Black Tambourine
Buzz-happy, D.C.-area-based, twee-garage act Black Tambourine released just a few singles in their brief lifetime (1989-1991); they were at once woefully anachronistic, unapologetically Anglophilic and very, very good.
Turns out, they were also about 18 years ahead of their time; the group’s unmistakable influence can be heard in some of the best contemporary acts — Dum Dum Girls, Crystal Stilts, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Vivian Girls, to name just a few. This year, the group receives their definitive epitaph in the form of an anthology simply titled Black Tambourine. Matching 12 of the group’s classic compositions with four heretofore unreleased songs, the compilation serves as both an ideal reminder for longtime fans, and the perfect introduction for the curious and unfamiliar.
eMusic’s Mike McGonigal spoke with vocalist Pam Berry and drummer (and Slumberland records honcho) Mike Schulman about the band.
How did you guys meet?
Pam: It’s so murky now; it’s very hard to remember a time when we didn’t all know each other. I met [guitarist Archie Moore] before anyone else. He came over to me one day on campus at University of Maryland and introduced himself and I fell in with him and his gang of awesome music nerds. Mike played in bands with friends and worked at the legendary Vinyl Ink Records, where we spent a whole lot of time, and [guitarist Brian Moore] went to school at Frostburg but had grown up in the same neighborhood as our friend Dan. After graduation when I was living in a group house with Archie, I moved to London for six months to go record shopping and Eurailing and the rest of the band got together while I was gone and recorded the instrumental Pam’s Tan for the first Slumberland record.
Mike: I had met Brian through Dan around 1986 or so; to be honest, I don’t recall exactly when I met Archie, but he was friends with those guys. Brian and I were in Big Jesus Trash Can (later Whorl) and Archie was in The Gotterdammacrats (later Velocity Girl), which were both pretty noisy bands. We were into Birthday Party, Swans, Sonic Youth, Big Black and the like, but we were also really down with pop stuff, and all liked Galaxie 500, C86, Postcard, Creation, etc. The three of us wanted to take a crack at making that kind of music, and since the bands we were in were noise bands, we started tinkering with the Black Tambourine songs as a side project. Archie suggested Pam as the vocalist, which seemed fine — though I’m not sure if Brian or I had even met her yet or heard her sing. Sometime around summer 1989 we recorded a bunch of stuff on 4-track to send to her in England so she could start working on lyrics and melodies. We recorded “Pam’s Tan” around that time for the first Slumberland single, which came out in December 1989. Pam came back right around then, and we started in on knocking the songs into shape.
How did you fit in — or not fit in — with your peers in the D.C. area?
Mike: Our specific set of interests was pretty different from our peers at the time. The other bands and labels around were more punk rock or indie rock, with the notable exceptions of the K and Bus Stop labels. We did eventually meet more people who we felt more of a musical kinship with, like Small Factory, HoneyBunch and of course the other D.C. Slumberland bands: Lilys, the Ropers and Lorelei. It was all cool though; even though we were up to something pretty different everyone we met in the D.C. through doing shows and the label was supportive and friendly. Puzzled, maybe, but supportive.
You’ve been name-checked by some of the best current bands. The Dum Dum Girls just covered you; what’s it feel like to be this big influence on “kids today”?
Pam: A friend sent me a clipping of a Vivian Girls review from the Philadelphia Weekly at the end of 2008 and Black Tambourine was mentioned in it. That was the first time I remember being aware that anybody knew we’d ever put anything out.
Mike: It’s of course quite flattering and, to be honest, more than a little surprising. Our singles sold well enough at the time, but we only ever played a few shows, never got any press to speak of, and generally flew under the radar. We don’t have what you’d call an extensive discography, so to have our handful of recordings serve as an inspiration to other bands 20 years later is sort of mind-boggling.
Did you ever get a response from the Pastels for your song “Throw Aggi from the Bridge,” where you try to convince Stephen Pastel to knock off his girlfriend?
Pam: I did a phone interview with them for Chickfactor [the fanzine Pam co-edited] once and was afraid things could end up being a bit awkward if they harbored any ill will toward me. But no, they were gracious and lovely and got that the song was born of big Pastels love and that I’m not the bridge-throwing-off-of type in real life. We talked in person about it years later and they were absolutely cool.
Now, here you have been compiled for the second time, with four more songs which is nice as the new songs show more of a range to your music. So, what do you think of this record?
Pam: I’ve been listening to the old songs again and I’m still proud of them; I think there’s a lot to be said for not knowing what you’re doing and just finding a sound that fits while you’re having fun playing with your pals. I’m also really thrilled with how the new recordings turned out.
Mike: I feel like it turned out really well. The Black Tambourine stuff is just really close to my heart because with the noise bands I was in concurrently, I didn’t feel like the recordings totally lived up to how we wanted them to sound or the impact we wanted them to have, but with the BT recordings I felt like we really achieved the sound we were looking for.
Which song are you most proud of and why?
Mike: I always lean towards “Black Car”: I think it’s got the balance of noise and melody that we looked for just about right, and it’s one of my favorite Pam melodies.
Pam: I love the doo-wop-meets-squeal aesthetic of “Drown” but the raging-drumtastic chaos of “For Ex-Lovers Only” probably just pips it as my favorite.
…And which one makes you cringe?
Mike: The only bit that makes me cringe is the rain sound effect at the end of “By Tomorrow.” The rest of the song is just fine, but I wish we’d left off the drizzling.
Pam: I confess I have a soft spot for that cheeseball rain effect — it makes me laugh. Most of my cringe-worthy moments are spread judicially throughout in notes I didn’t quite hit right. What can you do?
Why did you all break up in the first place?
Mike: It’s been so long it’s really hard to remember the exact timing and sequence of things. The fellas in the band were getting busier with their main bands, and at the same time those bands were becoming more pop-oriented. So there wasn’t as much time to work on BT, and maybe not as much need for another outlet for our pop tunes. It just sort of gradually tailed off. Such is the fate of the side project, I suppose.
Every single band seems to reunite; what about Black Tambourine?
Pam: A reunion show would be fun for me, because I miss the guys and it would ensure we were all in the same room again. I’d love to play the songs again, too! But it would be kinder to think of the audience in this instance. And realistically, we live too far away from each other for a reunion to happen easily. We all have really young kids that aren’t yet strong enough to come along as our roadies, and I’m still a nervous wreck when it comes to performing in front of people. If it didn’t go well, it would be such a bring-down! So I feel A-OK about not having a reunion show planned. A reunion BBQ would probably be better for all involved.
Mike: Yeah, I’m with Pam here. I think it would be super fun but it would be a huge bummer if we weren’t really great, which is more than a possibility. I do think one of the things that attracts people to the band is the mystery of not knowing what we might be like live. I’d hate to spoil that by getting our balding, paunchy selves (the guys that is, Pam is still her lovely self!) on stage and making a sub-standard racket.
