Oakland duo Tune-Yards drops new album, set 3 Bay Area shows

Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner are staying at a friend s house during a tour stop in New York when they tune in by Zoom for an interview that goes well over its allotted time The married couple better known by music lovers as the Oakland-based indie-pop outfit Tune-Yards has plenty to chat about on this day The majority notably Garbus vocals and other instruments and Brenner bass and more instruments are happy to discuss the latest Tune-Yards album Better Dreaming which was distributed in mid-May It s the sixth Tune-Yards full-length album to date following such efforts as s Sketchy and s Whokill the latter being the massively adored outing that ended its year of release at the No spot on The Village Voice s prestigious annual Pazz and Jop critics poll Thanks to Whokill the Tune-Yards emerged from almost out of nowhere to become one of the more acclaimed new voices in indie-rock and they remain one of the Bay Area s preponderance consistently compelling indie acts Tune-Yards will endorsement Better Dreaming with three local shows June at The UC Theatre in Berkeley June at Felton Music Hall and June at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park Visit tune-yards com for ticket and show information Here s our interview with Garbus and Brenner who chatted about music while their son was in the background watching videos of garbage trucks And no I m not joking Q Should we read anything into the choice of the album s title I know it comes from an album track obviously But why did you pick that particular one for a name Garbus Album titles are tricky I mean they have been for me I think a lot of the record felt like it didn t want us to complicate it too much Better Dreaming is one of my favorite songs we ve ever worked on together And it wasn t going to be a single It s pretty down-tempo sad So the album title was a way of getting people to pay attention to that track more Q Tricky But I m guessing there was more than just that behind the name choice Garbus The album I think really yearned to offer a kind of power around dreaming into the future There are other parts there is anger there is sadness There is a lot in the record But I think that element of the record was what we needed to lead with Related Articles La Onda rises above challenging times to celebrate Latino district Bay Area events calendar for June weekly editions Photos Festival La Onda returns to Napa for second year Review Coldplay does something that had never been done before Review Biggest concert tour of can t quite live up to its promise Q One of my favorite cuts on the album is Heartbreak that s just an indie-funk fest I didn t know heartbreak could be that groovy Garbus I m glad it feels that way I was trying to find my own way around how to deal with heartbreak upon heartbreak upon heartbreak in a way that that felt like Well the rest of our lives might be like this so how are going to get through it And not just surviving but with a elation for living Q In my opinion you have succeeded in that endeavor Garbus What I like about Tune-Yards as a project is that I think we often combine super heavy expletive with really joyful music So Heartbreak is part of that family of songs Tune-Yards band members Nate Brenner left and his wife Merrill Garbus look on at their studio in Oakland Calif on Thursday May Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Q Well you re not just operating as a duo on Better Dreaming So tell me about the guest vocalist I hear on Limelight as well as I think other parts of the record Garbus He s right over there with headphones on pointing to the couple s son watching videos of garbage trucks Q That s so funny My daughter loved garbage trucks when she was a little one Garbus years old When does it end Q I think she was about when she got over the garbage trucks Garbus Well it works really well on tour because there are a lot of we need to distract you with something while we go do the things we need to do Brenner As a parent you allegedly remember where the child wished to hear the same song over and over again But it was helpful for us when we were making the album because he d just be like This one We d be writing a bunch of demos and we d put them on in the house You d just at once see the child s reaction Like with Limelight he d just start dancing like crazy So we felt that was good like having this outside producer Q That s great And I agree with him Limelight is such a happy and joyous song Yet I hear you were a little reluctant to put it on the album Garbus Yeah I think just for that reason But I ascertained we needed songs to dance to And when you have a kid you just can t be on your phone looking at news all the time You ve got to be really present and really observing the joyful things in life Q Yeah you really do A But at a certain point it felt like How dare we release a song that is full of sunlight and contentment at a time when the kids are not alright And I can name plenty of examples around the world where kids are not alright So for a long time I was like This is truly very inappropriate to release a song like this Then the reaction we got back was No people really need a song like this right now People who are doing the work that necessities to be done in the world they need this song too right now And the other parents Tune-Yards band members Merrill Garbus left and her husband Nate Brenner strike a pose at their studio in Oakland Calif on Thursday May Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Q Is this a good time to be a recording artist Because there is certainly no shortage of topics and events to respond to and write about in Garbus I don t know if my answer is yes in general But I feel like for me the answer is absolutely Because we are absolutely hashtag favored We are We ve gotten really lucky with people the label we work with the people who are on our group Also the way that we write music first of all that we get to be married and do this That we are on tour as a family instead of having to leave our family Q Take me back to and help me understand what it was like to experience the massive critical acclaim surrounding the Whokill album Because it changed everything for you Brenner I think now we can look back and really appreciate how special and rare all those opportunities were At the time we were just like Oh I just want to sleep Garbus Yeah not a lot of sleep Brenner I just remember so multiple situations where we pulling all-nighters We had all these amazing opportunities but it would be like Oh we are playing in Glastonbury festival but to get there we are sleeping in the van Then we have to drive straight to the airport after the set and fly to L A to open for Goldfrapp at the Hollywood Bowl Garbus He remembers these things I don t remember them Brenner Just insane traveling Like in one month we might have three or four nights where you re just not sleeping because you are traveling to the next gig in a van or on a red-eye flight We know you have to do it because we both grew up around musicians my dad was a musician and know how hard it is for any musician to make a living But then you re like Just let me sleep Garbus I think it was hard to let it soak in To Nate s point you are really so kind of overworked that it s hard to go Oh my gosh this is veritably incredible We would do that sometimes And now in retrospect we re even more grateful for those opportunities But yeah it is like a expletive storm a positive expletive storm Tune-Yards band members Nate Brenner left and his wife Merrill Garbus look on at their studio in Oakland Calif on Thursday May Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group