Playing live at the Echo, 11/6.
Back in 2003, Mike Lindsay had a studio in a Soho basement below a clothes shop. Mike had been playing about with studio tech, making electronica and trying to make a living producing advert music, when he met Sam Genders, who was a bit of a singer-songwriter, used to doing pub gigs by himself. They had to go through the changing room to get down to the studio, then couldn't get back out while the shop was open in case they startled naked ladies on their way out. Stuck down there, they found that Mike's distinctive way with twinkling sounds and tight production enhanced the folky songs they were both writing no end, and a signature sound developed.
A year of "having a laugh in the studio" together followed, beginning with the psychedelic but endlessly catchy 'People Folk' - originally Mike's song, which they then reworked and produced together. After that they wrote in all kinds of permutations, sometimes starting with a full song by one or other of them, sometimes just with a phrase or tiny idea and working it up together. Tunng's first album 'Mother's Daughter And Other Songs' is very much the sound of this partnership as they bounced ideas off one another in their basement. An approach to Static Caravan met with a welcoming response, and Sam and Mike realized that Tunng was a project that could find a wider audience.
As work on what was to become that first album went on, their songs leaked out via friends. Inevitably ears pricked up as more people heard them, and quickly they started getting asked "would you like to do a gig". "Yeah… but we don't know how!" was the instant response - so they had to go hunting for like-minded spirits to tak