Of all the blues trash and primitive rock’n’roll one-man bands in the world today there are a dozen or so that really set the bar, musically speaking, and set it high. One such artist, Swiss singer/songwriter Chrisian Buehlmann, who goes by the one-man band moniker Tongue Tied Twin (often stylized as TTT), owns a sound that consists of dirty six-string and occasional slide parts, together with hi-hat, tambourine and kick drum percussion, blues harp, and vocals alternately fed through clearn mic and megaphone rigs.
Tongue Tied Twin kicked off 2011 with a six-song EP release, Blues Trash One Man Band, strictly on compact disc format from Noisegames Records. As far as the recording goes, it is exactly the kind that Twin’s sound requires, and it offers up his bluesy rockers as they are meant to be heard — loud and dirty. “Goodbye K,” the EP’s opener, has a sharp, catchy early rock’n’roll sound to it, while “Drinking with My Eyes” is an arrangement of fuzz-drenched notes and little bottleneck slide bits and an explosive vocal delivery. “Close to the Line” is all note patterns and wailin’ blues harp, with steady hi-hat and kick drum work driving the rhythm. If ever Twin wrote and recorded a blues punk song, “16 Miles” is it, with heavily distorted chords, jangly tambourine percussion, and gruff vocals. Then again, almost the same can be said of the very short “Mr. Talker,” which clocks in at just under two minutes. But it’s the last song, “Come Home,” that has become my favorite on the EP, with its raw, garagey blues trash freakout and busy, fired-up vocals.
To put it plainly, Tongue Tied Twin’s sound is mostly stomp n’ holler, along with six-string stumming and picking and sliding. But like most good blues and rock’n’roll fusions, it’s also full of heart and soul. And he plays each instrument himself simultaneously, without loop machines and other such devices — a pure sound based solely on his musical abilities and human capabilities. And really, who could ask for more?
Buehlmann’s Blues Trash One Man Band EP is his first official release, though he has a 7-inch vinyl release due out in the near future on newly established independent German label called Stencil Trash Records. Still, for a new label, Stencil Trash has given us vinyl-only releases by such great artists as Chuck Violence, Mr. Bonz, Two Tears, and now Tongue Tied Twin. Another great independent label releasing records of international one-man band artists. In addition to the 7″ release, Tongue Tied Twin has been gigging a lot, sharing the stage with well known one-man band long-timers from France and Switzerland, like Urban Junior, King Automatic, Sheriff Perkins, Thee Asthmatic Avenger, and Eric Bling, to name a few. Not too shabby for a relatively fresh presence in the scene such as Tongue Tied Twin.
Recently I had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing Mr. Chrisian Buehlmann, or Tongue Tied Twin. What follows is that interview in its entirety.
