[MUSIC - Citysong: Luscious Jackson]

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. I am really grateful you're here. On today's show, we'll talk with a psychologist about cell phone bands in school and how to figure out the right amount of screen time for kids. Yes, we'll take your calls. We'll talk to author and artist Anna Marie Tendler. She's here to discuss her new memoir, Men Have Called Her Crazy. That's the plan. Let's get this show started with Tank and the Bangas.

[MUSIC - Tank and the Bangas: No ID]

That's the song, No ID from the musical group, Tank and the Bangas, who out of 6,000 entrants, were the winners of the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest series. Their performance on TDC has earned more than 14 million views. After releasing two studio albums and collaborating with some big names like Robert Glasper and Big Freedia, the crew is back with a new project. It's not an ordinary musical album. It's a three-part spoken word collection called The Heart, The Mind, The Soul.

True Tank and the Bangas fashion, this project infuses whimsical lyrics and soul-for rhythms. With collaborations by Aja Monet, Yaya Bey, and Jill Scott. The new project is a marriage of introspective poetry and catchy instrumentation. It's called The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. The first two parts, The Heart and The Mind, they're out now. The entire collection will be available to stream on August 30th. Two members of Tank and the Bangas are here with us now in Studio 5 for a conversation and a live performance. Let me get this right. Vocalist Tarriona.

Tarriona "Tank Ball": Yes, of course, Alison. You know my daddy's name was Terry.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] Otherwise known as Tank Ball. Nice to see you.

Tank Ball: Nice to see you too.

Alison Stewart: Norman Spence is over there on the piano. Nice to see you, Norman.

Norman Spence: Nice to be seen. Good to see you too.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about our first song. We're going to talk about Enjoy The Ride. Tell us a little bit about it and then go for it.

Tank Ball: First of all, just the way that you introduced what we're working on the project. Thank you so much. It feels so special and so cool. The Enjoy The Ride is basically about kind of the in-between guy. It's actually about two guys if people are really paying attention. It's about two guys that I had moments with. This is just me talking about how even though it was crazy, I sure enjoyed the ride.

Alison Stewart: Here's Tank and the Bangas.

[MUSIC - Enjoy The Ride: Tank and the Bangas]

Alison Stewart: Oh, yes. Enjoy The Ride by Tank and the Bangas. Tank, you describe as a first love.

Tank Ball: Oh, definitely.

Alison Stewart: Yes, and first love brings intense emotion. It can bring heartache, it can bring infatuation.

Tank Ball: Yes. [chuckles]

Alison Stewart: What about poetry brings that first love feeling?

Tank Ball: Curious, being lost, finding yourself, being incredibly vulnerable, very honest. I think that first love, you are just no bars. You are just so honest about everything you're feeling, and you're very emotional, and you're very passionate about it. Because you've had no past lessons to teach you or mold you into what you think is right or presentable, you present yourself in the messiest and most awesome and horrific and most beautiful ways.

Alison Stewart: How does that differ from when you're writing lyrics for a song?

Tank Ball: Hmm. They both have their own one line of relationship. Because my poems can be my songs and my songs can be my poems, it just depends on that little voice that whispers in my ear and says, "You should speak it like this now, or you should sing it like this." I write everything. Then later on, I decide what it's going to be when I'm in a session with the guys.

Alison Stewart: Norman, can you grab the mic? Can you talk to us? There you go.

Norman Spence: Absolutely.

Alison Stewart: All right. [laughs] Once the poetry is presented to you and the rest of the band, when do you start figuring out what the instrumentation should be?

Norman Spence: Wow. Well, it's interesting sometimes. A lot of her elements have melodies attached. There may be some hint sometimes of a melody that should be present, but sometimes you've just got to feel a vibe. Sometimes the vibe you feel might not be the vibe she feels. You get familiar with what she's aspiring for, you ask questions. Sometimes the wave just shows itself, and it all comes together. This particular song we just performed was a beat I made prior, and it worked, it came out beautiful. We had the privilege of working with Mr. James Poyser on this one. The next one we're going to do for you guys. It's always, just it varies.

Alison Stewart: It varies. Tank, when did you decide that you were going to split this into three parts? The heart, the mind, and the soul?

Tank Ball: I think I was on a train. I don't know exactly where we were, but I was just thinking about the different relationships that I had with my mind and my body and my soul and how those things, of course, come together, but they're very separate. I also thought about just how the attention span of the new listener is so short. I thought of something that could be more of a slow brew and really keep them on their toes and excited to hear the next thing because it really hurts me that we can sit forever and make these projects and go through a million different arrangements and producers and have this moment where somebody just, with a flick of a thumb, it's over. I want you to really soak this in. It's important.

