Eight questions with Too Tangled

Who are Too Tangled and where did the name come from? (a short introduction)

Too Tangled is a Belgian Indie-wave-electro duo. They use sounds of the 80s wave and punk, and mix them together with the sounds of now. They get praised by the European press for their refreshing, absorbing, sexy, and mysterious universe. Their sound is being compared with bands as The Knife, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Raveonettes, Depeche Mode...

How long have you been making music together, and what have the highlights been as a band?!

We've been making music together as for many years, but we started from scratch as a duo somewhat 7 years ago as 'Too Tangled'. Every concert is a highlight for us... that moment where we can connect with an audience and exchange energy... that's what it's about for us...

You released your new record ‘Revel Revel’ earlier this year - how has the response been so far and how has it been to take the record on the road around Europe?

The release has been going lovely... many of the interesting radios and blogs have spotted the album, and we're receiving lovely reviews on it... also live it's great to play the new tracks, and the set is a good mix of the new tracks together with the older, and every time we play, people are dancing and tripping, so that's a good place to be :-)

You’re coming over to the UK and playing Oxford and London dates for Tigmus...  how do you usually prepare for a live show, any unique pre-show warm-ups? And what should fans expect from your live shows?

We usually do some extra rehearsals before we leave on tour, to get some new things in it, and find some new ways to play... as a pre-show warm up we (Roeland, Eva, Machine (light), and Pedro (sound) always take 5 minutes alone in the backstage to greet the sun and have a gin tonic. What people should expect from the show? It's a trippy set, it starts with a lot of fog, and strobe... extended versions with wicked synths and freaky guitars, trippy beats, some punk-poetry à la John Cooper Clarck (whom we love btw), and some trancy Berlin-style tracks to finish it off.

Any sightseeing planned while you’re over here? Oxford is particularly beautiful in the sun!

We've been to Oxford many times... every time we come back to Courtyard studio (Sutton Courtenay/Oxfordshire) to finish an album, we take some time to visit... but it mostly rains doesn't it :-)

Who is your audience and how do you connect with your fans? Any crazy, fun, exciting stories are very welcome.

Our audience are crazy people between 16 and 60... we connect mostly after shows at the merch stand, and via Facebook obviously also... the craziest fan we had so far? was a woman who came to see us 6 times in a row (on average distances of 400 miles) she was completely crazy so that's why we like her so much :-) also one time our Roadie got lost in the first day of a Swiss/German tour, and he ended up at the bar with 6 beautiful Swiss women drinking way too much gin (without tonic)... we nearly had to send him home with an ambulance... Swiss women can be dangerous, especially if they're fans!

What would your dream gig entail? Any particular venues you’re desperate to play or artists you’d love to play alongside, in the UK or back home?

We haven't got a particular venue or festival we'd love to play... we love to play in the big venues obviously, but we love to play the small scruffy venues also... as long as we can play it's all good! We've got a bunch of artists that we adore and love to play alongside, we've had the chance of playing alongside Gaz Coombes and Band of Skulls, which was wicked... crazy good bands!

After a busy Summer tour, what does the rest of 2017 hold for Too Tangled?

Autumn-tours in Germany, Austria, Switserland, Belgium, and Italy (although Italy might be January) and in the meantime we're already writing some new stuff of which we're gonna try one or two out during the UK tour... be aware :-)

Too Tangled play at the Jericho Tavern in Oxford on 14th June and The Islington in London on 16th June - tickets here!