When it comes to the state of the music industry, one thing that is necessary to thrive is originality, and that is something Tank and the Bangas has no shortage of.
“I cannot classify the music. It is not contained,” Tarriona Ball, the band’s lead vocalist and a contributing poet, said. “It’s everywhere. It’s funk; it’s soul, spoken word, hip hop. I can’t just say that it’s everything, but we really do touch on all of these things every show.”
Perhaps the word “eclectic” does not even do the band justice. Each member adopts multiple roles, covering instrumentation ranging from the classic guitar to a flute.
Much of this can be attributed to the group’s roots in its hometown of New Orleans, a heritage the members are proud of.
“[New Orleans has taught us] to just always entertain,” Ball said. “You can go to New Orleans and see a man literally just standing still, painted in all silver or gold, acting like he is one of the monuments. We just make people smile. We just make people feel like they are outside of themselves.”
The group strives to make music with no bounds. It is its constant energy and fearlessness that brought it to internet fame when it won a recent NPR Tiny Desk concert session.
A unique mix of styles and skills naturally bleeds into its live show, another element Ball feels makes the group so special.
“It is quite exhilarating,” Ball said. “It’s just a roller coaster, very exciting, very colorful. The music is very colorful. It goes up and down like a really big roller coaster. I think people are going to be very surprised.”
The group will be bringing this fresh sense of energy to Proud Larry’s tomorrow night for a show Ball can only describe as “the ultimate party.”
Much like the goal of its recorded material, the group hopes to redefine what good live music means to all who attend its shows, hopefully providing them with a whole new perspective on music altogether.
“I am about to change the direction of your life with the music. Period,” Ball said in regards to the group’s upcoming performance in Oxford. “That’s just what we do.”
Tank and the Bangas has been focusing much of its time on touring lately, and as a consequence, its last studio project was released in 2014. But, as Ball was keen to explain, the dry spell will soon be over in a very big way.
“It’s going [to be released] very soon. I’m working on it every day,” Ball said. “We went to live in London for a while, and that is where I got a lot of my inspiration from. … It’s very colorful and a lot of fun. It’s fun. That’s all I can really say; it’s just fun. I really like it. I don’t want to hear anybody else’s music but my own right now.”
Tank and the Bangas will be performing at Proud Larry’s tomorrow night. The show starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $10.
