Tilly and the Wall is an indie pop group from Omaha, Nebraska. Their name originated from a children's book called Tillie and the Wall, written by Leo Lionni. They are particularly noted for having a tap dancer, Jamie Pressnall, instead of a drummer.
History
Formation and Wild Like Children
The group formed in 2001 after the demise of several Omaha groups, including Conor Oberst's Park Ave., of which Neely Jenkins and Jamie Pressnall (then Jamie Williams) were members. Jamie brought along Kianna Alarid from another band that broke up called Magic Kiss. Derek Pressnall and Nick White, natives of Dunwoody, Georgia were drawn to the music scene in Omaha, Nebraska and moved. [1] Nick White was also one of the few constants for Bright Eyes in 2005, appearing on I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, as well as touring worldwide with the band.
Their first show was an open-mic night at the now defunct Ranch Bowl. Their first release, Woo!, was recorded in Conor Oberst's garage, self-published, and distributed at shows around the Omaha area. The group released a limited-pressing eponymous 7" on Rue Royale Records, followed by their debut LP, Wild Like Children in 2004. It was the flagship release on Oberst's Team Love label and made with the help of Presto studios. Wild Like Children garnered the band a substantial amount of critical acclaim and propelled them to national tours with Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley, and Of Montreal. In early 2005, Tilly and the Wall became the first "band in residence" at Omaha's Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, using the Bemis Underground's Studio T to develop their follow-up album to Wild Like Children.
In September of that year, they released "You and I Misbehaving" as a limited-pressing 7" in the UK through indie label Trash Aesthetics. This release picked up further critical acclaim as well as support from BBC radio broadcaster Steve Lamacq. They played their first show outside of the US at the Freebutt in Brighton on February 14 2006.
Bottoms of Barrels
Bottoms of Barrels, the band's follow-up to Wild Like Children, was released on May 23, 2006. Tilly and the Wall appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman on October 27, 2006, to perform "Bad Education". The song was not played in full due to time constraints. A number of live dates were played to support the album. The band toured with Jenny Lewis in support of her album featuring The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat. They then went on their first headlining tour to promote Bottoms of Barrels, with acts such as David Dondero, Now It's Overhead, and Wolf Colonel supporting them. They played the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 27, 2007. In addition to performing at 2007's Splendour in the Grass festival, Tilly and the Wall toured Australia.
Band members Jamie Williams and Derek Pressnall were married shortly after the album's release, on August 12, 2006.
o
On February 25, Tilly and the Wall released a video for a new song entitled "Beat Control". The digital release of the song was on March 4, with a new album track "Cacophony" appearing as a b-side. "Beat Control" was released only as a single and was not included on the album released later in 2008.
o,[2] Tilly and the Wall's third album, was released on June 17, 2008.[3] Two songs they performed on their 2007 tour, "Too Excited" and "Chandelier Lake", appear on the album. The songs were played at their Daytrotter show.[4]
Tilly have recorded their own version of the ABC song for the new season of Sesame Street.
The first single from the album is "Pot Kettle Black". It was featured in the pilot episode of 90210, tv spots for the Seth Rogan film Observe and Report[5], and in the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Band members
Discography
Albums
Singles & EPs
Videography
Shortform
- "You and I Misbehaving" (2004, directed by Nik Fackler)
- "Reckless" (2006, directed by Dominic DeJoseph)
- "Bad Education" (2006, directed by Nik Fackler)
- "The Ice Storm, Big Gust, and You" (2006, directed by Kim Hager)
- "Rainbows in the Dark" (version 1) (2006, fan footage edited by Nik Fackler & Alan Tanner)
- "Sing Songs Along" (2006, directed by Kinga Burza)
- "Rainbows in the Dark" (version 2) (2006, directed by Julian Acosta)
- "The Freest Man" (2007, directed by Jacob Thiele)
- "Beat Control" (2008, directed by Cody Critcheloe & Drew Bolton of SSION)
- "Pot Kettle Black" (2008, directed by Alan Tanner)
- "Alligator Skin" (2008, directed by Whoop Dee Doo)
Longform
- Tilly and the Wall's First Trip to Europe (2006, directed by Rob Walters for Current TV)
- Tilly and the Wall (2007, directed by Rob Walters)
Trivia
- They have covered OutKast's "Hey Ya!", Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" The Violent Femmes' "Kiss Off" and Erasure's "A Little Respect"
- Kianna, Neely and Nick contributed to the Rilo Kiley song "The Absence of God" on More Adventurous.
- Jamie's voice can be heard saying 'I'm surprised you noticed' in the song "A Man/Me/Then Jim" by Rilo Kiley on the album More Adventurous
- Four members contributed to Coyote Bones' Gentleman on the Rocks album.
- They were the first band on Team Love Records.
- Pitchfork Media mistook a "Sing Songs Along" video made by fans as the real video.
- A "tilly kid" is a fan of Tilly and the Wall. This term was coined by band member Kianna Alarid in an NPR interview.
- Of Montreal has been proclaimed the American sister band and Cansei de Ser Sexy is the Brazilian sister band.
- The song "Lost Girls" is about the work of outsider artist Henry Darger.
- Kianna, Derek and Neely perform vocals on the songs "Living Breathing Demons", "Fated to Fail" and "Arlington Curse" by Coyote Bones.
- They were featured on the debut episode of 90210, performing "Pot Kettle Black" and "Beat Control".
- "Pot Kettle Black" was used in the soundtrack of the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles
See also
References
External links
Interviews
