What were you up to when you met for the first time?
Brian: I was up to my neck in shredded guitar lines that Lynne was throwing from the stage. We met at a show. Lynne destroyed the room and I waited patiently outside the club for her to exit. Once she did I put her in a canvas sack and have kept her in my music studio ever since. Sure, she fought a little but that's what gives our music its edge. We laugh about it now; it was like Silence of The Lambs - with her being the girl in the well and I the creepy guy upstairs. Only, my master plan is just to continue playing music with her, I don't want her skin. If only he didn't want to take her skin, they could have made beautiful music too. You never know.
Lynne: I believe the story goes....I was playing a show and Brian was in the audience. But that is all a blur. The first conversation I remember having was with Brian and his long long hair, waxed mustache and fake french accent. I felt conflicted about most of these things.
What are you up to now?
Brian: I am in a cafe in San Francisco, waiting for my laundry to wash, wondering how I can beat the jet lag when we fly to London on Friday, and about to draw a picture of a robot.
Lynne: Getting ready to tour in your neck of the woods supporting Marnie Stern and play The Super Sonic Festival....ie: going over gear lists and spreadsheets in my PJs tottering right on the edge of a full frontal freak out....of joy!
Why did you decide to keep the same band name despite re-inventing yourselves after 'Trouble'?
Brian: By that point we had put many years of work into Tartufi and getting our name out across the US. Though we never liked the name, when our old band mate left the band we had no intention of stopping and therefore saw no reason to change the name. There were definitely skeptics out there when we announced that we intended to continue as a duo and keep the name, but I think we, long ago, proved their doubts to be unwarranted. Thankfully our fans have always been really loyal and supportive and came to our early duo shows with great excitement. That definitely helped build our confidence and encouraged us to continue as we have.
Lynne: We felt justified in doing so. Our bandmate left the group - not us - we had no intention of stopping and we had quite a bit invested in the name at that point. Do we like the name? Not all the time. But keeping it was something that felt necessary. And we immediately took the band in the direction it had been struggling to go in since the beginning of Brian and I playing together. It was a joyous occasion.
What have you been watching and listening to around the writing and recording of Nests Of Waves?
Brian: Menomena, Parts and Labor, No Things, Grizzly Bear, 31 Knots, Low Red Land, Silian Rail, etc...
Lynne: Hmm. We were touring while writing that album quite a bit so probably: Vetiver, Radiohead, The Heartless Bastards, Menomena, Russian Circles, Joanna Newsom, John Frusciante, Low Red Land and .... Tartufi. We listened to the album in its various stages A LOT while we were recording to make sure each part was sounding as we wanted it to.
What instruments do you play on this record...is it the same when you play live?
Brian: We played so many different instruments on Nests that we eventually lost count: vibes, a great selection of vintage keyboards, piano, timpani, oxygen tanks, glockenspiel, megaphones, whistles, guitars, guitars, and more guitars, a host of old effects boxes, beautiful and junky mics, a huge box of percussion instruments, and lots of experimentation. We do a decent job of approximating the album live, but we look at our live show and recordings as two very separate beasts. We allow for much more mellow-mellow on the recording than we do at our live show. On stage Lynne plays 2 guitars, a bass, keys, runs a huge effects board, and vocals and I play drums, glock, bass, keys, and vocals.
Lynne: For the most part - yes - we play the same instruments live as we do on the record, meaning that I play guitars, bass, keyboard and sing and Brian plays drums, keyboard, xylophone and bass. BUT when we are recording we like to add embellishments that we call "ear candy" .... using the instruments that both studios had available. Let see, there were timpani, a gorgeous set of vibes, a whole slew of vintage keyboards and organs, a whirly tube, a piano, a thunder tube, a bunch of percussive tools, a saw blade, some belly slaps, an accordion, a CO2 tank, a squeaky chair....the list could go on and on.
What's the routine on an average day on tour with Tartufi?
Brian: Wake up, usually at a rest area or a friend's house. Find coffee and a hot water for Lynne's personal tea stash. Take a bath at a Starbucks sink (single stall, semi-private bathrooms at Satrbucks' rule!), drive to the next town, eating sandwiches and listening to This American Life podcast along the way. If we have time we try and explore the town. I usually go for a run and Lynne will read or write for a bit. More coffee and hot water. Get to the club, deal with the details for the night, load in, sound check, etc. Wait around to play, hopefully making new friends in the meantime. Play our show, hang out with our audience, and the other bands we played with. Get paid, load out, and then drive to a gas station for a twelve pack and some snacks. If we are equipped with explosives and the police presence seems light we will set off some celebratory fireworks and then drive to the nearest rest area. Once parked we'll crack open a few beers, listen to music, watch a movie, or sometimes do some ridiculous recordings of our own in the van. Then we climb in back and cuddle up with a 16 channel mixing board, our bags of clothes, two large boxes of fireworks, and a case of Tartufi CDs. Sleep. Wake. Repeat.
Lynne: Wake up in back of van. Go to bathroom. Brush teeth. Get in van. Drive to coffee shop. Get caffeinated. Drive whilst listening to music. Eat sandwich (tartourwich). Drive some more. Stop to buy something unnecessary (fireworks, candy, a CD that probably stinks to high heaven). Arrive at club on time and ready to rip. Unload van. Get gear situated. Wait. Load to stage. Shred a rad set out. Load to side of stage. Break gear down. Wade through slews of crazy fans to get beers. Continue breaking gear down. Get more beers. Listen to other bands or - if we played last - get one more beer. Load to van. Set off firework. Drive van to friend's house or nearest rest area. Watch movie on computer. Drink a few more beers. Go to bathroom. Brush teeth. Night nighty.
What do you spend your time on aside from being in the band?
Brian: There is time aside from being in a band? When we are home we are almost always working on the band or some aspect relating to the band - booking, marketing, creating media, writing, rehearsing, dreaming, etc... When we have a few days we will steal away with our girlfriends and do our best to not annoy them with talk about Tartufi.
Lynne: I bartend / book / do sound at a club in San Francisco called El Rio. It is a fabulous place and I love it there. I also teach 4-7 year olds how to rock with Brian and our friend Paco in a school we developed called Saturday Morning Rock Out. I also write record reviews and show previews for SF Station - a local news and entertainment blog.
Where do you go for a good time in San Francisco?
Brian: You don't have to try hard to have a good time here. There is always something ridiculous going on: tricycle races for adults, bbqs, costumed bike rallies, great music shows, hilarious comedians, etc... After being on the road for I while I am just psyched to see my friends and drift around the city, taking it all in.
Lynne: A little place called "Naked Land". Woah! No. I like to go to shows and hang out with my buddies and my ladypants.
Tell us a little about Saturday Morning Rock Out?
Brian: SMRO! Is a rock music school for 4-7 year olds that we started with our good friend and SF celebrity, Paco Romane. In the class we form a band with the kids, and we write, record and perform and original song with them over the course of 5 Saturdays. It's hug fun and the kids have written some great songs. You can check some of their most recent songs out here: http://tartufirock.net/Kids_Rock
Lynne: 4-7 year old kids are flipping hilarious. I really enjoy listening to their ideas about the song lyrics and band names because usually there are a few gems in there I save in my "Steal This From A 5 Year Old" folder. We get them playing the instruments, and working together - as a band - to come up with a song and perform it for their friends and family at a record release show at the end of each session. Those songs end up being stuck in our heads for a good month after the class ends. We are churnin' out hits I tell ya...HITS!
[Jul 2009] Back to Top
tartufirock.net
Artwork by Tartufi
