Based in Los Angeles, the scorching hot power-punk/grunge band and duo Tarah Who? cuts the bullshit in their hard-hitting new single, "Yay or Nay."
Tarah Who? is grunge-punk sage Tarah Carpenter and drummer/backing vocalist Coralie Herve. With sounds reminiscent of Alanis Morissette, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, and Spinnerette, Tarah Who? won the lifewtr competition in 2021 and recently played gigs at Hellfest and Wheels and Waves Festival.
The ladies are currently working with Jason Orme and Norm Block (producer of L7) on their upcoming album. Until then, listeners can indulge in Tarah Who? 's latest single, "Yay or Nay," in collaboration with the fierce Spain-based project Faul.
The song is a cut-throat anthem in support of independent female rock musicians, championing straightforward answers. Enough with the "not this time" and "we'll give you a call," Tarah Who? is asking for a simple "Yay or Nay."
Hitting play on the new track, "Yay or Nay," it's nothing we wouldn't expect from the edgy and grungey stylings that Tarah Who? has delivered in the past. Their haunting vocals and crunchy guitars pounce through the speakers with attitude and a blunt nature that brings heaps of intensity.
The song's many transitions keep us on our toes with Faul and Tarah Who?'s infectious energy leaves us shaking in our boots. Faul's Corinna sings in her native German tongue to add a personal edge while their instrumentals smash our eardrums to pieces. It's an invigorating song and an even more invigorating anthem for respecting someone enough to tell it how it is.
Cut to the chase and don't hold back with Tarah Who?'s recent collaboration with Faul, the striking and anthemic single "Yay or Nay," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome back to BuzzMusic, Tarah Who? What led your group to create such an anthemic, meaningful, and intense song like "Yay or Nay"? What inspired the concept?
Ha! Anger! lol! I wanted to collaborate with V, who is the drummer of Bala, who I love, but she also plays bass and screams in Faul. During covid, I decided to get in touch with a few musicians (friends) and bands to see if they would be interested in collaborating. The message behind the collaboration is 1- to support each other and 2- to show that there is no competition between bands and between women. Those collaborations have a common theme. Because we are all independent, hard-working female musicians, we go through similar situations. "Yay or Nay" is about not being able to get a proper response from the music industry; it is about not being respected as artists, etc...
What was it like working alongside Faul when creating "Yay or Nay?" How did that collaboration come about?
Well, actually, it was a little bit of a challenge. Firstly, We had never actually met in person. I had been following V because I follow Bala. Until then, I was mostly in touch with Anx, the singer of Bala. Then V directed me to her other project called Faul. I listened to it and really loved their punk attitude, and there is just a great natural vibe that I was immediately drawn to. Once Faul was into the collaboration idea, I sent them a few ideas and demos. I had the whole thing planned out, but again... We didn't actually know each other! :) So, as much as I was super excited, they must have thought: "what is her deal!" :). We recorded the song with Coralie and Jason Orme, our producer. At that point, I was really hoping that the girls would not let us down because I don't think I had received anything from them yet, but we had to keep our recording schedule. I made up a Spanish part of giving them an idea of where they would add their lyrics and sent them the roughs. A few weeks later, they went into the studio and sent me their tracks. I was SO happy! Not only had they done an excellent job and come up with badass lyrics and attitude, but also the sound engineer, Andres, had sent us on accident the vocal mic test from Laura. From the videos they sent to me after the recording, clearly... they had had a few drinks and did not remember sending me this track. It is so unique and funny that I insisted that we use the track somehow! When Jason opened the file, he was really confused about where this would go in the song, but we decided to use it as an intro and outro and not to tell the girls. Norm Block mixed the song and really had a blast doing it. Doug Krebs mastered the song. "Yay or Nay" turns out to be one of my favorite songs on the album, for how we made it happen, the story, the attitude, and how it turned out!
Could you tell us more about the "Yay or Nay" music video? How did you tie the song's theme into the music video?
Coralie and I were headed to Europe for some shows and festivals. I told Coralie that while we are there, we have to go to Spain and see if we can shoot a music video for "Yay or Nay". Again, at this point, we have not met the girls from Faul. Laura is touring with her other band, Grima. V has a lot going on because she is part of a local festival happening that weekend. We were able to come down... but we thought, let's just go and see what happens. Even if we end up just having shots of Pontevedra. Turns out, we fell in love with the town! I love Spain, but I discovered a completely new side of Spain. (or should I say, Galicia!). We met V the first night, and she showed us around, we had some traditional food, Estrella (Galician beer), and she took us to the festival that was happening! We got along right away, of course, and it was incredible to see where the girls were from. I can't even explain it! Corinna was around, so I got to spend some time with her at Eduardo's bar, where we ended up shooting the music video. I said to Alex Ochoa, our DP for the video, and Javier Caudillo (director) I want to capture the vibe of the town.
Each one of the band members from Faul has their own personality, and that was another thing I wanted to capture. In my eyes, Pontevedra is unique. I don't know if the girls made this experience this way or if it really is, but it was like everyone knew what true punk, grunge, and rock, were. V owns a music school in Pontevedra, we were lucky to go and visit. We saw kids rehearse a song they had written that was really, really good! Jokingly, I said it is scary how good they are because they are so young, but the music was so raw, authentic, and GOOD! We went to the festival the next day to watch the performance of her students. There were different stages, but Coralie and I decided to stay at the kid's stage because I could not believe how good those kids were, and they wrote the songs they were performing!! It is a REAL ROCK school with very talented kids. On the day of the shoot, we all played it by ear. Corinna, V, and Laura have a lot of friends. Two of them, Eduardo and Fredi, own bars. We used Eduardo's bar called Duarte to shoot all of Corinna's and V's shots. We used Fredi's bar called Bar Scandale for my shot in the urinal and Laura's intro and outro shots. The rest is all town, hang out, and Faul's rehearsal room. The girls heard the song for the first time when we started shooting and did not remember Laura's A cappella, so it was a really fun memory as well. Overall, we got to know each other and worked together. We are planning to play some shows together in 2023, and we are super excited to meet again.
What was the most rewarding part about creating such a fierce and blunt song like "Yay or Nay?" What did you take away from the experience?
For me, outside of having a kick-ass song and music video, the most rewarding part was the friendship that came along with it. Those girls are incredible, fascinating, and smart. It was very refreshing to see all of those people and friends get together to help us make this video happen. Collaborating is hard in a way, but so far, every single one of those collaborations has its own story, and I am happy to say that I have gotten to meet or get to know better musicians, artists, and really, people. We all have our own reasons why we pursue our music so passionately. When we worked with Yur Mum on "Push Me," I was a little more comfortable because Yur Mum and Tarah Who? are close. We have toured together, we already have a strong friendship and connection. They are family. I had never met the girls from Faul, so I was trying to communicate with girls who were probably thinking at one point, " why?!!" lol! My intention behind those collaborations is so much bigger than just releasing a song, and I know I can be a bit intense...but it all worked out, and I hope they keep as much of a good memory as I do!
What's next for you?
There are a couple more singles that we will be releasing before the release of the album in April 2023. We are also planning to tour, and some of those dates should be with our collaborating artists if everything goes well. We are really excited about this upcoming album and cannot wait to introduce you to all the artists we have been working with (if you don't know them already!). Thanks for your support!