Drum Tower are making weird, noisy music — and they like it that way
London experimental five-piece Drum Tower have arrived with debut single ‘Junkyard’, a chaotic, clattering introduction to a band determined to make the strange sound infectious.
Pulling together post-punk, math rock, psychedelia and electronic textures, the band’s first recorded statement is packed with sharp guitar lines, restless rhythms, multiple vocalists and trombone. Produced by Louis Milburn, the track has been described as sounding like a mutant disco unfolding on a scrapheap — and somehow, beneath all the noise, it hooks you in.
That unpredictability has already translated to the stage. After a year spent working their way around London’s grassroots circuit, Drum Tower capped it with a sold-out headline show at Hackney’s Paper Dress Vintage.
Now ‘Junkyard’ is out in the world, we caught up with the band to talk about building their sound, the strange story behind the single, surviving as a five-piece and what comes next.
“Junkyard” feels like a strange, distorted trip through the city, blending post-punk, math rock, psychedelia and electronic elements. How did you land on the sound of Drum Tower?
We want our music to be eclectic and experimental, but ultimately catchy - just like many of our favourite artists. Strong rhythms, density, noise, and off-kilter timing can be found across many different genres, and our output represents this. Junkyard is a fitting introduction, but other tracks approach our sound from different angles. (Mital Dodhia)
You describe “Junkyard” as a dual narrative about romantic discardment and finding comfort in a city dump. What inspired that unusual story, and what does the junkyard represent to you?
The lyrics were inspired by the drums on the track, a clanky trash heap sound. The dual vocals came about organically but have become a key feature in our music. (Rachel Fonseca Burtt)
There’s a lot happening in the track — jerking rhythms, sharp guitar hooks, multiple vocalists and trombone. How do you work together as a five-piece to make all those different elements fit?
We are a democratic and collaborative group. Every single note has a receipt. (Mital Dodhia).
You’ve spent the last year becoming a regular presence on London’s grassroots circuit, culminating in a sold-out headline at Paper Dress Vintage. How has playing live shaped Drum Tower and the music you’re making?
Generally speaking, playing live doesn't have a huge impact on our writing process. We want to create as cohesive a set as possible within our broad sound but that's about it. It's not the easiest thing to groove to a tune in 13/8 followed by a song that blends dub and black metal - so we don't put a lot of stock in the live reception. When people come to the show and understand what we're doing, we know they're clearly messed up in a similar way to how we are and that's always comforting. We're stubbornly interested in treading our own path and if people like it then that's great, if not, that's fine too. Either way we're gonna keep on trucking and sampling the Jubilee line or putting a Russian hardstyle bassline into a song about David Foster Wallace. (A. L. Noonan)
“Junkyard” is your first recorded statement. Now that you’ve introduced Drum Tower to the world, what can we expect from the band next?
What's most likely to happen is that we'll continue to squirrel away into the odd little fecund hole we're digging and come out with something unpleasant and highfalutin. Or we'll just release the other excellent tunes we've got ready to go. Come to a show. Who knows what you might find. (A. L. Noonan)
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