SHARKMUFFIN
psych/grunge/pop/fizz/glam/garage music...
Watch out for Sharkmuffin—a band that hails from Brooklyn, New York featuring a heavy dose of psych/grunge/pop/fizz/glam/garage music that is sure to warp your senses and keep you coming back for more. The Village Voice wrote, "Their sound is energetic and wild, fitting for a band with a name like theirs. It's rough and raw and soaked in whisky, just the way the best bands are.”
Sharkmuffin were formed in 2012 when guitarist Tarra Thiessen and Natalie Kirch jammed together on the fourth of July at the Kirch family beach house just months before it was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. They would release three Eps in 2013 and a full length debut album Chartreuse in August of 2015. As for their sound, Thiessen describes it as ‘opti-mystic Glamgrunge GP Stripes Sharkmuffin Sludge. Kirch says, ‘heavy garage punk with some surf/psych overtones. "The Velvet Underground version of New York City motivated me to move here to start a band. The White Stripes, Led Zepellin, The Ventures, Hole, Nirvana, and 60s girl groups like The Marvellettes and Shangri-Las are big influences of my guitar playing and songwriting.
Sharkmuffin all began when guitarist Tarra Thiessen (vocals/guitar/theremin/pocket piano) and Natalie Kirch (vocals/bass) first together jammed in Mantoloking, NJ at Kirch's family beach house in July 2012, just months prior to it being destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. They released three EPs in 2013, including '1097,' which was named after the beachouse. In 2015 they would have the privelege to record with drummer Patty Schemel (Upset/Hole) after the original drummer, Janet LaBelle was injured. They recorded 10 tracks with Schemel in Los Angeles releasing Chartreuse which included a 6 week tour. In September Kim Deuss was added to the band completing the lineup. The band is recording their sophomore LP simultaneously with the release of a flex-disc via Little Dickman Records at The Lost Room in Los Angeles, CA on February 12, 2016. The 2 tracks featured on the flexi-disc were recorded at Converse Rubber Tracks in Brooklyn, NY with Davey Jones and Sharif Mekawy prior to their US tour in June 2015. Kirch said, “Tarra initially started playing under the name Sharkmuffin as an outlet for a talented vocalist friend of hers. Her friend was a recovering addict and Tarra saw it as a positive way to channel her time. About 8 months later, her friend moved and Tarra had written some songs for the project (most of which are represented on our self-titled 7" and our first EP, "She-Gods of Champagne Valley"). Tarra decided to take on singing to play out some of her songs and she wanted a bassist with a female voice to add to backing vocals. I had just started playing bass and was looking to join a band and our mutual friend, Nate Terepka, recommended me to Tarra. "Straight Gries," "Femebot," and the "1097" EP were the first writing collaborations between Tarra and I which we wrote at my family's summer home that was destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. This past fall, we met Kim and she completed the trifecta. We are working on some new material with her write now.”
As for the band and the concept Thiessen said, “we’re a lot of fun. I think term 'Sharkmuffin' has a lot of untapped potential to be a great slang term. Everyone should start updating the Urban Dictionary entry with his or her ideas. My dream is for our tour van to be a food truck with Sharkmuffin ice cream, the Sharkmuffin Cocktail (Chocolate wine & cold-brew ice coffee), and actual Sharkmuffins (different flavors with guitar picks as their fins), which can be purchased alongside out records, cassettes & t-shirts.”
Kirch said, “We enjoy creating imaginary themed foods to go along with our band- such as ice cream, pizza, and alcoholic beverages.”
Thiessen was motivated to play music as a teenager and supported by her stepfather who was into music as a guitar collector. “I was a pretty typical teenager that was pissed off at my mom and couldn't wait to get out of the NJ suburbs. The only way out I could dream up was through music. I went Warped Tour a few years in a row in the early 2000s as a preteen and was really inspired by bands like The Distillers & NOFX and their ability to direct their anger into something bigger than themselves that seemed to bring them some kind of liberation from ordinary life. I also was lucky enough to have a stepfather who collected bass guitars and encouraged me to take guitar lessons. I grew up learning Led Zeppelin and Cream songs and later would compete with my high school boyfriend over who could play Slayer and Black Sabbath solos faster.”
"A lot of the early songs were weird b-movie-like plot lines about shrunken heads or sea monster Stockholm syndrome or homicidal fembots, Thiessen said. I feel like I'm going back into a more metaphorical writing style for the 2nd record now. I always wanted to write music that would sound like what Francis Bacon paintings look like. David Lynch movies also really inspire me, along with Anais Nin novelettes and sci-fi short stories. "
"Tarra writes most of the lyrics and a lot of them are courtesy of her experiences with ex-boyfriends, Kirch said. We also do some fun, nonsense-writing too. For example, for "Chartreuse" we created a story line and added some real experiences to it, then mashed up the ordering of each of our lyrics."
"Chartreuse" is a conglomerate of all the work we had done up until the summer of 2014 which is why all the songs sound a little detached from each other, but they are interwoven enough to be placed in the same album. We have two songs coming out in February 2016 called "Fun Stuff" and "Red" which are more in the psych realm. I think they are more indicators of the direction we are moving towards now."
Thiessen and Kirch have created a great buzz with their music and provide a solid sound buzz with their creativity that deserves immediate attention and your senses. This is music that should rise above any category or novelty.
Thiessen said, "The press being lazy and only categorizing us as 'females' and not actually listening for a deeper meaning or at the very least an average analysis of the music itself without our gender being the main selling point.' Don't let anyone intimidate you out of doing what you love doing. Always put yourself in uncomfortable situations until they are comfortable. I'm very thankful for all the women who came before us playing loud rock music who carved out a space in the industry for us so that it's not weird or outrageous just to be a woman who plays loud music. But even with all the history of women in music it's still difficult to not be immediately labeled as an all-girl band and taken as a 'gimmick' instead of just being accepted as a band. That is changing though." Kirch added, "I don't think we are "against the world" we are just trying to coexist with an equal amount of respect as any other person in the industry. To any other women who want to play, write the songs you want to write and perform them as you want to perform them. Don't worry about the stereotypes, the easiest way to fight them is to prove them wrong. You most likely will come across some adversity at some point in your career; slay it with your talent."
Jump on board with Sharkmuffin and catch their waves. And if you happen to be at a loss for a new catch word--think Sharkmuffin....Sharkmuffin....as they prepare to invade with some fresh sounds. Kirch said the band will follow up their release with touring. "In February, we are going to L.A. to record, release a flexi-disc, and tour up the west coast. March, we are touring down and back up from SXSW. May, we are touring Canada and L.A. We have some other things in the works for late summer and autumn. Our drummer Kim grew up in Bermuda, so we are trying to play out there as well."
You can find Sharkmuffin at: http://www.sharkmuffin.com
and on ITunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Sirius