Alison Stewart: Why is it important?

Tank Ball: It's important because we put a lot of work into it, a lot of love, and a lot of money. [laughs] We flew a lot of planes. You know what I'm saying? We just didn't create it in New Orleans, we went places to create with people, set up in a room, and spent hours making this recipe just so you could truly savor it. I can't live with you just having it being over with the flick of your thumb and you're on to the next thing to-- What's the word I'm looking for?

Norman Spence: You can get a dopamine release.

Tank Ball: Yes, I just can't. You got to live in. It's just a little bit more for me. I need you to do that.

Norman Spence: We all need to do that with everything. We overlook so much. We just need to take some time and soak it in sometimes. It's a lot of great art, great relevant things that heal. We should just take the time to-- forget the microwave, use the oven.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: Norman Spank and Talk Ball we're talking about.

Norman Spence: Spence.

Alison Stewart: Excuse me, Norman Spence.

Tank Ball: I'm going to start calling you Norman's Spank. [laughs] That's so funny.

Alison Stewart: The album is called The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. You've worked with a whole bunch of people on this project. Which one was the one where, Tank, you had to dig the deepest?

Tank Ball: I think I had to dig the deepest maybe with Robert Glasper because he's a very freeform artist in a certain type of way. I'm the same way, just let the musicians play, and let's just do our thing. If we're just playing and just having fun, that means that I'm also creating right on the spot. That means I have to go through my poetry and I have to make it make sense. The sessions with Robert weren't premeditated. It was like, let's go with the flow. It was very natural. Even when it's natural, you still have to dig, because I have to make it make sense. I had to make it make sense later on in the studio.

Alison Stewart: Norman, tell me about the other two producers on the projects.

Norman Spence: Oh, man. It was an honor to work with James Poyser, teenage hero, he made so much of the music that raised us in the '99, 2000s, and so on, even prior and after, the Erykah Badu's, the Common, Like Water for Chocolate, Joe Scott. It was just banger after banger after banger. To be able to work with such a hero, to go for a specific type of sound, that Philly soul vibe, and to be able to get some of those elements on our record, it was an honor.

[unintelligible 00:12:09], on the other side of the world, Tank knew [unintelligible 00:12:12] and we got out there. I got the energy and the vibe over the phone, but just great guy, great mind, on the fly. Excellence. It was an honor.

Alison Stewart: The next song you're going to play for us is Ghetto Earth. This is from The Heart.

Norman Spence: Poyser.

Alison Stewart: Norman Spence, do you want to tell me a little bit about it?

Norman Spence: Oh, yes. Another James Poyser off the cuff. Beautiful. Oh, Chris [unintelligible 00:12:41] Davis is actually playing drums on here. The key bass. Well, the bass is James Poyser on key bass. I'm on [unintelligible 00:12:49] guitar, first take. They are jokes, but just another beautiful one. Enjoy.

[MUSIC - Ghetto Earth: Tank and the Bangas]

Alison Stewart: That's Tank and the Bangas. Their new album is called The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. The first two parts, The Heart and The Mind are out now. The entire collection comes out on August 30th. I'm in studio with Norman Spence and Tank Banga. Tank, you're from New Orleans.

Norman Spence: That was Tank Ball.

Tank Ball: Tank Banga, I love it. Tank Banga.

Norman Spence: I know what you meant though.

Alison Stewart: What am I doing, man? It's Monday.

Norman Spence: You know, y'all don't have coffee in this area. Y'all only got green tea. It's relaxing.

Tank Ball: It's relaxing.

Alison Stewart: Just keep it going. You are from New Orleans.

Tank Ball: Yes.

Alison Stewart: I think that is right. When you think about music, how do you bring your New Orleans-ness to your music?

Tank Ball: Just spirit-wise, for sure? Definitely not in sound, because the sound is a bit unusual. It's not traditional New Orleans, but it has its elements sometimes of bounce. I feel like, "Come on, come on," how we do our bounce music. Every now and then, of course, it gets a little jazzy. Of course, we have to bring in our brass instruments, like the saxophone and a trumpet. As far as the traditional sound, it kind of steers away from that because we molded this sound with people who were from New Orleans and not from New Orleans as well. Just the open mic scene where freedom was just so free and we could do anything we wanted. I love that about it, honestly.

