Cult British band Tankus The Hedge keep up a hell of pace! Fresh from new album release, and a tour of Europe, they’re about to head out on a UK tour and then keep working on the next album.  Damian Robinson caught up with Jaz Delorean to find out what it’s like to be a pace maker.

Your socials are loaded with content from your current European tour?  How’s life on the road and where are you today?

We’ve just finished 34 shows in two months, across France, UK and Italy, so we’ve covered a lot of miles. We tend to tour in quite a full on way. Five shows on, one night off, that kind of thing. It’s a DIY operation, so right now we have bandmembers driving the tour van, and we don’t really stop.

Your new release, Luna Park, is out now for general release.  How satisfying is it to see the album released?

“Luna Park!” was such a labour of love; it took three years to write, three months to arrange, and three weeks to record. It’s a metaphorical story of what happens when the corporations take over a city, all the venues close, and the artists, musicians and their community set off on a journey to find a groovy place. It’s great to have it out in the world now. We’re writing the next one!

There’s an interesting sound to the record, could you tell us a little about the type of music you were looking to create?

We’re in the band we would want to go and see, and we come from different musical backgrounds. Although we’re a busy touring band, we don’t see ourselves as part of the music ‘industry’, so that frees us up to make whatever we like. My aunt and cousins have run a travelling fair for many years, which I’ve worked and lived on, and the sound of the band is supposed to feel like you’re on a funfair ride, with all the sounds and out of control sensation that brings. It’s loosely based on rock’n’roll, with big inspiration from psychedelic music, soul, and funk. 

The visuals on the vinyl are stunning – visuals seem to have always been an important part of Tankus.  Where did idea for these visuals come from and who created the imagery?

We believe the whole album experience doesn’t just mean listening to the music, it’s all about seeing the artwork too, so we worked with artist Adelle Gough (@greenbowtieworks) to come up with a visual depiction of the story, the characters and the world. There’s a ten page visual adventure for you to drift into if you get your hands on the vinyl LP or the CD.

What does a good rest-of-the-year look like for Tankus?

We’ll be going from Newcastle in the north to Falmouth in the south west, and many places in between. If we could sell out some of these shows again, that would be very cool. Times are weird, but really, when haven’t they been? 

Tankus play Newcastle Cluny on Friday October 28.