All Tvvins – band on the crest of wave

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – tribunegroove@live.ie

A band in demand, All Tvvins come to Róisín Dubh on Saturday and Sunday, 11 and 12. The second gig was announced in light of the first one selling out, which was no surprise given how much airplay the songs from their debut album received in 2016.

On December 31, the band posted a handwritten message on social media, promising ‘something special’ in the New Year. Can guitarist Lar Kaye reveal what that is?

“I can’t really go into detail, but Conor and I have been working on new music and we’re hoping to get it out there as soon as possible,” Lar says.

Conor Adams is All Tvvins’ lead singer. He and Lar founded the band (pronounced All Twins) after they had made a name playing in the acclaimed indie outfits Adebisi Shank and The Cast of Cheers. The newly formed duo courted major label interest, and signed to Warner Music which released their album, llVV, last year. The band then embarked on an arena tour with Kodaline, and their tunes became fixtures on Irish radio. A personal highlight from last year for Lar was All Tvvins’ sold-out show in The Olympia.

“It was a main goal had from when we started the band, so to actually do it was amazing,” Lar says.  “We’d been on tour for about five months at that point, so I think we all just felt a bit mental in general. I think maybe two days later, it hit us a bit more that it was a big achievement. We all really enjoyed it, and we put a lot of work into the production of it.”

Last year, the Irish indie scene lost two stalwarts, with Enemies and Fight Like Apes calling it a day. All Tvvins attended both bands’ farewell shows. Does Lar feel that All Tvvins are any more secure because of Warner’s involvement?

“I guess in certain aspects it is, but both of those bands worked with [record] labels as well,” he says. “It’s just hard to know. Conor and I just try to do as much as we can on our own, without having to do a lot of stuff that needs money. I don’t think we’re in any different position, it’s still really tough for us to tour and make it work.”

All Tvvins’ album was recorded in ten different studios, with four different producers, yet it sounds remarkably cohesive. Lar put this down to the involvement of Mark Schwarz, who oversaw much of its creation.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.