The Funny Terns are a duo that create some amazing melodies, while having an air of levity of humour and joy about their music.
From bands that they are inspired from to their formation, they talked to LITM about how the duo have come about and the music they want to make.
Nature has the answers, and one rodent seems to have it figured out more than the others. The Funny Terns talk to us about how they composed this song, their influences and much more music coming in 2024. Check out their interview with us below!:
Give us an introduction to The Funny Terns. When and How did The Funny Terns come about?
Natalie: The first I ever heard of Angus was when I’d just started campaigning on plastic pollution, and someone sent me a video of him singing a comic song about plastic bags. His mate had ‘fake newsed’ it – basically in the edit had make it look like Angus was an international megastar on stage at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I met him at a party two years later (“Hey! You’re the plastic bag guy!”) and we started working together. Sparks flew over our Dirty Dancing spoof and we’ve been co-writers with benefits for the last six years now!
“Bring Back the Beaver” is a cheeky yet noble endeavor to convey a crucial environmental message through a warm and lively song. Can you tell us more about its theme and purpose?
Natalie: Back in 2018 a report came out from the WWF saying we’d lost half the world’s wildlife in 40 years. That figure’s now at about 60%. We’re losing our biodiversity at a phenomenal rate, and one day, when I was in a silly mood (most of the time) I was pondering the loss of popularity of pubic hair and wondered if it correlated to deforestation. And it did! So we wrote a song about it. Partly to raise awareness about the brilliant rewilding movement bringing hope to the world as we see nature bounce back, and partly to encourage young people to be a bit more pro-bush.
What are some of the musical influences at play in this song?
Angus: English folk mostly! With an element of protest songs in there too.
Take us through your creative process. How do you go about merging the world of comedy and music?
Natalie: We both like to laugh. And we both love music. So together we’re often playing around with ideas and words. Sometimes someone asks us to write a song on a particular theme, sometimes it’s just a subject we’re passionate about and want to bring some awareness to. We’re both fans of music hall and novelty songs (especially Angus!) and in some ways hope we’re continuing that tradition.
What recent events, if any, motivated you to compose “Bring Back the Beaver”?
Natalie: I’d read ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree and ‘Bringing Back the Beaver’ by rewilding legend, Derek Gow, and for the first time in a long time felt a glimmer of hope that we might just have a crack at stopping biodiversity loss. We live in Bristol and there are now – thanks to the efforts of rogue rewilders – around 50 beaver lodges along the Avon river … which is pretty amazing given until a few years ago they’d not been seen in English waterway for over 400 years! Species reintroduction is a happy subject for me, and I felt it deserved a song.
What are your plans for the future in music? Will we hear more such socially-charged releases?
Angus: Yes! We’ve got a load on Instagram for now, and will be releasing more in 2024. We’ve got a few gigs booked in, from corporate to campfire, as well as some more relationship-themed songs in the offing. Nat’s working on her first EP of folky, nature-inspired solo stuff too.
Listen to their funny & socially aware single here:
Discovered via https://app.musosoup.com #sustainablecurator