Austin – When a band’s sound is difficult to pin down, as is the case with Houston quartet, The Tontons, you know they’re doing something right. As their Facebook bio states, “The Tontons simply sound like The Tontons.” Since 2008, The Tontons have been crafting elegant indie tracks using no guidelines but their own taste. Vocalist Asli Omar’s bright tone has an expressive quality–knowing when to pull back and when to belt it out to get the desired affect in the music. Backed by guitarist, Adam Martinez, bassist, Tom Nyguen, and drummer Justin Martinez (who was absent due to illness), they celebrated the release of their dreamy new album, “Make Out King and Other Stories of Love.” I sat down with the three present members before the show to discuss their album, unique sound, and SXSW plans.
Ilyse Kaplan: A lot of journalists find it difficult to pin down your sound but try anyhow, what are some of the worst comparisons you have heard?
Tom Nyguen: We don’t really get a lot of comparisons. I guess when people are like a lot of genres mixed together that can sound kind of cheesy.
Asli Omar: I guess when people are like torch rock, that’s kind of a weird comparison. When I think of Torch rock, I think of Creed—like early 2000 style power ballad.
TN: The soul, blues, and jazz stuff—it sounds like we’re some kind of lame fusion band.
AO: I guess we’ve gotten some comparisons that wouldn’t necessarily be accurate but we make music that’s accessible, that’s not trite. We do get a lot of comparisons where I’m like, “I would never compare us to that. I would never say we’re funk-jazz.”
TN: I’m always funky.
AO: That’s because you don’t shower frequently. Oooooooh!
IK: Houston seems to have an eclectic and communal music scene, how has growing up in Houston influenced your sound?
TN: I guess I listen to more rap.
AO: I don’t think we ever looked at ourselves as Houston musicians; we just looked at ourselves as musicians because when we first started there weren’t much of a scene at the time. There wasn’t really an indie scene. I think it was kind of a thing where, because there wasn’t anything going on we just did what we wanted to. We weren’t pigeon holed. When you grow up around a lot of bands you’re really influenced by them and you feel like you need to pick a side—like the warriors. We didn’t have that so we could just do whatever we wanted to.
IK: Did you feel like you helped to grow the Houston music scene at all?
AO: People say that but at the same time, there aren’t a lot of bands still in Houston. There still aren’t a lot of bands doing stuff on a national or international level. I guess we grew it for ourselves. It’s still a little dog eat dog.
IK: In prior interviews you’ve said “making it” might be easier if you lived elsewhere but you seem to be on the way up, has your opinion on this shifted over the years?
AO: Hell no. I’m sorry but it’s really hard to get out of Houston. It’s not a city that caters to musicians, it’s trying to. For a long time a lot of bands wouldn’t come through Houston because of what happened with Two Gallants*, they kind of side step it. We’re just now getting back to the point where bands are starting to come through Houston again. So, no, it’s not easy.
IK: What are the positive aspects of growing your band in Houston and Texas as a whole?
TN: It’s really growing. We’ve been playing Texas a lot more, doing regional stuff. It’s been really awesome, people come out. We have some people waving at us right now, it’s super early for the in store but they’re here.
IK: What was the writing and recording process like for your latest album?
AO: We wrote and recorded in Austin at Church House Studios. We lived in the studio for almost a month so we would wake up, roll out of bed, go in the studio and do that the whole day, and then start over again. It was really cool; it was a unique experience. Not a lot of musicians have the luxury of doing something like that. I definitely don’t think it would have been the album that it is if we hadn’t recorded it there with Dave Boyle in that way. We are not the most disciplined people so we really needed all of that.
IK: As a band, you seem to be a bit surprised by your success, what has been the most surprising aspect?
TN: I think when kids drive out to see us hours out of their way. It happened a couple times this past tour. One of the first stops, someone drove an hour and a half, the next show someone drove five hours, someone drove three hours and we’re like why? We’re probably gonna be in one of the cities closer to you.
AO: Also, the festivals we’ve gotten to play and the perks of some of those festivals, they’re basically like awesome paid vacations. We get to hang out with musicians that we really like. I think that you work so hard that when you get stuff like that you really want to take advantage of everything.
TN: It’s really weird being in the festival settings when there’s all of these much bigger bands and you’re just like I can’t believe they let us back here. We had lunch and dinner with Jim James. So we roll backstage and all sat at his table and it was just really weird.
IK: You’ve played SXSW a few times before, what are the essential items you bring for your SXSW survival guide?
TN: I learned really quickly that having a wristband allows you to use any bathroom. Most places won’t let you in, its wrist band only, even the day stuff.
AO: Also a lot of people are like “I spent so much money this year” and I’m like “how?” Everything is free. So just be sure that you bring a backpack and rack it all in. Anything you can get your hands on. Whatever it is, nothing’s too small, nothing’s too big. Take it. Just take it all. We’ll get home and just be eating granola bars, those KIND bars.
Adam Martinez: I’d say just don’t sleep and drink lots of booze and then make sure you drink water at night.
AO: With your booze. Also don’t plan too much because there’s no way you’re gonna get to do everything. Just kind of go with the flow and have a good time.
IK: How many shows do you have lined up this year?
TN: Like six, we took it easy this year.
IK: What showcases are you most excited for?
AO: We’re doing the South by San Jose show that will be cool.
IK: How would you define your sound in non-musical terms?
TN: I would say, for me, a lot of songs that I wrote are based off of “X-files” and “The Wonder Years.”
AO: (Sarcastically) I think you totally get that from our sound. It’s all about a boy growing up in a world run by aliens. That’s about right. I would say that our music is like—I don’t know—the other day, the first thing that popped in my head was basketball. Let’s go with that.
TN: What team?
AO: The Washington Warriors. A team partially owned by Michael Jordan. He’s not on the team, but he owned the team.
AM: I think he was on the team.
AO: Oh, he was on the team? Good. We’re like the second half of Michael Jordan’s career.
IK: How is your drummer, Justin Martinez recovering from his illness?
AO: He’s doing good but we miss him. He’s a trooper. He actually waited until the show was done and we were loading out and then just casually said “can you take me to the emergency room” only to find his appendix burst. Like, I’m dying but let me finish this show. Yeah, we’re sad he’s not here. We talk to him all the time and we’re like “oh ya, we’re having just an okay time” when it’s like an awesome party in the background because we don’t want to make him feel too bad. But yeah, we hope he gets better soon!
*A cop who got a noise complaint attacked the two-piece band, tackling and using a taser on them.
Ilyse Kaplan
Latest posts by Ilyse Kaplan (see all)
- Goodnight Tonight Is Ready to Take Over - July 10, 2014
- PAPA At Austin’s Red 7 - June 26, 2014
- Interview: Potty Mouth - May 23, 2014
