So Is The Tongue - Ron Varod

I feel that progressive metal, like a lot of sub-genres, gets brushed under the contextual carpet far too often. Especially living in a country like South Africa, where it seems there isn't even room for sub-genres; let alone independent classification. Few bands these days push these boundaries, adding an array of musical influences into one exotic, uncharted sound, So is The Tongue was an experimental progressive metal band from New Jersey, formed in the fall of 2005.

Ron Varod was essentially the glue that held So Is The Tongue together, along with help from friends Matt Nolan, Justin Thouret, Alex Levey and Greg Meisenberg along the way. Releasing 2 full-length records; 'Torpid & Blight' in 2007 (with a vinyl reissue in 2009), and 'A Child Of Divorce' in 2012, -just before proceeding onto an "indefinite hiatus", So Is The Tongue got to tour their home country a handful of times before potentially calling it quits.

I was fortunate enough to speak with Ron about the interesting history behind So Is The Tongue, and his recent venture into the epic avant-metal world of Kayo Dot.

1) Crafted with great artistry and wrath, So is the Tongue's music is as intense as it is ardent. How did So Is The Tongue get together? And what is the meaning behind it's puzzling name?

Ron Varod: Post high-school, I spent about 2 years jamming with lots of random people from the internet around New Jersey. I actually had the basis of the first 2 tracks off of our first record brewing in my brain, and my goal was to find a band to help me flesh those ideas out.

The first line-up on these 2 songs consisted of our original bassist Matt Nolan, and a drummer named Phil. We jammed with Phil for a summer before he got too busy and I found our original drummer Justin Thouret on a new jersey musician message board.

When the band started I was really into These Arms Are Snakes, and did a lot of googling to find an equally long obnoxious artsy band name. “So is the Tongue” is from a passage from the new testament, I was more into the way it looked on paper and the way it sounded then what it meant. I still have people that make fun of it and say we’re a Christian band.



2) Would it be safe to assume that you are So is the Tongue's primary song writer? How does writing usually play out during a typical rehearsal?

RV: Yes, the band started with me coming in with 2 song skeletons with some meat on them. There were a few times in the early days where Matt or Justin had an idea for a riff or something that we would jam on. Most of those didn’t really have a direction, just a cool melodic Idea. I was inspired and writing all the time so it was just more productive for me to bring song skeletons into rehearsal, everyone mostly wrote their own parts and we all worked on the fine details together.


3) Your debut LP titled 'Torpid & Blight' was released in 2007, flourishing a fine blend of avant-garde, progressive rock and even metal influence. Thinking back, can you tell me about the recording process? How long did it all take to polish?

RV: Torpid & Blight was tinkered with for about 2 years taking a lot of breaks. We did all the drums at the jam room in Howell, New Jersey, then did everything else with our friend “Asian” Steve Ryan mostly at his house. None of us had ever recorded a record before, Steve included.

We spent a lot of time detailing the mix, and adding weird effects before a lot of instruments and vocals were even tracked. Lots of re-tracking guitars and vocals during the mixing process as well. We would spend hours on mixing something, then come back and decide we wanted to do some other weird overdub and put it an octave down and reverse it, and it would change the whole mix!

Steve got the gig of assistant engineer on The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ire Works, so we decided we needed to finish Torpid & Blight before he left to do their record, otherwise we probably would have tweaked it for another 2 years.

4) When writing lyrics, did you find that there were frequently visited subjects or did you tend to branch out in topic more often? What did those subjects typically deal with?

RV: I don’t consider myself a very good lyricist and it’s always been a struggle for me, even ever since my first band when I was 13. It could be seen as the lazy path, but I usually come up with a vocal melody (or a rhythm for yelling stuff) first and then fit words into that.

I intend most of the songs to be about something from my personal life but the vocal melodies usually call for other consonants and vowels that don’t have to do with the subject matter, so each song will have a couple of lines that don’t usually make sense to me but I think fit really well musically.

5) As a guitarist and song writer, would you care to list some of your early influences on So is the Tongue, compared to what influences you today?

RV: I think one band that really made me shift gears was Cleric. Their old band 3rd Rail was more of a really typical heavy band but when they shedded one of their guitarists, they changed their name to Cleric and started to go off into the deep end. I thought that only certain musicians were allowed to make music like that, so it was super inspiring to see my friends make really mind bending creative music.

At the time, I was still really into Glassjaw and a lot of other music from high school. Lots of Khanate too. I was obsessed with Kayo Dot after seeing them open for The Dillinger Escape Plan and Colin Marston’s old band, Infidel ? / Castro! (which Keith, now of Kayo Dot, played drums for).

I still love most of that music, but I might have become an old man since then, and listen to less and less aggressive music in my off time, like Anna Calvi and Telefon Tel Aviv and as I have my whole music listening life - massive amounts of Pink Floyd.

6) Top 5 favourite albums of 2012?

• Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel
• Dysrhythmia – Test of Submission
• Scott Walker – Bish Bosch
• Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
• Emily Peal - Fine Fur Coat

7) A Child Of Divorce was released in early 2012. It saw a step in progression, as well some grooming when compared to it's predecessor. Was this in any way a conceptual release? What were you trying to achieve differently with this record?


RV: I found ‘Torpid & Blight’ to be a little bit too eclectic. Each song was jam packed with 100 different ideas that never really got the chance to breathe. Also, most of that album was first conceived with a much larger grandiose ensemble in mind. I thought I was going have a band with keys and electronics, but instead I ended up with a standard rock trio. There was supposed to be a B-Side alternate version of “After the Peel” that was more like my original idea for the band, lots of weird sampling and effects.




With 'A Child of Divorce', I became comfortable with having a rock trio setup and wrote specifically for that, and especially with Justin’s drumming style in mind. Alex Levey, our 2nd bassist came in with a very different and more aggressive, yet clean and technical approach, and then things really started to come together like they were sounding in my head.

Again the lyrics for this album were about vague personal things, but musically I put a lot of effort into the flow and arc of the record, whereas the first album was just a collection of songs we had at the time. The 3 instrumental-interlude tracks also have similar motifs that I think helped tie everything together as well.



8) As a new addition to the Kayo Dot sect, could you tell me about how that began? And how did you feel about the transition in song writing from So Is The Tongue to Kayo Dot?

RV: Kayo Dot had been by far my favorite band for years before joining, I’m pretty much like Marky Mark right now in that movie where he joins that band with Zakk Wylde. Anyway.

