Tumbleweed Story / Interview
A band who have been one of the most popular around Australia, Tumbleweed have been quiet for way too long & are gearing up for the release of their latest album, titled Mumbo Jumbo. The band have had some really cool songs in their time & the latest single Planet Of The Weeds, has already gained some significant airplay & is the first taste of what we can expect on their new album, released in early June.
Doing
some promotional work in support of the release, I caught up with
Lenny Curley from the band & we spoke about all sorts of
Tumbleweed history, what we can expect from the new album & why
the band has been in hibernation for a fair length of time.
One of the first things I was interested was why the band had quit recording & touring for a while.
"Well, we did like 6 or 7 years of touring, pretty much constantly & we all agreed that we really had to stop because we were becoming... I don't know, not so much bored, but I suppose lost that 'urge' to keep on doing it all the time. We'd had some great times, but it was time I guess to take a break & now we've come back I guess reinspired."
I was a little intrigued by the renewed interest & asked how it had come about.
"Oh, I don;t know really, but I think we've all missed the shows & the touring a little, but we've taken that break & now we're all really interested in things again. We didn't want to bring out music or do shows that weren't worth people going to see them, but we reckon we're back & we're all vibed up again. The album's got some great tracks on it & we're all really happy with the way it's turned out, plus Triple J has been good with playing the single, so let's hope it's as big as anything we've brought out before."
As already mentioned, the band have had some pretty big songs & a great live reputation. Their artwork has also been the focus of a lot of people's attention & it's something that Lenny does himself. We spoke at length about the process of drawing.
"It's funny you know, our artwork has been an on & off experience for us. At the start, it was sort of a talking point for the fans. It's something I've always liked to do, draw & I still draw on paper, not on the computer, because they sort of scare me a little bit. But our artwork got really popular for a while there & almost like overnight, it just wasn't popular. It was just like at a gig, we might sell maybe a couple of hundred T-shirts at a gig, then we went back to maybe 50 & then it just wasn't worth taking the shirts along at all."
The mention of a sort of computer phobia was an opening to talk about technology.
"Like I said, it's something I've never really liked. I've looked at the Internet a bit & I can see that there's so much out there, but I just don't get into it. I like putting stuff on paper & doing it myself. I know at some stage it's got to get scanned into a computer & maybe someone will play around to get it just right in Photoshop or whatever, but I know people who like doing that, so I let them do it."
Lastly, with Lenny mentioning the Internet I asked what the band has been doing about a website.
"Well, we've been getting in touch with the people who have done like fan sites & stuff, so we're going to see what we can work out with a couple of them. They've obviously got the talent & love doing it, so we can add our own bit to it & we'll see what happens from there, but we are looking into it."
Check out Tumbleweed's new album Mumbo Jumbo, which should be
available through Universal by the time you read this or check them
out on tour through larger areas & later regional areas shortly
in support of the album.
