Artist Spotlight: Meet Tantrum Zentrum
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "Lady Death?"
We had the crowd up and dancing at the Alhambra in Oldenburg, a large, independent community action space, where we finished with 'Don't Be A Fascist.' As we mingled after the show, it was suggested that we check out Woodie Guthrie's work, especially Miss Pavlinchenko. Vaat got to work tweaking it and demoed his vision for it, and the rest of the band was 100% behind it.
What impact do you hope this song will have on your audience?
Firstly, we think that more people are becoming aware of how women have been sidelined in most historical accounts, so it's good to be able to shine the spotlight on one that helped slow the encroaching Nazi army's progression, which is, of course, a great bonus secondary point and scarily still valid in today's climate where we see the far right and fascism apparently gaining momentum again in popular culture and politics. Doing nothing is the same as letting it happen.
What was your favourite moment in making the music video?
It's always fun visiting Melksham and working with Steve Evans. He's open to our ideas, such as when we recorded three tracks directly in Dolby Atmos rather than converting them afterwards 'in the box' as most would typically do. So, when we started talking about recording some live performance videos, he was our first call. The team made it a relaxed day of shooting and recording, and the best part for us was that this was an experiment and learning experience for all, which made for a fun and collaborative project.
Can you tell us more about you as a band?
We're a four-piece that started as a pandemic project by Vaat (drums/vox) and Bean (guitar/vox), who were looking for a creative outlet to write something different from their previous projects. When the first break in the lockdowns happened, they put together a live band to a promising reaction. Since then, the gang has morphed and formulated into its latest and strongest incarnation with Val Schimmer (bass/vox) and Edzeit (guitar/vox) onboard. Mixing their favourite bits of Krautrock, No Wave, Post Punk, New Wave, and anything else that catches our ear. We believe in inclusivity (not all the lyrics are in English), in live music, in supporting grassroots venues and other artists and in hosting our own live events, and we would love to be part of more festivals.
How do live performances and audience reactions influence the way you create music?
We are not 'bedroom musicians'. What we create only has meaning for us if someone else hears it and reacts to it - good or bad. That's the whole point of art, isn't it; to elicit a response? A nice watercolour or some background music might be pleasant, but we want to see people dancing, getting involved and, hopefully, leaving our show feeling better than they started. We want to capture and share our feelings behind the songs as we believe music is a language without barriers.