I subbed for a Kayo Dot show back in 2006, then another in 2010, and then a winter tour in 2011. I always thought I was just a sub, and I was happy to do so cause I love the guys and the music. After that winter tour, the show/tour offers kept rolling in, and I don’t think it clicked in my head that I was a member of Kayo Dot until fall 2012 when we started talking about making a new record.

Toby Driver is the main song writer in the band but I was surprised how democratic it was, not too much unlike So is the Tongue where we all worked on the arrangements together. Terran, Dan, Tim and Toby are assigned horn arrangements on a per song basis. I mostly learned and interpreted guitar parts that Toby wrote, and I helped arrange rhythm section stuff with Keith and Toby. I actually wrote all of the guitar parts for this long piano ballad off the new record that I'm super proud of.

9) On your facebook page, the latest status update reads as follows: "Right now we're on a little bit of a hiatus until further notice or until Coachella offers us fat stacks of money to re-unite". What initiated the hiatus? Was it partially due to your recent input to Kayo Dot, or was it due to a drifting apart in differences within members?

RV: In 2012 alone, the lineup for So Is The Tongue changed twice. After Justin was fired from the band I was left as the only original member and the only person who wrote the songs to any extent. The vibe of rehearsals and shows was not a positive one. We had an extremely unsuccessful (financially and otherwise) week-long southern tour in August that I think really killed it for me personally.

Nobody seemed to have the same excitement and commitment for the project, or the same goals. I think if I didn’t have Kayo Dot to fall back onto I might’ve pushed So Is The Tongue for a little longer, to try and keep the band together. But between Kayo Dot, and the solo gigs I was doing as Zvi, I realized I didn’t really need to have So is the Tongue to stay musically active, so I decided to put it to rest for now.

10) As for the last question, and besides the aforementioned Coachella proposal, would you ever consider reuniting So Is The Tongue? Or, what are the possibilities of a new release at some stage?

RV: I actually had a lot of ideas for a high energy So Is The Tongue EP that I wanted to work on, but the vibe with the last line-up just wasn’t there, so I never tried to work on those songs with them. I think if I found people that would be into working on that, and if there was funding for a recording somehow - I’d be really into revisiting those ideas again.

For now, I’m pretty content with the amazing Kayo Dot record we've just recorded, and I'm also working on a solo record of stuff I’ve been playing around town since I moved to Brooklyn last September. But actually, doing this interview has made me wanna futz around with some of those raw ideas I never got to  finish, so maybe you sparked something there, and I'll bring So Is The Tongue back from the dead - just with new organs.

Thanks to Ron for answering my questions, and thanks to anyone reading!

Catch up with So is the Tongue here, and stream or purchase their albums here.

Ron has also just recorded a new 3xLP with Kayo Dot, which is planned to drop in autumn 2013. You can preview the album here, and pre-order "HUBARDO" here.

Pirouette - Scotty Leitch

Formed in Coatesville, PA in late 2006, Pirouette is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Scotty Leitch. Starting out with a series of acoustic songs, Pirouette quickly expanded onto their much loved stirring sound, borrowing talent from close friends. Exploring the realms of genres like indie-rock and math-rock, Scotty has released numerous demos and EPs throughout Pirouette's lifespan. Their live performances were reportedly nothing short of excitement and thrill, including dance/sing-a-long sections and crowds strung in anxious awe. Unfortunately, Pirouette dissolved in late 2010, but also marked the birth of the cleverly named Little Pirouettes (featuring members of Little Kingdoms), fortunately, with the helpful aid of the internet, Pirouette will always exist, and Scotty will continue to impressively whisk us away with his noodly-twinkly goodness!

I was able to speak with Scotty on the fall of Pirouette, to the triumphs of Little Pirouettes:

1) What was the significance behind choosing the name Pirouette, and how did it all start?

Scotty Leitch: My ex-girlfriend Megan came up with the name Pirouette. We wrote songs together, and then we broke up. I liked the name, so I continued to use it.


2) 'Thinking In Subtitles' EP was released in 2007, was it recorded by yourself
completely, or did you have any outside help? Could you tell me a little bit
about the recording process too?



SL: I did it all myself, my brother sang on the song 'Revive'. Most of those songs were just drum tracks that I wrote music over. I used an Ibanez Ice Man and MG100FX.


3) Amanda Matyas seems to make a recurring appearance throughout your back
catalogue, how did the 2 of you meet, and how did you start making music
together?

SL: I stalked Amanda when she worked at the Exton Barnes and Noble. She came to my 21st birthday party/show. I freaked out, and worked up the courage to introduce myself. I moved in with her and her mother a month later. She sang to classical music, and it fit my songs perfectly. She doesn't sing anything now though, and that makes me sad.


4) Not long after the release of your first EP, 'Sometimes Sad Isn't Funny' was
born, which showcases even more tantrum fused indie pop than it's predecessor. Was it ever a conscious decision to follow the path of this genre, or did it naturally fall into place?

SL: At the time, there seemed to be 10,000 bands emulating the jangly-noodly-pop sound, and I wanted to separate myself from that scene. Also, the drummer who played on 'Sometimes Sad Isn't Funny' is the most talented I have ever worked with. A lot of the off-kilter ideas on the EP are a result of him and I just toying with song structure, meter, tempo, etc. It was definitely a conscious effort on my part to progress my song writing and expand on the ideas I already had. I've always enjoyed the odd parts of pop music.

5) What is your process for writing lyrics? "You're the world to me, and earth is just a place where we sit" is just one fragment of heartfelt lyricism heard in your writing.

SL: I work well with extremities. I would write best the day after I won the lottery, or maybe right after my pet cat died.


6) Being a multi-instrumentalist can only mean that you take influence from a
wide variety of genres and artists, would you care to share some with us?

SL: The band Allison Ranger changed my life. I saw their last show when I was a junior in High School. My english teacher was in a band with their guitar player. I'm also influenced by my Father, Rob Crowe, Wesley Willis, Zappa, Isaac Brock, Pavement, Tim Kinsella, Bowie, McCartney, Lil B, John Cage, and some others too.



7) What were your top 5 albums of 2012?

• Meshuggah - Koloss
• Deftones - Koi No Yokan 
• Alex G - Trick 
• Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory 
• mtthwrck - Pile High

8) After it's demise, Pirouette cleverly changed names to "Little Pirouettes",
featuring a member of Little Kingdoms and Pierce Jordan, and turned into a full time band. How would you say your writing has changed since this step? How do you feel about working closely with new members added to the line-up?

SL: Little Pirouettes is the product of myself, Jake from Little Kingdoms, and Pierce Jordan. It doesn't sound like Pirouette. It sounds like noodle-music, but it's earnest.

