In the wake of a great year for Gunning for Tamar and at the start of what looks like will be an even better one for the band, we caught up with the guys for a quick chat about their time together so far, their upcoming single and what the future has in store for the rising stars of Oxford’s indie scene.
“The last year was pretty ace for the band, we sold out the first pressing of our debut EP Deaf Cow Motel, DIY toured the UK a few times, toured Germany, played some festivals, and played with some amazing bands. And after driving quite a few thousand miles, our tour van only failed its MOT on a broken horn. Big win.”
This hard work culminated with the band signing to Alcopop! Records at the end of the year for the release of their new single “Time Trophies” which they’ve chosen to release in an unorthodox manner.
“When we were thinking of how to do the physical release for the single we had the idea of putting it out on a watch with a download code for the tracks on each one; Jack Clothier (Alcopop! Founder) is the master at putting out music in interesting and cool ways so we knew if anyone could make a watch release work it would be him.”
In many ways the band seems to have found the perfect record label to match their ambitions. We asked the band how it felt to be working with Alcopop! and the recording process for “Time Trophies”:
“Jack Alcopop! is the coolest guy without a doubt and his roster is dangerously good [see: ute, Jumping Ships, Johnny Foreigner, The Family Machine] so we really wanted to be part of the family. We recorded the tracks with Forward Russia! hero turned production badass Tom Woodhead in a beautiful studio in Wales called Giant Wafer.”
Indeed, working in these comfortable conditions seems to have done the band a world of good but has it changed the band’s sound?
“The new songs definitely have our sound but we like to try different things to keep it interesting and exciting. Ideally every new song should feel like it's better than the last so that's what we aim for. We used a grand piano in one of the tracks which we've never done before so that was cool, we almost felt like proper musicians…”
But it’s not just the band’s recorded output that stands as testament to their improving musicianship – their live show has become one of the best and most accomplished in Oxford and they have plans to take it further afield.
“We draw inspiration from bands like 65daysofstatic – we’ve tried to emulate the sheer energy of their live performances. The best part of being in a band for us is creating something and then getting to play it live. Our German tour was the best tour we’ve done; some of the venues had this amazing punk ethos and were full of welcoming, good people. On top of that the gigs were run by young people who actually care for music, are all politically active (strongly anti-fascist) and genuinely believe everything they do and say. It was really great to see that desire. Hopefully we'll hit some cool festivals this year.”
Festival appearances are not the only thing band have to look forward to; Gunning for Tamar have already been heralded as ones to watch for 2012 by taste-makers Rock Sound magazine and from listening to “Time Trophies” it’s not hard to see what all the fuss is about. But there’s no chance of this praise going to the band’s head.
“We believe in the music we make, so it's always cool when other people get and want to support the stuff you do – I don't think we'll ever stop being grateful for that.”
[Originally published in Oxford Music Scene magazine, issue 17 ] http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue17.pdf
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