Tunng

Tunng are a London-based folk and folktronica group formed in 2003. Their line-up includes Mike Lindsay on vocals and guitar, Becky Jacobs on vocals, percussion and synths, Ashley Bates on banjo and guitar, Phil Winter on electronics, sampling and keyboards, Martin Smith on percussion and keyboards/piano, and Simon Glenister on drums. Co-founder Sam Genders, who sings and plays guitar, is a former member.

Formation and early sound

The group begins after Genders and Lindsay meet in Lindsay’s Soho basement studio, which sits below a clothes shop. Genders is a singer-songwriter, while Lindsay works in electronica and advertising music production. The partnership leads to a sound that combines folk writing with Lindsay’s use of twinkling textures and tight production. Genders initially does not want to play live, so Lindsay brings in Jacobs and Bates for performances.

Albums and development

Tunng’s first album is Mother’s Daughter And Other Songs, released in 2005 on Static Caravan. Comments Of The Inner Chorus follows in 2006 on Full Time Hobby, with Winter and Smith becoming more involved in the band’s recordings. Good Arrows arrives in 2007 on Full Time Hobby and continues that development. Genders leaves the band before the release of ...And Then We Saw Land in 2010, another Full Time Hobby album. That record is made at Play Industries Studio in Shoreditch, where access to a large collection of vintage synthesizers helps shape a more delicate and interwoven production style. The group’s 2018 album is Songs You Make at Night, released on Full Time Hobby.

Live work and later line-up

From 2009, Glenister adds live drums to the group’s performances, giving the band a heavier sound than its earlier seated-studio format. Tunng continue as an active group from London, working within folk, indie folk, indie pop and folktronica, with a style that also overlaps with indie and electronica.