9) From an outsider's perspective, it seems that Pirouette dissolved quite
unexpectedly, what was the reason behind the step from the more 'solo-centered'
work, to the full-time band?

SL: We broke up because our drummer and bass player wanted to focus on their own band. That band is doing very well now.


10) Would you ever consider putting out future Pirouette material? Or will Little
Pirouettes continue to take over this role?

I want to put out one last Pirouette record. I have a bunch of songs that I'd like to show someone one day. I'd also like to yell things!

Thanks so much to Scotty for answering these questions.

/ / / / /

If you would like to download the entire Pirouette discography, go here.

If you would like to follow Scotty's work further, he has numerous projects you can find below:

• Little Pirouettes
• Ikey Heyman
• Rosie

/ / / / / 

Thanks for reading!

Double Handsome Dragons - Phil Mitchell

"Moondust sprinkled over a hive of vicious, flying insects who are engaged in a centuries old battle 
with the ancient beasts of folklore over possession of the best dance move in the universe."

This is what influenced Double Handsome Dragons. So wake up to a world of celestial harmony,
entomology and more bright blinking sky lights we've often brushed off ignorantly as earthly.

Double Handsome Dragons were an experimental 4-piece post-rock band from Peterburough, UK. Formed in 2007, their cross-hatching of genres range from electronica to screamo, and even a touch of indie-rock thrown in, all blended up together for all-the-more of an enjoyable listen. To date they have released 2 EPs, and 2 mini-albums, catching up on more progression than pioneers like Genesis and King Crimson would dare to admit.

It has been said that daily, they fought with potted plants and lawnmowers to get to their instruments, and sometimes they were even attacked. They have scars, and they feel safe and warm in their bedrooms. They also liked to travel to far away lands to play for decent, handsome people.

Unfortunately, Double Handsome Dragons disbanded in 2011, for reasons still unclear; the cloudy departure of a certain member, and an inspired effort at starting over fresh. Luckily, to clear some air, I got the opportunity to speak with guitarist Phil Mitchell on electronics, the advantages of home recordings and why red guitars are just better than the rest.

***

1) Double Handsome Dragons seemed to be quite an imaginative bunch. How did it all come together? Roots are always important.

Phil Mitchell - James and I are brothers and we started our first band when we were at school, with a friend on bass. We’ve played in a band together ever since. Our first band was called Tic, and we made experimental punk rock stuff – it was music to have epileptic fits to. One of our friends once said: “Tic were the best band and the worst band; often at the same gig; often in the same song” – that sums it up perfectly. Dan joined Tic as a dancer and backing singer. He used to strip to his underpants, paint himself purple, and jump about the stage on a spacehopper. Tic had several different members – we had Mark doing samplers, Dave on bass, and at times we had Joe playing bongos, and Will scratching on decks and playing a small guitar. Tic split up when a certain member starting turning up at band practice with a crack dealer in tow – bad times.

Simon was in a pop punk band called Coaster at the same time as Tic, and when that folded he was in a band with James called Superstar Hospital, which sounded a bit like Weezer. I joined a band called Sidearm (who took a lot of influence from At the Drive-in and Trail of Dead) and when our bass player left to move to London, we asked Simon to step in. Sidearm started to do less and less gigs so we decided to start another band – Double Handsome Dragons.

It took us a long time to come up with DHD’s sound. We wanted it to be instrumental because none of us could sing, and I really liked Mogwai’s song "Glasgow Megasnake". After about a year we had 5-6 songs which we recorded ourselves. They sound really basic compared to what we did later, but we’re still proud of them because we did it ourselves. We then went out and started playing gigs. And it turns out that people seemed to like it. So we carried on.


2) Growing up in Peterborough, how would you describe it's local live music scene? What were/are some of your favourite places to play? Is it somewhere you would encourage other bands to stop past on tour?

PM: Peterborough doesn’t really have a music scene anymore, but there were periods when it did. About 14-15 years ago, The Crown Pub was the centre of the scene. The Park was a good venue when it hosted the 'Club With No Name'. And most recently, The Glass Onion had amazing gigs. But these have all since closed now.

We put on gigs at The Glass Onion. It was a pub/community centre run by an arty crowd. The venue was small, and we couldn’t charge money at the door, but because the atmosphere and crowd were so great, bands didn’t mind playing for free. The best Dragons gigs were played here.

Now there’s only one venue and I haven’t seen a decent band play there in a long time. They’re not keen on having bands there unless they can guarantee a crowd which means you don’t get the less well known touring bands – certainly not bands I’m interested in. DHD refused to play there.


3) After releasing a few EPs and demos, Double Handsome Dragons released the mini-album titled "Lions & Tigers and HOLY SHIT WHAT WAS THAT!!??", swimming with delicious texture and a shattering, yet notable use of electronics. Was it ever a mutual decision to incorporate electronics into your music?

PM: In Tic, we used a lot of samples, so it was nothing new. We saw 65daysofstatic using computer backing tracks, and were intrigued with how they did that. Once we figured it out, we soon realized that it could make our sound huge; almost orchestral. There weren’t many bands using electronics in that way, and there still aren't that many today, but we loved it.  Creating the backing tracks meant using way more imagination than if we just played our drums and guitars. We all took turns playing the keyboard, or glockenspiel, or stylophone – whatever was lying around. We just wanted to sound a bit different from everyone else – every band does – and electronics were a good way to do so.

4) For the record, what was REALLY amongst all those lions and tigers? It's always kind of worried me a bit.

PM: If you read the description of such a beast, your eyes would swell up and burst. To speak it's name would tear your eardrums to shreds and make your brain implode - And for that reason I shall never say.


5) Your releases seem to stick to recurring subjects; Insects, animals and outer space. Where did the inspiration behind all of this come from?

PM: I guess we were influenced by our dad's generation's prog-rock concept albums. The ideas usually came from us just chatting between playing songs at practice. When we wrote songs they didn’t typically have names. Once we named one, the others would follow in a similar theme. Coming up with songs names was good fun. Some were really stupid though e.g. "A Swarm of Bears With Sparrows Wings"


6) Double Handsome Dragons released their self-tilted mini-album in 2010, which I thought was of remarkable quality. Again, a fine display of both involved instrumentation, and a sophisticated use of electronics. Could you tell me how this record fell into place? How long did it take to write and record? Where was it recorded?

