We managed to catch Floridian brothers, Andy and Edwin White of Tonstartssbandht (pronounced tahn-starts-bandit) during their first stop here in Findars, KL on December 5th, 2014 as part of the Large Baby Tour alongside supporting acts, NAO 孬乐队 and Keladak.
While living in Canada in 2009, they began to attract attention in the Montreal loft scene with a series of self-released cassettes and legendary live shows, a period that brought them close to their now constant collaborators and friends at Arbutus Records. Their music explores a deep love for boogie, ’60s psychedelic-rock, and choral pop. The sound of the guitar/drum duo grows in a live setting with relentless percussion, heavy riffing and angelic vocal harmonies. They navigate their souls and psyches onstage, embracing the sense of urgency, pain, and ecstasy in the human experience: humor is love, and this is basically their life. This vibe has brought them repeatedly throughout Russia, Europe and North America. Their solo projects Andy Boay and Eola separately follow this vocal psych-pop adventure into deeper and more abstract terrains.
Tonstartssbandht have also released their new split 7″ with Hot & Cold and it’s now available from Genjing Records in China.
Interviewed by Arif Ramly
