10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW Tapes n’ Tapes
Jul 22, 2008
KISS lunchboxes, Olivia Newton-John and caffeine.. who knew?
BY RANDY HARWARD
They may be calling their second album Walk It Off (XL), but Minneapolis quartet Tapes n’ Tapes are a runaway indie rock sensation—just ask Clell Tickle, Indie Marketing Guru, sleazy motherfucker and dreamweaver (played by Human Giant’s Aziz Ansari) who would resort to the unspeakable in order to get the band an 8.4 review on Pitchfork. Lest HARP suffer the same fate, we’re gonna puss out and do our part right here, right now. So no Colombian necktie, okay Clell? Ain’t no way, no how, you can walk that off. (Oh, and what were the adjectives you wanted us to use? Incendiary? Stellar? Blistering? Indie?)
1) Erik’s first album was KISS Alive.
He had a KISS lunchbox as well. He bought every record until they took the
makeup off. Erik thinks that was a bad idea, and that Gene Simmons is kind of a
d-bag, so he doesn't listen to KISS anymore. But if “Detroit Rock City” comes
on the radio, he won’t turn it off.
2) Jeremy and Erik ended up getting apartments across the hall from each other
last year, kind of by accident. Shortly thereafter their lives took on the
themes of a TV sitcom. Erik’s pretty sure Jeremy is spying on him. They both
wish Mr. Roper would just mind his own damn business.
3) The first instrument that I learned was the flute.
I played for about 14 years. Matt started playing the euphonium and trombone in
fifth grade and carried his dreams of band nerd-dom all the way through college.
From age 8 to 17, Jeremy played drums with his dad and brother in the Hanson
Blues Trio. Erik the bass player’s first instrument was the drums.
4) Jeremy joined Tapes n’ Tapes while he was still in high school. Our first show with him was in Ohio and he had to miss a day of school. I promised his mom that we'd take good care of him and make sure he did his homework. I think I had met her once, and she trusted us with her kid's life. She's pretty damn cool.
5) Until about a year-and-a-half ago, I had never [tried] coffee. One day I had a mocha frappuccino and got so caffeinated that I started shaking. I loved it. Now I'm totally addicted to sugary coffee beverages. The other guys are all hardcore black coffee drinkers, so they give me loads of crap about [it].
6) Jeremy really enjoys taking apart low-voltage electronics, manipulating their circuitry and making music with them. He’s been doing this since middle school…
7) The band’s first tour was in a '94 Toyota 4Runner. Three people, full drum set and all of our gear. It was more than a little cramped, for a month!
8) Erik’s first crush was on Olivia Newton-John and it started when he saw Grease. You know the part at the end when she comes out with her hair all ratted out wearing sewn on hot pants, perilously high heels, coyly smoking a cigarette? Even at the tender age of five, he could appreciate a woman in trashy, hot clothes.
9) On my college application I [said] that I played football recreationally. The football team was so bad that the coach thought that it warranted a recruiting call. After we talked for about 10 minutes, he asked how big I was. When I told him I was 6' and 140 pounds, he politely said goodbye and I never heard from him again.
10) We opened for the Streets once in 2004 at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. Dizzee Rascal was the support
act for the tour—just not the Minneapolis date. We had the pleasure of playing
to a crowd who was never told that Dizzee wasn’t going to be there. The
reception was more than interesting.
Tapes N’ Tapes’ Walk It Off (XL) is out now.
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