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    Concert Review and Q&A: Tongues Unknown at The Shrunken Head

    In his live form, an eight-armed, four person show, the one-man monster behind Brooklyn, New York’s Tongues Unknown was a creature of incredible comfort this Thursday night at Shrunken Head. Although, this should have come as no surprise, as Connor Grant is no stranger to the accompaniment of a full band on stage. Playing alongside the likes of bands such as The Flaming Lips and Tame Impala in his role in The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, the group fronted by Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon, and Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Grant began his solo project Tongues Unknown years ago as an extension of himself.

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    “I needed a band that was my own, so the project was a necessity,” Grant said about his decision to ultimately venture into his own musical style.

    In his Columbus debut, on a tour he admittedly booked himself just one month in advance, whilst playing to a small crowd, Grant is poised, exhibits a high level of comfort on stage and establishes this is where he is supposed to be

    I sat down with Grant before the show to talk about his beginnings as a musician, what it’s like to be apart of The GOASTT and tour alongside groups like Primus and Florence + the Machine.

    You were just in Athens, Ohio on Wednesday at the Union Bar. How were the vibes at that show? Athens is a super special place.

    “Yeah! The vibe there is nuts, it’s awesome. Everybody there was so kind and genuinely really interested in music. I was walking down the street to go buy a toothbrush and this random guy was like yo dude what’s up I’ll see you around at the show later, and sure enough when I got to the show later six blocks away there he was waiting outside, coming to the show. We also played with Water Witches that night, they’re our new favorite band. ”

    Let’s talk a little bit about the cover for your self-titled album released on the 6th. Your Facebook says, “We sound like our album cover.” What’s that mean? What’s going on in the cover?

    Tongues-Unknown-02“The cover’s a painting which was done by my uncle Michael Brieger and there’s just something in that painting that is obviously super weird. My uncle’s really into German expressionist painting and it’s an abstract scene with a sense of some kind of celebration happening. Our music is pretty weird and we ultimately want it to make people feel good. When I saw that painting it made me so happy and really spoke to me so I asked him if it was alright that I used it for my project. I asked him about the painting way before I finished the self-titled album, so I made a copy of it and put it above my studio desk and was kind of just always glancing at it while the record was being made.”

    How do you describe the Tongues Unknown sound to people you want to turn on to the project?

    “I don’t really like when musicians give you this super contrived genre, I think it can come across as pretentious in a way, but I know we obviously need to be descriptive so I always tell people it’s experimental rock or like this avante-garde psych pop. Some guy told me the other night we were getting him back into “new wave stoner metal”. I don’t even know what that means but it works too.”

    Now I’m sure you had a pretty interesting journey that led you to kick off this project. How’d you link up with Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl in The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger?

    “I needed some steady work back in 2013, I was playing guitar in the subway and teaching for awhile. I moved from Southside Chicago to Brooklyn to make music and get in the scene. At one point that year I was talking to a friend who was in a band and one night he asked if I could fill in as a tech guy. So I did that for the first time and the producer for the record was Sean Lennon’s roommate Yuka Honda. Apparently I did a good job and Sean got ahold of somebody three months or so later and asked for my info for a gig with his band at the time Mystical Weapons. After that show we were hanging out and he asked if I was interested in working for him part time and at that point he didn’t even know I played music. We eventually started jamming after shows and we naturally both really loved the same kind of music and writing. It was a pretty organic musical friendship.”

    What’s that group like?

    “It was bizarre. I mean a few years ago I was playing in the subway and serving at restaurants, which I’m terrible at, and started asking myself what I was even good at and then I met Sean and Charlotte who sort of just let me in. I do work really hard and I want to think I do a good job, but I’m really thankful I met them. I had never been to New York. I wanted to make music and playing in the subway helped more than anything but there wasn’t really a plan, I got super lucky. With The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger I was just on board for whatever they needed. My first show with them was playing with The Flaming Lips and Tame Impala, where they asked me to take a mic and play the tambourine. That kind of continued for awhile between singing and playing percussion. For their last tour I switched to lead guitar. It was crazy cause that was with Florence + the Machine in sold-out stadiums…I don’t think anyone can really prepare for a crowd like that.  ”

    So you began writing Tongue Unknown’s record while on the road with The GOASTT?

    “I started writing the record well before I met Sean. It was probably start to finish a four year project which I redid multiple times. When I met Sean GOASTT was finishing up “Midnight Sun”. It was amazing to be around the recording and I learned a lot really quick about the process. Most of it was written beforehand, but I finished a ton of the songs on tour in the recording studio after soundcheck or late at night. “

    Have you thought about changing the dynamic from a one-man show to a consistent full band for recording purposes?

    “Right now I’m obsessed with recording. A huge part of my writing process is recording a piece, hearing it back and then deciding whether I want to keep it or not. Although I’m interested in trying other ways to make a record.”

    When did you first pick up an instrument?

    “I broke my leg nine times during my teenage years and I was a total moron. During that time I picked up guitar. I was obsessed with playing every instrument after that. I used to get in a lot of trouble in the bands I was in when I was a teenageer because I just could not stop playing the drums, I didn’t own my own drum kid until I was 22. ”

    What were you listening to then?

    “I was really into the Beegees. I then became obsessed with Duane Allman and he was my total hero. Plus tons of Pink Floyd, The Band and The Grateful Dead. Those were the standards in the South side Chicago jam scene I grew up in.”

    This Saturday marks the end of the self-titled album release tour back in NY right? What’re the plans for after the tour?

    “I’m already trying to book the next tour…”

    Connor Grant explained he’s taking baby steps as he moves the project forward and sees importance in realistic expectations of “success”.

    His goal for this current tour lied in his hope that each venue he played would want him back.

    So far, he said, he’s in luck.

    For more info visit www.facebook.com/tonguesunknown/ or tonguesunknown.bandcamp.com/releases.

     

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    Grace Fleisher
    Grace Fleisherhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Grace delves into all things music and entertainment related here at Columbus Underground. She's currently a Journalism student at Ohio State University where she will graduate from in May. Grace is passionate about music, cuisine, social justice, public policy and their intersection with the arts.
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