TARAH WHO?
Tomorrow, April 28, sees the release of the latest Tarah Who? album, THE COLLABORATION PROJECT, a collection of songs recorded with various artists, with the aim of introducing fans of each artist to one another’s, and to show that “in an industry that is really hard, especially for women, independent artists who have a passion for rock music can work together and support each other, no matter where they are from.”
We caught up with Tarah Who? singer, guitarist & songwriter, Tarah G. Carpenter, just as the band had arrived in Glasgow Scotland, for the fourth date of their current U.K. tour supporting Wednesday 13, and took the opportunity to chat with her about the tour, the album and a few of those collaborations.
K-RPM : So you’re back in the U.K., this time on tour supporting Wednesday 13, with South Of Salem and Sick N’ Beautiful. How are you finding this tour compared to the shows you did supporting Life Of Agony in the U.K. earlier in the year? Are the audiences much different?
Tarah : It is very different! Actually, I was really curious about the crowd that we were going to meet because well, you know, Life of Agony is obviously an older crowd and they were very responsive to us, and they knew L7 so they could relate. It’s almost like they understood our music better, in a way.
And and then this time, I mean, we’ve only done three shows so far, and people like us, but they just come for different reason. You know, they come for a show that is delivered with a lot of visual effects, you know, and we’re raw, punk, grunge … this is us! You know what I mean? We can tell that they like the music, but you know, right after us is Sick N’ Beautiful, and that’s like a lot of pyro, when she can use it, visual effects and stuff like that which is super cool, you know, it’s just different to us. And then South of Salem is like super choreographed and of course … we’re the only ones with no make up! And I’m a girl! You know what I mean? But I was excited to meet like a younger crowd again.
K-RPM : And of course you’re playing with a new drummer, Vince joining you on drums this time around. Was it a last minute thing that meant Christine (Christine Agozzino, who played drums on the last Tarah Who? tour) couldn’t join you on this tour?
Tarah : Okay, so when we were on the tour with Life Of Agony we had talked about the tour that we are on now, and she wanted to do it. She didn’t know if her job was gonna allow her to do it. But most importantly, she’s pregnant, so she was not sure. She still wanted to do it, but I said “honestly, it’s not going to be safe, just stay home. It’s okay. I’ll find someone else.”
And I found someone else, she happens to be Russian, but when we tried to get her visa it was just …
K-RPM : yeah it’s tricky right now …
Tarah : … yeah and then, you know I was in this position where I was freaking out because I didn’t have a drummer! I didn’t know if I needed to wait longer for the visa, or if … I didn’t want to be unfair to her, because if I ask someone else…
And then, just three days before the tour, I’m like, okay, well, I need to find someone! I called everyone that I knew who could play drums and then a friend of a friend said, “Hold on! Let me talk to someone!” And then he talked to Vince who learned the songs in two days and honestly, I’m amazed, you know, because it’s a lot to learn a whole set in two days!
K-RPM : You did it!
Tarah : Yeah, yeah!
K-RPM : Originally, when we talked about doing this interview, I’d assumed that you were going on the road with Christine and Ash Orphan on bass again, and I had been planning to ask you if this was “the band” now, the Tarah Who? lineup.
Tarah : We message Christine every day and we send her videos! She wishes that she was here. It’s just that … her pregnancy, it’s the first trimester, and it’s just not safe for her to travel like this and have all this stress, but you know, especially when you’re a woman in the music industry or a women with a big career, it should not be an issue stopping you from doing what you want to do. So that’s why, for me, as long as she feels good, and it’s safe for her to do it, then, you know …
K-RPM : Yeah you guys look like you had a great atmosphere going on there, a great …
Tarah : … a great chemistry! Yeah, yeah for sure!
K-RPM : Okay, so your new album, The Collaboration Project, is out in a couple of weeks. Does it feel like a long time since you made it?
Tarah : Not that long. Actually, I got the masters in January, it’s very recent. I’m already working on the next album!!
K-RPM : Well this current new album, it’s literally a collaboration project, obviously, but are you playing a lot of the songs from it in your set? Or are you limited to what you can play from the album as the collaborators are not with you
Tarah : Yeah, I’m only doing the ones that are not collaborations.
K-RPM : Do you think you ever will? Do you think you would play them with other people coming to sing with you on stage or would you just keep them for when you get the opportunity to sing with the original artists?
Tarah : I would like for my ideal tour, if I could ever afford it, to have as openers the bands I collaborated with because the whole purpose of the album was to promote each other and help each other.
K-RPM : Do you feel that you have achieved that? Obviously the album isn’t out yet but I guess a lot of people have heard it, so have you received any feedback about the other artists being discovered because you, or vice versa?
