The Tigers From Niger Release New EP

THE TIGERS FROM NIGER RELEASE NEW EP

I’ve never done an interview quite like the one I did with The Tigers From Niger. The band is set to release its new EP, Same Time, Same Place, on SoundCloud this week. We arranged a meeting at the screening of Red Bull Music Academy’s documentary film,What Difference Does It Make? at Kakaako Agora, after which TTFN performed.

Inside the neighboring Kakaako warehouse that housed the Chain Of Fire exhibition, I joined band members Paris Gray, and brother and sister Jon and Kaylee Smith on a patch of sand, with five overturned buckets for seats, about an hour before their performance. Behind us were two steel shipping containers. An art film, projected as a diptych, illuminated the wall in front of us as our only source of light.

Paris, Jon and Kaylee are some of Hawaii’s youngest musicians on the scene today. It shows. Aside from polite interruptions from their parents throughout the interview (“Where’s your laptop?” “It’s in the car, Dad.” or “Mom, this is Roger. Roger, that’s my mom.”), I found their enthusiasm for creating music has remained pure.

The Tigers From Niger (from left): Jon Smith, Kaylee Smith and Paris Gray PHOTO COURTESY TTFN

“We’re still pretty new to making music,” Jon tells me.

“How does that affect you?” I ask. “We just make what we want,” he says. “Since we’re new, we don’t really have a set sound.”

The handful of online articles written about TTFN reference influences likeToro y Moi, Tame Impala andDrake.But the truth is, TTFN finds inspiration in every style of music.

“We’ve written folk songs, alternative songs, a punk song,” Paris says.

“We made that little kids’ song,” Kaylee adds, referring to an unreleased children’s rap song they wrote.

“It’s about listening to as much as you can,” Jon says. “Because you may not like country, but somebody else might, so you gotta find out why they like it.

“The whole point of TTFN,” he continues, “is making music we wanna make.”

“Things we like,” Paris says.

Lyrically, their songs indulge in feel-good topics like summer, car rides, family and space travel. Each string of words satiates their imagination and reminds the listener that music should be about having fun. Their music is clever and playful, just like the band: The self-produced music video for 2 Cats 1 Dog is a parody of the excessiveness of rap videos, simply featuring TTFN at home with their pets.

“That’s pure, from our heart. I actually do hate cats. I am a dog person,” Paris explains.

That’s what listeners love about TTFN: They make honest music and have fun doing it. Later that night, they performed 2 Cats, 1 Dog as a hana hou. A dance floor broke out as the crowd erupted in cheers.

“What is pure music?” I ask them as the interview wraps up.

“Something that youwrite, you produce, you feel,” Paris says. Jon agrees.

“Same,” Kaylee responds, a bit shy. “Same … time, same place!”

The Tigers From Niger’s new EPis available November 20 at soundcloud. com/ttfn.

For more from Roger, check out his blog at alohagotsoul.com.