Figg
FIGG | FIGG | Dissociated Press | JUNE 12tH, 2020
Bio:
Figg, the Seattle-based duo of Robin Peringer and Gilden Tunador, was originally scheduled to release its debut album a decade ago. Figg’s sound (“Nancy Sinatra’s spaced-out work with Lee Hazlewood, if she was raised on Slowdive,” said KEXP) was perfect for the moment.
Peringer’s musical past is like a giant quilt of the Northwest music scene, having played guitar in Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, Love as Laughter and many more luminaries of the region. When he teamed up with Tunador, the duo found local admiration and ultimately national attention as part of the (intentionally misspelled) band Carissa’s Wierd.
It seemed like the right (ripe!) time for Figg’s debut.
But...
Shoved, then shelved, the album’s champions went away, a music industry story we’ve heard too many times. Jump to a decade later, and now, a new moment has emerged for Peringer and Tunador as Figg’s self-titled debut, sounding fresh as ever, will finally see an appropriate record release on June 12th, 2020.
“Releasing our record has been an ego-smashing lesson in the appreciation of patience, the unfolding of the creative process, and the magic of universal timing,” Tunador says. After the band’s deal fell apart, they shopped the album around, but were still a bit too shell-shocked from the whole experience.
Five years later, in 2015, just as Bandcamp was becoming the leader in artist-focused and controlled streaming, Figg decided to finally make the record available. They posted it without promotion or any fanfare at all. They just wanted their friends to be able to hear it.
Friends tuned in, and the band felt satisfied that at least the album was available to the public. Some of that public included legendary and internationally influential public radio station KEXP. The album’s lead track “A Case Study in Plagiarism” was added to rotation and anointed as a station “Song of The Day.”
Figg was revived, at least in this small, but important way, and this development moved Peringer and Tunador to start stockpiling new songs, and to give their generally unheard debut album its due.
“It’s as if the music has a life of its own and is determined to keep on breathing,” Tunador explains. “We are at the point in our lives where we understand the importance of doing what we love and we’re excited that the timing is aligned for this album to join the world with full promotion and availability across all platforms.”
Moments can never be forced, they just happen. But one of the best things about moments is that, when given enough time, they tend to circle around again.
“The songwriting began when Robin was in England,” Tunador says of the upcoming single from the album, “Black Tar of Camden Yards”. “He wanted to do a British-sounding pop song where the front man played acoustic guitar, which was the current flavor of the time with bands such as Gomez.”
Referencing the English rock band Gomez, formed in the late 90s, is a refreshing and genre-bending idea in 2020 as UK and Brit-admiring songwriting, bathed in psychedelia, becomes more of a thing. The current flavor of that time is the current flavor of this time.
Other artists that Figg cites as influences include The Cure, The Smiths, Spiritualized, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Velvet Underground, Jane’s Addiction (“particularly the song ‘Summertime Rolls,’” notes Peringer), Black Box Recorder, Built To Spill, and Brian Eno.
Tunador says that the album “navigates the positive and the negative within human relationships to ultimately find balance in love. You need to feel grief to heal grief,” she says. “Love is not just flowers and romance, but equal parts fear and worry that one needs to acknowledge in order to transcend.”
To that end, Figg’s songs are intentionally recorded in a slower BPM to give space for the process of reflection.
“We want to take the listener on a contemplative journey,” Tunador explains. “It’s meant to be meditative.”
Peringer offers an even more practical explanation: “I wanted this music to be satisfying to Seattle drivers. The traffic has gotten so bad that you’re forced to drive ten miles an hour slower than the speed limit. Figg is good to listen to in Seattle traffic.”
Wise words from a band that knows how powerful a role patience plays in perseverance.
The debut album by Figg, originally scheduled for release in 2010, is now scheduled for release on June 12th, 2020. The album’s first single “Black Tar of Camden Yards” is out on April 24th.
NEWS:
PRESS QUOTES:
“A very lovely dose of chamber pop-informed indie rock.”
“Nancy Sinatra’s spaced-out work with Lee Hazlewood, if she was raised on Slowdive.”
“Though Peringer’s resume also includes work with Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, and the Doug Martsch–fronted Treepeople, Figg sounds most closely tied to the ramshackle, string-heavy chamber pop of Carissa.”
“Dreamy and psychedelic... gorgeous arrangements.”
“Delicately weaved in textured instrumentation and melodies... Pensively moving through different twists and tangles.”
“This band has been worth waiting for. A sound that is as fresh today as it would have been a decade ago.”
PRESS RELEASES:
On The Web:
Assets:
Gilden Tunador and Robin Peringer of Figg. Photo credit: Robin Peringer. Click for hi-res.
Robin Peringer and Gilden Tunador of Figg. Photo credit: Kelly White. Click for hi-res.
Gilden Tunador and Robin Peringer of Figg. Photo credit: Joslyn Lawrence. Click for hi-res.
Figg cover art. Click for hi-res.