Last summer was a kickass one for Tsunami Bomb. They finally headlined their own tour, later they went all over Europe with The Vandals and then their latest album, Definitive Act, was released to much acclaim. I got a chance to chat with the mysterious and beautiful Tsunami Bomb frontwoman, Agent M.
Check out the official website for Tsunami Bomb
Daniel Robert Epstein: What inspired the latest album?
Agent M: It would be harder for me to say what inspired the music because I mostly write the lyrics and melodies. The lyrics were inspired a lot by a relationship that I was in that was falling apart. Also the music industry and what we had experienced so far which was mostly crap and disappointing.
DRE: Was it the usual bad experiences or were they extra crazy?
AM: I think a lot of it was the usual stuff. We had realizations that the artist gets paid last and so many people take an inch from you. At times it gets really frustrating.
DRE: Do you feel like those frustrations have gone away now that you got the album out?
AM: There is always more.
DRE: Is there more from making this album?
AM: Yeah. I think every band is going to have problems with their label because each one is a big loan shark. You will always owe them forever. I think that leads to problems and disagreements.
DRE: Tsunami Bomb has a pretty rabid fanbase; do you think they realize how hard it is for you guys to get your work out there?
AM: I dont think so. I think they think its all this. It is fun and a great job but there is a lot of frustration and letdowns as well.
DRE: Whats the fun part?
AM: The writing, recording and touring. Anything that has to do with the music itself. The politics is the crappy part.
When we first started I never thought we would have to deal with things like politics. I had no clue and thats why the album was that way. The more we spend time in this industry the more we learn about it.
DRE: Are you privy to secret music industry stuff?
AM: Not really [laughs]. We know some things about other bands because we are friends with them but nothing industry related.
DRE: Are you going to be staying with Kung Fu Records?
AM: We have one more record with them then after that we dont know. We will have to wait and see what kind of offers we get.
DRE: Are you guys expecting an offer from a bigger label?
AM: Hopefully. It would be nice to be able to move up somewhat.
DRE: How has it been headlining?
AM: We just did it this past summer and it was great. The best thing about it was when you are headlining a show a majority of the people came to see you specifically. Its more comfortable than playing to an audience that you know.
DRE: Did you go hang out with the fans?
AM: Yeah we always try to go out and meet people after the show. On the headlining tour we really made it a point to get out as much as possible because they were there to see us. We wanted to make some personal connections with them.
DRE: Being the only female in the band do you have to deal with a lot of bodily functions in the touring van?
AM: [laughs] Its not too bad. Luckily we dont have any real gross guys in the band.
DRE: Thats unusual.
AM: I think its mostly because Im there.
DRE: So youre not gross at all?
AM: Not in the way that guys are [laughs].
DRE: So youre girl gross?
AM: I guess [laughs].
DRE: How was filming the California show for the DVD [Kung Fu's "The Show Must Go Off"]?
AM: It was great. The show turned out really good. It was really stressful because we had never done a show that was to be filmed. It was kind of scary but I think overall it turned out really well. We were thinking about doing something special for the show but last minute we decided to just do our show the way we always do. We did play an extra long set.
DRE: How was it having Mike Poorman [former Hot Rod Circuit drummer] produce?
AM: It was really great. Were friends with him because we did the Hot Rod Circuit tour so we were really excited about working with him because we knew he would listen to us and work with us.
We requested him and our album is one of his first few records he produced in total so we were his priority.
DRE: What do you think he brought to the mix?
AM: I think his best thing is that he wanted to keep it sounding as close to a real show as possible. We did do some guitar overdubs and some harmonies but as far as the actual sound he didnt go overboard and it came out sounding really good.
DRE: What is Tsunami Bombs songwriting process?
AM: Usually people come into practice with a guitar bit or bass line then we build off of that. Everyone works on their own part to form a song. When the music part is done I take the song and write lyrics and melody over it. The final step is do any final arrangements because of the new vocals. Everyone gets to be happy with what they are doing.
DRE: How do you keep your voice in shape?
AM: I trey to do some real simple warm ups before shows. I dont drink or eat a lot of diary. I try to drink as much water as I can on tour. I dont drink any coffee which makes me very sad.
DRE: How was touring with The Vandals in Europe?
AM: It was awesome because they took us everywhere. We hung out with them a little bit. But they are kind of more secluded than you think. They didnt party that much.
DRE: Thats kind of disappointing.
Do you ever knock around on your own message boards?
AM: Yeah we try to do that as much as we can. We have a section for questions so we try to answer them as much as we can.
DRE: Someone sent you a picture of a kitten dancing.
