By Lost in the Manor
In their latest album ‘Dreaming of Sleep’, Tulipomania creates lush and immersive sonic expanses with electronica-driven sounds, art-rock influences, and post-punk aesthetics. The Philadelphia-based band comprising Cheryl Gelover and Tom Murray crafts a mesmerizing listening experience with atmospheric synths, undulating rhythms, dreamy vocals, and more! Lost in the Manor interviews Tulipomania about their creative philosophy, musical influences, and future plans.
Please introduce us to your 'Dreaming of Sleep' album?
Hi. Thanks for talking with me about our album "Dreaming of Sleep". When we started this album Cheryl and I decided to work exclusively with electronic instruments, and we pretty much stayed with that plan. We wanted to work from a new direction. Although we have always used keyboards and electronics, we often started songs with bass or guitar parts. This time we started with electronic drum and synth parts and built the tracks around that structure.
What is your philosophy or approach to the music you create?
We work like we are making a painting. We add and remove and edit until we arrive at what feels right. We almost never start with a set of chords or strum a rhythm on a guitar. We build everything around interwoven grooves and melodic lines.
You obviously have a passion for creating videos - can you tell us about this parallel creative pursuit?
We have always been involved in visual art and we create the music and the animations in very similar ways. It’s a process of experimentation and editing/refining as we go which isn’t usually the typical way of working for animations. We usually have a jumping-off point – maybe an image or idea for motion, then see how the music may connect with it. We’re not afraid to toss out elements and start again – it’s all about finding a synthesis between the music and the image.
What are the themes running through your new album?
Loss and stress coupled with resignation and finally, discovering a renewed drive to sort out a way forward, I think.
How have the artists you've interacted with or the music you love influenced the way you create, release, or consume music today? If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?
These are such great questions – and a bit difficult to answer – I think it’s best if I answer both questions at once. I’ll start by saying we feel we have been very lucky! Since the beginning of Tulipomania we have been fortunate to have the guidance of Howard Thompson. He’s listened to all of the tracks we’ve ever recorded and made countless recommendations. He’s been endlessly supportive. His experience and talents have been invaluable. Meeting and working with Vaughan Oliver was such a thrill. He was a joy to work with and we’re glad to have had that opportunity. We are so very lucky that Martyn Ware was willing to share his talents and time to remix a track for us with his trusted collaborator Charles Stooke – and we are in his debt. I could name many people we admire and respect and would love to meet and/or would love to have met and work with – but we’re quite conscious of the fact that collaboration seems to come down to really being about personal chemistry more than anything else... I think the best collaborations often come out of accidental random meetings and chance. That said – we would love to work with Martyn Ware on a larger project if it was possible. And who wouldn't want to meet and try to collaborate with Eno? I know we would. Rustin Man (Paul Webb) is brilliant and although I doubt it could ever happen – we love his work and would love to try. There are so many people we truly admire and would welcome an attempt to collaborate with.
Has living in Philadelphia somehow come to shape your sound or what would you say are your main influences?
Our musical influences are not particularly connected to Philadelphia in an obvious way. We listen to a lot of music we don't sound like. Can you say something is an influence if others can't hear it filter through? I think you can. So maybe Philadelphia is filtered into our sound. Seems likely – although I can't say exactly how. Well, one thing for certain is that when I first started playing guitar, I would listen all night to Jazz on WRTI and play along. I never tried to replicate what I was hearing – I would make up my own parts. Having that resource was pretty important – WRTI is a commercial-free public radio station still – so there’s a key Philadelphia connection! Philadelphia is also lucky to be home to Magnet Magazine – an independent music magazine that’s still going strong – for over 25 years now.
Would you say that the reason you began making music is still the reason that you are still making music today? Please explain.
I think so. I've never learned to play a cover song. I only know how to play the music and parts we play. Music has always been like painting or sculpture for me. I would never be interested in repainting an existing painting – or overanalyzing someone else's music with an assumption that by dissection I could make something from following their schematic. I always assume there’s no way even to know why some specific work is successful and/or great. I can’t agree with the assumption that if there was a rubric to follow then everything produced using it would be great. It just isn’t possible – there is no formula. We got into music as another way to try to make art.
It is a process. I find music meditative and can sit and make sounds without considering the result. Other times it is all about working on a specific track and making changes and additions until it becomes a song. These have always been the two ways music works for me. And then there is the magic of listening to others.
What are you listening to lately and which newer / emerging artists can you recommend to our readers?
We both love Elaine Malone's music. Just Mustard and Altered Hours are also favorites. Lately, we have been listening to a lot of music from the terrific Pizza Pizza record label. Great stuff!
Can you share anything about your plans for the next year or so that fans can look forward to?
We have a couple more tracks with music videos to release in the next month or so and hope to play some shows in the summer. We also hope to have another release in the fall we’re pretty excited about.
Discovered via https://app.musosoup.com #sustainablecurator