PM: The songs were written in our practice space over a year. We always wrote the songs as a band without the electronics. We never wrote songs in the studio. The electronics always came afterwards. It usually took a while to write songs because we often made them too complicated for ourselves – although it’s a good way of improving your playing. It could get quite frustrating; especially if we were practicing after work and we’d all had a hard day. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have a fresh sound.

The songs were recorded in my spare bedroom, my living room, and James’s bedroom. We did it all ourselves. We figured that we could spend hundreds of pounds in a studio, and get something we weren’t happy with, or we could spend a few hundred on decent microphones and monitors, and spend as much time as we liked recording to get something we all loved. James is the one who puts in all the hard work with recording and mixing – he likes doing that kind of thing – I don’t have the right temperament. So thanks for saying it sounds high quality – he spent a lot of time on it. It seemed to take forever and I’m not actually sure how long it took to record in the end.


7) On your facebook page, you're listed as handling "Red guitars", what do you have against other colours? But seriously, What guitar do you play on?

PM: Red cars go faster. Red guitars just sound better.

I use a Gibson SG faded cherry red guitar. My Grandad gave me the money for it just before he died so it has a lot of sentimental value. It’s an awesome guitar, but it’s looking a bit worse for wear as I tend to play it pretty hard. I have a Fender Telecaster as back up too.

8) As a guitarist, would you care to name some of your personal influences while writing music? And which artists would the four of you agree on?

PM: Personally I took a lot of influence from At the Drive-in and The Mars Volta – they have some very nice sounding, urgent chords. I like the wall of noise that ..And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead produce. And then I like the epic loud endings of a lot of noisy post-rock bands like Mogwai and Russian Circles. The Japanese band Envy are one of my favourites – mixing hardcore and post-rock. I listen to a lot of music – I love discovering new sounds – so I take a lot of influence from all sorts of artists.

DHD didn’t really agree on much music. James and I have similar musical tastes, but he likes his hip-hop and drum & bass more than the rest of us. Dan likes classic rock and Primus. Simon likes Radiohead and Weezer. I think our different musical tastes helped formed the DHD sound. If a band all like different things, then you don’t fall into the trap of trying to sound like someone you all like.


9) Personally speaking, what are your top 5 albums of 2012?

• Cloud Nothings -  Attack on Memory
• Future Of The Left - The Plot Against Common Sense
• ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Lost Songs
• The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know
• Deftones - Koi No Yokan

10) Double Handsome Dragons went on to form a new project, There Are Ghosts, which is also coincidentally the title of a Double Handsome Dragons song. How does this new project differ to what you had been previously doing? How would you describe There Are Ghosts?

PM: There Are Ghosts is a little bit darker. And there’s a crazy man screaming over it. James and I are in the band along with Jay who played bass for DHD when Simon wouldn’t tour Ireland with us, and Shaun who sings. Jay was a big DHD fan and became a good friend, so when DHD split he was well up for starting a new band. We wrote some instrumental songs, but we all came to the conclusion that we wanted to have some singing – we had done the instrumental thing for too long – so along came Shaun, who we knew from some crazy local bands (Frisco Farr and Aotea). He’s also a wrestler. There are a lot of DHD fans who have bought into the new band's sound. We’re like a hardcore version of DHD.



11) What were the reasons behind the break-up? Was it more to do with relocation? Or did you all feel that your tastes had changed too much to continue under the same name?

PM: Double Handsome Dragons came to quite a sudden end, and it’s still a bit of a mystery as to why it all happened, but Dan decided to leave. We were having problems writing new songs and Dan stopped talking to us – literally stopped talking. We think he felt he wasn’t being listened to, but we couldn’t say anything right to him – whatever we said seemed to annoy him. He doesn’t talk to us at all now. He never even told us he wanted to leave; he just did.

We thought about continuing under the DHD name with Jay on guitar, but Simon wasn’t into it as much as he had been, so he took the opportunity to leave. That gave us the chance to do something different and now we’re loving the new band.


12) Would Double Handsome Dragons ever consider putting out any further releases in the future? What are your thoughts on bands keeping a "studio-only" ethic?

PM: I can say with almost certainty that DHD won’t be putting anything else out. DHD was the product of all four of us; it wouldn’t work without us all working on it and with Dan’s lack-of-speaking-to-us, that isn’t going to happen.

If a band has a studio only ethic then they’re not a real band. Real bands play live. If you don’t play live together you can’t bond together and studio ideas remain bland and uninspired – that’s my thought on it anyhow.

***

The UFO's and wasps may have left this planet, but for now There Are Ghosts are here to haunt!

Thanks so much to Phil for answering my questions!

"Killing and killing and KFC"

By The End Of Tonight - Stefan Mach

When I was about 17, I had just been introduced to the realm of experimental music. It didn't take long for me to dig deeper and deeper, as about 40% of my teenage years were spent on discovering new music. I had gone from listening to stuff like indie rock and post-punk, to more exploratory genres like post-rock and experimental, or avant-garde. I was open to almost anything new; bands that were taking creativity one step further than the usual "mainstream equivalent to rock progression" we had all become so used to, and never dreamed of questioning.

I started stumbling upon all types of artists and bands that would later influence me greater than I could ever imagine. I started listening to bands like Explosions In The Sky, MONO, Tarentel, Red Sparowes etc. (which to this day all  hold a special place in my heart.) It wasn't long before myself and a few friends wanted to be involved in the same kind of thing, musically. We experimented here and there, but ever quite found what we were looking for at first-

Until one day, I was on the Temporary Residence label's site, and felt I needed something more, as many of their artists had previously failed to let me down. The name 'By The End Of Tonight' on the mp3 side-panel was first to catch my attention, and I thought "What a strange name, this just HAS to be good!".. I ignorantly clicked on a download link, thinking I would be directed to a biography of sorts, when suddenly, a mysterious mp3 started downloading. As much as it may have seemed like a mistake at the time, in hindsight, it was probably the best mistake I've EVER made. I just thought that By The End Of Tonight sounded like an awesome band name, but I really had no idea just how incredible their music in fact was, or how much of an impact it would later be on my life as a fellow musician.

By The End of Tonight (often abbreviated as BTEOT) was an instrumental four-piece band from Alvin, TX. Formed in 2003 by Stefan Mach, Josh Smith, Jeff Wilson and James Templeton, with the later addition of Brett Taylor in 2006 after Josh's departure. They mingled between blends of vicious math-rock and swirling post-rock, interwoven into ferocious bursts of experimentation, and a pinch of metal thrown in too. They managed to grow quite an extensive following over the years, in and out of Texas, respectively. They signed to the Temporary Residence label (home to greats like EITS and MONO) in their adolescent years, leaving an even bigger impression on their early reputation. They released 2 full-length albums, a number of EPs and a handful of split albums with bands/friends including Tera Melos, and O PIONEERS!!!. Sadly, since 2009, By The End of Tonight have been on an indefinite hiatus, due to relocation and work on other musical endeavors. So while the future may be cloudy in the BTEOT world, their sounds still seem to climb the heads of the uninspired and break the ignorant ice to a comfortable discovery in experimental music- whilst carefully egglifting their jaws up from the floor.

