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“My time as lead singer for London Below has come to an end,” says zOe Tantrum, co-founder of the goth cabaret band formerly known as Tragic Tantrum. “I have made the very difficult decision to leave the band, to explore my music under a solo project…if there’s one thing I’ve learned along my journey, it’s the importance of listening to my heart, and doing what feels true, despite whether or not it makes sense to the rest of the world.”
She goes on to explain "When I created the band with Zeph, I was a broken person. I was young and just released from a rehab center. I spent the earlier years of my life struggling with addiction, depression, and very dark places. When Zeph and I ran into each other, I was in a fragile place, and in desperate need of a positive outlet in my life. We decided to form the band the Tragic Tantrum Cabaret. It was exactly what I needed to overcome what I had been through.”
The band, she says, enabled her to both reveal and heal her inner self. “Art saved my life. If I did not have Tragic Tantrum during those early years, I don’t know that I could’ve come back from the dark places I had been living in…”
“As the band grew stronger and gained momentum, so did I. I began to see the value in what I had to offer, and I felt empowered and in love with my life and art…I realized that, for me, a big part of this project was about growth. And I have grown. But I have reached a place on my path where I feel that I have learned what I needed to learn from Tragic Tantrum, from London Below, and it’s time to move on. I have sang the songs I needed to sing, and now it’s time for me to sing new songs and play new music. It’s time for me to explore who I am today. The zOe who started this project is not the same zOe as you see today. And I look at that as a good thing. It means we did something right…”
Expressing love for both her bandmates and their fans, she says “Because I have love for all of this, I need to remain honest with it and respect when the time has come to say goodbye. It will not do me or the project any good to stay and feel stagnant. It’s time to follow the leanings of my heart and let it lead me wherever music will find me next. Currently, I’m finding new sounds and new music. I am finding my voice as a solo artist and, when the time is right, I will reveal what it is that I’ve been working on.”
As for the band she's leaving, “It is undetermined for now what direction London Below will take, but I do know the band members will continue to pursue their own creative pursuits, whether or not the band stays together without me.”
There are two remaining shows which will feature zOe with London Below: Saturday, February 11, at Electric Ladyland in OB with the Burning of Rome, and a June 16 Devil’s Night Ball, with L.A. cabaret rockers Harlequin Jones and British band Birdeatsbaby, at a local venue TBA.
Previously known as Tragic Tantrum, London Below was formed in 2004. “Our band blends the fuck-it-and-just-play mentality of punk with the theatrics of cabaret,” says singer/guitarist Zephyrus Rex. The performance-art duo composes songs around a melodica and a toy xylophone. “There’s a lot of unexplored territory there. With punk music, you can perform and entertain and deliver a message whether or not you have a wealth of musical know-how. In a way, it’s sort of an underground music for the people, though not necessarily music for the masses.”
“I think there’s also an element of circus to our act,” says singer/lyricist zOe. “There’s something about painting your face that allows your true self to come out. With both Zeph and myself having a background in theater, it was a very natural thing to fall into. If our show were a dessert, I think it would be Red Hots mixed with chocolate, strawberries, and licorice. Hot, sweet, tart, and manufactured.”
So is there anything the band would like to reveal to the world that perhaps few have ever known or guessed before? “One night, in another city far, far away, zOe spray-painted characters all over the town. No reason other than she wanted to know what the big deal was with graffiti. She succeeded, and her characters still lurk in some alleys and side streets there. People talked about these images, but the culprit was kept secret. She never did it again; once was enough. But she did prove her prowess, and she enjoyed the experience.”
“Zeph is an old-school Nintendo fan. We even have a Wii. It’s how Zeph gets his news and weather.”
The band released their album Mirror Mirror as Tragic Tantrum in early 2011. In August of that year, they changed their name to London Below, adding new bassist Randy Renaud and drummer Cruz Caudillo.
According to zOe, “When [singer/guitarist] Zeph and I started playing open-mic nights with smeared clown makeup and just a vague idea of what we were trying to do, we were not yet formed...did not yet have direction or shape.”
When Tragic Tantrum debuted, it featured Zeph on piano and zOe on vocals, accompanied by a varying cast of dancers, stilt walkers, and other nonmusical accoutrements. Becoming regulars at local theatrical events such as Technomania Circus in Logan Heights and Queen Bee’s monthly steampunk gathering Chrononaut, they began adding instruments, such as melodicas and toy xylophones to their performances.
“We let the cabaret section go so that we could focus on the music [and] have developed into a full band.... It has become clear that the more focus we give to the music, the more true we are being to ourselves and the heart of the project.”
