The Other Tribe has significantly grown in quite a short span of time, making it almost hard to believe that the indie fusion dance troupe only came together in 2009. Regardless, their energy is a force to be reckoned with. Each track of theirs is laced with a magic of its own, reminiscent of an electrifying disco flavored tribal rave. Now tell me that doesn’t sound like a good time? Lucky for us, there’s a solid bit of events/releases that we can look forward to and a lot more dancing that we can get ready for. Until then, check out our interview and get acquainted with The Other Tribe.
Earmilk: Where are you all from? Tell me about the first time you guys came together. Why the name The Other Tribe?
The Other Tribe: We all formed whilst at university in Bristol. We met on the club scene, which is how we discovered our shared love of music and parties. Our most common hang out was ‘Groove On,’ a Wednesday house night at Dojo from the guys who run Bristol’s legendary Just Jack nights. We see ourselves as a tribe, like a band of brothers (who aren’t actually brothers), but we work together, we are our own tribe, and we like to think that the fans are part of it too. The Other Tribe is what you make of it, and it’s open for anyone to join.
EM: How has the direction you all wanted to take with your music shifted since the group formed? Who are your influences?
TOT: When we started playing together we were all listening to a lot of House and Techno which was and still is very popular in Bristol (where we formed). There were also other artists such as Soulwax and Chemical Brothers as well as other bands like Late of the Pier and Does It Offend You, Yeah? that were making a name for themselves, which inspired the energy we have behind the band. We are also massive fans of Deep House and this has definitely had an impact on the way that a lot of our more recent tracks have formed. Notable DJ’s include Groove Armada, Maceo Plex, and Psychemagik.
EM: Tell me about your last 3 tracks (Sing With Your Feet, My Girl, and Skirts). They all shed light on your disco and electronic flavored experimental style of music. What was the production process like? What were you hoping to accomplish?
TOT: “Skirts” was the first single we came out with. We wanted to create a song that sang of summer, as summer is always the highlight of our year. “Sing With Your Feet” was a concept of Alex’s, starting from the main riff and progressing into a full song, much like “My Girl”. Our production process so far has been programming songs into Logic, then recreating the parts on analogue hardware. Our end goal was to get our sound across which we feel we’ve done justice to.
EM: How would you describe your sound in your own words? What message do you want to convey with your music?
TOT: Our sound touches on deep house and techno with a tribal edge with percussion and tribal instruments, with catchy vocals and a lot of energy. The live show is our staple, as that’s where we can properly bring that energy across, all of the live elements would sound too hectic on a recording so that has to be ironed out and simplified. I wouldn’t say we’re trying to put across a particular message; we just make music that makes us want to dance, and hope that other people feel the same too. Luckily, the live shows have been on our side with that one.
EM: What has been the biggest learning experience for you all as genre bending musicians?
TOT: The biggest learning experience has to have been translating what we do into a live format. We play as a full band with live instruments and electronics, so getting the balance right is key. Also the decision to turn our set into a continuous mix, like a DJ set was a big step forward, now we can perform with no gaps, which helps us maintain the energy levels we want to project to the crowd, although we can’t help but feel a bit sorry for Ollie with his regular non-stop drumming workouts…
EM: The “Skirts” video definitely looks like a fun time. What were you planning to accomplish with the visuals? Could you explain the video to our readers?
TOT: That’s because that “Skirts” video was a lot of fun. We wanted to create a party in the woods, but do it our way. We wanted people to see how fun it would be to come to a live show and we think that comes across. The video follows an innocent girl being led through the woods where she loses her innocent charm and gets caught up in the middle of a shamanistic dance in the middle of a The Other Tribe forest rave.
EM: Are there any events or releases we can look forward to?
TOT: Our new single, “My Girl” will be released on Relentless/Sony on September 15th, and of course we have an album on the way. Apart from that, there will be an Autumn tour and hopefully more to follow. I believe there was also a baby of some importance born recently, but I can’t say how involved we were with that…
EM: Feel free to add anything else you’d like readers to know.
TOT: Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
-Conducted by Ravahn Duval