Tarah : A little bit. I think that with the release of the album there will be more of that, with more press too. I push as hard as I can, so yeah, I think this will happen.
K-RPM : Actually Carissa Johnson (who co-wrote, sings and plays bass on the track Canary Song) is playing here in Paris tomorrow and we’re covering the gig, but when I first saw her name listed I knew that I had heard of her. And then of course it popped into my head that she is on your album! So, there you go, it worked!
Tarah : That’s so awesome, there you go!
K-RPM : A lot of artists recorded albums or EPs during the pandemic that were a little different from how they would normally record, but this album was recorded post-pandemic, right?
Tarah : Yeah, this one is post-pandemic. But we still did everything online for the collaborations since everyone was all over the place.
K-RPM : Were these songs you had already written, songs you then took to other artists and said, “would you want to play on this?” or did you work on them together?
Tarah : No, I wrote the songs thinking of the bands. I was listening to these bands a lot, and then I was like, okay, so their style is like this and Tarah Who? is like this, so let’s do a kind of mash up, you know? I wanted the songs to get to this place where both styles were combined.
Carissa though, we wrote together. We wrote the music and the lyrics together, and we recorded that one in New York … I went to New York to do that with her. And then the French song we did (R.A.D.I.O. with Angie Joseph) we also wrote the music and the lyrics together when I was in France. But all the other collaborations I wrote the music because it was just easier that way.
K-RPM : You were talking before about how you view all your recordings as a progression, a constant progression. Do you feel that the idea of collaborating is part of your progression, or was that just a one-off for this album?
Tarah : You know, I didn’t even know that I was ever going to do that, because everything that I write it so autobiographical and is just so personal. And the music industry … it’s just hard, and talking to all those friends, music friends, musicians, I had this anger a little bit, you know, like we work so hard and we get nothing! Then I found this common theme, “we’re going through the same thing,” and that’s why I think it works.
So (regarding future collaborations) if there are more things like that where we can relate, then maybe, yeah. And there are more artists that I wanted to include that were not available at the time, so I might do it again.
But right now I’m working on something new and so I don’t think I want to do any collaborations for that next album. I just want to see, like, where the fuck we’re going to go with that!
K-RPM : One other thing I want to ask you about, connected to the album, is that you have released seven or eight tracks as singles and made videos for all of them … and they are all really varied. Are the ideas for the videos all yours, or are they again collaborations?
Tarah : It’s all my ideas. But then, when it comes to actually financing the project I just do my best. I have bigger things in my mind than are actually on the video!
K-RPM : They look well financed, to be honest with you!
Tarah : It’s all luck! For Toast To The Brave, the director’s parents had just bought a house in Mexico and the funny thing is it was so new that when we went there to stay there they had only just bought the beds! You know what I mean? So the only thing that really cost me something was the gas to get to Mexico!
K-RPM : The video for Yay Or Nay … we loved that one especially. It was filmed in Pontevedra in Spain, where FAUL, the band you collaborated with on that song, live, yeah? There is a great music scene there, punk, metal, a really great scene …
Tarah : I know! And I had no idea! And V, the bass player in the video, she started a music school there, so we went there to visit the school, and that weekend there was a festival in the city and all of the kids from the music school did this little show, a performance, and they are all maybe between eight and fourteen years old, and they were amazing! And I was so excited to see the future of music! But I was also very scared because they’re so good!! I was so happy for them – it was like pure, raw, rock and roll, exactly what I love. And I’m thinking, should I hire him?!
K-RPM : The Asian Blood video is another favourite around here. Did you have the idea for that, or did you have animators come to you?
Tarah : I reached out to Glendon and Isabella, they really liked the song. They got it and they were inspired and I said, “Look, I’m just gonna let you do your thing. Let me just tell you what the song is about. Here are the lyrics,” you know? I talked about the music industry, the whole idea of being scared of getting old, because of the music industry, the entertainment industry, and what people say in general about women getting old. Well, they got really inspired, let’s just put it this way!
K-RPM : So, it’s the Cathouse in Glasgow tomorrow, then a few more dates before the tour ends in Milton Keynes at the end of the week … what’s next?
Tarah : Back to Paris for a few days and then back home to L.A. for the end of the month.
K-RPM : And what’s the next tour plans?
Tarah : Well then I’ll work on the album, and then we’re going back on tour in Europe with Life Of Agony and Prong in November and then some dates on our own around France after that.
K-RPM : Sounds good!
Tarah : Yeah! And then I’ll probably be working on the album …
K-RPM : Alright, well, thank you for talking to us! Good luck with the album and rest of the tour and, of course, enjoy your night in Glasgow!
Tarah : Thank you!
TARAH WHO? “THE COLLABORATION PROJECT” IS RELEASED ON APRIL 28, 2023
