http://www.drop-d.ie/article.php?article_id=872
Tenaka's colourful debut EPonymously Titled hit ears across Ireland in early January and has since gathered steady acclaim from musical camps across the country. Known as Ronan Carroll in the real world and hailing from Limerick but residing in Galway, the mind behind our latest electronica love-affair offered to share his thoughts and passions with a SoundTrack of his own.
Drop-D: Can you pigeonhole your tastes into one particular genre or do your preferences spread through an array of influences?
Tenaka: I think a few years ago I probably could have pigeonholed my tastes in music, being a fan of bands like Oasis, The Beatles and Radiohead. All the obvious choices really. That all changed when I heard Radiohead's Kid A. I vividly remember the day I played it for the first time and thinking "I've no idea what you'd call this style of music but it's exactly what I've been looking for..." I'd always been a huge music fan but had never actively sought new music so the radio was my main and limited source of new bands. Kid A was complemented by Four Tet's Pause shortly afterwards and I was hooked. It opened my eyes to the diversity and originality of new music available and it felt like a darkness had lifted. I finally had ears.
Drop-D: What triggered your musical infatuation? Was it a certain band/person/style/age?
Tenaka: I think it had to be that Kid A moment. It really was defining and certainly shaped me as a person. Finding a deeper love of music and expression frees you from every-day stresses. It opens your eyes to the important things in life.
Drop-D: Is there any kind of music you'd like to know/hear more of?
Tenaka: In the last few years since I started to make music I've become more aware of new (and old) Irish music. When you think of Irish music, U2, Snow Patrol etc... but there's so much beneath the surface. I've only been aware of all of this in the last few years but the potential of some of these bands is phenomenal and they really should get more recognition. It's important for me now to become aware of all that the Irish music scene has to offer and to promote it to friends and acquaintances where I can. 2008 was an amazing year for Irish music and I think that's 2009 is going to build on that ever further.
Drop-D: What influenced your decision to choose a career in a band?
Tenaka: I don't think any one thing in particular has influenced me to become actively involved in music apart from when I bought my first guitar three years ago with the intention of learning Radiohead'sThere There. With regards a fulltime music career, I don't think that's an option for me. So many bands struggle to find success, critical acclaim or enough money to survive but for me it's just about expressing myself through music. I have other career plans in mind, but music will always be as big a part of my life as anything else I do. I like the idea of working on music for the love of it and having no demands/expectations to meet in order to 'receive your cheque'. It allows you to be more free and daring. It's only my opinion but I think monetary success also brings pressures and that can sometimes inhibit an artist's music. The pressure to produce to a working formula doesn't appeal to me. I still can't play There There.
Drop-D: How much time do you spend listening to music now? Has it de/increased over time?
Tenaka: The amount of music I listen to on a regular basis has definitely increased as time has gone by. I'm an addict and I cant live without my fix. I've always needed music but now I appreciate it on a whole new level as well as needing it in order to survive. The day I die I'll be late for my funeral because I'll want to put on some music while I'm getting ready.
Drop-D: Do you prefer live music or listening from home?
Tenaka: I think live performance and listening to a recording from home should be two completely different things. I love to chill out and listen to every little sound on a recording, appreciating the detail and emotions in every track, but in a live performance I want to be moved in a different, more physically recognisable way. There are some bands whose live performances can't be missed in order to appreciate the whole package that is their music. On the flip side however, there are others who are content to make the live show sound identical in every way to the recordings. For me, if I wanted that I'd stay at home and listen to the CD.
Drop-D: How often would you spend at gigs that aren't your own?
Tenaka: I think like most music fans I could go to more gigs than I do, but I try to make as many as I can. I try at least once a week to make a gig whether it be an established band or an up and coming Irish band.
Drop-D: Would they be Irish or international bands? Any genre more so than the other?
Tenaka: There is so much great new music out there that I don't think its fair to restrict yourself to one genre or nationality. If you look at any of the bands/artists that are doing new and original things at the moment their influences are taken from all forms of genres and styles whether it be Jazz, Country, Pop, Rock, Dance or RnB. There are certain bands, both Irish and International, that I keep my eye out for, but if something grabs my attention or comes highly recommended by a friend, blog or article, I'll try to catch it.
Drop-D: Where does Irish music come on your playlists?
Tenaka: I'm a big fan of Irish music and so it features highly on my playlist but you also have to look to where these bands are taking their influences...that's what so endlessly enjoyable about music, every time you find a new favourite band you'll find five of their influences that will equally blow you away!
I'm a big fan of well known Irish bands like Jape, The Jimmy Cake, RSAG, Fight like Apes, Halves,Ham Sandwich, Heathers, The Vinny Club etc but there are also a lot of upcoming bands that I think will do great things like Villagers, Grand Pocket Orchestra, Kill Crinkle Club, The Ambience Affairand Mail Order Messiahs. Galway also has some great bands such as So Cow, Mirakil Whip, Mugger Dave, Blasterbra, The Followers of Otis, Music for Dead Birds and the Depravations. There's a lot happening in Irish music at the moment.
Drop-D: What do you think of the climate of the Irish music scene? Is it a good place to be a musician right now?
Tenaka: For a long time guitar bands and singer songwriters were the order of the day but I think these days, bands are looking for something different in their music to separate them from everyone else and it's great to see. Ireland's a very exciting place to be at the moment for a musician.
Drop-D: If you could choose a musical era to experience, what would it be?
Tenaka: I suppose most people would say the Sixties or Seventies but I'm happy right here thanks.
Drop-D: Choose some albums you find timeless and explain why....
Tenaka: I won't embarrass myself trying to describe what makes these albums stand out for me. I just get them and they get me.
Radiohead – Kid A
Fourtet – Pause
One Giant Leap – One Giant Leap
Air – Moon Safari
Moby – Play
Drop-D: Now name some modern tunes you've really enjoyed.
Tenaka:
Lykke Li – Youth Novels
RSAG – Organic Sampler
The Jimmy Cake – Spectre and Crown
Jape – Ritual
Santagold – Santagold
Bon Iver – For Emma Forever Ago
Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight
Ratatat – LP3
Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
Daedalus – Love to Make Music To
Dan le Sac v Scroobius Pip – Angles
Why – Alopecia
Wolf Parade – Apologise to the Queen Mary
Drop-D: Who/what do you find absolutely awful crap, rubbish, dross?
Tenaka: Bands who choose to play a style of music just because they think it's the 'in-thing' and that they might make it big by doing so. I like originality.
Drop-D: You've hijacked RTE at prime time and the DJ's tied up in a corner. Which five songs do you think the nation HAS to hear?
Tenaka: I don't know about what songs people 'have to hear' but songs that rock my boat at the moment are:
Of Montreal – The Past is a Grotesque Animal
Mogwai – The Sun Smells Too Loud
RSAG – Moving Image
Frightened Rabbit – Old Old Fashioned
Why – Fatalist Palmistry
EPonymously Titled is available for free digital download fromwww.myspace.com/tenakadrifting
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