Interviews: Nuns Of The Tundra

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Alternative Rock band Nuns Of The Tundra from UK. Check out the interview and this band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that? 

It kind of just fell in our laps as a joke really. Me and Arran were spitballing ideas and we knew we wanted something to do with Nuns. It was probably because of the Mighty Boosh that the word tundra was in there, it's pretty much my favourite word. So on a train to Birmingham I was just saying all the different ways those two words would go together, said Nuns of the Tundra as a joke and it sounded much better coming out of my mouth than in my head if that makes sense? So I quickly went to the Brewdog pub, sat downstairs and set up all our socials just to make sure it wasn't already taken!

I guess we like it so much because the tundra's a barren ice wasteland and having a group of nuns belonging there had an almost mystical element to it, kind of creating a little story in of itself. 

2.Why did you want to play this genre? 

It wasn't really a conscious decision, me and Arran both grew up having similar tastes, and the music we make is the biggest overlap between what we both love. We both grew up being in bands together starting as a band called roadkill in our mates garage and we just wanted to be Blink 182. Now I think we have all these riffs from the years passed and we just pick the best ones and go from there.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed? 

I've known Arran since primary school and Jim since secondary school. I didn't like Arran because of his lunchbox choice in year 2, but we got over that in time.

4. Each band member favourite band? 

Troy - My favourite band right now is probably Cleopatrick, 

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

I think personality is a big part in writing song so I'm inspired by bands who really get that across, like you can get a gauge of who they are from what they play, so I'd say I'm heavily inspired by the works of Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. If I'm looking back to what made me pursue music, it was definitely these three people and their different projects. Foo Fighters was my gateway drug into the rock n roll genre and Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age were the two slightly more deep cuts that showed how different the genre can be. 

6. Where was your last gig? 

Our last gig was at the 02 Academy in Birmingham, it was also James' first ever gig with us. He must have hit a nerve with the audience, we had two people tell him that the gig had inspired them to play the drums, he was even given a drum stick by a fan, so yeah he's a keeper !

7. Where would you like to play? 

I think our lifetime goal is to play the Wimbledon half time show, really get the Williams sisters riled up. Lifelong dream is definitely to play Reading for me personally. That was my Mecca when I was younger.

8. Who would you like to support? 

I think it would be really cool to support Foo Fighters to fulfill a childhood ( and also adulthood) dream, and also because I keep forgetting to buy tickets

9. Who not? 

I'm not too picky but if there's anyone I definitely would not support, it would be my childhood band Roadkill. Man they are terrible. Or Threatin, we'd get all hyped up and play to no one. Although I would like to meet the Tommy Wiseau of the music world.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

I got it once really bad in University in a band called Hullabaloo. Our first ever gig was a battle of the bands. I still remember eating a Subway before we went on and the wrapper shaking, that's how nervous I was. So my solution was to hide behind the speaker. Probably not the best advice.That's the only time I've really got it though, I think after you get over it and realise it's very unlikely people will boo you, it's all good.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

I get a lot of inspiration from going outside of the kind of music we make to see what can be brought back to it. Right now I'm listening to a lot of St Vincent, Run the Jewels and Warpaint. But I guess throughout my life I've always fallen back on riff based bands, I just love riffs, so anything from Led Zeppelin to Muse to Devin Townsend really. I always come back to Tool for whatever reason, I guess it's always nice to know you can really push the boat out with weirdness and still make songs that are instantly memorable.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

I don't know if we've had any encounters that have weirded us out! We've had some unusual offers like playing some parties in the US for their prom which would have been great if we had any organisational skills

13. What do you think of your fans? 

I think it's amazing that music can connect people and inspire people, so we're forever grateful for anyone who actually enjoys what we do, it's why we do it in the first place!

14. What do you think of our site?

It's a really decent way to discover some new music !

15. Something to add?

We've got a few dates in December if anyone's keen to come to a show, 7th December at the 02 Institute Birmingham, 9th December at the Marrs Bar Worcester, and 11th December at the Louisiana Bristol!