Fortunately, I got to speak with Stefan Mach, just one fourth of the greatness that is By The End Of Tonight:

1) Your music is extremely eclectic and imaginative. Rather than asking the
common cliche of the average long biography, I'm gonna take a short cut and ask
how it all began. How did By The End Of Tonight start? How did the 4 of you first meet?

Stefan Mach: By The End Of Tonight was a band that formed from a few other bands the other members and I were in. I met Jeff (drums) when I was 14 I think, we clicked right away and started playing together. We were playing pretty bad, unimaginative metal at that time, and we went through a few years of doing that and going through many line-ups. Eventually we got around to getting Josh as the second guitarist, because he lived in Jeff’s neighborhood and could practice regularly. Lastly, I suggested James to play bass when we got rid of the bass player we had at the time. James and I had been good friends since we met in 6th grade so it was obvious to me to ask him to come try out. There were a lot of people who were in the band before this line-up came to be, but when we officially started BTEOT it was with these members, so I won’t go into the boring details of everyone else.



2) BTEOT have always kind of struck me as being quite secretive, the origin or
meaning behind the name By The End Of Tonight still remains a mystery to many,
any chance I could get you to spill the magical beans on that?

SM: I cannot say if this is 100% correct, but I think that the band name came from us all sitting around the night before we were sending off the "…In a Letter To The Sandbox" record to get pressed and we still hadn’t decided on a band name to put on the album. I remember us all being in Josh’s kitchen, and I can’t remember who said it, but someone said, “We need a band name by the end of tonight.” That was it and the name was settled shortly after.


3) In 2003 "...In a Letter To The Sandbox" was released as your
"self-produced-demo" which I thought was quite humble of you, considering it's
generous content, clever construction and all round excitement. Thinking back,
could you tell me a little bit about the recording process?

SM: This record to us was never a demo really. We had made a few 3-song demos to hand out around town and at shows, but I don’t think we ever sent them to any labels or anything. A good friend of ours was taking an audio engineering class at the college in our town and needed a band to record for his final project, and since we had 14 songs to record it was perfect for both of us. We had the recording studio for 3 hours at a time, and I think 2 nights a week. The whole record took about 2 – 3 months, being recorded like this. We recorded all of the songs live on a reel-to-reel recorder with very little to no overdubs. The only overdubs were pianos, and the little weird interludes between songs. It was very exciting to record live and just jam. Since it was recorded live the songs are really fast and were even hard for me to play at that speed, unless on stage. All in all it was a great time, and an awesome learning experience for everyone in the band.


4) If you could give me a brief break down of your personal musical influences,
who would they be? And if BTEOT shared mutual influences, what/who would they be?

SM: It might sound weird but personally, I love pop punk and pop music. Blink 182, Pixies, Saves the Day, Of Montreal, Why?, Propagandhi, Andrew WK. Stuff like that. I would say that these bands and styles have had a major impact on the type of riffs I write when playing in the band. But there are a few bands that really influenced the band as a whole and here they are.

1. Rumah Sakit
2. Dilute
3. Dillinger Escape Plan
4. Don Caballero

I STRONGLY suggest anyone who hasn’t heard these bands to check them out. Rumah [Sakit] and Dilute are two of the best bands in the world hands down, in my opinion. If you listen to these bands, and then to “...In a Letter to the Sandbox” it’s pretty apparent that we were fans of these bands at the time of that album.

5) 2005 saw the release of the marvelous sophomore EP, titled "Tribute to
Tigers", which captured just as much charm as it's previous effort, but polished
toward a fresher sound. How did these 5 songs come together? Why tigers?

SM: Tigers was something that evolved on its own. I remember us talking about not really wanting to get stuck in this one genre of writing, and to really just do what we wanted to do on any record we made. It really wasn’t something that we had to sit down and specifically say, “Let’s write a softer album.” It came out how it did because it was what we all wanted to play at that time, and we were happy about the songs. Looking back on it, I think we could of made the album a lot better and some of the songs are just not up to the standard of what I think we could have done. That’s my personal opinion, but I feel safe saying that the other guys feel somewhat similar. I think that the song “Ready? Aim. Fire!” was the best song that we ever wrote with Josh [Smith] in the band, and I really think it embodies the style we were trying to create on "A Tribute To Tigers."


6) As a guitarist, do you have any personal influences you'd like to share with
BTEOT fanatics? What started you playing?

SM: When I started, I was a 12 year-old metal kid. Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura, and stuff like that. Pantera had the biggest influence on my practicing every day, and all day at that. As I got older I  got more into pop music and strayed from metal. All of the bands I mentioned before have had a major influence on me and my playing.


7) Jeff is a very talented drummer, it's not very often I hear someone play as
remarkably as he did. Was he self taught, or trained? Also, I read somewhere that
he gives lessons, is that still in full effect? How is it going?

SM: Jeff is a freak of nature. He was totally self-taught and never stops getting better at drumming. It is so awesome to look back and see how lucky I was to have him as a person to jam with for so many years. Jeff and I were teaching at a music store in TX, but have since moved on to other things.


8) How were songs structured during a typical rehearsal? And how were drum lines worked out for guitar melodies, and vice versa?

SM: For every song it was different. There would be times where we would all come to practice with nothing and just started from scratch, and then there would be times where one of us would have a pretty solid idea for a riff, or even a whole song. I think that throughout time the way we were writing had to evolve to the circumstances that the band was in. During the '…Sandbox' days we were all young enough, and had such little responsibility that we could all practice every day of the week, and really write songs as a unit. As time went on that became harder to do. I could go through a list of who wrote what song and what parts but it would take forever. But I can say that every single person in the band had input on every song we ever wrote.


9) Various shouts, screams and wails can be heard in songs throughout your
back catalogue, do these convulsive codes tackle specific subjects? Or rather
better left as random outbursts of excitement?


