Biography
Tunic was born of spite in– formed after founder David Schellenberg was told he “wasn’t good enough” for another band leading to a subsequent decision to follow his own path. From there, Tunic sought out a sound inspired by the melodic approaches of Quicksand and Superchunk, venom and heartache in Converge and controlled chaos behind Botch. Since their 2016 debut 7”, Tunic have criss-crossed the globe relentlessly, zigging and zagging as part of more than a dozen jaunts in North America and Europe while logging shows with a varied lot like Ken Mode, Single Mothers and even Hank Wood and the Hammerheads. Tunic’s touring bloodlust eventually conjured a debut LP in 2019, Complexion and not surprisingly, the band followed its release with eleven weeks of touring.
ABOUT TUNIC SWEDEN:
Check stalverk.se
ABOUT TUNIC UK:
From an old and early biog:
The concept of Tunic started when Mark (ex Kid) contacted Brian (of Pinner and ex Tearing Room) and Jonathan (of Pinner and Cooper) after witnessing what he would later describe as "The Greatest Band I've ever seen." The band in question was Cooper who, after a name change, were to join Tunic as Starbuck on their debut single. After lengthy discussions, and the submission of a demonstration cassette by Mark, Brian decided to join forces with him and Jonathan volunteered to help out on drums. The initial line-up was completed by Emily Sloan who would play keyboards. Mark and Brian shared the songwriting, quickly established a reasonable set and swapped the bass and guitar between them. They quickly recorded a new cassette and so began Mark's quest as the Don Juan of band promotions…
Mark proved himself quickly as being the master of sticking his neck out. He blagged himself free tickets to the Phoenix and Glastonbury Festivals of 1994. At Phoenix he tracked down John Peel and off-loaded cassettes of various bands on Brian and Jonathan's NEPtunes label (including McBride's Mate Dinger, Pinner, Dave Flint Four, Speedway Stars and of course Tunic). Then at Glastonbury Mr Peel was again located and quizzed (without much hope) about the tapes. Amazingly the tapes had been carefully listened to and John Peel had attempted in vain to contact Mark. The outcome was the opportunity for Tunic to start their career off with a bang in the BBC's studios at Maida Vale.
Mark quickly blagged (again) Tunic's way onto the bill of 'In The City', Manchester, siting the secured Peel Session as pedigree and claiming to be 20-25 gigs old. (They'd played 4). Tunic set off on what was essentially an unprecedented move for a new band from Northern Ireland (a theme they would continue throughout their career to date). They made an unfunded trip to mainland UK, played a music industry seminar, recorded a BBC session and got a gig in London at a weeks notice.
'In the City' provided the band with an insight into the music industry ('exciting but essentially arse' - pretty accurate for a first impression) and more importantly they met Howard Morrison who along with his brother Jacob were starting a record label to be called UPrecords and offered to put out a Tunic single. These were guys with a lot if insight! The Peel Session went surprising smoothly. Tunic recorded the standard 4 songs in double quick time and were therefore requested to add another. The tracklisting was as follows:
1. Chandelier
2. Between the Lies
3. Locomotive
4. Bassman
5. Tangerine Flak
Tunic had a wonderful time in the studio. It was an unusually pleasant start to a bands recording career. They had never been in a studio before as all their previous recordings were conceived at home on 4-track! Their debut London show was less of a treat. They supported a funk band at The Swan in Fulham. Needless to say it was a night to remember.
Tunic went home privately triumphant and returned to existing only on paper. They decided to snub local gigs and concentrate on rehearsing and writing songs as they had seen so many bands before them wasting time trying to be stars in their home town. Tunic's sights were set higher and they only surfaced when they managed to get a gig of some consequence.
This usually took the form of a support slot to some touring band at the Limelight in Belfast where Tunic met Dave Sinton who would soon become their manager. These supports were secured by Mark's persistence and of course the Peel Session under their belt. Towards the end of 1994 they played with Shed Seven and Ash. Around this time they visited a studio and recorded 'Comeback' in preparation for the promised single with UPrecords which still seemed like a faraway dream. They played one more show outside Northern Ireland at Edinburgh University supporting BMX Bandits (with whom Jonathan almost got himself a fight). Interestingly, the gig was promoted by a certain lady called Tanya.
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