DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE - Cheap flight to the new album

26. June 2018

Desert Mountain Tribe

DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE - Per Billigflug zum neuen Album

The new album "Om Parvat Mystery" by Desert Mountain Tribe has a curious history. eclipsed talked to Philipp Jahn, the German bass player of the London trio, about the background of the album, which expands the previous mix of styles of the debut "Either That Or The Moon" and now beats TripRock, Independent, New Artrock, Space Rock, Ethno, Industrial and Shoegaze.

eclipsed: Where does this great variety come from on "Om Parvat Mystery"?

Philipp Jahn: We just like it varied. We didn't want a monotonous board, but this diversity came into being unconsciously.

eclipsed: What were the changes compared to the previous album?

Jahn: No conscious ones, anyway. It just happens. Without badmouthing our debut, but from today's point of view it seems a bit cumbersome and overflowing. Now we play more to the point and light-footed. This is also the experience we have gained over the last two years. The lyrics are better now, too.

eclipsed: You recorded most of the album on the Faroe Islands. How did this happen?

Jahn: That was pure coincidence. We became the G! Festival in the Faroe Islands. The flights there were extremely expensive. But a week before, they were cheap on offer. So we flew earlier. The organizers there were totally cooperative and accommodated us in a small recording studio where we could sleep for a week. There was nothing to do on that island. There was a pub there. After two days, you knew everyone. Then we just used the one week and started to record the album.

eclipsed: Najma Akhtar, the British world musician with Indian roots, has a guest appearance with you. She brings in Indian ethno elements. How did she get to sing along?

Jahn: When we were on tour in America, her manager approached us in New Jersey. He offered to work with the World musicians he was in charge of. When we later wrote the album we thought it would be cool if we had an Indian voice with us. So we contacted him again and Najma, who was in London anyway, sang along with us. We've always wanted to go in that direction.

eclipsed: You're a London trio. Nevertheless, with you and your brother Felix on drums, two of you come from Germany. What brought you to London?

Jahn: The music was not the trigger. We both went to London to study. Felix studied theatre and I psychology. We met the singer and guitarist Jonty Balls and stayed there after our studies to make music with Jonty as Desert Mountain Tribe.

eclipsed: Just staying in London to make music is a bold step. After all, a lot of people want that and fail.

Jahn: Already during our studies we got to know the right people at the right time. The London Underground is a lively, vibrating scene. We made a lot of friends and a following there and got a lot of support. Maybe it was lucky we had the right contacts. But we have also achieved this with a lot of networking.

eclipsed: Your brother has now left the band after the completion of the new album.

Jahn: Yes, that was a shock for us. He didn't tell us until the last day of the recording. So it had no influence on the album. He just got to a point in his life where he has to do something else. We're still friends. But with Frank van der Ploeg we have already found a replacement. Frank comes from Amsterdam, but also lives in London.

eclipsed: Already after the debut album you toured through Europe and North America. Unusual after only one album.

Jahn: We don't only have a label in Europe with Membran from Hamburg. In the United States, we're under contract to Metropolis in Philadelphia. And they've made sure that we've toured America twice before.

eclipsed: I saw you live in Hamburg two years ago. Compared to the playful studio recordings you play much stronger and more powerful live.

Jahn: That is almost inevitable. Live we don't have that many instruments, just guitar, bass, drums. We have to balance that out with pressure and volume. But we don't think about whether and how to play it live during the studio recordings. We'd rather produce a good song in the studio.

*** Interview: Bernd Sievers

More about the band www.desertmountaintribe.com