Feature: The Ingredients of Serious Town with Thandii

Photo by Tom Dream

Margate-based duo Thandii have today shared their enthralling new EP Serious Town, which features their previous singles 'Honey' and 'Tides'. To celebrate the EP's release, they take us through the inspiration behind the EP and how it came to life.

Podcasts
A couple of our favourites in recent years have been The Blind Boy podcast and Adam Buxton’s one. Love to hear other artist’s philosophies on working and mental health, it’s really inspiring. Particularly those who have become a bastion for art and expression in general. Also included are books/audiobooks. Favourites have been The Descent Of Man (Grayson Perry) and Just Kids (Patti Smith).

Music
We really listen to a lot of music. We were both brought up on Jazz and Soul, particularly during the 60s & 70s era. There is a ton of incredible expression during those times and the industry was big enough to support it. We are a fan of DIY musicians in general so in recent years there has been such an explosion of beat makers, bedroom songwriters and performers creating their own unique voice and it’s so exciting. Our Thandii Roulette playlist on Spotify is good to check out what we’re currently spinning.

Margate

Maybe it’s a cliché in recent years, but our home town really is the source of a lot of our inspiration. There’s a rich history of Art being created there; From Turner to Emin. We moved down nearly 4 years ago as did a bunch of other artists, and just asking what one of your friends is up to really gets your juices flowing. There doesn’t seem to be a moment where someone isn’t striving to turn their mind inside out and create something unique. You are both willed and challenged there. The cover art for the EP was done by local artist Sprankenstein too. It’s a proper community.

People

LOVE. PEOPLE. WATCHING. Paris is one of our favourite cities for that. We find people so intriguing, each an absolutely potent mix of experience and environment. Sometimes they turn out incredible and inspiring, sometimes they are damaged along the way but remain resilient. They continue to be the main inspiration for our music and the stories we tell.

Travel

We both travel a lot with music and it never gets old to explore a new city. It can inspire a number of lyrics, songs and ideas. One of my favourite places recently was New Orleans, it’s a crazy electric place for music and atmosphere in general. There’s such a collision of cultures there and it’s truly infectious to be around. It left me buzzing for weeks after and that’s a great feeling to write with.