Trevor Dunn - Tomahawk (22/01/2013)
The 59th Sound recently caught up with Trevor Dunn of Tomahawk, will make their thunderous return to Australia when they tour for the 2013 Soundwave festival.
Hey Trevor, How are you?
Good, how are you?
Good thanks, where are you calling from at the moment?
I am in Brooklyn, New York
Awesome, did you have a good break over the holidays?
Yeah, it was mellow. I stayed in New York while my family were in California; I decided not to get in a plane to them.
How come?
Because I have been on too many this year! I decided that my family had to wait to see me later in the year, which is soon because I am going to California with Tomahawk. So I will see them then.
Now you guys haven’t recorded since 2007, what made you guys to start recording and playing together now and not earlier or later?
Well this is my first time playing with the band. A different bass player was on the previous three records. First two actually, I think Dwayne played bass on the last record. So they didn’t have a bass player for a while which is why they didn’t tour for quite some time. Uh, and so Dwayne and Mike have been talking about making a record for a while so they wrote some music and asked me to play bass. I mean both those guys are doing other things; we all have our hands in lots of other bowls of soup.
Because you have so many other different projects, how does this affect the dynamic of the band?
I think it affects all the bands I am in in a similar way which is basically you just need to have your shit together. It’s more about doing all your homework, learning the music and then maybe having one rehearsal before going on tour. Of course, the longer you are out on the road the tighter that things get. Yeah, the days of having a rehearsal space and having a band living in the same space and recording together is very rare I think.
Is that the difference of playing with a band that’s just starting out like Mr Bungle and playing in a band that’s already established?
That’s part of it for sure. Mr Bungle was a high school garage band that were like I said, jamming in the spare time and writing music together and stuff. That then progressed over the years and we all started going out separate ways. It became less of a collaborative thing and more of a bunch of individuals, musicians or writers or whatever coming together and working together opposed to being a more cohesive unit.
I know you have only recently joined the band, but Tomahawk have used some unconventional influences such as the Native American influence in anonymous. Do you know how this came about and if Mike or Dwayne met any Native Americans while writing the music?
I don’t really know how that happened, but I know Dwayne was sort of a catalyst for it. He approached me years ago about doing either that sort of thing or either a folkish ballad Americana song. For some reason it never really took off, but I think he put that energy into that Tomahawk record. But I am not sure about all of it.
What can fans expect from the new album Oddfellows? I had a listen and thought it sounded a bit like Mit Gas.
Yeah we did one short tour about two months ago and we played a handful of old records and some of the new ones. I think they all work together really well, for me coming from outside this music scene it seems like a kinda poppier version the band. Not that I ever thought it was that weird or anything, but the new songs are pretty concise. They make their statement and they end and get to the new song. There is a real poppy vibe to some of the songs, that could be a big difference. The music still has a touch of Dwayne to it, his sense of guitar writing which is unique and the combination of him and Patton is really great and coexists in a real functional way I think.
How much do you experiment with sound in this album? I know Mike has used multiple different types of equipment to change his voice such as the gas mask or walkie talky in the past to change the sound of his voice.
No the basic track of this record was pretty run of the mill. We definitely for myself I used different basses and bass amps, I go for a fairly dirty rock sound for the bass. Dwayne did the same thing using a number of different guitars depending on the flavour of the song. Um, you know once the music gets into Mike’s hands, apart from vocals and melodies he adds orchestration. I don’t think it’s overdone anyway in this way in this record. I wouldn’t really call it experimental, all the parts are very thoughtful and there are reasons for them. It’s not really out there, a test or experiment. The way it’s going to translate live I am not sure. The whole point of the gas mask is to go for a different tone, but on stage it has its elements of theatrics to it. First and foremost it’s used for its sound.
What are you looking forward to about playing Soundwave and your Australian? Is this your first time touring in Australia?
No, I have been down here several times. Mr Bungle came down there I think three times and I have been down here with my other projects. It’s been a while since I’ve been down there but, you know it’s well known that Australia has a quite a big Patton fan base, so I expect it will be a pretty fun tour. Hopefully it will be well intended and I think it will be fun. Patton and I have been friends since we were kids but Fantȏmas hasn’t really done anything in several years, so this will be the first time we will be touring again together, which is great.
How did you meet Mike Patton?