The new name was mostly inspired by Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel and movie Neverwhere. “London Below is a place that exists beneath the city. It’s an underworld where magic and mystery can happen. It’s another dimension, so to speak, that lies right beneath the surface.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rRjZwzrtTM
“My time as lead singer for London Below has come to an end,” says zOe Tantrum, co-founder of the goth cabaret band formerly known as Tragic Tantrum. “I have made the very difficult decision to leave the band, to explore my music under a solo project…if there’s one thing I’ve learned along my journey, it’s the importance of listening to my heart, and doing what feels true, despite whether or not it makes sense to the rest of the world.”
She goes on to explain "When I created the band with Zeph, I was a broken person. I was young and just released from a rehab center. I spent the earlier years of my life struggling with addiction, depression, and very dark places. When Zeph and I ran into each other, I was in a fragile place, and in desperate need of a positive outlet in my life. We decided to form the band the Tragic Tantrum Cabaret. It was exactly what I needed to overcome what I had been through.”
The band, she says, enabled her to both reveal and heal her inner self. “Art saved my life. If I did not have Tragic Tantrum during those early years, I don’t know that I could’ve come back from the dark places I had been living in…”
“As the band grew stronger and gained momentum, so did I. I began to see the value in what I had to offer, and I felt empowered and in love with my life and art…I realized that, for me, a big part of this project was about growth. And I have grown. But I have reached a place on my path where I feel that I have learned what I needed to learn from Tragic Tantrum, from London Below, and it’s time to move on. I have sang the songs I needed to sing, and now it’s time for me to sing new songs and play new music. It’s time for me to explore who I am today. The zOe who started this project is not the same zOe as you see today. And I look at that as a good thing. It means we did something right…”
Expressing love for both her bandmates and their fans, she says “Because I have love for all of this, I need to remain honest with it and respect when the time has come to say goodbye. It will not do me or the project any good to stay and feel stagnant. It’s time to follow the leanings of my heart and let it lead me wherever music will find me next. Currently, I’m finding new sounds and new music. I am finding my voice as a solo artist and, when the time is right, I will reveal what it is that I’ve been working on.”
As for the band she's leaving, “It is undetermined for now what direction London Below will take, but I do know the band members will continue to pursue their own creative pursuits, whether or not the band stays together without me.”
There are two remaining shows which will feature zOe with London Below: Saturday, February 11, at Electric Ladyland in OB with the Burning of Rome, and a June 16 Devil’s Night Ball, with L.A. cabaret rockers Harlequin Jones and British band Birdeatsbaby, at a local venue TBA.
Previously known as Tragic Tantrum, London Below was formed in 2004. “Our band blends the fuck-it-and-just-play mentality of punk with the theatrics of cabaret,” says singer/guitarist Zephyrus Rex. The performance-art duo composes songs around a melodica and a toy xylophone. “There’s a lot of unexplored territory there. With punk music, you can perform and entertain and deliver a message whether or not you have a wealth of musical know-how. In a way, it’s sort of an underground music for the people, though not necessarily music for the masses.”
“I think there’s also an element of circus to our act,” says singer/lyricist zOe. “There’s something about painting your face that allows your true self to come out. With both Zeph and myself having a background in theater, it was a very natural thing to fall into. If our show were a dessert, I think it would be Red Hots mixed with chocolate, strawberries, and licorice. Hot, sweet, tart, and manufactured.”
So is there anything the band would like to reveal to the world that perhaps few have ever known or guessed before? “One night, in another city far, far away, zOe spray-painted characters all over the town. No reason other than she wanted to know what the big deal was with graffiti. She succeeded, and her characters still lurk in some alleys and side streets there. People talked about these images, but the culprit was kept secret. She never did it again; once was enough. But she did prove her prowess, and she enjoyed the experience.”
“Zeph is an old-school Nintendo fan. We even have a Wii. It’s how Zeph gets his news and weather.”
The band released their album Mirror Mirror as Tragic Tantrum in early 2011. In August of that year, they changed their name to London Below, adding new bassist Randy Renaud and drummer Cruz Caudillo.
According to zOe, “When [singer/guitarist] Zeph and I started playing open-mic nights with smeared clown makeup and just a vague idea of what we were trying to do, we were not yet formed...did not yet have direction or shape.”
When Tragic Tantrum debuted, it featured Zeph on piano and zOe on vocals, accompanied by a varying cast of dancers, stilt walkers, and other nonmusical accoutrements. Becoming regulars at local theatrical events such as Technomania Circus in Logan Heights and Queen Bee’s monthly steampunk gathering Chrononaut, they began adding instruments, such as melodicas and toy xylophones to their performances.
“We let the cabaret section go so that we could focus on the music [and] have developed into a full band.... It has become clear that the more focus we give to the music, the more true we are being to ourselves and the heart of the project.”
The new name was mostly inspired by Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel and movie Neverwhere. “London Below is a place that exists beneath the city. It’s an underworld where magic and mystery can happen. It’s another dimension, so to speak, that lies right beneath the surface.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rRjZwzrtTM