SM: In all honesty it depends on what song you are listening to. 'In A Letter to The Sandbox' and 'A Tribute To Tigers' were both recorded live, so if while we were recording and someone started screaming, then you would hear it on the album, and if we didn’t want it in the song we would have to re-record the entire song. So they all stayed in. But on the song “Stop, Drop and Roll Does Not Work in Hell” there is a part that has the most vocals in any BTEOT song and it was something that Jeff wrote, and I think it might be the only serious lyrical contribution to our songs. Any other singing part that was structured normally revolved around an inside joke between the band.

10) Along with the other 3 members, you all released your own 3inch "solo" cds in
2007, yours being "The Gunslinger EP", could you tell me a little about how this
all came together? How, and where did you all record these EPs?


SM: This was a point in the band where we were taking a short break from writing together. We had just spent a lot of time making A Tribute to Tigers and had been touring behind that record for months on end, so we all split ways for a month or so. When we all met up again we shortly realized that we had all been writing and recording music of our own during the break and it was all music that was outside the normal BTEOT spectrum. We sat down and talked about what we should do with it, and if we should even bother putting it out as anything, and decided that we should. Jeremy Devine, the owner of Temporary Residence, came up with the idea of the 3” albums and had said it was something he had been wanting to do for a long time, so we jumped on it. All of the records were recorded in our rooms for the most part, and many of them had little help or input from the other members. Jeff’s easily had the most help from other people, where James’ and mine had none from anyone.

10b) Your solo EP titled 'The Gunslinger' has a very evident BTEOT tone, and can definitely substitute for anyone seeking listening pleasure beyond the BTEOT realm. Would you ever consider putting out a follow-up release, or perhaps a companion to this release?

SM: This is something I have planned to do ever since I finished The Gunslinger EP. I have even sat down and recorded ideas for a new record, but my issue has been inspiration. When I was writing The Gunslinger it was finished in about two months and every part just came to me, like the riffs had been living within me forever and just needed to come out. It felt very magical and I only want to write the next record when I am in that state of mind again. If it never comes, I will be disappointed, but I don’t want to push out a record just to do it either. The album was a reference to Stephen King’s amazing Dark Tower series. Between each book there were year-long waits and they were due to him not finding the right mind set to do the next book. It seems that I am in the exact same position.


11) Again In 2007, BTEOT released the split album "Complex Full Of Phantoms",
with Roseville math-legends Tera Melos. What triggered this magnificent idea?
Were you all friends already?


SM: Tera Melos is a great band and even greater friends. We had toured together a few times before this idea came about and the first time we met we clicked on such a personal level that we knew somewhere down the line we would be doing more together. We didn’t know whether it would be touring or something like a split album at the time, but it turned out to be both. So yes we had been close friends before the idea came about and are still good friends to this day.



12) By The End Of Tonight's live shows looked insanely fun, definitely something I wish I was
lucky enough to witness when I had the chance. Are there any shows that still stick out? Memorable moments?

SM: There were a ton of great shows we all played together, and a ton of bad ones as well. It’s hard to really keep that same energy every night on a two month tour, but when the shows were great it was very easy to keep it going. For me personally there are three great shows that stick out:

a) The Halloween show on the closing day of the amazing club in Houston, TX, named Fat Cats, or Mary Jane’s. (Different people will call it one or the other.) That was a club that BTEOT really grew it’s following in Houston at and had a great connection with the staff, and always loved playing the venue. So to be able to play there on its closing night, and on a Halloween show nonetheless, it was very special for us and we were all really sad to see such a great venue get shut down.

b) A show in Colorado Springs at The Piano Warehouse was amazing for us. It just felt right. Everyone was on point and the crowd was great. So great that I broke my guitar in half at the end of the set, and didn’t care. That guitar died at the best show it ever played!

c) Lastly there was the reunion show we did last year in Houston. There was a lot of hype building up to this show and it turned out to be amazing. So many friends and fans came out and made it an incredibly special night for all of us. Thanks to everyone who came!

13) You've all obviously had time to yourselves during the hiatus, which can only
mean various projects have surfaced. What does the future hold for Lisa's Sons?
sIngs, Limb and Fucking Thief?

SM: You know, I can’t really speak for everyone about this. sIngs I believe is working on a new record, and so is James’ band. Limb. Fucking Thief is pretty non-existent at this time, I think. Lisa’s Sons is working on new stuff but there’s not a specific time frame of when it will be out. But I feel that the other guys stay pretty busy with their projects, so you can check them out online to find out more about them.


14) BTEOT released yet another split album in 2007 with O!PIONEERS, containing the single "I Love Technology, I Love You Too", how did this random song come about? And what is the story behind the title?

SM: This was the last recorded song that we wrote as a band. If I remember correctly, we were writing music for a full length but the song felt different than the album we wanted to make. O! Pioneers were great friends of ours and we had always supported each other in the Houston music scene, so it felt right to do a split together. As for the title, a few of us were at a party and someone was expressing their love for their phone by exclaiming, “I love you technology!” From somewhere else in the room a person responded, “I love you, too!” Thus, a song title was born.


15) And now, the break-up question.. Living in different parts of the country is an obvious reason for your absense, but with the following you've gained over the years, would you consider playing more shows in the future? Would new recordings at some point be any way possible?


SM: This is a tough one to answer. We got together briefly last year, and played 5 shows in the summer. Some were great, and some reminded us why we stopped playing in the first place. I know that there are some members who are much more open to the idea of writing an album than others, and that is the big issue, other than me now living in Boston, while they are still in Texas. I don’t want to say that it could never happen, but I think it would take something pretty magical to get everyone on board. Every member of this band is still a close friend that I see having for the rest of my life, but in terms of the band, we have all grown up and moved on since we were all 16 playing together in the garage. Times have changed so much that it’s hard to say, but if there was a way to do it and everyone was excited and REALLY wanted to then I would say yes. I just don’t see that day in the near future.

As much as these fine young lads will be missed, their music will live on forever! They have all been in numerous projects to date, and will continue to put out great music:

Stefan is one half of Lisa's Sons

Brett's solo act, sIngs

James plays in Limb

Thanks so much to Stefan for answering my questions, and thanks to anyone reading!

Loose Lips Sink Ships - Steve Marek

Unexpected, unpredictable, random, playful, peculiar, cheeky.

These are just some of the words I would attempt to describe the Illinois based math-rock
outfit Loose Lips Sink Ships. If you're unfamiliar with their music, you're
in for a real treat!

Formed in early 2007, Loose Lips Sink Ships fearlessly took on their home town of DeKalb,

Illinois and have remained untouchable in their local scene ever since. Their music 

flares and escalates into a frenzy of chaotic, polyrythmic pleasure, whilst still 

remaining atmospheric and sophisticated at the same time. Their playful nature of song 

writing is most exciting; eccentric song structures, odd time signatures, and an 

interesting approach to song titles. 

