Indie bands, there are hundreds of them. The band members wear Vans, have facial piercings and the boys’ jeans are tighter than the girls’. It’s a part of the look.
Tilly and the Wall has that look. The girls wear Vans, the guys have the tight jeans and they are decked out with plastic bracelets and eyeliner. They fit the mold, except when it comes to their percussionists.
Tilly and the Wall is anything but typical when it comes to its percussion beats. They don’t use drums to tie the vocals and guitar together; they use tap dancing. Tilly and the Wall has three tap dancers: the energetic lead tap dancer, Jamie Williams; Kianna Alarid and Neely Jenkins tap along as they sing vocals.
As with most band members, they are longtime friends from Omaha, Nebraska, starting off just four years ago. They had different jobs, including Jenkins who was a schoolteacher.
“Things just clicked with us, ” Williams said.
The little time the band has behind it hasn’t stop it from going global. They’ve tackled gigs across the U.S., England, France and other parts of Europe. Their tour this summer, which included venues like Cat’s Cradle, is the band’s first headlining tour. The band said they love to tour because they get to meet the fans, take road trips and see different cities.
“It’s cool to see cities you’ve never had an opportunity to go to,” Williams said.
The band said the best part of touring is the random sites along the way, like keyboardist Nick White’s favorite — “The Thing.” The band still laughs as they talk about their experience with “The Thing.”
“The Thing” is an offbeat tourist attraction in Dragoon, Arizona. Billboards along Interstate 10 count down the miles to “The Thing,” leaving travelers like the members of Tilly and The Wall in suspense. What is the thing? The members of Tilly and the Wall said their lips are sealed.
Besides the odd tourist attractions along the way, they said they like when they have a day to enjoy to themselves.
“I liked Paris; we got a day off,” said Alarid. “We spent the day eating crepes and pastries.”
The band lifestyle might take lots of sleeping on cars and planes and the support of family, but the band said they want to make a living off of it.
“All of our parents are super supportive,” Jenkins said.
They spent a large percentage of their time away from home so relationships are hard to maintain. Alarid and Jenkins have their boyfriends join them from time to time, while White said he “just rolls with whatever.” Derek Pressnall, guitarist and vocalist, and Williams are engaged; they and their fellow band members admit they are lucky.
“When it comes to relationships, you have to make it work,” Alarid said.
The music is one of their biggest loves. All the members of the band contribute by writing songs and giving their imput. Pressnall wrote most of the band’s most recent album, Bottoms of Barrels, including Alarid and White’s favorite song to perform, “Brave Day.”
Tilly and the Wall’s band members’ inspiration comes from books, visual art, looking at what’s happening in the world, issues and the everyday. Their inspiration from books can be seen as easily as looking at the band’s name, Tilly and the Wall. The name was inspired by a children’s book called Tillie and the Wall by Leo Lionni.
They have hundreds of fans, but are willing to admit they aren’t perfect. The band members said they still miss words and mess up on stage, but every band does. Jenkins said she, along with other members, has forgotten words on stage and even told the audience sorry during the middle of a song.
“You just have to remember the band is for fun,” Jenkins said.
Alarid is a creative, hippy vocalist; Jenkins is the gentle vocalist and good teacher; Williams is a scrappy, but sweet, tap dancer; Pressnall is the loud, squawking guitarist, and White is an introspective keyboardist. Together they make up the personality that characterizes Tilly and the Wall. They love music and everything that goes along with it. As long as they do, they will just keep singing and tapping.