When describing the musical style of TEK TEK Ensemble, it's as chaotic and wild as their music videos.
If there was a late-night disco in the '60s, in a tropical jungle, orchestrated by jazz and classical maestros you would be pretty close to a TEK TEK show."I met Carrie, one of our violinists, through playing in an Astor Piazzolla show, who was an Argentinian composer from the 1930s who composed classical music for tango," guitarist Paul Dornau explains.
"Now, between the members of the band, we play viola, violin, piano, bass, trumpet, organ, drums, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar, to name a few.
"The aesthetic is quite important for us, visually and musically. We've got three different sets of matching outfits, so we have a uniform onstage when we're playing.
"I find it a bit depressing when I see bands with seven guys wearing hats and sneakers onstage, looking really bored. We like dressing up and looking really good onstage; and I have a really short attention span, so the music chops and changes quite a lot. It's not just one style, it goes through a few different genres."
A skill that is made easier by multiple music degrees. "Five of us have degrees in improvisation and studied jazz, and one has a classical background. I have a degree in composition, so everything is charted out and highly arranged, but there's scope for improvisation within that.
"The arrangements are bombastic and dense, because I want to utilise all six members of the band, utilise all the voices. There are a lot of songs with four-part harmonies."
Technical backgrounds, however, do not prevent TEK TEK from letting loose onstage. "There's one song we play called 'The Annihilator', and during my really intense, avant-garde solo, I try to find something to use as a guitar plectrum.
"One gig, I found a massive kayak oar and another time I used an egg beater. One gig at The Bearded Tit in Sydney, I couldn't think of anything to use, so Carrie pulled off her thongs, and I slammed the sh.t out of my organ with them.
"The next day, I realised that the organ was just totally broken, so I spent three days pulling it apart and fixing it. It's an organ from the 1960s, an expensive vintage organ, and I just wrecked it from using these thongs. It was really, really funny at the time."
Attention to detail spans to the band's aesthetic as well, and their music videos feature some celebrity cameos in the form of their flamboyant outfits.
"The outfits Carrie and I are wearing in 'Shake It Like A Wolverine' were worn by Torvill and Dean, famous ice skaters who came to Australia in the early '80s; and my friend Angeline made our cat suits for the album cover, she has a shop in Gertrude St. It's good to involve the community in your art."
TEK TEK Ensemble have traversed the globe showcasing their rambunctious talents, and will be featuring at Wide Open Space near Alice Springs in late April.
Germany was one country that captured their heart. "We had a friend that owned one of the biggest underground clubs in Berlin. We played there, and they built us a whole stage.
"They had a maze upstairs that took 20 minutes, and there was a Volvo in the middle of the maze in this old, abandoned factory. There were hundreds of people there and a confetti cannon. It was really fun."
Wide Open Space Festival takes place at Ross River Resort (Central Australia) 28-30 April.
Wide Open Space Festival 2023 Line-up
Hermitude (DJ set)JessB
Truth
Sub Tribe
Tek Tek Ensemble
Paige Julia
Spoonbill Ensemble
Half Queen
Kodiak Kid
Emcille X Kuya James
Eylandt Band
Billsbry
Idle Minds Workshop
Not Jen (fka Dinob1tch)
Beatrice
Mal Webb & Kylie Morrigan
Eastern Arrernte Band
Angus Green
Hooves
Hey Harriett
Sam Stacka
JPS
Monkey Marc feat. Rajah 45 & Vida Sunshyne
Eastward
XAVIA
Madame Reve
FLim FLam
Jessie May and the Hay Days
Katanga Junior
Stuart Nugget
Stellar Sea
DJ F@GG0T MAFIA
Purple Patch
Gus Heavy
DJ Wrong Banana
Bec Bartlett and Edward Francis B2B
Kodivine
Nookz and Villen
Cutlery
Dads On Vacation
Igadi
Jack Whu
Midnight Rangers
Rare Earth Heavy Metal
