The Tet Holiday
Oakland, CA, USA | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | SELF
Music
Press
The Tet Holiday
If you’re looking for a band to lift your spirits while rocking hard, check out the Tet Holiday. The Oakland band’s songs are infectious pop punk anthems.
They just finished mastering their first record and are looking to release it in September. Until then there are a handful of songs to stream on their website.
Lineup: Austin Gibbons, bass, backing vocals; Robert Pruett, drums, backing vocals; Andrew Ledford, guitar, vocals.
Was there a band you heard when you were young that inspired you to become a musician?
Gibbons: Blink-182. People are always surprised I like them because they’re not a “serious” band, but that’s exactly what I love about them. Growing up, I never saw music as something I’d be capable of doing — professional musicians just weren’t people like me. They were the first band I listened to that seemed just like me; they didn’t take themselves seriously or have a whole air of pretension about being “artists.” They were just regular dudes that played in a band and spent their time talking about how they were bad musicians with small penises. And I could do that.
How does living in the Bay Area affect your music?
Pruett: Bay Area music is saturated with a certain garage aesthetic, which, while we all like that kind of music, is a force to be reckoned with here. It’s inspiring to be surrounded by self-reliant, home-grown punk energy, yet it can be unwelcoming by the same token. Someone in the audience at Rickshaw Stop called us “norm-core” because we had our shirts tucked in. The Bay Area scene is picky about maintaining a level of DIY grit, and I suppose we’ve learned to ignore these standards and go it alone.
Which of your lyrics best defines your band and why?
Ledford: “Come on, die young with me so we won’t learn/ To grow old gracefully and burn/ Our eyes out staring at the sun/ A million songs we should’ve sung” (from “A Million”). There’s something joyful and exuberant about it, but there’s a melancholy there too. I’ve always felt like Tet functions as a series of contrasts; quiet/loud, beautiful/ugly, joy/sorrow. I’ve always been attracted to writing catchy pop songs, but they were only interesting to me if I dirtied them up in some way.
Check it out: http://thetetholiday.com.
Next gig: 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 12. With Sister Grizzly and Trendy Dad. $7. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St., S.F. (415) 923-0923. www.hemlocktavern.com.
Tony DuShane is a Bay Area freelance writer. - San Francisco Chronicle
Written by: Alex Green
Stereo Embers is proud to premiere “Statues (Radio Edit),” the new single by The Tet Holiday.
Taken from the Oakland band’s upcoming E.P. By The Throat, By The Heart, this track is a melodic blast of jittery post-punk, featuring one of the catchiest choruses of the year.
Singer Andrew Ledford has the smooth delivery of Bernard Sumner but he also has the nerve and tension of Wire’s Colin Newman, giving the song equal parts edge and groove.
A simmering pop winner, this is a number that builds into a fuzzy call-and-response that’s angular, edgy and unforgettable.
The band’s full-length album will be out in early 2016.
For now, enjoy “Statues (Radio Edit)”… - Stereo Embers Magazine
Discography
-EP1
-EP2
-"I Don't Wanna Give It Away" featured on KGO AM 810's "Best Music You've Never Heard"
- EP2 receiving airplay from KXLU 88.9 FM Los Angeles, KSDT San Diego, WVKC 90.7 FM Galesburg IL
Photos
Bio
The Tet Holiday is the musical brainchild of singer/songwriter Andrew Ledford, accompanied by Austin Gibbons (bass) and Brandon Farmer (drums). Combining the pop instincts of The Jesus and Mary Chain with the passion and energy of Japandroids and The Replacements, The Tet Holiday brings naked emotion to their pop-punk rock anthems.
The Tet Holiday’s first three EPs provided the sonic foundation for the band’s upcoming debut album, Statues. Conceived in the aftermath of a breakup, Statues evolved into a deeper body of work focused on transformation and rebirth. Ledford says of his music: "The genesis for the album was a song called "Sighing", which came when I could see the writing on the wall with a failing relationship. It ended, and I spent a long time sifting through the wreckage. As time passed, it became apparent that songs from that period of a few years fit together into something cohesive. When everything was finished, I was surprised to find out that what I thought was a breakup album was something else entirely." Finding inspiration in artists from R.E.M. to New Order to My Bloody Valentine, Statues balances bittersweet introspection with melodic, anthemic, crushing rock ‘n roll. Catch The Tet Holiday in a town near you during their early 2016 tour.
Band Members
Links
