An Interview with Tete Essein

An Interview with Tete Essein

An Interview with Tete Essein

BOREDOM

What inspired the start of the project and what are your influences?

Just a bit of boredom and a lot of encouragement really. I was kind of thinking about doing something for a while but I’d turn myself off it – tell myself that I could better spend my time (and money) on other things, but I think deep down I knew that the urge to do this was a part of me now. There’s not much point arguing with myself now, is there? In terms of influences, it ranges from Otis Redding to Tame Impala. If I hear it and I can feel something in it, it can sit.

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

For me, it’s really all about the idea and not letting other things get in the way of that. You can start dressing something up and then find that you’ve put so much on it that you don’t recognise what it was originally supposed to be. It can be quite tempting to do that, so remembering what that initial spark was, and that if it’s strong enough, you won’t need to put the cakey make-up on. Thematically I’d say I’m interested in individuals and their decisions, good or bad. If it’s character based, you don’t want anyone coming across as whiter than white, there’s nothing relatable in that and honestly, it’s just boring. Plus, we’ve got enough songs about ‘perfect’ people being let down. We’ve got enough bullshit already.

IDEA

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

For me, it’s really all about the idea and not letting other things get in the way of that. You can start dressing something up and then find that you’ve put so much on it that you don’t recognise what it was originally supposed to be. It can be quite tempting to do that, so remembering what that initial spark was, and that if it’s strong enough, you won’t need to put the cakey make-up on. Thematically I’d say I’m interested in individuals and their decisions, good or bad. If it’s character based, you don’t want anyone coming across as whiter than white, there’s nothing relatable in that and honestly, it’s just boring. Plus, we’ve got enough songs about ‘perfect’ people being let down. We’ve got enough bullshit already.

MUSIC

Why do you write the music that you do?

Picking up the guitar, for ages I thought that meant I should make ‘guitar music’ if you know what I mean. You can pigeonhole yourself into thinking “I do this so I am this”, but that was never really the case with me. I want to make music with my guitar and not just guitar music, the distinction is important to me because I’ve never liked one thing solely. Sometimes it feels like the songs tell you what they should be – your only job then is to hold their hand and keep them out of trouble. At the end of the day, I just want to make music that I’m excited about and see where it goes from there and if that’s nowhere in particular, that’s calm too.

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

I actually started drafting setlist templates the other day, for when we’re all able to gig again. I know in my head what I want a show of mine to sound and feel like so I can work on catering to that. You want enough variation in sound and tempo to keep it interesting but not to change things for contraries sake. Like I said, it’s as much about feeling as it is about sound so if the songs aren’t played exactly like I wrote or recorded them, that’s fine as long as they’re still being expressed in the right way.

DRAFTING

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

I actually started drafting setlist templates the other day, for when we’re all able to gig again. I know in my head what I want a show of mine to sound and feel like so I can work on catering to that. You want enough variation in sound and tempo to keep it interesting but not to change things for contraries sake. Like I said, it’s as much about feeling as it is about sound so if the songs aren’t played exactly like I wrote or recorded them, that’s fine as long as they’re still being expressed in the right way.

MUSIC

What plans do you have for the future?

To keep releasing music. I know what and how I want to package the next few things so it’s just about waiting until the right time to work towards that. I could sit and wax lyrical to you about grandiose plans that I have forever and a day, but more and more I’m just trying to get the little things right because the rest will follow. Little steps turn into strides and that’s what I’m on at the moment. I’ll write songs, play gigs and design some t-shirts befitting of them both. That’s why I started all this anyways, to come up with the best merch in music, everything else is a bonus.