I was lucky enough to speak with Steve Marek - their quirky bass player, about genre
categorization, and not taking yourself too seriously.


1) Loose Lips Sink Ships formed in 2007, what made you choose a form of music so experimental and inventive? Where you listening to music similar in any way at the time? 
Did the four of you all share the same vision?

Steve Marek: We had some fundamental similarities when the group was formed, probably from more of an ethical standpoint in terms of what our goals were as musicians. We all have a few core
groups that we relate on though, and the longer the band was together, the more our
tastes assimilated.



2) On your last.fm page, a typical Loose Lips Sink Ships song structure has been written out as “twidly-twidly-do-bi-bup *melodic run here* tap-a-tap-a-tapa *angular chord here* doobly-doobly-dab”, which I thought was playfully not too far off. Do any  real songs come to mind when seeing this? Would you ever consider writing actual songs using this noodley guitar language?

SM: Apparently we did, seeing as that's a description of our music. I would assume the guy in
Skrillex writes his compositions verbally, in advance, like this: BRRRR-DIDDY-GOMP.
WOMP-WOMP-WOMP-WOMP-WOMP-FART-WOMP-WOMPWOMP-SCREEEEEEH.

3) Like most experimental, genre-bending bands, I've read that you
don't like being labelled as "Post" or "Math" anything, which is highly understandable.
How would you personally categorize your sound to someone who has never heard your
music, or any of the genres associated with Loose Lips Sink Ships?

SM: Personally, I'm okay with labels as people see fit. It is a human tendency to categorize
things, and it's an asset in the sciences. If you go to the library and ask, "I'd like to
check out this book by so-and-so" and the librarian lowers his/her glasses and says, "I'm
sorry, that book is just so good that we can't categorize it", you're going to be fucking
pissed. I think there are quite a few bands that fall into the math-post-experimental
rock category that would like to 'defy' categorization, but what's the difference? It
would be a bit pretentious if nothing else to not want to be grouped with other bands
that are pretty rad in their own right. If there is an interview out there that says we
don't like that, then I guess this is contradictory.




4) In September 2008, you released a split album with El Pin Meldou, could you tell me a
little bit about the recording process and how it all came about?

SM: We had some songs written and so we recorded them in our friends studio above his garage.
I can't recall too many details of this session, other than it only took about a day. El Pin Meldou
was a band that Jacob and Conor were in before Loose Lips Sink Ships. Sorry I
can't provide much insight on this..


5) After the release of the 2009 Self Titled 7", Loose Lips went on to
develop an even more "challenging" sound, which saw the release of the mid-2010 7" split
album with Victor Villarreal, titled "Eating Happens". Technicality definitely spews
from the track "Sarah Palin's Parasailing", what pushed you guys for an even further
technical sound? Had the 4 of you somehow become bored at the state of your song writing?

SM: I think the two 7'' records are a natural progression in terms of where we started and
where we are now. I don't think we were ever bored, but it's important to all of us to
avoid complacency. It is very easy to write the same song over and over again per se, and
sometimes you really have to try a slew of different things that don't work to break your
own habits and tendencies. "Sara Palin's Parasailin'" was very rewarding because we
recorded it ourselves, and it is a fun song to play.

6) Your song titles are great. Obscure and questionable, but most
entertaining. For example, "Jesus Christ Look At That Yahweh", or "Meth Is Fun". What is
normally the inspiration behind choosing titles for Loose Lips Sink Ships?

SM: There is very little inspiration behind these titles, as one may guess from the lack of
seriousness. It's important to not take yourself too seriously, and perhaps that is the
only significance of the titles.


7) Future Loose Lips Sink Ships releases include; a split album w/
Noumenon, and a split album w/ Rooftops, which I am extremely excited to hear, can you
tell me when each of these will see the light of day?

SM: This is a source of great excitement for all of us in both bands, that being us and
Noumenon. There was talk of a split with Rooftops but that never materialized. The split
with Noumenon will be available sometime in August. This is our most recent material, and
we are really pumped to have it finally see the light of day! Noumenon was a great band
to do a split with because the music is similar in many ways but aesthetically, very
different.




8) Loose Lips played their last show at the House Cafe in DeKalb, in
the fall of 2010. Upon reading this myself, I haven't managed to find any official word 
about the break-up, or any real confirmation any where but random blog posts stating the 
same thing. What was the reasoning behind the possibility of a hiatus or break-up?

SM: We live in different parts of the country these days, so that's why we don't play
together any more. It is highly unlikely that we'll play again, but you never know. There
is a DVD that will be released very soon of this performance.


9) Rehearsals started again in June 2011, with performances already
planned for August. Was this the break of an indefinite hiatus, or rather a spontaneous
act of nostalgia after an expected break-up?

SM: This was a result of all of us living in the same area for 3 months, during which time we
finished writing and recording our most recent song, 'Papa Chubby', which is on the
upcoming record.

Living in different states can definitely take a toll on writing, amongst other things.
But Steve and the rest of Loose Lips Sink Ships will still be hard at work with their
remaining 3 projects -

Jacob and Steve play in a group called Renaissance Sound.

Conor writes electronic music as The Soft Greens.

Matthew plays in Lifted Bells.

Their new split album with Noumenon, entitled "Bro Grinds: Music To Grind Your Bros To"
will be released on Naked Alley Records on the 14th of August. You can preview/pre-order
the album HERE!

Toma - Tom Adams

Underrated is a widely thrown-around term, typically implying "underestimated" or 

"unrecognized". Often I've stumbled upon artists where after extensive listening, I've had 

to ask myself "Is everyone insane? Why is this so underrated?", which usually leaves me 

feeling frustrated at the state of the music world today. I imagine this has happened to 

many of us, and these days it seems that the most effective way to get these artists the 

appreciation they deserve is either by word of mouth among friends, or at least general 

forum interaction between music lovers alike. 

One of these very situations has stuck with me for years now; an artist who has yet to 

achieve the international acknowledgement he deserves, but has remained a prominent part of 

the local Cambridge live-scene..

Tom Adams is an artist from Cambridge,UK, taking influence from a wide variety of genres 

including post-rock, electronica, ambient and classical. Since 2007 he has released 2 

full-length albums and 1 EP under the moniker Toma. He has also managed to maintain 

numerous other bands and projects such as The Mountaineering Club, The Mountaineering Club 

Orchestra, and more recently, the eerie Hollow Mountain.

