After a successful Australian tour in february and march Birds Of Tokyo headline the Big Pineapple music festival on 20th April. Kayla talks to Birds Of Tokyo’s Glenn Sarangapany about new album ‘March Fires’ and more.
KD: Hi Glenn, you’re fairly new to Birds of Tokyo, how did you come onboard?
BT: I used to play guitar with another band that included drummer Adam Westin and one day he said look we need a keyboard player to come on tour with us (Birds of Tokyo) for a bit can you do that?
KD: As you said you brought the keys to the band how do you think that affected the music and influenced the band itself?
BT: I think on this album the keys came to the fore a little more, but really it just helps to layer stuff and make the guitars more coloured rather than one block out sound you have something that’s still really heavy but has a little more movement to it.
KD: We know you can also play guitar is there anything else you can play?
BT: I used to teach drums, but I’m a terrible drummer, I’ve been trying to learn songs from SONGS FOR THE DEAF But I’ve been really struggling with whether it’s beat two or beat one but we’ll get there I’m sure!
KD: What do you like most like about your chosen profession?
BT: I think it’s being able to talk to people in a completely different way. I love talking to people one on one, but through music you can express ideas that they can take back and consider later on.
KD: What’s your favourite part of performing live?
BT: At the moment the volume! It’s pretty loud I got a bunch of new keyboards and the sound on stage is awesome. Performing live is just such a rush.
KD: The new Album March Fires is a fresh start for the band, what made the band decide to go with the new sound as opposed to sticking with the sound of previous albums?
BT: It was that we had so much to say, we wanted to make an album about everyone not just the band. We wanted to make it heavy but also more beautiful, so instead of a loud guitar and a chorus we wanted it more classical we wanted guitars coming in high and low and sneaking round the speakers rather than just coming straight out the front. We had lots of discussions about that and that we wanted everyone in the room to know what the song was about when we were writing it. So if the five of us knew what was going on in the song everyone out there would too.
KD: The album March Fires is based on the Northern hemisphere natural fires that are a source of renewal, is that the main lyrical source for the album?
BT: The album is more about having responsibility for your actions, looking around you and seeing what everyone is doing , looking further rather than just about the people in your own life.
KD: What’s your favourite from the new album?
BT: Mine is the first track LIQUID ARMS, we’ll be opening shows with it and it has a really cool intro piece that just keeps building and building. Then it just explodes at the end into kind of like fireworks!
KD: How did the name Birds of Tokyo come about?
BT: You know those flyers that people hand out to you on the street? Ian, When he saw one and he put it in his pocket and when he pulled it out as it was a little wet he read it wrong as BIRDS OF TOKYO, but it was really a flyer for a toy company and it said NO BIRDS IN TOKYO, which was something that came from the fact that Tokyo had lost its bird life.
KD: Who and what influences the song-writing
BT: Well it’s really everything. Books we’re reading, movies we’re watching, art we’re looking at at the time. The usual way it happens is that there’s some spark and we’ll have an idea, take it, start working on it and see if anything clicks and take it from there.
KD: Which musicians have influenced the band most over time?
BT: I don’t think there’s one real influence but sometimes we’ll hear a sound like a really cool keyboard sound and that will influence something we are doing, but as a five piece band we all have influences and those change all the time.
KD: What are the future plans for the band?
BT: I’m not sure there are a few discussions that we are having now that I can’t really talk about, we’ll be touring the album, and there will be a new single later in the year but that’s about all I can say!
KD: If you could have been in the studio when any classic album was recorded, just to see what went on and how the musicians interacted what would it have been for you and why?
BT: Weezer’s Blue album because it’s just about my favourite album ever and to see how those songs came together would have been incredible.
KD: And what is the meaning of life?
BT: The meaning of life! (Laughs) It’s that great Monty Python movie, so for me it’s to watch that movie over and over again!
