Interview: The Other Tribe

TRIBE. When someone says that word you will most likely think of a tribe in Africa. But not anymore. Let me introduce to you The Other Tribe. A band with six guys from Bristol, UK, who play a very rare type of music: a pot of tribal and dance music being stirred together. Soon to be tour, I was lucky enough for them to answer some questions.

Members:

James Hill – Vocals

Miles Metric – Bass, Percussion & Vocals

Ollie White – Drums

Alex Oldroyd – Guitar, Samples, Keys & Vocals

Max Cleary – Keys & Vocals

 

Now, your called The Other Tribe and to no surprise there are tribal music influences in your music, but how would you describe it?

We would describe our sound as house and techno with a strong tribal edge. Or emo without the wining…or emo.

Your music is very unique and not the stereotypical type you would hear today from a British band. Were you worried that people may not like this new type of music?

We were never worried about people not liking the music. Just like most bands, our sound has constantly progressed, but one thing that’s stayed the same is the crowd reception. How our songs connect with a crowd is the most important thing to us and as time has progressed, the reaction has improved massively.

How do you find your inspiration for your music?

There are many ways in which we find inspiration. Sometimes a song or story will start the juices flowing, occasionally one of Ollie’s legendary hangovers sings a tune of its own, and sometimes Miles likes to think about Paloma Faith. What he thinks about may be a bit tasteless for this interview…but suffice to say, it works!

Being in a band with many people, does it get quite tense at all? Or do you all get on fine?

It could definitely be worse. As we live together any tension tends to be as a result of a lack of washing up or general hygiene. We would point fingers but that would be totally unfair on Max. One thing is for sure though, whenever there is tension, the music always puts us back on track! A tribe that plays together stays together…

You recently allowed people to download for free your track We Should Be Dancing. Why is that?

What better way to thank our fans for all their support in getting us this far? And also, what better way to stick a finger up to piracy?

And you kick off your tour in London on April 18th, are you looking forward to the tour?

We’re so excited! New songs, a new live setup and even new clothes! Oh wait, I put that in reverse over of importance…either way, seeing people dancing to our music helps this tribe live and breathe. Can’t wait for our next lease of life!

One of the festivals you are playing at is Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham, UK, which is where BlogThatMusic is based. Why have you chosen to play here?

We love festivals. That is no secret. Plus the opportunity to share a stage with Caravan Palace and Human League is such a privilege. Of all the festivals we’re doing this summer, this is one of the ones we’re most excited about! We can’t wait to see if Cheltenham can party as hard as Bristol!

Apart from making amazing music, a band has to have a sort of image or look. And like with the music, you have a tribal look when you perform on stage. Who’s idea was this?

The tribal look grew organically from the name and tribal instrumentation we use. That and the face paint were the last pieces of the puzzle. The music and name were corner pieces to us, but the last touches were finding where to put the grass on a 1000 piece puzzle of an empty field.

Out of all of your tracks, which is your favourite to perform and why?

With the new set, we’ve only played two of the songs live! Skirts and You and the Machine form the old set were always favourites, so they got to stay! You can’t beat hearing the chorus from Skirts being sung back to you, and You and the Machine is just balls to the wall energy. Baby making music.

If you could cover any track on your next E.P. or album, what would it be and why?

We tried doing a remix of Africa by Toto once. But if I could see James sing anything, it would be Gold by Spandau Ballet. That would be just… gold.

And finally, apart from the tour what are the plans for the rest of the year?

After the tour, it’s festival season! Its looking so busy that we hope we make it out in one piece! And if we pull that off, there’s a new album on the way! Then another tour…and CHRISTMAS!!!…we like to think ahead.

A big thanks to The Other Tribe for answering my questions and best of luck to them for the rest of the year (and career too). I hope you try and see these guys because their music is amazing! I know I can’t wait to see them live at Wychwood this year! Look at their website and get We Should Be Dancing here. Check the band out on Twitter here. Or Facebook here.