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Two giant tigers lie in wait for their prey. Only a few feet away from the guarded safety of a barrier, onlookers are assembled wearing bright tiger masks, as they too wait for the action to start. No, this is not a description of feeding time at a zoo, the tigers are in fact life-sized synthetic props, and honorary members of Pull Tiger Tail’s live act; the reason for the masked gathering inside this London nightclub tonight.
After a recent stint headlining the NME tour, and the release of their fourth single 'Hurricanes', the London based three-piece are being heavily branded with a ‘band to watch’ tag by both the music and national press, but the humble boys relaxing backstage at London’s Scala tonight are not phased by this. “It’s hard to tell what that means, does it mean we’re going to sell loads of albums or win loads of awards?” giggles Davo McKenzie- McConville, PTT’s bassist and synth operator, continuing he adopts a mock commentary. “Or does it mean, they’re ones to watch, doing what their doing, and maybe they’ll do a good album somewhere down the line?”.
Despite rising expectations in the media, in the short time since they quit their degrees and emerged as contenders among the London music scene this time last year, the band have toured the UK constantly, played abroad and recorded their album, leaving them little time to reflect themselves. So was giving up their studies amid their final year, a tough decision? Singer and guitarist Marcus Adere (who was studying for an English degree), explains: “It was hard but it was probably the only reason I would have given up university. Ultimately it was always our choice, but it did take on a life of its own. When you look at how much we’ve done this year, it’s literally been non-stop.”
Life changing decisions aside, has there been any other crucial or bad times during their time as a band? Marcus responds with a laugh. “No it’s been quite plain sailing really, we’ve known each other for a long time anyway, and been through some pretty low points before this.” Pull Tiger Tail officially formed while the trio attended Goldsmiths University, where drummer Jack Hamson was taking Design studies, and Davo was studying politics. However the band picked up their instruments collectively several years prior to this, during secondary school in Stratford-Upon-Avon (where they originate from), and it was here they forged their firm friendship.
So, where did their unified love for felines derive from? “It’s more of an animal thing, and a general wildlife theme,” says Davo. “It’s not something we started a band to talk about, but it is something we grew up with, and, well, Marcus was going to be a vet.” Other career plans the band also left behind, include Davo’s administrator and civil servant career, and Jack’s plans of being in the Big Brother house.
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Although the boys are now pursuing unpredictable career paths as musicians, they have been reassured by the support of their parents. Marcus’ dad recently witnessed his first PTT’show when the band supported Razorlight at Birmingham’s NEC. Giggling, Marcus dismisses any suggestions of nerves: “No, I wasn’t nervous, there were nine thousand other people, and he only counted for a thousand people. It was great actually there were big screens and everything, I’m really glad he saw us there.” At this point Jack reflects on a proud moment he had since being with the band, saying: “Recording our album was pretty epic, and it made me feel like I was actually in a band. It was a really big sense of achievement, we were all very drunk and tearful, or, well I was tearful!”
As preparations for tonight’s gig begin to take over, the discussion returns to the feline theme evident within the band and their favourite famous cats, which include Top-Cat (Jacks), Calvin from the Calvin and Hobbes comic strips (Davo), and Henry’s Cat (Marcus). The presence of tiger masks at their shows also adds further to their animal appreciation, this initially started as a one-off at their single launch for 'Animator' last year, as Davo explains: “We went to a party shop, and bought a load of masks and then gave them out. It wasn’t just tigers though, it was tigers, lions, and elephants. It made sense that when we were making flyers, to make them into tiger masks, as something free for people to pick up."
“It’s quite hard to keep it intimate and special, so even though the masks have turned into a promotional thing, it’s still quite home made at this point.” With a smile, Marcus adds, “We thought we could either do boring flyers, or we could do masks, and masks are much more intimidating, so we went for that.”
Intimidated is the polar opposite of how you feel when you are with Pull Tiger Tail, and despite the fact that they are due on stage imminently the boys remain relaxed and friendly. Reluctantly we take our leave from their dressing room to find a spot among the tiger-faced crowd, and patiently wait for the action to unfold on stage.
