Tally Hall Interview: SXSW 2010

Formed in 2002 in Ann Arbor, Mi., Tally Hall are a whimsical indie rock quintet who aren't afraid to interject a healthy dose of pop into their sound, a la They Might Be Giants. Their first record, 'Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum,' was released in 2005 and subsequently rereleased in 2008 by Atlantic Records. Onstage, they distinguish themselves by getting dressed up, with each band member wearing a different color tie. Spinner spoke with vocalist/guitarist and yellow tie wearer Rob Cantor about the evolution of Tally Hall before they head for SXSW.

How would you describe your sound?

I don't know, it's a tough question for any band. We tend to write and arrange songs for however the melody of the mood of the song necessitates. It ends up sounding pretty different from song to song. But I guess if I had to generalize it, I'd say "pretty good."

How did the band form?

We were all students at the University of Michigan. We met through a series of introduction from mutual friends. No mind-blowingly interesting story. Once we'd settled on the five us, we stuck with it.

What are your musical influences?

We all have pretty disparate tastes. A lot of stuff we like overlaps but certainly the big ones are big ones for big bands: the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Queen. We tend to all agree on bands that have rich vocal harmonies. The thing that makes us special and allows us to write interesting songs is that we don't all agree on the bands we like.

Where did the band name come from?

Our name came from a place near where we grew up-we grew up outside of Detroit. Tally Hall was a bizarre emporium of shops, restaurants and twisted, turn-of-the-century arcade games. They were more like hand-carved, wooden dioramas that would come to life when you put a coin in and it would move around -- stuff that would walk the line between good and evil. We liked that and it fit with the cornucopia of styles that we'd been writing.

What's the best way to survive a festival?

I guess have fun? It's just a wild time and I try to do as much as I can, see as many bands as I can and enjoy myself.

How's your tour going now?

It's going great. We've been on a really long touring cycle and we just finished recording our new album around Thanksgiving. We're now waiting for a release date.