Name: TRIBEZ.
Members: FunkDogg (bass, 808 drum machine), Benny Kane (guitar), Luke Greatman (keys) und T.R. Bucket (drums)
Nationality: German
Current release: TRIBEZ.'s debut album as a stand-alone unit, REDBIRD, is out via bambini.
Recommendations: Songs in the key of life - Stevie Wonder: The very first piece of music that I came in contact with that kind of showed me roughly where my musical way will go.
Con Todo El Mundo – Khruangbin: Overall great sounding songs, fabulous guitar playing and shows that it doesn’t need hundreds of instruments or players for a good sounding record.

If you enjoyed this TRIBEZ. interview and would like to discover more about the band and their music, visit them on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

When I listen to (in my opinion) good music it feels like my whole body is filled up with enormous energy and pure joy. I feel like I want to start dancing immediately. Furthermore it makes me dream big and is a massive inspiration and engine for our own music. Listening on the bike sometimes feels like I can lift off the ground.

Because I’m mostly listening to music while being in trains, on a bicycle or in a car I have my eyes open while listening - for safety reasons :)

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

Stefan and I met very young in a musical early education course led by my mum and I tried to grift Stefan’s instruments. At age 16 we met again and started to play together in several bands since then. Improvisation was always a big thing to us. We jammed simple riffs for hours and learned a lot through experimenting.

Experience is good but is sometimes limiting too much when you start to overthink things. The best way for us is to use our knowledge and pair it with our still existing childish openness. That’s optimum for good song ideas.

We still meet for crazy jam sessions like back in the days, record them and take ideas out of the recording for new songs.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Round about that age we all felt the deep passion for music more and more and all of us decided that we have to do it for our whole lifes. Music was and still is everything for us.

Nowadays I sometimes forget how much I love music because of all the other (office) work we have to do besides making music and the different life situation. In the past everything was just fun but today we have to make a living out of it. When grueling thoughts are coming, it’s time to take a break to feel again why you are actually doing all this music thing and how much you love it.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

Our most important tool is listening to different styles of music from various countries and cultures. Everybody in the world has such a different approach to music and it inspires you for instance to integrate another way of playing your instrument into your existing knowledge or helps you writing the next song.

Besides that it always reminds you that every single person is different and how important it is to accept and respect everybody for being different and unique.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

The main key idea is the love for music - don’t know where it exactly comes from. Another key idea is to create new music through the knowledge of great masters of music that we are able to learn from everyday through listening.

I find my motivation to create new music mostly through being outside and seeing the beauty of nature and out of the feeling of being free.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

True words from a master.

In our words: music is like a very tasty meal. In the first moment you’re not able to taste the exact ingredients but if the cook combined everything in a very good way it’s like an explosion for your gustatory sense. That’s what music should be for the ear and the imagination.

Our sound is a mixture of perfection and imperfection. On the one hand we love tight music that grooves. Contrariwise we love the rawness and the dirty sound of old soul or funk records. Vocals that are not really in tune and a groove that only grooves when you hear all the instruments together.

And energy in music is super important to us. We want the listener to feel our passion for music.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

As I already said before: nature is a big motivation and source of being creative to me. Birds that are singing crazy melodies in insane rhythms and in general the energy of nature. The feeling when everything is awakening again in spring. Otherwise the silence of winter. You can let all this elements flow
into your music. It’s great!

I’m a big fan of bodyboarding in the waves and that feels approximately like listening to good music or when you play your instrument and fall into ecstasy.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/ complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I think that a song has to sound very simple to the listener in the first moment cause it’s important that he has the opportunity to find access to the music. But don’t get me wrong - we don’t produce corny music that sounds stereotypical. We love to mix simple melodies with complex things in the background to keep it interesting.

But I don’t feel drawn to just one or two approaches. I think it needs different approaches and songs from loud to quiet and slow to fast, depending on your mood. We write songs about how we feel in this moment.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

We combine various approaches from different styles of music and try to suck out the best things of the different approaches.

Epic orchestration in the way of symphonies, traditional verse/chorus structures and linear and repeating riffs for accessibility and the power of a free jazz player in our solos.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

The best songs arise when we don’t think that it will happen. "Feel You So" from our album REDBIRD is a good example.



Stefan and me were at our studio and Stefan told me that today he didn't feel well and didn't have much energy. I had this three chord loop that is the song’s base and it came to my mind: „Feel You So - Hold On“. I wanted to catch the moment's vibe, so I crawled to the mic in front of my amp and asked Stefan to press record.

These are still the vocals that you can hear on the song and I believe that people can feel it. If I had recorded it again later without the vibe of the moment it would be totally different although it could be more accurate with more practice but that’s not the important thing.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Yes I thought about the golden cut or things related to mysticism in the past.

By indirect means we use scientific insights everyday: when I plug my guitar into my amp or using the Moog synth. Everyday I’m grateful for such great inventions made by magnificent scientists.

And yes I’m experimenting all the time. Putting different mics in different places, combining effects in uncommon ways or chains. Always searching for new sounds and ways of doing things.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I would say that our music teaches us how to live in a good way.

We wrote the song „Holiday“ and it’s an all time reminder to us to regularly take a break and rest, what on the other hand is very important to be creative and to stay healthy.



Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think the big difference is that music is much more related to feelings, emotions and our hearts. You can let your emotions and feelings flow straight into the creative process and that’s important for us to get along with situations in our lifes.

Music for example always helped me to stay stable in difficult times like separation of my parents and other stuff.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I’m sorry but no. I either like music or I don’t, but the affects are always understandable for me.

The only thing I remember that I can’t explain is that I always thought I hear my mum saying my name when I was listening to "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin. But she wasn’t.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

On the musical side I wish that people recognize the value of handmade music and that it is not obvious.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Spotify for the possibility of having millions of songs in my pocket and i use it every day, but the average listener doesn’t have the appreciation for it.

And on the business side I wish that people would be more willing to pay for music - doesn’t matter if we’re talking about concerts, streaming or vinyl.