Somewhere in a field in Iowa, USA three aliens plug in their gigantic amps. They have heard of this thing called “jamming”and want to make an attempt themselves. Inspired by by human bands like Om and Earthless they have bought themselves a bunch of gear and are ready to rumble. Once their amplifiers switch on a million tiny little eyes start to glow. Countless tentacles start strumming strings and banging at drums. The result is this ginormous spacious, doomy, jazzy, psych sludge album called Big Bright Empty Nothing.
Instrumental alien doom psych from Iowa? You better believe it. With a sound that’ll make you crawl into your comfortable chair and disappear, turning up a day later mumbling something about pink aliens, green lakes, and a million tiny little eyes. They have arrived, and they will turn your senses into mush.
Who knew three spaced out aliens could turn a first jam into such a lush and trippy journey? No need for Mulder and Scully to jump into an investigation though, but you should. Check out their Bandcamp right now and jump on the UFO!
Aliens?! Lies! These three humans in disguise are the pundits responsible for the racket of T.A.N.G. Let’s lift the veil and quickly learn all about them…
How are you? How has the pandemic period been for T.A.N.G.?
The pandemic stopped a lot of momentum we had playing gigs. I live in Iowa and not much has changed when the pandemic happened, but it gave us some time to write a super solid album and record it at Lone Tree, Iowa. It was rough at first but we came out of writing done a new lease on playing shows and performing.
Can you introduce the band, and how did you meet, etc?
I (James) met Zach Ryserson at Luther College and bonded over our love of Lil Ugly Mane which eventually turned into punk/metal and then graduated to stoner metal and doom. We were jamming with our friend JJ on drums, but went on to do his own project. Our senior year we met Leo Naughton-Herbach who is a killer drummer and music aficionado and the rest is history.
What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?
Leo and I come from a more hardcore punk/DIY background while Zach is from a more refined Jazz/Funk/Large Band background. Leo has played drums in jazz and big band settings but had his feet wet in the Minneapolis punk/metal scene since he was in High School. I played and went to a lot of house shows in high school but can remember being involved with music since I was like 5 or 6. Love the atmosphere or house shows a lot more. I’m pretty sure I took Ryerson to his first few DIY gigs and he was all about it. We just love performing and didn’t really care where the gig was, party in some guy’s house or in a more refined concert setting, a gig is a gig. We all love punk/metal/jazz and even though we got into music for differently, it’s the DIY community that made us go all in.
What does a regular day in your lives look like?
A Regular day for T.A.N.G is to contemplate the horrors that lie beyond our meaningless existence and smoke hella weed. Prolly play some music and kendama for fun.
What is the best thing about Big Bright, Empty Nothing?
I think what we love about BBEN is how dynamic it is and how each track flows with each other. We spent alot of time making sure this release sounded as fluid as possible.
Where do you live and what is the environment like for musicians like you?
I live in Iowa, Zach lives in Minneapolis, and Leo lives in Chicago. Obviously, the doom/stoner scene is much bigger there and there are tons of shows for bands like that while in Iowa the reception can be a little mixed. There are punk and metal bands, but nothing that sounds like us really. Overall people are usually open minded and like it, but we are definitely an anti-normie kind of sound. weirdo’s only for the most part. We met at a lutheran private music school and kids there were students that are insanely stuck up about music. Choir kids mostly. Having shows there was alot of fun cause alot of those students haven’t really seen good live bands, but never understood the sound we were going for. We kind of have an alienating sound but that is what we signed up for with a group like this.
Who are some contemporary musical heroes of yours?
Earthless was a massive inspiration in starting this band. Love the dynamics and soloing style Isiah brings to the table. Even though it’s mostly instrumental, they have written some of the most epic songs of all time in my opinion. Om‘s writing style we definitely take a lot from also. We’re all fans of bands like Electric Wizard, Conan, EYEHATEGOD etc and love slower paced metal with crushing riffs. I’ve always been a fan of the work ethic guys like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and King Gizzard have. Reminds me of old school jazz musicians that were constantly in the studio putting out a few records a year trying to hone their craft. Honestly too many people to bring up honestly haha. We have certain genres of music we are all passionate about but we are able to bring other influences to make the T.A.N.G sound. Just saw the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio in Omaha and they were killer.
Can you tell me about how you go about composing and recording songs?
Zach and I write a bunch of riffs and come together and see what fits. Since it’s instrumental, I try to make riffs a little intricate, but still try to make sure they are very listenable and groovy. Still want people to headbang of course but want to write something you can listen to and not get bored of, cause chances we’ll be playing it for like 5-7 minutes. We all come together and work on transitions and discuss what feels right. It’s controlled chaos but we have developed a writing style that is effective for us. The last 2 albums we recorded at Flat Black Studios with Luke. His studio is amazing and has a ton of awesome gear we use to help make some of the sounds you hear in the latest album. With his resources and knowledge, we are able to get some gnarly sounds over overdubs. We have songs completely written,but usually have a whole day in the studio just trying to make the weirdest sounding shit ever. Really can’t recommend working with him enough. He’s a top 10 guy of all time.
What are your immediate and long term future plans?
Write more songs, play more shows. Hopefully do a little tour or play some festivals. We already have some ideas for our next few songs. We all just want a massive discography and we’re just getting started in my opinion.
What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?
Take an 1/8 of mushrooms and listen to Big Bright Empty Nothing on Spotify, Bandcamp, or Youtube. Come to one of our shows.
Weirdo Shrine 