AM: I havent seen that yet.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for Tsunami Bomb
Daniel Robert Epstein: What inspired the latest album?
Agent M: It would be harder for me to say what inspired the music because I mostly write the lyrics and melodies. The lyrics were inspired a lot by a relationship that I was in that was falling apart. Also the music industry and what we had experienced so far which was mostly crap and disappointing.
DRE: Was it the usual bad experiences or were they extra crazy?
AM: I think a lot of it was the usual stuff. We had realizations that the artist gets paid last and so many people take an inch from you. At times it gets really frustrating.
DRE: Do you feel like those frustrations have gone away now that you got the album out?
AM: There is always more.
DRE: Is there more from making this album?
AM: Yeah. I think every band is going to have problems with their label because each one is a big loan shark. You will always owe them forever. I think that leads to problems and disagreements.
DRE: Tsunami Bomb has a pretty rabid fanbase; do you think they realize how hard it is for you guys to get your work out there?
AM: I dont think so. I think they think its all this. It is fun and a great job but there is a lot of frustration and letdowns as well.
DRE: Whats the fun part?
AM: The writing, recording and touring. Anything that has to do with the music itself. The politics is the crappy part.
When we first started I never thought we would have to deal with things like politics. I had no clue and thats why the album was that way. The more we spend time in this industry the more we learn about it.
DRE: Are you privy to secret music industry stuff?
AM: Not really [laughs]. We know some things about other bands because we are friends with them but nothing industry related.
DRE: Are you going to be staying with Kung Fu Records?
AM: We have one more record with them then after that we dont know. We will have to wait and see what kind of offers we get.
DRE: Are you guys expecting an offer from a bigger label?
AM: Hopefully. It would be nice to be able to move up somewhat.
DRE: How has it been headlining?
AM: We just did it this past summer and it was great. The best thing about it was when you are headlining a show a majority of the people came to see you specifically. Its more comfortable than playing to an audience that you know.
DRE: Did you go hang out with the fans?
AM: Yeah we always try to go out and meet people after the show. On the headlining tour we really made it a point to get out as much as possible because they were there to see us. We wanted to make some personal connections with them.
DRE: Being the only female in the band do you have to deal with a lot of bodily functions in the touring van?
AM: [laughs] Its not too bad. Luckily we dont have any real gross guys in the band.
DRE: Thats unusual.
AM: I think its mostly because Im there.
DRE: So youre not gross at all?
AM: Not in the way that guys are [laughs].
DRE: So youre girl gross?
AM: I guess [laughs].
DRE: How was filming the California show for the DVD [Kung Fu's "The Show Must Go Off"]?
AM: It was great. The show turned out really good. It was really stressful because we had never done a show that was to be filmed. It was kind of scary but I think overall it turned out really well. We were thinking about doing something special for the show but last minute we decided to just do our show the way we always do. We did play an extra long set.
DRE: How was it having Mike Poorman [former Hot Rod Circuit drummer] produce?
AM: It was really great. Were friends with him because we did the Hot Rod Circuit tour so we were really excited about working with him because we knew he would listen to us and work with us.
We requested him and our album is one of his first few records he produced in total so we were his priority.
DRE: What do you think he brought to the mix?
AM: I think his best thing is that he wanted to keep it sounding as close to a real show as possible. We did do some guitar overdubs and some harmonies but as far as the actual sound he didnt go overboard and it came out sounding really good.
DRE: What is Tsunami Bombs songwriting process?
AM: Usually people come into practice with a guitar bit or bass line then we build off of that. Everyone works on their own part to form a song. When the music part is done I take the song and write lyrics and melody over it. The final step is do any final arrangements because of the new vocals. Everyone gets to be happy with what they are doing.
DRE: How do you keep your voice in shape?
AM: I trey to do some real simple warm ups before shows. I dont drink or eat a lot of diary. I try to drink as much water as I can on tour. I dont drink any coffee which makes me very sad.
DRE: How was touring with The Vandals in Europe?
AM: It was awesome because they took us everywhere. We hung out with them a little bit. But they are kind of more secluded than you think. They didnt party that much.
DRE: Thats kind of disappointing.
Do you ever knock around on your own message boards?
AM: Yeah we try to do that as much as we can. We have a section for questions so we try to answer them as much as we can.
DRE: Someone sent you a picture of a kitten dancing.
AM: I havent seen that yet.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
luis:
I won tickets to their show here in April... I was going to interview them, ya bastard.
brett_bretterson:
Fuckin' awesome band. I've seen them from the very beginning (Warped Tour '01) open for a ton of bands (AFI, Bouncing Souls, Rise Against, among others) and it's great to see them headlining. They put on one helluva show ( but I still miss Mike )