We met in junior high school back in the 1980’s (laughs). We were kids and we were music fans and we found each other via music. We stopped hanging out with everyone else, because we didn’t really like anyone else during high school. So we formed a sort of camaraderie back then and that lead to us being in the first band together Mr Bungle and etcetera etcetera.
You have been in a band for 30 years, have you noticed a change in your friendship over the years?
Not really. I mean our lifestyle in high school is much different now. We live on opposite sides of the country so we don’t really hang out anymore unless we are on tour together or working with John Zorn. When I see him it’s like going back to family for me, so I think we are kinda the same.
You play the bass, double bass, guitar and clarinet. What made you chose the clarinet over other instruments?
It was my first instrument. So, I was probably jeez I dunno, probably 8 years old when I started playing it. Ultimately I wanted to play the saxophone, they came to my school with pictures of instruments and I saw the saxophone and wanted to play it. My mother actually had a clarinet in the house that she used to play in high school. But they didn’t know if I would stick with music or not so they said “instead of having us buying you a saxophone, why don’t you try this clarinet and if you still wanna play in a couple of years you can switch over” they are technically pretty similar. After four years I was getting into rock music and my older brother was playing the guitar, so I got into bass. I actually still have that clarinet in my house and I bust it out every once in a while, but only when I am alone (laughs).
What’s your favourite out of all of them?
Oh! I don’t know if I have a favourite. Ultimately I only play bass, electric bass and double bass professionally. Guitar I write and record at home, but not on the road. When I play one bass on the road for a while I have a tendency to miss the other one.
What is the future for yourself and Tomahawk?
The future for Tomahawk is hard to say. It’s really Mike and Dwayne’s love child if you will… I imagine we will do a few short legs of touring in the next year and a half or so. We are already looking at going to Europe at some point and doing an East Coast run in the United States. Honestly that could be it for a while. Who knows how long it will be for we do anything again? I basically don’t concern myself with that sort of thing because I have a lot of my own projects and I try to focus on those and writing my own music. I am gonna write music for my band trio-convulsant this year and premiere that. In the mean time I am working and touring with John Zorn.
Well that’s all we have time for, thank you very much
Thanks, goodbye!
Ryan Hyde
Search tags - Tomahawk, Trevor Dunn, Soundwave
Hey Trevor, How are you?
Good, how are you?
Good thanks, where are you calling from at the moment?
I am in Brooklyn, New York
Awesome, did you have a good break over the holidays?
Yeah, it was mellow. I stayed in New York while my family were in California; I decided not to get in a plane to them.
How come?
Because I have been on too many this year! I decided that my family had to wait to see me later in the year, which is soon because I am going to California with Tomahawk. So I will see them then.
Now you guys haven’t recorded since 2007, what made you guys to start recording and playing together now and not earlier or later?
Well this is my first time playing with the band. A different bass player was on the previous three records. First two actually, I think Dwayne played bass on the last record. So they didn’t have a bass player for a while which is why they didn’t tour for quite some time. Uh, and so Dwayne and Mike have been talking about making a record for a while so they wrote some music and asked me to play bass. I mean both those guys are doing other things; we all have our hands in lots of other bowls of soup.
Because you have so many other different projects, how does this affect the dynamic of the band?
I think it affects all the bands I am in in a similar way which is basically you just need to have your shit together. It’s more about doing all your homework, learning the music and then maybe having one rehearsal before going on tour. Of course, the longer you are out on the road the tighter that things get. Yeah, the days of having a rehearsal space and having a band living in the same space and recording together is very rare I think.
Is that the difference of playing with a band that’s just starting out like Mr Bungle and playing in a band that’s already established?
That’s part of it for sure. Mr Bungle was a high school garage band that were like I said, jamming in the spare time and writing music together and stuff. That then progressed over the years and we all started going out separate ways. It became less of a collaborative thing and more of a bunch of individuals, musicians or writers or whatever coming together and working together opposed to being a more cohesive unit.
I know you have only recently joined the band, but Tomahawk have used some unconventional influences such as the Native American influence in anonymous. Do you know how this came about and if Mike or Dwayne met any Native Americans while writing the music?
I don’t really know how that happened, but I know Dwayne was sort of a catalyst for it. He approached me years ago about doing either that sort of thing or either a folkish ballad Americana song. For some reason it never really took off, but I think he put that energy into that Tomahawk record. But I am not sure about all of it.
