Introducing: Tacoma

Experimental ’70s and ’80s inspired Liverpool collective Tacoma are proving that they fit perfectly into that every-growing list of unique Merseyside bands. So many bands try to intertwine that classical rock sound with a modern slant these days, but very few succeed in the way that Tacoma do. Their recent gigs and demo releases have spread a positive word around the city, and now they’re planning to explode across the rest of the UK. Sound Rev spoke to the boys about what influenced their distinctive sound and what people can expect from them:

What inspired you to establish Tacoma in the beginning?

We formed the band out of a couple of other bands, after practicing together and realising we wanted to make the same type of music. We quickly set about recording an EP ‘In The dark’. This was made up of old songs we all had and a few we produced in our first few nights practicing together. It went from there and we then produced a follow up EP ‘In The Light’ which is available on our SoundCloud, we haven’t really stopped to think along the way its just constantly moved on with new songs.

You are members of a long list of upcoming unsigned Liverpool bands. What sets you aside from the rest?

We experiment and are not afraid to make a mistake as long as we improve from it, our performances live are becoming more and more fluid, we recently played a gig without vocals because the PA was drowned by a spilt pint of beer. This forced us to play without a set list and we all got a big buzz out of it, sometimes in practice we will make videos with a live soundtrack or play one song in the dark for half an hour, these sessions can be really enjoyable, we are progressing in confidence on stage so that these experiments can be tried out live, they can produce really exciting results and will guarantee a unique show.

Musically, what are your main influences and what are you trying to create with your music?

We have always played Joy Division songs in practice sessions as well as The Velvet Underground, they are the bands we have in common, other influences in the band are quite diverse, from The White Stripes to Trent Reznor to Deerhunter and the Strokes, our mix of influences probably explains why our songs spread over a few genres, we also like ’70s type stuff like T-Rex and Led Zeppelin.

With our music we try to create songs we want to hear, we are all keen listeners to new music and we often take a song a few different ways before we settle on a version.

What has been the highlight of your journey so far?

Making a whole room stomp their feet in time to a song at an Oxfam gig. It was a strange song that involved both Bass player and Guitarist using bows on their guitars, it went down great on the night, it was a low ceiling in the venue, and it came close to collapse with all the noise, best end to a gig we have had. We confidently played the song at our next gig only to receive a stoney awkward silence in return, we never played it again. We have also supported a few decent bands and played a couple of gigs for Harvest Sun Promotions, we really enjoy playing on their gigs as they always choose bands that are interesting, you don’t mind asking a lot of people to come down if you know its a good line up.

Can you tell us anything about an upcoming album?

Our upcoming album is called Octopus, it is an 8 track album that is a bit more friendly on the ears than our previous 2 EPs. We have turned the guitars down a bit on some of the tracks and placed more emphasis on ambient sounds. Previews of the tracks can be heard here http://soundcloud.com/tacomaliverpool and here http://tacoma.bandcamp.com/. We recorded and mixed all the songs ourselves and we are in final mix and master at the minute, the album will be released through bandcamp on Friday 15th June.

What are Tacoma hoping to achieve in the long run?

We want to make music that is exciting and new, play gigs that people enjoy and that have some originality, its important we have a good time while we do it too.