TV Torso Interview: SXSW 2010

Native Austin band TV Torso has been working on its upcoming debut practically nonstop, which comes naturally to the three bandmates since their recording studio is a 100-year-old barn in somebody's back yard. Spinner caught up with lead guitarist Matt Oliver on his cell phone as he played chauffer for his daughter.


So you own your own studio?

Yes, we have a studio called Big Orange. Officially it's a 100-year-old cinder block building that looks like a barn with a tape machine and we put some recording gear in there. It has totally financed our first record so that's pretty awesome. I've been really lucky to work with experienced people who knew what they were doing and I just watched them and learned.

How does having the studio affect the music TV Torso play?

You always want to balance the live thing with the studio thing. Being in our own studio is definitely a big part of what we do. The songs are written at home and then we'll go tinker in the studio. But we're definitely not an electronic music production team.

How did the band come together?

We were in a band called Minotaurs and when that broke up the drummer Jordan Johns and I knew we still wanted to record together. So we scrapped everything and started over. We wrote some songs and it worked out.

The band has performed under a lot of different monikers. Is the current name here to stay?

TV Torso is a name we came up with while we were in the old band and I liked it, it's got a rough edge to it. We went through roughly 100 names and all the least offensive ones were taken so we decided to stick with TV Torso. We've played under so many different names, I don't even know how many, I've lost track. I don't even know if this name will stick [laughs]. Ask me in a year.

Describe your sound in your own words.

I have a guitar. That's it.

What are your influences and what have you been listening to lately?

Definitely all the classics from A. P. Carter to Harry Houdini. One of our influences is all the bands we used to be in. Lately I've been mixing a ton so I've actually just been sitting there listening to our band. Other than that there is a great crop of bands in Austin: The Strange Boys, the Corto Maltese, and Woven Bones are all great, and of course all the old Austin dudes.

Being from Austin, do you have an advantage over bands from out of town?

I don't. It's such a mess of people coming through, it's kind of like Mardi Gras of Austin. I don't think we're going to have an advantage because downtown is almost impossible to recognize with all those people. The thing about South by Southwest is it's just fun, it's just a big fun thing to do. I think locals like to complain about it because it is so much fun. But it's also fun to complain about.

What are some of your goals for SXSW this year?

As far as goals, I really want us to get our s--- together, that's a good start. Also to play our shows without having anything break and try not to get drunk during the daytime. I don't even know how many shows we play that week. We're just trying to steer people toward our official showcase on Friday at the Emo's annex.

How much of the new EP do you expect to play?

Everybody who is seeing us for the first time, it will be new to them obviously. One thing that is really cool is that Jared Van Fleet, who appeared on the record with us, is going to fly in for the showcase. So that is going to be a special, one of a kind thing we're doing for SXSW. He was in the band with us before and it's always great to get to perform with him.

You have a unique online presence as far as not having a MySpace page and giving away your singles for free.

The way we are releasing our music may seem targeted, or like we have a plan but we really have no idea what we're doing. I try not to waste time online doing stuff for the band just because it gets so time consuming, especially Myspace, it's just too much. I don't know, I'm trying to embrace real life.

So we won't be seeing TV Torso on Twitter anytime soon?

I don't know. What's Twitter? [laughs] I'm kidding. Not unless it is highly, highly useful. We just don't really need it right now. We're worried about making our record and not trying to think about it too much.

The response so far has been really positive, we're really happy because we're trying to do this without forcing it down people's throats, which I think a lot of people do, and people are just coming to the music in an organic way which makes me really happy.


Mark R. Collins is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.