Tapir! - Why is a Tapirus singing folk?
- peter martin
- May 2, 2023
- 4 min read
Tapir! - Why is a Tapirus singing folk?
Tapir! Released their debut EP Act 1 (The Pilgrimage) in September of 2022
With red paper-mâché masks and a whole lot of character, Tapir! is one of the best Folk acts coming out of the UK. The 6-piece from London creates breezy instrumentals which paint a verdant and pristine landscape which you're taken through by Issac Gray's warm and grainy vocals. The band has worked with a multitude of promising acts including an appearance from whimsical South London folk duo Lilo and production from Honeyglaze drummer Yuri Shibuichi. Everything about this band feels natural and yet, the EP The Pilgrimage takes us through the journey of a creature clambering through undiscovered lands. The Pilgrimage is the first of a saga of EPs which gives the band ultimate space to flourish in storytelling. After months of listening, Tapir! paused their daily roll down a knoll to answer my questions.
How was Tapir! formed? how long has this formation been in the works?
Ike (singer) and Will (synth king) began writing narrative-led songs inspired by Randy Newman in Will's old garage in West Dulwich just before lockdown. They played one show with a different band lineup and over lockdown Ronnie (bass) and Tom (guitar) joined and they played for a few months as a 4 piece when we could play gigs again. As more songs were written and the album was recorded and developed, we recruited Emily (cornet) and Wilf (cello/drums) to bolster the live sound and make it sound as loud/full as it does on the album. Now we're really happy as a 6 piece for live shows!
Was this ambition always folk or were there any other genres in consideration?
We never set out to make folk music at all. I guess it just sounds that way to some people. Some of us are inspired by folk musicians in the way we play our instruments, but with the drum machine, we’ve been inspired by electronic music as well. There are lots of genres at play in our inspiration since there are 6 of us all listening to different music!
It’s been a big couple of months for Tapir!, EP release and a gig or two or many, whats one thing you’ve taken from this experience and how has it impacted the music?
We put a lot of effort into the headline shows we’ve put on under our collective My Life Is Big. We decorate the stage with sets, wear costumes, use props, etc. Something we’ve taken away from these shows is really wanting to build on them and eventually doing something pretty ambitious and different with our live set. Rather than just play the music in bigger venues, we want to approach it more like a play or performance. We’ll see!
Act 1 The Pilgrim is a Delicate and Pastoral 15 minutes, and it’s perfectly set up by the Opening. What can you tell us about the creation of this track?
The idea was to have an instrumental that set the character on the journey and acted as a sort of theme for The Pilgrim. As it's the start of a journey, the melody and feel of the thing wanted to be hopeful and excited.
On a Grassy Knoll immediately takes us to an idyllic countryside ballad. This track stands out from the other 3 with a very danceable drum beat layered underneath the gorgeous instrumentation, how was this track different to record compared to the others and do you have any good memories that this song was inspired by?
Honestly, Grassy Knoll was recorded with the exact same approach as the others. Drum machine first, everything else on top. Recording it was great, we did it with Joe Futak in a studio in Greenwich. A Lovely person, who is now a good friend of ours, who makes amazing music and is on a great roll producing lots of great musicians recently.
The Nether (Face to Face) is definitely my favourite from the EP, this concept of the Nether comes up throughout the whole project, would you be able to tell me what it symbolises?
The album tells a story about a red character called The Pilgrim and their journey through a mysterious land. The Nether is a dark and dangerous forest where they kill a beast with a sword that fell from the sky!
My God is a track full of playful lyricism and truly sounds like a religious ascent (those vocal harmonies give me so much life). This is also your biggest track, do you understand why it's become that?
It was the first track we put out!
Does this track belong to a separate project or is it just a single?
My God acts as the prologue to the story! It’ll become clearer when Act 2 and Act 3 come out.
We’ve seen that a choir will be used for some future projects for Tapir!, is this something that was always intended for the project and what have you guys learnt from using a big vocal ensemble?
We've always liked using group vocals on our recordings, it's nice being able to do that live as well - we've learnt that we should get better at checking weather forecasts before we record a choir outdoors x
You’re set to play a few dates with one of the biggest indie bands in the UK, 'Black Country, New Road'. what is the pre-tour feeling and what is one thing you’d like to get out of this tour?
Excitement! Especially for Dublin, I’ve (Ronnie) never even been to Ireland before. Also, the venues we will be playing at are nuts! Very nice and cool
Tapir! also have a load of festivals coming up, Dot to Dot, EOTR and Great Escape. How are you guys preparing for a busy summer and what's one thing you want to gain from the experience?
Honestly, it’s kinda hard to know what to do to prepare for it. You never know how you and the others are gonna feel on the day. This year is definitely us trying out new things most of us haven’t done before (lots of gigs out of London, day festivals, support tours) and seeing how we find it.
Could we see a Tapir! headline tour anytime soon
Not soon, not before the release of our album
Finally, Drink of choice for the band?
Choccy milk.
Tapir!'s socials can be found in their linkree:
Dedicated to Thomas
