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Over the last four years, sister duo Sari and Romy Lightman have come together to form the Toronto/Montreal based band Tasseomancy. The musical project combines lyrical and vocal traditions of folk music with experimental attitudes of psychedelia and new age music. Tasseomancy recently dropped their sophomore record ‘Palm Wine Revisited,‘ the collection of songs is definitely fresh as it highlights the groups diverse style and sounds. GroundSounds recently caught up with Tasseomancy for an exclusive interview, check it out below.
For those just discovering Tasseomancy, can you tell us a little bit about the formation of the band and how you all sonically came together?
Tasseomancy the band came into being almost four years ago. Prior to the band’s formation, my sister and I had spent our youth in a small ocean town on the east coast of Canada and had been inspired by the tragic beauty and the folk music that resided there. After awhile, we felt restless and left to return Toronto. One there, we realized that in order for our music to authentically reflect/relate or at least react against the world we were currently swimming in, we would need to incorporate synthetic, contemporary sounds that had been swirling around the Big Smoke (Toronto). We found Johnny Spence and Evan Cartwright – both musical wizards from the free-jazz school of thinking and we thought, “well this is more like it”. So together with a myriad of musical and non-musical inspirations, we began playing together quietly but had then had about a three year long hiatus in which my sister and I joined the electronic band, Austra and toured most of the Western World. We left Austra over a year and a half ago and since then, have put all of our creative focus into Tasseomancy.
How did you guys decide on the band name Tasseomancy?
Tasseomancy was a childhood word for my sister and I. It’s the art of reading tea-leaves. We come from four generations of tea-leaf readers beginning with our great-great grandmother who once she immigrated to Canada in the late 1800s and used it as a means to earn a living and set up a tea-leaf reading business where strangers could come and had their fortune told from remnants in their tea-cup.
Where does the band reside? What is one thing every visitor should see or do in your current city and what is donut planet?
Currently some of us remain to be ‘nomadic’ when not on the road, but the band predominately lives between Montreal and Toronto. The donut planet is a metaphysical reality that was constructed by Romy and our good friend Julia Kennedy…It’s some pretty deep, heady philosophy that would take awhile to unravel, but the basis is that the donut is this metaphorical reference to the cosmos; the centre of the donut otherwise known as the hole is the place which both remains as the ‘unknown’ and yet also the place in which we are trying to enter. There’s a similar theory that can be used with spaghetti. Most of the ideas of the donut planet are in conjunction with theories of ancient alchemy.
Can you tell us about the writing and creative process involved with your latest track “Braid. Wind is coming?”
Braid is a song that my sister wrote a few winter’s ago. Its a song about falling out of love and societal isolation
Can you tell us about the concept and filming the music video for “Braid. Wind is coming?”
We had all kind of ideas for this video. Originally, it was supposed to involve a contemporary dancer and be shot within a painted landscape. A few months into the process our friend and artistic collaborator, Blake McFarlane who directed the video, was diagnosed with Cancer. After that, the intention for the video changed completely. Basically we used this art project as means for Blake to keep contact with the living world as he went through hell and back. For over a year and a half we would get together in between Blake’s chemotherapy and shoot rolls on his old Super-8. When he was too weak, his sister Caroline would hold the camera as Blake would direct. I would try and set up simple scenarios in where we could all just hang out and have a laugh. For us, the outcome of the video has more to do with friendship and hope more then anything else.
What bands/musicians are you guys currently listening to?
Romy has been listening to a lot of new age music like Alice Coltrane’s Turiya Sings, Deep Breakfast and Terri Riley. Our drummer is currently really into footwork especially Tracxman and R.P. Boo, Marc, Ribot plays Franz Casseus; Johnny our keyboardist loves Nina Simone and Piano. Sari has been listening to lots of Patsy Cline and Judee Sill and an American New Age compilation called I am the Center.
What do you guys enjoy most and least about being twins?
pros: we have a real advantage harmony-wise and we can often use each other’s driver’s licenses. I think the disadvantages have more to do with other people’s lack of imagination: having photographers and musical journalists constantly weaving us into one braid and recreating all the obvious tropes of being a twin i.e. spooky telepathy (think one part united all mind and two part the children from the shining). I’ve said before, but I think that this fascination with twins has more to do with people’s/society’s general disconnect from one another and desire to empathize. My sister and I can definitely do that. Being so closely raised to someone else enforces you to have this ingrained awareness of the other. With that being said, it comes as no surprise that we have very different ways of seeing/being.
Can you tell us about working on and bringing your sophomore record ‘Palm Wine Revisited’ to fruition?
I think this record was a real musical experiment. At the time we went into the studio, my sister and I had recently left Austra and we’re focused mainly on improvising and breaking musical rules. Most of the songs on the record the band composed while inside the studio in order to keep things exciting and I think that while in the midst of it we came to understand more about our own interpretation of ‘pop’ music.
What’s next for Tasseomancy, what can fans look forward to?
A brand new record that is already well under way. I think that this third record will encompass what we are trying to say as a band: how to stay loose, cultivate the creative mind and keep it real.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
October 7th | Los Angeles CA | The Lyric Theatre
October 8th | San Diego CA | Soda Bar
October 9th | Phoenix AZ | Valley Bar
October 10th | El Paso TX | Lowbrow Palace
October 12th | Dallas TX | Club Dada
October 13th | Austin TX | The Mohawk
October 16th | Atlanta GA | 529
October 17th | Raleigh NC | Kings
October 19th | Washington DC | DC9
October 20th | Philadelphia PA | Boots & Saddle
October 21st | Boston MA | Great Scott
October 22nd | Brooklyn NY | Baby’s All Right
