Interview :: Desert Mountain Tribe

Interview: Linn Branson

Coming together in late 2012, Desert Mountain Tribe have been striking psych-rock curve across the capital with their three-man outfit of Jonty Balls (guitar/vocals) and brothers Philipp (bass) and Felix (drums) Jahn. With their self-titled debut EP just out (see our Review Here and several London showcase dates coming up in the next weeks (see below), we caught up with the guys for a few words.


There are a few very curious things about Desert Mountain Tribe…let’s take in order. Firstly, the name. Where did this come from? Because I would have imagined by the sound of it you might have come from the American Midwest or be some country outfit and you aren't!

Felix: Philipp and I were chilling on a beach in Mallorca and we were thinking of a name for our band. After a couple of Sangrias we just listed things we like. Philipp likes the desert, I love mountains...
Philipp: After Desert and Mountain, Tribe just felt right, if you know what I mean.

So where did you emerge from? And how did DMT form – especially as you are one Croydon boy and two Germans – sounding American and based in London!

Felix: Philipp and I are brothers so we've known each other for quite a while... I feel like I've known him my whole life.
Philipp: Long story short we came to London to make music and met Jonty through friends and we've been making music together ever since. As a whole, we work together very organically which makes it easy for us to create music.

Now I know the three of you made up the five-piece Young Men Dead outfit back around 2011/2012. What happened there? Some good reviews, similar trippy psych sound – then pffftt! Gone!

Philipp: There is definitely more than one reason why YMD was short-lived. We had a really good start with the band but we were too many people in the band.
Felix: Five big egos working together creatively is not a good thing.
Philipp: After a while we realised we were going into different directions and I guess we also had different ambitions.
Jonty: I always wanted to play guitar but in YMD I was only singing which frustrated me.
Felix: We don't wanna get into too much detail as the other two guys are still really good friends of us but I think we made the right decision when we called it quits.




Now, for Jonty, are you the same Jonty Balls, the model? How did you get into that, and how did you then go from modelling to music?

Jonty: I went to Reading Festival and I had a bet with my mates 'who could last longest in just a straw hat and boxers for the whole festival' and when I was walking through the main festival this very pretty lady came up to me and asked if she could take a picture. That's how I became a model. As for being a singer/guitarist, I have been playing for years before that. Since I have been in the band I didn't really have time to do any modelling. By the way, I won the bet!

Your debut EP is about to appear, can you talk us through a little about each of the songs?

Philipp: After we split up with Young Men Dead we didn't make music together for a good 4 or 5 months so each of us had worked on different ideas and when we finally started to play together again we played around with those ideas and those songs are the result of it.
Felix: The songs resemble the energy we had when starting this band. We wanted to write music that represents what we are. As a band we had to find an identity and the EP embodies just that.
Jonty: The final mixes were finished by the end of May last year but we had difficulties releasing the songs physically as a vinyl-only release was the only option for us. So basically the upcoming EP is the fruit of our early work but it still very much represents our sound. That is not to say that we didn't evolve over the past year but we were lucky enough to find a common ground very early on as a band.

You took to Oxfordshire to record that? Was that to find retreat from the hustle and bustle of London and to be conducive to writing and recording, or another reason?

Felix: We got to know Arthur [Young, the EP's producer] by chance and his studio, Shaken Oak Farm, really excited us as a whole as it's in a very remote location. It's basically the opposite of what you find in London. We feel comfortable there because we can concentrate on our music as there's nothing else to do there haha.



This isn’t your first recorded work though is it: 'Coming Down', 'Take A Ride' – both previous singles?

Philipp: As mentioned earlier, the EP was recorded a while ago and Coming Down and Take A Ride were the first songs recorded. As we had trouble releasing the EP physically I made videos for three of the songs which are all available on YouTube. But none of the songs were actually released as singles.

The 'Take A Ride' video is very interesting – very dark – but watchable. How did the idea for that come about? And can you enlighten us a little on the meaning behind the song?

Jonty: People keep saying the video is dark but we don't consider it to be sinister at all.
Felix: For the video we used footage from a 60's documentary about the red light district in Hamburg which we felt fitted the song quite accurately.
Philipp: Moreover, there is a connection between mine and Felix' heritage.
Felix: We don't really like talking about the meaning behind songs. After all music should first and foremost always be open for interpretation. Music doesn't have to mean anything. But obviously all of our songs have a deep meaning for us. They reflect our lives.

I believe you are working on an album, is that right? Anything you can share about that?

Jonty: We actually just finished recording our second EP which will be released in September. So the album is not so much on our minds right now.
Philipp: Over the last year, we wrote enough songs for an album but we tend to get rid off songs that don't fit in with our set list. Most times we are only allowed to play 30- 45 minute sets so we tend to focus on the songs that we believe are stronger than previous songs in our set list.
Felix: Expect an album in 2015.

You term your style ‘psychedelic rock n roll’, how do you relate that to yourselves? I saw one review tagged you as ‘hallucinogenic space rock’?

Felix: Quite frankly, we don't really mind what people label our music as. The term 'psychedelic' tends to get coined a lot these days as it represents more of an attitude than a particular music genre it seems.
Philipp: We definitely have psychedelic influences. But we also draw inspirations from rock bands such as The Stooges, The Doors , Hawkwind or Led Zeppelin.
Jonty: Other artists also had a big influence on us such as The Stone Roses, Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath.
Felix: At the end of the day, what matters is what you create, not what you call your creation.

Where does your inspiration derive from, both musically and lyrically?

Philipp: I believe what we can all agree on is that we make music that we want to listen to. Our different influences create the sound of Desert Mountain Tribe. If there were three Philipps in the band, the sound would be more psychedelic, if there were three Felixs' our sound would be more kick-ass rock'n'roll. If there were three Jontys, Desert Mountain Tribe would sound even heavier.

Who else in your own music genre are you rating at the moment?

Felix: There are so many great bands around. My favourite one at the moment is definitely Pond.
Philipp: I agree. So many great bands. If I had to pick three bands I'd say The Black Angels, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Wooden Shijps.
Jonty: Apart from what the other guys said I am really into Foster The People, Girls, The War On Drugs and Spiritualized.

Desert Mountain Tribe play the following upcoming London shows:

March 28. LONDON Hoxton Bar & Kitchen (w/Black Lizard & Dead Horse One)
April 16. LONDON The Monarch, Camden