Interview: Tacks, The Boy Disaster

When a band like Tacks, the Boy Disaster comes along, it’s hard not to keep your fool mouth shut. This Austin quartet’s music is lush and soft and pretty and folky and gentle and pretty and lush and so on and so forth. Though they’ve recently completed their full-length debut, those lucky enough to stumble upon this band’s Myspace have had the good fortune to hear a revolving playlist of utterly beautiful songs. About the only band I can truly compare them to is The Earlies, but even this comparison doesn't seem quite right. This band sounds like every thing you’ve ever wanted to hear in a band. Pure, unadulterated sonic bliss—which, of course, makes their debut album HIGHLY anticipated around here. It took a bit of searching to find it, but here’s a little taste of the Tacks experience:

Listen To: "Matilda"

We recently corralled leader Evan Jacobs to give us a little rundown of the Tacks experience:


It's a cheesy question, but what's the story behind the name?

Tacks is a character from a book that I had a chance encounter with at an antique mall in Nowheresville, Texas. I later returned to buy the book with our namesake after we had decided that it was the band's name.

Tell us a little bit about the rest of your band.

Jason squints a lot and we play jazz together. Nathan is a scientist that I met over the internet. Alán is the best-dressed of us all, by far. These guys are the best people to be in a band with, ever.

You were once a member of The Polyphonic Spree. What are some of the lessons learned from working with Tim DeLaughter?

Delegate, delegate, delegate. And trust your band mates.

Have you completed a record, and do you have a label yet? What can you tell us about your debut?

We recently finished mixing our first (as yet untitled) release. We've been working on it since we became a foursome in September, recording it all ourselves at my house and Nathan's. It'll be released by us sometime within the next few months. We're very pleased with it. The recording started as a three-song experiment, evolved into a ten-song album, and then was streamlined back down to seven songs to make it a more cohesive, organic listen.

We have no label or website or anything of the sort just yet. No time for that thus far. It's felt like we've been trying to build Rome in a day, every day up until this point. Our main concern thus far has been finishing the release, and I believe that we've had our priorities well-aligned. We'll let our listeners be the judge.