Meet Tiny Dragons
After picking them in his Greenbelt Five, blogger, DJ and friend of Greenbelt reallyquitetired (aka Jon Morgan) sat down with up-and-coming Brighton band Tiny Dragons a week before their first Greenbelt performance.
If we listen hard enough, we might be able to hear into the past and find out what went down … shhh …
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reallyquitetired: So, Tiny Dragons, what’s in a name?
Tiny Dragons: Well long story short… The three of us were originally a four piece for about a year before breaking up and reforming the next day as a ‘new band’. Our singer (Lizzie) had clearly too much time on her hands one day and private messaged nearly a hundred potential names to us with “Tiny Dragons” sitting loud and proud in the mix… We could have been called “Footless Baby” if things got desperate. The band name has taken on many meanings but we sort of roll with this idea that with only a small number of people now we could all make this huge sound to fill the space… just like some Tiny Dragons?
How do you like to describe your music to the uninitiated?
We always get a lot of genres thrown at us by other people: Rock, Soul, Alternative, Indie, Funk, Punk, Dance all spring to mind. We like it that we don’t really know what we are, it makes the whole thing a bit more human, and the fact that we haven’t pre-packaged ourselves gives us the chance to explore new sounds and ideas over time.
Who did you listen to growing up?
Individually we all tangent off into our own little worlds, but I’d say that we are all hardcore nineties children at heart so we share a collective love of House, Garage, Big Beat, UK Bass music … ya know, the stuff that brings back summer time memories when its cranked out a hench sound system.
What about stuff you’re embarrassed about listening to growing up?
I really can’t think of any music that’s too embarrassing to admit listening to? Maybe skanking out too hard on Panda Pop’s one summer to “Fast Food Rockers” with that horrendous track that was like “A Pizza Hut, A Pizza Hut”. Good times.
Really? OK, so who are you liking most at the moment?
There’s an amazing bunch of guys called Plasticine who blew Lizzie and I away after we’d flicked through the listings one slow evening in July and thought “why not?!” It was free and insanely good. But then, there’s loads of immense stuff bubbling up: Disclosure, Jessie Ware, new Hot Chip and Joe Goddard. Keep them ears peeled to BBC 6Music or use Spotify and you’ll likely get a new favourite track every week.
You hail from Brighton – the music scene there is disproportionately awesome, why do you think that is?
We do indeed! I think with the sheer number of artists, bands, DJs and producers all playing every other night you get a real sense of whether something is genuinely ‘different’ because you won’t see or hear anything else quite like it that same night, or the next day playing down the road. There’s a lot of healthy competition here and I think everyone including ourselves have had to raise the game to keep up.
Greenbelt is coming up and you’re playing – how did you get involved?
I think we may have put out a message to them last year but missed the deadline. Either way we got the confirmation for this year and it’s been a joy to see some of the acts confirmed that we are sharing the stage with on Sunday… Nitin Sawney, Speech Debelle, The Proclaimers!? Mental.
Had you heard of the festival previously? What are your expectations?
I’m ashamed to admit that personally I hadn’t, but from what we’ve learnt, we’re expecting some massive sounds and a crowd we wont soon forget.
You’ve got an EP out, and a new single on the way, right?
Yer, our most recent EP, Phantoms In The Night dropped on 29th February this year and can be streamed in full at TinyDragons.com or can be bought physically from tinydragons.bigcartel.com
As for a new single, we are working on an A and B side single with two tracks we have put through the ringer live called “Canvas” and “Come Alive”. Expect us to make a fuss about it when they are ready to digest around September time.
And the future? What are your musical goals?
To explore the weirdest corners of the world with a fine gold watch on and a plethora of recorded material we can be happy to put our name to. That, and to play at 1000 decibels live to a genuine crowd of people from all walks of life, no matter what the venue size.
Shout-outs? Who do you like/who’s helped you?
Massive shout outs to the people who believe in us with unconditional support, advice and love. You all know who you are, but off the top of my noggin I’ve got Keith Little, Mick Robinson, Ash Beedle, Ben Osborne, every promoter/industry professional with good intentions and our beautiful families.
Thank you, goodnight and good luck. See you in Cheltenham.
Thanks. Oh by the way… different good : same bad. Always look both ways before crossing. Stay in school. Don’t do drugs, etc. etc.
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Tiny Dragons will be playing on Sunday at 14:30 on The Canopy. Get a sneaky peek at what might be in store here »
reallyquitetired will continue to tweet as @rllyquitetired and blog at reallyquitetired.com, but if you want a special slice of him over the weekend, you might just be able to catch him DJing Mainstage on Monday.
