An interview with Josh Grier from Tapes ‘n Tapes. Feb 2011
How are you all? Life enjoyably hectic at the moment?
Yeah, enjoyably hectic would be a good way to describe things.
We're doing well, though. We just kicked off a month and a half long
US tour, so we're excited to be out playing shows. It feels good to
bust out some of our new songs.
Your third record and it maintains the quality in song writing and
musicianship as the previous two. From your point of view, was there any different approach taken to the recording process this time around?
I think the overall approach we had to making this record was pretty similar to our past records. However, we did spend more time as a band demoing the songs on the new record. In the past, I would typically make a rough demo of a song, then I would bring it into the band and we would sort things out in a live setting.
This time around we focused more energy on demoing the songs before we went into record. I think hearing the demos and working on them allowed the songs to grow more before, we went into record. It also gave us a better idea of how we wanted everything to sound.
I always feel there is a hint of Talking Heads & Pavement influences in your songs. Is that right or do your influences come from elsewhere?
I think we're all influenced by different music and different things in life. I was probably most influenced by the music that my parents played when I was a kid: lots of Beatles, Bob Dylan, classical music, 60's R&B, and 70's rock. That being said, I do think both Talking Heads and Pavement are great bands.
If somebody had not heard your music before, how would you describe your sound?
I would preface anything by first saying that I'm terrible at describing music. Then I would probably say, we sound like your new favourite band. Ha!
I guess you are better known in your homeland but, are you planning European dates/ festivals this year and do you have any thoughts about raising your profile overseas?
We've played a bunch in Europe in the past. Currently we don't have any European tour dates. But that can always change...
Do you prefer being creative in the studio or rocking' on the road?
I like having a healthy mix of both. It always seems like one leads
to the other. If we spend too much time touring, I can't wait to get
back to recording. But after we make a record, I usually can't wait
to get out and play more shows. It's a vicious cycle.
If you were to wear a tee shirt of another artist/band, who would it be?
I do wear a lot of other band's T shirts. I would add a Tame Impala t-shirt to my collection though.
With SXSW on the horizon, are there any new artists on your radar that we should hear?
I saw Twin Sister recently and they were amazing. I'm not sure if they'll be down at SXSW, but you should definitely check them out.
Heading out of a road trip tomorrow, what 5 CDs would you take with you?
Buddy Miles, "A Message To The People", Wire "Pink Flag", Neutral
Milk Hotel "Aeroplane Over The Sea", Wu-Tang Clan "Enter the Wu-Tang
(36 Chambers)", Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"
Finally, where did the band name come from?
A buddy of mine and I used to spend nights recording improvised
songs with a 4 track tape recorder. After a few nights of we had
"tapes 'n tapes" filled with songs. So I convinced him and another
friend (Matt, our keyboard player) into forming a band called tapes 'n tapes.
Thanks to Josh for his time and good luck to the band in 2011 .. let's hope they make it to Europe!
