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Bristol six-piece The Other Tribe have been laying dorment during the cold waiting months biding their time, writing their debut album and waiting patiently to unleash a massive burst of sunshine into the lives of anyone lucky enough to see them play live this year.
Their unique blend of sun-drenched dance music and West African tribal drum beats have made for one of the most exciting sounds around and the band's energetic live show is a must-see for any 2013 festival-goer.
Ahead of their show at London's XOYO, we caught up with Ollie and Miles of The Other Tribe to talk about their debut album, standing in for Azealia Banks at Bestival 2012 and getting shouted at by Mr. Motivator...
Hi Miles and Ollie. What's going on with the debut album? What can fans expect from it?
Miles: It’s coming along quite nicely. We’re not sure of a release date at the moment. Hopefully later this year after some final touches. Fans can expect a lot of the same sound that hopefully they still enjoy listening to. We have been exploring some more musical styles with some more acoustic instruments as well.
As a Bristol band, where do your tribal influences come from?
Ollie: Alex, the producer of the band, was always really interested in West African tribal music and as the drummer I’ve always been interested in different types of percussion. We all love dance music and wanted to create something a bit more unique whilst doing something we are really interested in pursuing. It’s quite fun to put contrast with electronic music. I think we’re making electronic music but there's this organic sound which is great.
You're playing XOYO in London this week. After spending so long in the studio, are you itching to play live again?
Ollie: We can’t wait to get back playing live shows. We’ve had a while locking ourselves in the studio and I can’t wait to get out, play new songs and see how they go down because that’s what we all love the most. We love the van and Travel Lodges with ridiculously overpriced cooked English breakfasts in the mornings.
Watch The Other Tribe perform 'We Should Be Dancing' below
You've made your name with your spectacular live shows. How has it been translating that onto the album?
Miles: I’d certainly say it’s made it to the album. We are primarily a live band and the more we write the more we keep that in mind. We want to make an album that you’re very excited to see live once you’ve heard it. We’ve also been working on the live show as well, putting a lot more energy into it. The festival season is going to be pretty good.
Will the CD and vinyl releases come with free face paint?
Miles: Erm, yeah they will. Don’t hold me to that. It may not be the opinion of Sony or The Other Tribe, but hopefully.
Your tracks have a big festival / summer vibe. Did the long UK winter have any effect on making the record?
Miles: No, if anything our songs have been getting more summery over time. The weather hasn’t really had a negative effect on any of the songwriting and we’ve made a very uplifting album which is good.
How grateful are you to Azealia Banks for pulling out of her Bestival slot in 2012, resulting in you performing a much bigger gig at the festival?
Ollie: Truly grateful. I was actually quite gutted because I was really looking forward to seeing her but I was so happy to take her place. We were quite worried that we were going to get abused because everyone was expecting Azealia Banks, but it was amazing.
With six members in the band, it must be tricky to make sure everyone's opinions are heard. How do you keep arguments from breaking out - and what's been your biggest bust up?
Ollie: We’ve got quite a good voting system. Obviously everyone’s got different opinions of setlist and things like that so we have a voting system for that. When we write we usually split up into twos because we tried writing as a six and sometimes it worked but more often than not it doesn’t work. We haven’t had any problems as of yet, no fall outs or anything like that so it’s all good. The voting system works.
Which other UK artists do you think would fit in best with 'the tribe' - and who would you most like to get on a track?
Ollie: They're actually Swedish, but The Knife. I think we are all massive fans and they rock the tribal vibe really well. We’d love to work with them for some songs. That would be a dream come true for us.
Watch The Other Tribe's video for 'Skirts' below:
What's been your best ever festival experience?
Ollie: The Bestival slot was incredible. That really took us by surprise. We arrived and got a phone call from one of the organisers. They were like, ‘Azealia Banks has pulled out, can you replace her?’ Obviously we went absolutely nuts and it was so much fun. We played a Beat Hearder Festival two years in a row and as a band I think that’s our favourite festival for the atmosphere alone which is incredible.
What about your worst festival experience?
Miles: We’ve had a few experiences. The summer before last of having a pretty shoddy van and getting stuck in the mud at a few festivals. One of the festival guide people sent us the wrong way over these two massive hill and we ended up getting stuck in a massive patch of mud which we couldn't get the van out of. We made our slot by a matter of minutes. I think the stress of having been caught in the mud put us into an angry but speedy unpacking vibe.
There was also an incident at Beat Hearder when we were getting some food backstage and there was a big plate of cakes. Our singer James ignored the tongs and picked up a cake with his hands and put it on a plate. Mr. Motivator was there and started laying into him. I've never seen anyone react so well to a telling off before. That was quite an epic moment. One of the more bizarre festival moments.
What's the most exciting thing on The Other Tribe's 2013 calendar?
Ollie: We’re playing Ibiza Rocks and Majorca Rocks in June which is massive for us. The most exciting thing is releasing our album as we have spent a while doing it and we are really happy with it. We are releasing that around September this year and touring it from September onwards. We can’t wait to get back playing live shows.
The Other Tribe perform at London's XOYO on Thursday 18 April 2013. For more information, visit Gigwise Gig Tickets.
