story by Jen Fischer
photo by Rob Walters
Like so many of us, Jamie Pressnall holds down one of those day job things. As she answered a recent call from Chicago Innerview, she mentioned that she had just finished work. Reflexively, I asked if she'd been in the studio. "Oh, I work at a coffee shop," she replied. Just like the rest of us who don't travel the globe with our super-cool indie band, she has to bring in the cash. When you talk to her, you get the sense that the tap-dancing percussionist from Tilly and the Wall never stops moving. And soon, she'll be on the move some more.
As the group nears completion of its third album to be released, like its others, on Connor Oberst's Team Love label, they are also launching a tour, which kicked off on February 28. Jamie's excited. The group hasn't toured the States in a long time, and they're ready to treat fans to some new music, including the release of a March single featuring two new songs that won't be on the upcoming album.
PRESSNALL'S INNER VIEW |
“I don't like do interviews with someone else there. Especially if they're a band member. It feels weird to talk about the band in front of them.” |
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"Overseas is a blast, but no one really knows our band, whereas here it is much more fun. It takes it to another level because everyone is familiar with our songs," she says. "There's a shared energy when we perform and everything is much more meaningful after not being around our hometown fans."
The yet-to-be-named album will arrive sometime in June, but right now, the band must decide on the order of the songs. "It's really hard," says Pressnall of negotiating the order. "This album is a lot different. We wrote most of the songs on our own. It feels like a different collection of songs. Still like a Tilly record, but with a different vibe." Pressnall attributes the change to their becoming more confident songwriters. "We've become better musicians in as far as figuring out our craft and becoming better at what we do."
Perhaps the biggest change is the new album's expanded percussion. Jamie's taps shall continue to provide the beat, but not exclusively. This time around the group incorporates drums, stomping and other atypical rhythmic methods like pots and pans. "The taps are definitely there, but that's not just it. It's there as much as the other instruments, although it wasn't intentional," she explains. "We experimented with percussion a lot."
Jamie (formerly Jamie Williams) married the band's guitarist, Derek Pressnall, shortly after their last album, 2006's Bottoms of Barrels, was released. "We've all had different things happen to us in recent years," Jamie notes, explaining that the upcoming album carries the same Tilly themes of being positive and proactive, creating what you want to create and living your life — but with a twist. "A lot of new relationships, breaking up and starting over, something else is definitely there...transitions, opening new chapters."
Suddenly, she asks if I can wait a moment, and I hear someone in the background. "Derek is in the office right now," she explains. "I don't like do interviews with someone else there. Especially if they're a band member. It feels weird to talk about the band in front of them."
Tilly & the Wall :: with Capgun Coup and Skybox :: Subterranean :: March 25.