How is that going? Are you stripped down for the road? Does it sound a little more visceral in person?
RL: We have a short tour of dates in the UK in March, ending at King's Place in London where we really intend to have a big multimedium Tapir! experience. This is our first-ever headline tour, so we aren't too sure about what to expect. As I said before, in my opinion, our live set is quite a different experience from listening to the record.
MM: What music are you listening to now? Anything new that is just flooring you?
RL: Most of us saw Junior Brother at The George Tavern last week, was amazing. Also Tara Clerkin Trio, Skydaddy, Last Whole Earth Catalog, Sidney Jones, Kissing Gate... all people we know doing great stuff right now.
MM: Ask me anything?
RL: How are you?
MM: Grateful.
MM: Plans to come to America?
RL: That's the dream!
MM: Plans on the next record?
RL: Yep!
Thank you to Ronnie for taking time for this interview. Thank you to the band for their participation as well as Heavenly Recordings.
POST NOTES
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