Courtesy of thetunahelpers.org
The Tuna Helpers
The Austin trio lets loose on sisters, ex-girlfriends, and 'fuzzies'
By Anna Breshears
Published: December 14th, 2005 | 10:09am
“Being in a band with your ex-girlfriend and your sister is a horrible idea. I love them both very much, but they drive me insane. Audience people often think we are kidding when we are ‘fighting’ on stage when we are, in fact, wanting to punch each other in the face,” explains the Tuna Helpers singer-guitarist Adrienne Sneed of her complicated relationship with sister-keyboardist Bethany and ex-girlfriend-drummer Khattie Quinones. “We work hard not to ignore the ‘love boxes’ our therapist said that we shared for each other, though I am still not sure exactly what this means or why it is in the shape of a box.”
No Tunas show would be complete without an argument or two between band members, a visit from a singing two-headed puppet, an impromptu dance number, and the dazzling spectacle of Adrienne releasing an extended operatic wail. The Austin trio translates the wild-eyed menagerie of punk, goth and pop from their two albums, The Suspicious Fish and I’ll Have What She’s Having into intricately costumed, decadent live performances. The Tuna Helpers flair for the outrageous shines with particular brilliance during their notorious holiday shows.
“Last year we passed out song sheets and rewrote and sang silly Christmas carols such as ‘Dingle Berry Rock’, decorated Christmas cookies, and I pulled a bunch of presents out of my underwear and threw them to the audience,” explains Sneed.
“We don’t have any plans yet for Christmas this year, but it would probably entail Adrienne making me do something I don’t feel comfortable with,” says Quinones. “Last year I was baby Jesus!”
The most memorable moment, according to Bethany, was a Valentine’s Day Show in 2004. “The place was jam-packed…We decided to end our set by covering Pat Benatar’s ‘Heartbreaker,’ and we had these girls dressed up as ‘fuzzies,’ that crazy fetish where you dress up like a stuffed animal. They had a choreographed dance that they did with Adrienne, and I performed sign language via a teddy bear I was holding in front of me,“ she recalls. “I stuck my hands through the bear’s hands in order to pull that off. At the end of the song, all of us ripped the teddy bears we had been holding from head to toe and proceeded to throw the stuffing out in the audience, including the empty ‘carcass’ of the animal. … It was a great night!”
“One year we had an Easter show and I shot an Easter egg out of my vagina into a little basket,” notes Sneed.
This year, the Tunas Helpers released their second album, I’ll Have What She’s Having, which was produced by Mr. Bungle’s Trey Sprounce and released on his Web of Mimicry label. Sprounce saw the band perform at a small showcase at a coffeehouse during Austin’s annual musical schmooze fest South By Southwest last year, fell in love, and offered to record, produce and release their next record.
On I’ll Have What She’s Having, the Tunas bring ethereal beauty to their haunted orchestral compositions and demonstrate just how far they’ve come from their self-produced first record. “When we’re on tour, someone is always trying to decide which album to buy. That’s a tough one because they are both very different. Suspicious Fish is very elementary sounding, very sparse, but also very endearing. It almost sounds like it was recorded in an old, abandoned basement, but it wasn’t. I’ll Have What She’s Having is all about the production — strings, choirs, and sound effects. It’s very theatrical and more in sync with our live show. I love both of them for different reasons,” says Bethany. “Now, we’re all a lot more confident with what we do in the band. Khattie’s drumming is amazing, and I think it has evolved the most. I’m doing more with my keyboard parts, letting myself play more than just the middle C scale, and Adrienne is exploring new vocal styling, new guitar rhythms, and even flirting with the bass.”
“The songs on Suspicious Fish are more on the cheerful and child-like side, as opposed to the dark songs on I'll Have What She’s Having,” explains Quinones. “Yes, the second album is spookier and it deals more with the fear of moving on and growing up,” agrees Adrienne. “My outlook did change a lot. I was in la-la-coo-coo land when I wrote the songs from the first album…[it was] during a very self-destructive part of my life.”
I’ll Have What She’s Having veers between a mood of innocence and one of darkness, lending it an otherworldly, fairytale-like atmosphere. The sweet, hop-a-long pace of “Blueberry Head” is at odds with the macabre lyrics filled with witches, ghosts and kittens. “Wait and See” is cinematic and broad, dense with layers of sound and Adrienne’s regal howl, while “The Stars” provides light and playful respite. Their tendency towards the unusual doesn’t mean they aren’t equally adept at hooky pop. In “Hold This,” Adrienne’s quivering, soaring words melt against cascading guitar, cello, and Bethany’s tinkling keyboards, creating a dramatically melodic mood. Adrienne’s inspirations include Maria Callas, Barbara Streisand and Kate Bush, among others, in addition to “fighting for equality, the homeless queer kids we met in Kansas City, the good and the not so good parts of life.” But, she’s careful to add, “This is all liable to change in the next few days.”
Plans for 2006 include a West Coast tour at the end of January, a new EP, and perhaps a few more therapy sessions. Check out their Web site for more details at thetunahelpers.org
Issue #31
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