Tombeau — DIY BABES ZINE

God Bless Bandcamp

The internet has created an international independent underground music scene. That space is where Tombeau feels a part of a community.

By Billie Estrine

Sun. Aug 18 2024

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Thirroul, in the northern suburbs of Wollongong, just south of Sydney, NSW, Australia.

What inspired you to start making music?

I'm not exactly sure. I've always been very creative, particularly with music and always found a lot of ease in writing music. When I was younger, I was exposed to a lot of music and music videos by my parents and older cousins - and I always thought that it looked pretty easy [to be] in front of a crowd playing music. My mum started paying for guitar lessons for me at age 8, and I continued to teach myself other instruments. I was a very confident child until about the age of 9 when I started having some personal life and family issues, which then sprung my passion for music into reality; writing songs provided an outlet to express myself privately.

When did you start playing live music?

I started playing live music in 2016, in my first band from high school, The Kirks. What really set it off was in 2017, I had just started a two-piece band called "Scab Baby," and shortly after practicing a few songs together, I had a life-changing family tragedy [that] catapulted me into a chaotic life of chasing live music constantly. I took any support slot and constantly put my name out there for gigs. I must've played at least 100 live shows in Wollongong between 2017 and 2019, and 99% of them [were] support slots.

In your Magnetic Visions Zine interview back in 2020, you said you were into visual art. Do you still draw?

I do still draw occasionally. [However], I've been incredibly focused on work and health this year, so my visually creative side has dwindled. But I love to draw cartoons and write graffiti occasionally.

Your music's sound is very diverse. Where do you draw inspiration from?

I have a stupidly wide range of inspiration. It's hard to narrow it down because I'm fond of so many different styles of music and try to [incorporate] so many different styles into my music.

I really like a lot of pre-90s music and more unique rocky/punk-sounding styles. I'm a massive fan of anything with a synth, too.

I can't really sum up all the genres and bands I like, but I'll mention a few particular bands that have inspired me before:

Uranium Club, Lumpy & The Dumpers, Liquids, CCTV, Draggs, Lunatics on Pogosticks, Nirvana, Devo, GG Allin, Bob Segar, Ruby Haunt and Spyroids.

Do you have a scene you call home?

No, haha, I was brought up in the Wollongong music scene, which was really good until about 2019 with the closure of the famous Rad Bar. Since then, the Wollongong music scene has been dominated and monopolised by a bunch of nepotistic wankers that have [driven] the local creative scene into the ground with their greediness. I won't go into details, but if you know, you know.

Has music helped you build community?

Yes, music has brought me in touch with people around the world. The international independent and underground music scene is where I feel like I'm part of a community.

Have you put music out on Marthouse Records?

No, I haven't, I hit Dougal up ages ago about it, but I don't think he had seen my message, and it just got forgotten over time. It was for another band I was in called "Scab Baby." - I'm not sure about putting Tombeau's music out on any Australian Record labels yet - I have talked to BDK Records about them releasing some physical copies of my next release. I have also been in contact with Under The Gun records in the USA for an American physical release.

Can you tell me about your performance in the early days?

Well, before Tombeau, I was in two bands in which I played guitar and sang. My initial performance was very natural and aggressive. I used to get really drunk and just aggressively play and shake my guitar around, head bang, and pull weird faces. In Scab Baby, I'd often roll on the ground or fall through the drum kit deliberately. I think I gained a bit of notoriety for that for a while.

I believe that [the] performance style of being confident [and] sloppy yet generally playing right followed me into the Tombeau project.

How has the performance evolved playing with a band?

At first, I played with and without instruments to a backing track, which prohibited me from being too wild. I had an old high-school keyboard set up with an in-built drum machine, plus my guitar, mic, and vocal delay pedal. That arrangement did reasonably well as an occasional performance, but once I arranged a band to play the instruments - I had a huge outlet to climb, roll, jump, flip, and do all sorts of shit while the band played behind me. I hurt myself a couple times [during] performances, and they were pretty funny and entertaining. But at the end of the day, that performance style had been strongly influenced by alcohol and bad mental health. I've made a lot of efforts in the last 2 years to get on top of my mental health and focus on being a leader in the band and properly organising myself and everyone else. I think we all play better for it, and I know for a fact that my singing performance is benefiting from it.

I only started practicing properly singing in the last year and a half. I've kinda been butchering it all up until then, in my opinion. I don't know how I got away with fluking it for so long, haha.

Did you always want to have a band for the Tombeau project?

I never really thought about it when I started Tombeau; I just had all these extra songs that I didn't want to use in 'Scab Baby,' so I compiled them and just put them up on Bandcamp for free. Didn't really expect anyone to listen to them, let alone have a following. I ended up wanting to form a band for the project after I got tired of all the hassle of playing backing-track shows, although I have been criticised that I should still do it again.

How has the spontaneity that having a band creates changed your recording process?

Well, I've pretty much tried to always follow the same routine. I write everything myself, play all the instruments myself, and record everything myself. However, I have talked to the band about getting a compilation of their original songs, whether I sing on or play an instrument, and using it for an album more focused on them, not me.

I've heard some of their songs, and they're fucken mad, way better than anything I could write, so I'm keen to try [to] do that at the end of this year.

In January, the band Goblin Daycare compiled a compilation of 27 unreleased songs to raise money for organizations providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians. How did you get involved in the Palestine Solidarity Compilation?

I got involved in the Palestine Solidarity Compilation from Goblin Daycare, sending me an Instagram message inviting me to be a part of it. I don't want to get too into it, but I am incredibly invested and informed on the politics of the situation. Although I often feel powerless to help the people of Palestine in any way, I thought that any awareness, money, or anything I could contribute would be better than nothing, so contributing a song was the least I could do.

You were also involved in a charity fundraiser cassette tape organized by Billy of Billiam to raise funds for the Royal Fire Service during the 2020 Bushfires. How does activism fit into the underground music scene communities you're a part of?

I can't speak for everyone, but I think generally voicing opinions and opposing others is always a part of any creative community. It's how artists speak out and how their listeners feel heard. Creative people are much less likely to keel over and accept political bullshit (usually government-based). I think underground music scenes are more susceptible to activism because of [the] freedom of having such interpersonal ideologies with other like-minded people in the music scene and not needing to worry about contracts or anything being broken or whatever.

Check out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombeauu/#
Bandcamp: https://tombeauu.bandcamp.com

Billie Estrine

Naarm/Melbourne, Australia

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