Dancing to a Different Drummer

Rip It Up, Issue 237, 1 May 1997, Page 14

Dancing to a Different Drummer

In nauseating music biz speak, the Seattle based band Tuatara are a "supergroup". That is, name musicians from several famous bands collaborating under one roof. Tuatara, however, aren’t interested in adopting that tag; their musical mission is. to enlighten minds (including their own) without the aid of ‘contemporary alternative/college rock’.

RFuatara’s line-up features Screaming Trees Tuatara’s line-up features kiwi Justin Trees drummer Barrett Martin, kiwi Justin I Harwood (formerly of the Chills and now bassist in Luna), REM’s Peter Buck, and Skerik, a multi-instrumentalist who leads the US indie outfit, Critters Buggin. The quartet have just unveiled-r debut recording, Breaking the Ethers an eclectic, hypnotic, instrumental

album, that boasts elements of world music, Calypso styles, and bebop jazz grooves. In March Martin, Tuatara’s percussionist, was in Auckland for a week (his fourth visit to New Zealand), holidaying and catching up with

friends. He also spent time in a Grey Lynn rehearsal studio, recording with Chris Matthews of the Headless Chickens, and checked out the WOMAD Festival at Western Springs Park. The Thursday before that event, Martin could be found at the boardroom table at the Sony Music offices in Symonds Street, explaining what brought Tuatara together. “All of us wanted to get away from making rock records in the way we’ve all been using. As a musician, you want to feel there’s something more, that you can do something beyond the

constraints of guitar, bass, drums, vocals. I don’t think it’s anything to do with not enjoying rock ’n’ roll, because we are all still making rock ’n’ roll records, but we want to experiment and be innovative. To a certain degree, everybody in Tuatara has been in rock bands that were considered to be innovative rock bands, so we already have that in our personalities, it’s just a matter of getting down to brass tacks and trying something new.”

Tuatara took shape when Harwood visited Martin in Seattle in 1994, and the two began messing around in his home recording studio. The following year Buck and Skerick, also Seattle residents, became involved, and the project began to gather momentum. “It started as a jam session, with a view to do a soundtrack demo, then we got more songs together, and we realised we had a band, and enough songs to do an album. The record was done in three weeks on a shoestring budget, so it shows a disregard for modern rock, I guess; but it’s great to make records like this — it’s not just another rock record, it’s an experiment.” Questioned on why Tuatara are without a

singer, Martin simply responds, “We didn’t want a screaming ego getting in the way.” With the members of Tuatara stepping outside the musical realms they are known for, Martin admits they had reservations as to whether the group would be received favourably.

. “It’s a bit scary because you never know what people are going to say — will they think it’s just a big wank? But I have a feeling this is something people are really going to like. So far the response has been overwhelmingly great, everybody whose heard the record likes the concept of it.” . ' - .

Indeed, the concept is a good one. In Martin’s view, a lot of the spirit of rock ’n’ roll has disappeared. Where once it used to be a raw, ferocious, powerful thing, these days it’s become commercialised and placed within neat marketing categories that can be disseminated to the population. Tuatara want to go beyond that, he says. “I don’t know what it’s going to take, but I know it’s worth giving it a go, and it’s worth putting this style of music out there in the main-

stream. I like to be an optimist, and believe the human spirit still has a degree of willingness to look for something new.”

Regardless if Tuatara are discovered and accepted on an influential level, Martin says the band will continue and evolve, and do everything possible to squeeze their own musical buttons.

“I have a vision of where I would like it to go, as far as it being a performing entity with a relatively full band who can play all these instruments and really be a visual spectacle for people as well. We’ve already started working on our second record; we basically approach a song and let the song evolve itself, we’re not trying to make a concept record like, ‘Here’s 10 songs that give you a nice little trot around the globe,’ it’s not that sort of thing. We’re just trying to write different songs and whatever ends up being something we all like, we’ll stick it on the record. I expect each record will be different and we’ll probably get further out there in experimenting with sounds — this is a very exciting time.”

JOHN RUSSELL