I got a chance to speak with Tom about his time in University and his personal influence 

during writing:

1) The first time I heard Toma, I was stunned, never before had I encountered music so 

therapeutic and profound. Where did you find most of your inspiration during the conceptive 

stages of Toma? 

TA: I never really made a conscious decision for Toma to sound the way it did, the sound sort 

of emerged in quite an organic way. At the time I was just starting to get into 

ambient/post rock bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions In The Sky, Sigur Ros 

and M83, and I remember I was on the bus to college when some chords and a sound came in to 

my head that were (I thought) like these new bands I was listening to. Fortunately I had my 

laptop with me, so I sequenced out the chords in Garage Band whilst sitting on

the bus. That idea turned in to the track '5 Weeks' and from there I just started to write 

and record more and more tracks in a similar style, experimenting with layering synths, 

guitars and vocals.

2) You released your debut album 'From Ruins' in 2007, and gained air-play on a local 

radio-station, what kind of a response did you recieve from this release?

TA: I got a very positive response online. I posted the album on a forum called 

'afterthepostrock' and a guy called Jim Phillips got in touch with me, saying he wanted to 

release the album on his netlabel WiseOwl (RIP). Through that I got a lot of listeners and 

also discovered a number of awesome bands that were also on Wise Owl, that were also doing 

the whole 'bedroom production' thing.

3) York University has been like a second home to you for a while now, how has this 

progressed your creativity? And do you feel that your production skills have improved since 

this step? 

TA: At York University, I was doing a music degree, so I was writing/playing music every day 

with some really good musicians. Two important things happened to me at University: 1) I 

got into minimalist classical music and 2) I got into electronica/dance music. I discovered 

composers such as Johann Johannsson, Olafur Arnalds, Gavin Bryars and Clint Mansell, as 

well as electronica artists like Mount Kimbie, Gold Panda, Flying Lotus and Bonobo. These 

influences had a big affect on the music I was making, mainly because I stopped being so 

focussed on Post-Rock and started to write in other genres. I started using hardware as 

well as software and out of this came a live project called 'The Mountaineering Club'

(http://themountaineeringclub.co.uk) which is a 4 piece consisting of 2 electronic 

performers and 2 guitarists (as well as some vocals, trumpets and saxophones). I also 

recorded and released a completely instrumental classical/electronica album as 'The 

Mountaineering Club Orchestra'. With regards to production, although on the course no

production was taught, you can't spend three years recording tracks without getting at least 

a bit better! I now use Logic Pro 9 for most of my tracks and although I am improving, I 

still have a long way to go before I am even half as good as someone like Jon Hopkins or 

Nils Frahm!

4) Dakota Took To Wing And History Was Made was the 2008 follow-up EP to From Ruins, would you say that this release is more conclusive or rather a companion to From Ruins? 

TA: I think of it as more of a companion to From Ruins. It features a series of tracks that I 

wrote at the same time as when I was writing From Ruins, but didnt get a chance to properly 

record until the following year. The production values are very similar and it was all done 

in Garage Band or Logic Express. I dont think either From Ruins or Dakota have actually had 

any mastering on them at all... As I didnt learn what mastering was until I got to York! 

Still, I got some great feedback from Dakota, particularly the track 'Watchtower of the 

Universe' which is based on a live take I did in my bedroom with just me and a guitar.

5) I believe that you're somewhat of a multi-instrumentalist, all kinds of sounds can be 

heard throughout your catalogue (guitar, bass, strings, piano, synthesizers, trumpet etc), 

are there any other instruments that you're interested in or are currently learning?

TA: I mostly play piano, guitar and sing. All of the drums for Toma are sequenced and most 

other sounds are either synths or from sample banks. I am learning the trumpet at the 

moment, and I'm also learning to perform on hardware. I currently have an Electribe and two 

Kaoss Pads, but am looking to upgrade to some Elektron hardware, perhaps a Machinedrum or 

Octatrack. I love making music on hardware because it is so immediate, there is none of the 

hassle of turning on your computer, opening logic, loading some synths and setting up some 

audio tracks, by which time the idea has probably gone. Hardware is very limited though, so 

I now find myself sketching out ideas on hardware before taking them to the software level 

and making use of the better production values and greater flexibility that computers have 

to offer.

6) Even though Toma is mainly a "studio-only" project, did you ever take it live? If so, 

how was the audience reception?

TA: I have never taken Toma live, though I would love to! I have played several of the more 

solo orientated songs (such as 'Watchtower of the Universe') at acoustic gigs with just my 

guitar and me singing, but i think it would work better as a full band.

7) In December 2009, you released your third effort, 'As We Fall Into Static Our Hearts 

Sing', which was outstanding to say the least, songs like 'Terrorforming' and 'Fallback 

Lighthorsemen' swim with lush textures and infectious melodies. Where did you take 

influence from during the writing of this album?

TA: I like to do a lot of hiking and outdoors stuff, and often tunes will just pop into my head 

fully formed, or I find I have been humming something for the last few miles and suddenly 

become aware of it. When this happens I record a video on my camera of me singing whatever 

the idea is pointing at whatever I am looking at. When I watch the videos back, the 

combination of the visuals and the audio help me to get back into whatever frame of mind I 

was in at the time. I wrote 'As We Fall...' in a year I took out before going to 

university, and as part of this year out I traveled a lot. I have a series of videos of 

random bits of landscape, particularly in Iceland and Scotland, where I'm singing a hook or 

a drum beat that later became part of the album.

8) For a while now, you've been working with The Mountaineering Club, taking 

roles such as guitarist, pianist and vocalist among other fellow friends and musicians. How 

does The Mountaineering Club's songwriting process differ to that of Toma? 

TA: The main difference is that The Mountaineering Club is a live band, and Toma is a

recording project. When writing for The Mountaineering Club, we initially set up some synth 

sounds and beat layers, then improvise together and build the song that way. With Toma, 

often I have a very clear idea of what the song is going to be like on the outset, so it's 

much more a case of working towards the sound I have in my head. This often involves

layering way more synth and guitar lines than is really practical for live situations, and 

it is massively time consuming! More and more, I am getting in to the idea of making music 

fast, and not spending hours and hours automating and layering tracks. In the end it is 

about having fun, and I have a lot more fun when im making music than when I'm editing it!

Even though Toma has not been a very active part of Tom's life for the past while, he still 

continues to work with his friends in The Mountaineering Club. He has a number of exciting 

things lined up for the future, maybe they'll include Toma, maybe they won't. But for now, 

all we can do is keep up with him HERE.