What can fans expect from the new album Oddfellows? I had a listen and thought it sounded a bit like Mit Gas.
Yeah we did one short tour about two months ago and we played a handful of old records and some of the new ones. I think they all work together really well, for me coming from outside this music scene it seems like a kinda poppier version the band. Not that I ever thought it was that weird or anything, but the new songs are pretty concise. They make their statement and they end and get to the new song. There is a real poppy vibe to some of the songs, that could be a big difference. The music still has a touch of Dwayne to it, his sense of guitar writing which is unique and the combination of him and Patton is really great and coexists in a real functional way I think.
How much do you experiment with sound in this album? I know Mike has used multiple different types of equipment to change his voice such as the gas mask or walkie talky in the past to change the sound of his voice.
No the basic track of this record was pretty run of the mill. We definitely for myself I used different basses and bass amps, I go for a fairly dirty rock sound for the bass. Dwayne did the same thing using a number of different guitars depending on the flavour of the song. Um, you know once the music gets into Mike’s hands, apart from vocals and melodies he adds orchestration. I don’t think it’s overdone anyway in this way in this record. I wouldn’t really call it experimental, all the parts are very thoughtful and there are reasons for them. It’s not really out there, a test or experiment. The way it’s going to translate live I am not sure. The whole point of the gas mask is to go for a different tone, but on stage it has its elements of theatrics to it. First and foremost it’s used for its sound.
What are you looking forward to about playing Soundwave and your Australian? Is this your first time touring in Australia?
No, I have been down here several times. Mr Bungle came down there I think three times and I have been down here with my other projects. It’s been a while since I’ve been down there but, you know it’s well known that Australia has a quite a big Patton fan base, so I expect it will be a pretty fun tour. Hopefully it will be well intended and I think it will be fun. Patton and I have been friends since we were kids but Fantȏmas hasn’t really done anything in several years, so this will be the first time we will be touring again together, which is great.
How did you meet Mike Patton?
We met in junior high school back in the 1980’s (laughs). We were kids and we were music fans and we found each other via music. We stopped hanging out with everyone else, because we didn’t really like anyone else during high school. So we formed a sort of camaraderie back then and that lead to us being in the first band together Mr Bungle and etcetera etcetera.
You have been in a band for 30 years, have you noticed a change in your friendship over the years?
Not really. I mean our lifestyle in high school is much different now. We live on opposite sides of the country so we don’t really hang out anymore unless we are on tour together or working with John Zorn. When I see him it’s like going back to family for me, so I think we are kinda the same.
You play the bass, double bass, guitar and clarinet. What made you chose the clarinet over other instruments?
It was my first instrument. So, I was probably jeez I dunno, probably 8 years old when I started playing it. Ultimately I wanted to play the saxophone, they came to my school with pictures of instruments and I saw the saxophone and wanted to play it. My mother actually had a clarinet in the house that she used to play in high school. But they didn’t know if I would stick with music or not so they said “instead of having us buying you a saxophone, why don’t you try this clarinet and if you still wanna play in a couple of years you can switch over” they are technically pretty similar. After four years I was getting into rock music and my older brother was playing the guitar, so I got into bass. I actually still have that clarinet in my house and I bust it out every once in a while, but only when I am alone (laughs).
What’s your favourite out of all of them?
Oh! I don’t know if I have a favourite. Ultimately I only play bass, electric bass and double bass professionally. Guitar I write and record at home, but not on the road. When I play one bass on the road for a while I have a tendency to miss the other one.
What is the future for yourself and Tomahawk?
The future for Tomahawk is hard to say. It’s really Mike and Dwayne’s love child if you will… I imagine we will do a few short legs of touring in the next year and a half or so. We are already looking at going to Europe at some point and doing an East Coast run in the United States. Honestly that could be it for a while. Who knows how long it will be for we do anything again? I basically don’t concern myself with that sort of thing because I have a lot of my own projects and I try to focus on those and writing my own music. I am gonna write music for my band trio-convulsant this year and premiere that. In the mean time I am working and touring with John Zorn.
Well that’s all we have time for, thank you very much
Thanks, goodbye!
Ryan Hyde
Search tags - Tomahawk, Trevor Dunn, Soundwave