What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences and are they the same as when you started out?
Tung in Cheek was initially coined by our lead vocalist Andy after his and Eoin’s old band disbanded. I think it portrays the bold free nature of the band. Our influences vary hugely. Andy our vocalist loves rap music, Eoin loves bands like Dope Lemon and The Stone Roses, Chris our drummer loves a lot of math rock and Gavin our bassist loves all things rock from heavy hard hitting to ambient and indie.
How do you approach songwriting?
Our songs generally start with music and then lyrics are added. Andy our vocalist usually takes the idea home and pens some lyrics. We usually jam out a chord progression or riff and see where it goes. We have used Ableton before for song writing which has been cool. Thematically we definitely focus a lot on growing up in Ireland as a young person and the ups and downs that that brings. Our music is often written through the lens of a protagonist with observations of their surroundings. Some recurring themes include loneliness and sense of lost direction.
How do you approach songwriting?
Our songs generally start with music and then lyrics are added. Andy our vocalist usually takes the idea home and pens some lyrics. We usually jam out a chord progression or riff and see where it goes. We have used Ableton before for song writing which has been cool. Thematically we definitely focus a lot on growing up in Ireland as a young person and the ups and downs that that brings. Our music is often written through the lens of a protagonist with observations of their surroundings. Some recurring themes include loneliness and sense of lost direction.
Why?
I think we write music now primarily to play live. The kick off playing your own music live is hard to describe but I think it’s what keeps drawing us back. The recording and studio process can also be massively fulfilling and rewarding. Our music is an amalgamation of all of our styles and influences. We have a lot of freedom in the band to experiment and try new things, I think in some ways we are still refining our sound. We are lucky to have great support from our listeners which makes the process much more rewarding.
How do you decide what to perform live?
We often listen back on live videos and rehearsal recordings. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our set and we are pretty ruthless if a song isnt up to scratch. We try to add variety to them to keep things interesting, adding transitions and breakdowns to spice things up and keep ourselves and the listeners interested. We take a lot of pride in capturing the right sound in the studio and on stage.
How do you decide what to perform live?
We often listen back on live videos and rehearsal recordings. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our set and we are pretty ruthless if a song isnt up to scratch. We try to add variety to them to keep things interesting, adding transitions and breakdowns to spice things up and keep ourselves and the listeners interested. We take a lot of pride in capturing the right sound in the studio and on stage.
What plans do you have for the future?
We are releasing a 5-track EP on May 19th entitled ‘Knockoffs & Dummies’. We have already released 2 singles from it ‘Rib Cage’ and ‘Lucid’. We will be releasing a third single from it the week beforehand entitled ‘The Train’. We have a 8 gigs lined up between now and the end of May. Thursday we play a gig with Bricknasty in Fibber Maggees for 4/20. On May 7th we travel to London and play the Victoria Dalston. We play Harbour Bar in Bray on May 12th, Cork May 19th, Galway May 21st, Workman’s Club in Dublin on May 25th, Smiddys in Mullingar on May 26th, and Whelans in Dublin on May 27th. We are playing a festival this summer in Galway called Livestock which is the first weekend in July. We hope to arrange a few more shows and festivals for the summer months. We are going to have a few great bands joining us for these shows including Scustin, Qbanna, Nixer, The District, Loraine Club, Fynch and Iris.