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Monday December 10, 4:12 PMTiny Masters of Today, a little bit of punk before bedtime
The brother and sister duo who front the outfit have a combined age of 24. Lead singer and guitarist Ivan is 13. His sister Ada, who plays bass and also provides vocals from time to time, is 11. Only drummer Russell Simins, elsewhere of respected band Blues Explosion can, at over 30, be considered a fully-fledged grown up. At France's respected Transmusicales festival in the western city of Rennes this weekend, the trio played an energetic if at times chaotic set -- one number stopped abruptly mid way when Ivan dropped his plectrum and had to ask the audience and backstage crew for a spare. But such unvarnished bumbling served only to further endear the diminutive rockers to the audience. While Tiny Masters' brand of noisy, two chord pop-punk broke few new musical boundaries, their enthusiasm and sense of fun saw the 'mosh pit' in front of the stage heaving with happy, smiling bodies. And Ivan and Ada seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd. After the show the band said on their Myspace website that the Transmusicales was "the best show ever!!!" And the two band leaders never seemed daunted by the packed hall. "This is a song about why we hate President Bush," said Eva at one point, to a crowd she plainly didn't think was paying her enough attention. "Hey! I said this a song about why we hate President Bush," she yelled, this time eliciting the clearly expected hearty cheer. Ivan says he and his sister formed The Tiny Masters of Today, "because of boredom." The two were not allowed to watch television at home and had no video games, so setting up a punk band seemed the obvious choice, particularly as their dad was an amateur musician who made sure his kids were raised on a diet of rock music. "My dad thinks he's a musician. He likes to be called a drummer," Ivan told AFP before the Transmusicales concert. When it became clear the group would be more than a hobby, Ada and Ivan's father set himself up as their manager and began promoting the Tiny Masters seriously, using among other things the ubiquitous Myspace web service. It was via the website that Simins became involved in the project, for example. The band quickly made a name for itself in fashionable New York circles and had soon recorded an acclaimed first album, 'Bang Bang Boom Cake,' featuring collaborations from such musical luminaries as Fred Schneider of the B52s, Gibby Haines of the Butthole Surfers and Karen O and Nick Zimmer of the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. Today, the Tiny Masters even count rock legend David Bowie among their fans. Bowie is cited on the band's website describing their song 'Stickin it to the man', as a "2:43 minute slice of detached cool," and a work of "genius." "It was shocking I guess," said Ivan of the great man's reaction to their music. "David Bowie has always been my dad's favourite musician of all time, so it was weird. A small world," he added. On whether music was bad for school, "We try to do it on the week end or school breaks so we don't miss that much school," said Ada. "For this France trip we're only missing like one day of school," her brother added. |
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