Vinyl Culture - Tribe Friday
Tribe Friday’s frontman Noah Deutschmann started playing in bands at the age of 13 in a small Swedish town. Now, ten years later, he released two EP’s on vinyl and with Tribe Friday he is ready to take over the world. We talked about his fascination for vinyl, his love for music and his touring plans for when the world is Covid-19 free.
How did you start Tribe Friday?
Basically it started when I was 13 and was living in a small Swedish town. As a small Swedish town goes, there was not much to do. You had three options: sports, drugs or play music. So me and my friends chose music and started a band as an after school thing. Music has grown gradually for me and became more and more professional. To focus full time on music me and my Tribe Friday band members decided to move into a house together in the south of Sweden. That was two years ago and a lot has happened.
Image from P3 Guld Performance - @mirandaafredriksson
What kind of music did you start playing when you were 13?
I played alternative post rock, it was really dark, gloomy and screamy. Now it’s more pop oriented, but with Tribe Friday we gravitate more and more to Emo again.
What does Emo mean to you?
To me Emo is a state of mind. I had this big group of friends playing music together, we were dressing up and putting on make-up. It was a big sense of community for me. In my current life I enjoy the melancholy and emotional feeling Emo gives.
Which bands did you listen to when you were young?
I listened a lot to My Chemical Romance, I was a big fan. Other bands were Panic at the disco, Fall out boy and Bring me the horizon. The funny thing is that I’m currently collaborating with some writers and producers that worked with these bands back in the day. So it’s like this weird full circle.
Did you listen to vinyl when you were young?
I always had a fascination for vinyl. My mom was a Goth back in the day and she had a lot of records by The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees. I used to go to the attic and picked out the ones which I thought looked cool and listened to them.
Which bands do you listen to on vinyl currently?
Half of the music I listen to on a daily basis is on record. I enjoy making it an activity, instead of having music playing in the background. I just ordered a new record from French Cassettes, a band from San Francisco. I also still listen to the old The Cure records that I stole from my mom. Another current favourite is Igor from Tyler the Creator.
What is your favourite record you have in your collection?
That’s Wildlife from La Dispute. I have the logo of this record tattooed on my arm and the other logo tattooed on my feed. It’s like the level of storytelling that is insane to me. It has a dramatic curve that becomes more and more intense throughout the record.
Tribe Friday released two EP’s on vinyl last year. How did it make you feel when you had your own record in your hands?
It was a surreal experience. We picked up our first box of records when we were on our way to a show. We just sat in the car drooling over them. We couldn’t believe we made this. I create the designs for most of our stuff. This was the first time I designed a record with inlay, cover, the actual record and sticker. Just seeing that and holding it in my hands was pretty wild.
What is the story behind the 2 EP’s and how did you create the artwork?
The two EP’s are like sister EP’s. The first one is called Chasing Pictures and the second Waiting for a sign. The common thread throughout all the songs is self dreader ment. Doing things that aren't good for you but ease your feeling of dread temporarily.
For the cover design I felt that there was an element of melodramatics. I felt that same feeling when I was looking at old comic books. The two covers are made by old public domain comic books. Stuff that’s been made and published so long ago that they have fallen out of copyright and are free to use. I found a database with drawings like that and I made collages for the album covers.
How did you come up with the idea to make your vinyl yellow?
I think it was our management’s idea. I sort of never considered making colored vinyl, because I don’t have any. And when they said, ‘we should make it yellow’. I was like, of course we should, who would say no to that! It was more of a happy accident.
What are your plans for this upcoming year?
We have a lot of plans! Everything depends these days on Covid-19 off course. In September we have a tour booked in Germany and the UK. We have a few more songs coming out this year. Some other exciting news! We finished our debut album and it will be released later this year.
WIN WIN WIN
Want to get some real cool Tribe Friday Merch and win a Crosley record player? Head over to Tribe Friday's instagram and check out how you can win the record player.