HOW DID YOUR NAME ORIGINATE?
[Kiran Tanna; Composition, Various Instruments, Vocals, Production] Mary and The Ram was a poem, or a song I suppose, that I wrote in my bedroom, years ago. It’s made its way into our catalogue of “things to produce at some point” so we’ll see. I think the dynamism of male and female energy in that title and the threatening and mythical overtones are things that are reflected in a lot of our work as a band. I’m very interested in the relationship between the self and the other, between me and you, and in what happens when those things coalesce and make something together. I’m not flirting, promise.
-
WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST GIG AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE?
[Kiran] If you mean our first gig as a band… Well we’ve been a studio project until recently. But with other bands, The Fulford Arms, in York. It’s a great, intimate place. Really intimate and loaded with a brilliant PA. And as to people: probably about thirty. Yep. I said it was intimate (though you can fit a lot more in than that if you try). Nothing like playing a micro-show to which you’ve got to physically force your friends, before subjecting them to half an hour of experimental noise! We’ve moved on these days, but we always play there when we get the chance. Fantastic venue, fantastic people. Go check them out if you’re in York!
If you’re asking what the first gig I went to was, probably one of my mum’s. She was a touring folk musician. And probably as many people as you can fit in a fairly large field.
-
WHEN WAS YOUR LAST DAY OFF AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT?
[Kiran] Hahaha. Good one.
-
WHAT IS SOMETHING - APART FROM YOUR PHONE OR WALLET - THAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR VICINITY AT ALL TIMES?
[Kiran] My car keys. No not for that! I drive all our gear around. No not that sort of gear! No, seriously, it’s my car keys. Sounds pretty conventional and maybe it is, but I’ve been a studio technician far longer than I have a musician (at least a musician with fans) and I’ve really come to appreciate the people who shift your equipment around for you; so I like to cart my own stuff around myself when I can. I do try to be useful, especially because my rig can get quite large. And to be honest, I prefer my car to anything even mildly resembling a tour bus... Not going to lie. It’s freeing. I prefer to be in the driving seat. But if you asked Dom (our Drummer) then he’d probably say my leather trousers. Not true though… I don’t wear ‘em in the shower. Then again, I don’t shower in my car. Often.
-
WHICH SONG BY ANOTHER ARTIST DO YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN?
[Kiran] Honestly, Hallelujah, Cohen. Perfect balance of it’s actually fucking good, it speaks to people on a universal level and the royalties would have covered pretty much all my bills for the rest of my life. Plus, it would have got me in Shrek without being Smash Mouth, y’know. That’s the dream isn’t it? I’m joking, I’m joking. Well, I’m joking about Shrek. Realistically, Cohen is a beautiful writer and I’d be privileged to ever write anything as moving as some of his work.
-
WHAT'S BEEN THE MOST SURREAL FAN MOMENT?
[Kiran] Good question. Not sure. I’ve had quite a few. I’ve ended up taking a few fans on tour, then ended up on holiday with some of them. I’ve had people come up to me in the street, or in bars, and say hello, and I’ve been confused when I don’t know them, only to realise that that’s something that happens when you put yourself out there as an artist or whatever; and it’s really humbling. But I think my strangest fan moment was someone I’ve never met wanting to karaoke cover one of my own songs with me on a night out. Not that it was in the fucking juke box, no delusions of grandeur here, haha. Again though, the whole thing is very humbling.