Tuvaband
Oslo, Norway
Behind the Music
TuvabandI’m from Norway and there’s a big fishing industry here, so I’ve been curious about how the fishing industry works in other countries. I had learned about some environmental concerns related to tuna, but when I read Ian’s book, I realized that there is a much wider range of complex issues in this realm than I had imagined.
I write lyrics when I have something I need to process. After reading the book, this was definitely the case. What I found challenging was writing text in the form of lyrics. At the same time, I wanted to write text that could inform and affect others. In some songs, I mixed text from the book with my own words and I also used a lot of spoken-word.
I made this EP while I had a one-month music residency at the monastery in Broumov in the Czech Republic. It was in a small town in the countryside and it was really quiet. This led to quiet tracks, but eventually I made some songs that were less quiet, probably because I needed to break the silence somehow.
Ian Urbina has written an important and enlightening book with information that I wish was shared with the whole world. While some people are aware of these topics, it seems that human beings are capable of unconsciously suppressing this type of knowledge when it collides with a comfortable life. I’m hoping that some people who turn a blind eye to this book will listen to these songs.
About Tuvaband
Tuvaband is not a band, but instead a Norwegian solo artist who graces dark canvasses between alternative and indie rock with fluorescent shoegaze sketches.
Tuva Hellum Marschhäuser has a vision and is clearly not afraid to express it when writing and producing her own music. Tuvaband’s debut album “Soft Drop” saw her write songs that were airy, ghostly and effortlessly cinematic. The follow-up, “I Entered the Void” (which earned a nomination for a Norwegian Grammy) pushed her sound into rougher, heavier atmospheric rock.
Recorded with musicians Tobias Pfeil, Håkon Brunborg Kjenstad, and Ole Mofjell. Tuva’s third album “Growing Pains & Pleasures” was painstakingly spearheaded by Tuva from inception to completion. She was determined to capture the musical vision in her imagination. Crafted in her then new studio, the songs and soundscapes were forged over many months working alone, recording and programming the instrumentation herself before enlisting fellow Oslo musicians Kenneth Ishak, Eskild and Håkon Brunborg Kjenstad to add depth and realism to some of the sketched lines. The song “Irreversible” was remixed by beloved dub icon, Lee "Scratch" Perry. Tuvaband’s latest album, New Orders, came out in January 2023. Tuva wrote, performed, recorded, produced, and mixed the material including playing all the instruments, with the exception of a trombone and authentic drums supplementing the preprogrammed drums and percussion.