Gussie Larkin of Earth Tongue Talks New Zealand Roots and Dungeon Vision
Transmission 413: Interview with Earth Tongue
There is a hypnotic thrill in watching a two-piece strip rock music down to its bare, vibrating tendons, only to rebuild it into something vast and otherworldly. For Earth Tongue, the Berlin-based, married duo of Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons, heaviness is an exercise in myth-making and pristine, escapist architecture.
Artist: Earth Tongue
Genres: Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Stoner Rock
Label: In The Red Records
Description: Earth Tongue's Gussie Larkin talks Dungeon Vision, touring life and folk psych roots ahead of their North American tour on In The Red.
Having spent the year tailspinning through a relentless global touring schedule off the back of their third album, Dungeon Vision (recorded alongside garage-rock royalty Ty Segall in Los Angeles and released via In The Red), the pair arrive in North America this August for a marathon run of headline dates, high-profile festival slots at Levitation and King Gizzard’s Field Of Vision, and a victory lap celebrating their fresh “Best Group” nod at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
Ahead of their return across the Atlantic, we spoke to guitarist and singer Gussie Larkin about the escapist world-building behind Dungeon Vision, pulling inspiration from obscure 60s folk-psych to Welsh prog-rock, navigating the tight-knit alternative lineage of New Zealand, and the rigorous discipline required to keep a two-person sonic juggernaut rolling on the road.
Featured image: © Rob Burrowes
What were your earliest musical influences and what drew you towards psychedelic stoner rock?
For me, I think when I was starting to write songs, kind of as a 13 or 14 year old, I was listening to a lot of PJ Harvey and Patti Smith, and then a lot of music that my dad would play and introduce me to. There were classic things like Neil Young that he’d play, and then more interesting contemporary musicians like Bill Callahan I really liked. Those were, as I was starting to develop my own music taste.
I have another band called Mermaidens, which was my first band, and I think I really developed my playing style through playing in that band. My guitar playing in particular is led by my ear. So, by listening, I wouldn’t say I’m a very technically advanced player, but I got absorbed into writing music by just making up stuff that I liked the sound of. That’s kind of been the foundation of Earth Tongue as well. Ezra, the drummer, hadn’t played drums in any project before this one. He’s a guitarist first and foremost. We both figured it out ourselves and developed this particular part of our musicality together.
How did the two of you meet and what made you click as a duo?
Well, we’re married. We were together before we started the band. My band that I mentioned before played a show with Ezra’s band, and I think we started talking about Earth Tongue when we did some traveling throughout Europe in 2015. We went to a few festivals, two in Portugal, that really inspired us, and saw a lot of heavier bands, many of which are still touring now. That was the starting point; when we got back to New Zealand we were feeling like we wanted to go in a heavier direction. Actually, at the start there were songs that could have been used for both bands, but as time has gone on they’ve become a lot more defined, and Earth Tongue has definitely become heavier and more vintage sounding, I would say.
I got absorbed into writing music by just making up stuff that I liked the sound of.”
—Gussie Larkin
What’s the vision behind the title Dungeon Vision?
The song came first. It was one of the first songs we wrote for the album, Dungeon Vision. It just sounds great, and it was really exciting as a direction for the visuals as well. I think it’s just really catchy, so that’s why we went with it.
What are the main themes of the album? Is there a common thread weaving through the tracks?
Kind of, yeah. I think listeners will probably pick up on a few characters that come up. It’s not exactly… there are some songs that are very adventurous and playful in terms of themes, they’re not serious, but then there are some songs, I’m thinking Body of Water and Harvester, that for me have a more introspective element to them. I find there are characters within those songs that are more self-reflective of myself and different emotional states I might be in.
What musical sources feed your mythological aesthetic?
Oh, sure. Well, it’s a lot. For this album I would say we were going back to more 60s folk psych music. There’s an album by a band called Music Emporium that somebody at one of our shows recommended to me, and I got really obsessed with them, particularly this one song called Gentle Thursday. There were a few, I had a playlist while we were writing of individual songs that were speaking to me at that time, and I didn’t necessarily go deep into those artists. Sorry, that’s really waffly. Who else? Israel, any ideas? I’m completely blanking. At the moment we’re really loving this band Gentle Giant, this Welsh prog, psych prog band. Maybe we can come back to this question. I need to think back, I can only think of what I’m listening to at the moment.
We’re married… at the start there were songs that could have been used for both bands, but as time has gone on they’ve become a lot more defined.”
—Gussie Larkin
Do you feel connected to the New Zealand rock lineage or apart from it?
That’s a good question. Yeah, I do. I would say I feel more connected to the bands that I grew up with over the last 10 years, rather than bands from the 80s or whatever. I really admire a lot of these, particularly the Flying Nun bands from the 80s and 90s, but developing as a musician, I really feel connected to a lot of the bands that were also playing when I was starting out. A lot of those bands aren’t even rock bands, they’re more alternative, and that’s the really interesting thing about the New Zealand music scene: because it’s so small, you end up playing with so many different bands of different genres. I like that.
Has Berlin started bleeding into your songwriting?
I don’t know, I’m not sure. I haven’t honestly been here that much. I still feel like very much a visitor, so I don’t know yet. I think maybe on reflection, in a few years, I will draw some comparisons, but I feel very transient here.
I quite like it to be an escapist venture some of the time, not all of the time.”
—Gussie Larkin
Do politics or current events ever seep into your lyrics?
A little, yeah. There’s one song on Dungeon Vision called Living Hell, which you can definitely draw parallels with any kind of awful political or social event happening today. But selfishly, I would say I use songwriting as a way to escape and create a mythological world for myself, at least with Earth Tongue. With other music I write, I do examine the way I relate to current events more, but for Earth Tongue I quite like it to be an escapist venture some of the time, not all of the time.
How do you sustain your energy touring as just a two piece?
I try to stay healthy. I don’t drink much or party. I take it pretty seriously at the moment, and I’m just really grateful that this has been my full time job for the first time this year. That gives me a lot of energy, just the gratitude.
I try to stay healthy. I don’t drink much or party… this has been my full time job for the first time this year. That gives me a lot of energy, just the gratitude.”
—Gussie Larkin
Who else would you love to collaborate with?
Oh, my gosh. I love Chelsea Wolfe, that would be amazing. I really admire her commitment to her dark, very serious persona. I think I’m just too much of a jokester to ever commit to that kind of thing. We’ve never really collaborated with anyone, unless you count producers as collaborators, which I think they are. But yes, it’s definitely something I’d be interested in, musically collaborating with other people.
Do you already have a sense of where Earth Tongue goes next? Are you working on new material?
Yes, we are. I would say we’re heading towards a new album, but at the moment we’re keeping it very free and just exploring new songs. We hope to have another album out next year.
Photos courtesy of © Earth Tongue
Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others
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