tUnE-yArDs

Merrill Garbus is my kind of woman. Covered in colours, shouting her heart out to the world at large. Her third album Nikki Nack came out last year to great acclaim. Her children’s TV style music videos and intelligent, upbeat, raw tunes are a sort of beautiful musical train on which she transports her serious messages about everyday issues dealt with by everyday people around the world. She wants to give a voice to those who don’t have it, dressing it up in a costume made of neon and glitter to do so. She’s as fierce as a dragon and as playful as a puppy. I spoke to Merrill ahead of her show at the Waterfront this month.

You’re only doing a couple dates in the UK this time around, Field Day, Bristol and Norwich. I wondered why we have been honoured? I know you haven’t been to Norwich before.

You know, honestly, there’s so little that I have the first say about these days, so it was someone else’s brilliant idea! We love getting to different parts of the UK because we’ve had so much love from you in general. Our label is based in the UK so they love having us there and we love being there! A lot of bands say the UK is a harder place to tour, and when you’re starting out it can be a very unforgiving place but we have this wonderful career over there so to get to a new city where we’ve never played before is awesome for us.

You used to be a professional puppeteer; to what extent has that had an effect on your performance as tUnE-yArDs?

I was a professional puppeteer for four years after studying it, and that’s where I got my touring chops; I toured Europe with that company. I remember (to the chagrin of my old puppet bosses) saying “I hate puppets!” - there was a lot I didn’t understand that I had gotten from that experience. But the answer to your question is pretty theoretical and boring in a way. People who are serious about puppetry are almost spiritual about the fact that you are serving what the puppet wants rather than imposing your will upon the puppet; at least that was the experience that I had. I think I learnt a lot from that, like “What does the puppet naturally want to do and then how can you get out of the way and let that happen?”. And as much as I said I dislike puppets I totally learnt from that. That’s how I approach music; getting out of the way of the music that wants to naturally come out and trying to be a conduit to creativity instead of being egotistical about it.

Did you know we have an actual puppet theatre in Norwich?

No, but that sounds amazing! Now that I’ve had some time away from them they’re coming back into my consciousness again.

What music did you grow up listening to and how do you think it’s influenced your own sound?

My parents are both musicians and my mom is a classical pianist so I grew up with a lot of Bach and Chopin and all kinds of classical music. My parents are both folk fiends and met through square dances so all sorts of folk music including bluegrass and country. My mom played the harpsichord as well so I got to hear a lot of English country dance music which English people themselves don’t always know about. Then there was Steely Dan and 70’s pop…my household was filled with an extremely large record collection so I got a real schooling in all kinds of music. Also I guess I had a curiosity about music and that’s how I got into music from Africa, Brazil and South America.

Your lyrics are often political, in the folk tradition of any country, telling the story of its people and injustices in the system. Who are your favourite singers and musicians who have done this or are currently doing it?

I would say Woody Guthrie is the first that comes to mind. Nina Simone talked about a woman’s life, and a black woman’s life in particular, and people who speak from experience then reflect the unspoken. You know the context they are talking about and sometimes that is way more powerful than more topical songs, and shouldn’t be underestimated in terms of their weight. Music that comes from someone’s personal perspective and hearing their life story has impacted on me the most. Talib Kweli, the Roots, Mos Def…they were my first foray into something that was not my parents’ music but which had a social consciousness. Also Johnny Clegg, a South African musician whose songs directly called out for social action. And there are so many other musicians who speak from their point of view and give us a window into something else.

So would you say it’s important to be a sort of “truth sayer” as a musician? A representative for those who can’t speak out?

Yep, exactly, a truth sayer. I found myself talking about that when I started up this water organisation and I was interviewed about it. I found myself talking about my song Water Fountain and I said exactly that; I personally wouldn’t want to listen to a song that was preaching about water and the lack thereof. That’s not at all interesting to me. What’s interesting to me is music that tells the truth. I think we all try and do that; for example black artists in this country had to tell the truth in a round about sort of way because telling the truth directly would get them in a lot of trouble. I enjoy trying to read between the lines of songs.