VI Interview: Tilly and the Wall

MP3 Masala: Tilly and the Wall - Urgency
MP3 Masala: Tilly and the Wall - The Freest Man
MP3 Masala: Tilly and the Wall - Lost Girls

Gather ‘round, I gots a story. It begins with the disbanding of the Omaha collective Park Ave., a break-up that spawned indie luminaries Bright Eyes and The Faint. But those two projects aren’t the only Park Ave. progeny worth talking about. Meet Tilly and The Wall, a band as notable for its lo-fi twee pop as for its tap-dancing time keeper. Tilly’s pianist (and sometimes Bright Eyes touring member) Nick White sat with me to talk a bit about the band and their stellar sophomore release Bottoms of Barrels. 

“Neely and Jamie were in Park Ave., and Kianna and Jamie played in a band together right after called Magic Kiss,” he began. “So Jamie had worked with both of them as singers, liked the way both of them sounded, and was interested in working with both of them again.”

With a core in place, and through friendships that lead to late night television sessions and general debauchery, Tilly's songs took shape. “At first Derek and I had a band in Atlanta, so we had some song ideas that we had been working on. Jamie and Kianna had songs from their bands that had disbanded, songs that they had foreseen using but didn’t have an avenue for yet. We got together, Jamie would play guitar then too, and sing. Kianna would sing along, Derek ended up taking over guitar while Jamie sang and Kianna sang.”

“And Jamie started tap dancing to keep a beat.”

The result of those jam sessions was a whimsical debut release, Wild Like Children, produced by Conor Oberst and released on his Team Love label.  After some great press and acclaim, the group regrouped in Omaha, to chill and begin work on a second album.  Did the praise and success of the first effort effect the band’s outlook on songwriting?  “Well, now we know when we write songs, a couple of people will hear them, which is a totally different perspective than just sitting around and playing for us. We never even expected to record anything."

After the organic evolution of the band -- and the fluid process behind creating their first record -- Tilly had some questions to answer about the direction of the new album. 

Take the jump for more with Tilly.

Though committed to having a set direction for the new work, Tilly were interested in capturing that collaborative magic of the first release. “We never got into specifics; we didn’t want it to get too broken up before it got set together. But we definitely talked about sounds that we wanted.  It’s hard to explain: we talked about energies we wanted things to have, versus specific sounds or specific words.”

The environment for songwriting was one major difference. Where the first album was the result of spending nights together in apartments with televisions, here Tilly took another route. “There’s this artist space in Omaha called the Davis Center for Contemporary Arts," Nick began. "They offered us a spot, so we had a physical space where we would go and only work on band stuff, work on songs and write lyrics.  We had these huge posters on the wall where we would draw and make lyrics and arrange the songs, so that’s a change cause the songs are more thought out.”

For their sophomore effort, the band took steps toward sonic maturation. “We wanted it to be a progression, we wanted the songs to be fuller we wanted them to be a little more interesting. This time around upon repeated listens you’ll find something new. The other record was a little more straightforward, which isn’t a bad thing, we just wanted something a little different.” 

This dedication to growth is evident lyrically. Tilly’s themes have generally dealt with the inner beauty and struggles of life, viewed through the prism of human relationships, though this time it was honed. “I feel we had a better idea about the themes we wanted to write about,” Nick offered. “The first album we were still trying to figure that out.  There are similar messages on the two albums, but I think it’s a little more focused on this one.”

Tilly and The Wall is named after a children’s story, plain and simple. The topic of many-an-interview question for the group, I asked Nick how many times he’d been asked about it. “A lot, I guess,” he laughed. “I mean it comes up, it’s not a big deal, but it is our name. I still feel the same way about the name, I resonate with the vibes of the story, about overcoming whatever gets in your way and having a party at the end.” He paused. “It’s interesting because of what other people have asked us about the name, and what they have thought about it. People have said like ‘Oh, is it a metaphysical wall?’ Whatever people have asked about it somehow gets wrapped up in the meaning and changes it slightly.”

After a good afternoon of speaking about Tilly, I had to ask about the Bright Eyes/Faint connection and The Faint. But I had to be tactful in my question. I asked if the bands had any sort of sibling rivalry. “No sibling rivalry,” Nick laughed.  “I mean, if you look at The Faint, Bright Eyes and Tilly, I feel like they are the most different sounding bands ever. But they have the same heart.  Everyone in Omaha plays in so many bands, they all understand that it’s not a weird thing to collaborate. It’s a really nice thing.”

To this extent, in “The Freest Man,” nestled safely toward the end of Bottoms, one can hear sounds so fresh and so clean for this outfit. The beats programmed, the mood decidedly more electronic, recalling Bright Eyes’ Digital Ash Digital Urn.  Being such a stylistic departure for the group, its placement at record’s end was worth a mention. “We decided to put that song there because we wanted to end it in a positive way,” answered Nick.  “'Coughing Colors’ was a heavy, sad song to have be last. Clark Baechle from The Faint did the beats for ‘Freest Man,’ and he definitely worked Digital Ash as well,” he continued. We all work with similar people, so it’s not odd that the song came out sounding similar.”

Conversation turned to Omaha’s fertile soundscape over the past years. “If you see someone who’s dressed cool in Omaha you know that you probably know that person, which is nice,” he started. “The only thing that’s hard about it now is that there are about ten or fifteen bands that are well known enough to tour the better part of the year.  It’s hard because at any given time your friends are on tour.  People come to Omaha to see people and see shows, but there aren’t that many people around.  It is really nice when it works though, some Fourth of July something.  It’s really special.” 

As much as the band hustles, hoping to never return to those day jobs they left many months back, they remain dedicated to the principle of free accessibility of art.  For their freshman release, the band allowed free download of each song.  “We are going to post this album on our label website again, the whole thing,” Nick said as we talked about file sharing.  “It did us so much good the first time.  People got the idea.  They know we don’t make money on that, but it’s a chance for people to hear the music that otherwise wouldn’t. Maybe come out to see us, buy a t-shirt and CD at the show.  Having the cover art is nice, right?”  He asked with a smile.  “We just want people to hear the music.”

Comments

You should really check spelling before you post these things. Kianna is spelled just how I spelled it, not Keana, and you started out with the right spelling and then switched it. Also, Neely is spelled with a -y instead of an -ie. These things are on their website, so not exactaly protected information. You also spelled Conor Oberst wrong, and everyone should know how to spell that.

[Ahmrid]

Hey, thanks for the help. Fixed! And thanks a lot, I totally thought that names were protected information! I usually just spell them off the top of my head. A little different every time. It's fun! You should try it sometime. I'd give you an example with your name, but, well, you know. And I totally hear you, I love Brite I's. She's awesome. No excuses!

Best
-Ahmrid

And who the fuck is Justin?

[Thanks boys]

Thanks boysf3f30c47adeab8c1e46eb1877b0eba94

[Suzanna]

sorry it's not fixed. Conor Oberst is still spelled wrong - that's nonsense.