Roll Out The Barrel: Tilly and the Wall

Inspired by a determined field mouse from a children’s book of the same name, who longs to discover a world beyond her meadow and favouring tap dancers over drum kits, Tilly And The Wall are not your average pop punk band. And when the opportunity arose to meet the Nebraskan quintet’s guitarist Derek Pressnall during their recent UK tour, it was an offer that Gigwise just couldn’t refuse.

In 2001, Tilly And The Wall rose from the ashes of several Omaha based bands, including Conor Oberst’s (of Brighteyes fame) Park Avenue. The Tilly’s, as they’re affectionately known, received widespread critical acclaim with their 2004 debut album ‘Wild Like Children’ released on Oberst’s Team Love label and their happy go lucky, feisty, youthful, enthusiastic signature sound found a spiritual home within the Omaha music scene. Having gained a rapidly increasing fan base and a reputation for producing a highly fashionable, creative and optimistic sound, The Tilly’s went about recording their second album over a 3-week period, at the end of 2005.

Released in May this year Stateside and here on October 2, ‘Bottoms Of Barrels’ takes their music to the next level and maps a vibrant journey toward a more confident, intense, rousing and multi-instrumental side of the band, as Derek explains: “I think it was just a natural progression for us. It’s bigger and more full sounding because it was recorded in a studio, the songs are a little more complex, there’s more arrangements, more instruments and so it sounds more hi-fi.”

Tilly And The Wall are currently in the middle of a huge US and UK tour that will take them through to the end of the year. Combining big name festival appearances with grass roots intimate venue’s, The Tilly’s are enjoying every minute of their time on the road and are causing quite a stir in the process, showcasing their unique stage show for anyone lucky enough to experience it first hand. “Its been amazing…incredible, like all the festivals have been so much fun and just so amazing. I’d never been to festivals before so it was just crazy to walk in and play Reading and Leeds and The Bestival… it was just insane. There was so many people and it was really cool, just a fun energy.”

Energetic fun is what these guys are all about and what they do best. There’s no pre determined formula, no restrictions and no ego. Their main objective is putting the music out there, making it interesting, accessible, and having a damn good time in the process, as Derek is all too happy to point out: “Live is live you know we just sort of roll with whatever. I mean we try to put on a really exciting live show and since we don’t have a drummer, we have a tap dancer, the dancing aspect of our show and the stomping and stuff is really interesting to watch. We just try to put on a fun exciting show, something that’s enjoyable, because you don’t want to go to a show and be bored.”

Well said, but a tap dancer instead of a drummer? Surely that’s unsustainable musical madness? Apparently not and we’re not talking about the likes of Bonnie Langford, Roy Castle or Fred Astaire here. Mr. Pressnall, for the sake of any baffled readers, please explain yourself… “Well the band started out and Jamie was playing guitar and it was just me and her working on these songs and it just built off of that. Nick started playing and then Kianna and Neely started singing and then it just formed into a band. I play guitar so Jamie was like, screw it I’ll tap, 'cos we needed a drummer. She’d done it in Park Avenue with Neely and Conner along with the drums on a few songs and it just stuck and she started tapping for us.”

“People’s reactions are always so funny.” Derek continues “A lot of people with our first record were listening to it for months and never even knew that it was tap dancing. They’d come to the show and they’re like whoa I thought it was some weird old drum machine or something. Sometimes we play and you cant see our feet, you cant see from the waist down, so people will come to see us and they think she’s just a dancer, just dancing along and then they figure out that she must be tap dancing, so that’s quite fun.”

They’ve already been labeled as many things throughout their as yet relatively short career. Pop punk, rock, emo infused… and have even been accused of being nothing more than a novelty band. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. OK, so they might take their name from a children’s book and have a tap dancer instead for a drummer, but beneath this colorful exterior lurks a smart, original, sing-along, hyperactive, melancholy, multi layered sound, that is quite frankly unique. Thinking of themselves as artists first and musicians second, The Tilly’s don’t like being categorized, labeled or having their collective creative streak limited in any way, shape or form.

“I usually describe it as rock n roll music because I hate putting labels on things. Obviously you have to sometimes, or at least people do when they’re describing something.” Says Derek “But I mean all those things are true about our band. There’s tons of different emotions that go into making art, there’s just so many layers to the band.”