Fresh from her appearances at this year's Bigsound conference, Jess Cornelius moves on with her musical project Teeth & Tongue.
Started as a solo act in 2008, Teeth & Tongue has evolved into a dynamic performance unit that now boasts a five-member live line-up.
In September, Jess released her fourth album, 'Give Up On Your Health', the first record to feature songwriting contributions from the rest of the band. “This album was a little more collaborative in the recording and arranging processes, it was quite different to the last one,” Jess says.
“For 'Grids' [2014 album] I did a lot of programming of the drums because we didn't actually have a live drummer at that point when we were making that record. So I was programming the drums and as a result they were very simple and metronomic.
“For this one it was a lot more of a band affair, so we arranged the songs as a band and rehearsed like we were going to record them live. We still spent quite a bit of time in the studio making everything, we still recorded to grids, but it was definitely more of a band thing. It was a really fun process actually.”
The addition of a live band adds another dimension to Jess' creative output, leaving her in the enviable position of retaining creative control while still having a support network of talented musicians. “I'm really loving it,” she says of her current status.
“I'm in a very lucky position because I still have a lot of, if not all, creative control. So I'm still writing the songs and if I have an idea for a guitar or bass part I can still write them if I feel like that's what's going to suit the song best.
“You have to be open to your ideas being tamed and different people having different interpretations and ways to approach things. Because of the people I work with it's really fun; also being a solo artist is very lonely and quite frightening sometimes, so having these people there to support you and want the same things you want is really pleasurable to be involved in.”
With two singles from 'Give Up On Your Health' already released ('Turn, Turn, Turn' and 'Dianne'), Teeth & Tongue head out for a limited run of shows across the country.
It kicks off at the end of September when they perform as part of GOMA's 'Cindy Sherman - Up Late' exhibition series. “I actually saw a retrospective of Cindy Sherman's work years ago at the Tate Modern [London] and it was incredible, so I'm really excited to see the show. I don't know much about her other than the work I've seen and her relationship with David Byrne [Talking Heads], but I'm definitely a fan.
“We're going to try and bring the party, even though it's in a gallery,” Jess says. “I think it's going to be a really good vibe; people hopefully will have had a few wines and are ready to let their hair down on a Friday night. It's not going to change our performance being in a gallery, we're pretty comfortable performing at all these places. We're just going to have a really good time and play all our dance numbers, and hopefully people will just go off.”
Teeth & Tongue Shows
Fri 30 Sep - Cindy Sherman Up Late @ GOMA (Brisbane)Fri 7 Oct - Brighton Up Bar (Sydney)
Sat 8 Oct - Howler (Melbourne)
Sat 22 Oct - The Grand Poobah (Hobart)