Alison Stewart: Norman, you grew up in the church,-

Norman Spence: In Baltimore.

Alison Stewart: -when your dad was a pianist who played in a church growing up, what did you bring from that to this performance?

Norman Spence: Who told you about my daddy?

[laughter]

Norman Spence: No, joking. Seriously, growing up in Baltimore, watching my dad play for churches, the drummer didn't show up when I was eight one time, he threw me on the drums. The pastor's son was a drummer, so I was always looking at some other thing to do, the keyboard that would help me just make me play the bassline while he was playing the rest of it. All those little influences and then sneaking and listening to everything but gospel, it's just kind of like, "Okay, I want to do this sound." It's Philly soundish. It was like the roots, the whole soul [unintelligible 00:18:26] thing was like, "Yes, let me attach myself to that vibe." That was inspiring and made me chase bass, like [unintelligible 00:18:34] bass and Keyes, D'Angelo, and Kamal and [unintelligible 00:18:38] and blah, blah, blah. When I moved to Louisiana, when I was 25, whatever I picked up there was what I brought there.

Alison Stewart: Obviously, Tank and the Bangas is a much bigger group, but you're here as a duo. What do you like, Tank, being part of a duo? What do you get creatively out of just the two of you playing?

Tank Ball: Well, Norman always been there from the beginning, from my creation, when I first actually made a studio album with the guys. He just was really instrumental in just really allowing the spirit to flow and allowing me to be free and not trying to really change who I was and change my sound. Now, one thing he definitely wanted me to do was make sense because he loves to make sense, and I don't always make sense, and I like not making sense, but that's men, you know?

Norman Spence: I'm logical. [laughs]

Tank Ball: He was like, "Well, what you mean? What's a bird tree?" It's a bird tree because I said it's a bird tree. He could go anywhere I want. He also has his own vibe that I can't touch. I tell him these days a lot. I say, "I need you and you need me." Before we ever bring our ideas back to the group, we always get along together first, and then we bring them back to everybody else.

Alison Stewart: When you present the songs, there's a certain amount of-- I think it's improvised, but then I thought, "Wait a minute. She knows what she's doing. This has all been practiced before." Which way does it go? Does it go improvisation, or is it all planned? All your vocals, all your tics. I'm just curious.

Tank Ball: It's both.

Alison Stewart: Both.

Tank Ball: Definitely. The tics are there. You know I said that something whispers in my ear and tells me what to do? That's like the little moments like that. To me, you can't have the spontaneity unless you literally practice first. We're not just going up there, just winging it. We practice first. Then once you practice enough, to me, that leaves room for creativity to go off the cuff and come right on back home. You can't just go out exploring the neighborhood, you need to know where your house is first.

Norman Spence: You know what? That's real. I tell you, too, I'm no surfer at all, but this was popping in my head. I was like, you could practice surfing on your carpet at the house, stand on that surfboard, and keep your balance, but you cannot predict the way the wave is going to go when you get out there. It's like you get your balance and be prepared to ride the wave in whatever way it goes. Somebody made a saying, like, "You make your plans and God balled them up, and show your head," or something like that.

Tank Ball: It's if you want to make God laugh, show him your plans.

Norman Spence: Yes, there you go. We come up here without planning in a way we like, "Yes, let's go ahead, real quick."

Tank Ball: Definitely.

Norman Spence: Sweet.

Alison Stewart: You're going to be co-headlining a tour with Jamila Woods. You're going to be in the Blue Note Jazz Club in November here in New York. What excites you about playing at a jazz club in New York?

Tank Ball: Oh, man. First, it's just historic. It's historic. I remember the first time I was at the Blue Note and I just saw Talib Kweli up there and just inviting all his friends, and I was like, "Yo, what is going on? I'm here. I'm having a moment with my friends." It was just amazing. You just never know who's going to show up at the Blue Note. I've met so many amazing people just come through and say hello. I met Angela Bassett, she came to see me. Like, what? Sherri Shepherd. Like, what? They say that they've been there and they mention us on the shows. You just never know who going to show up. I love that. It's always sold out and amazing. I just love the intimacy of it, it's so close. It's so close. You could really touch a fan.

Alison Stewart: What do you enjoy about performing the spoken word elements of your act live? What do you like about that?

Tank Ball: What I love about that, I just could take my time. I feel like I'm being who I really am. I feel like I'm being Tarriona. I feel like I'm the girl who read my sister's poetry notebook at 12, which I had no business doing, and learning all her poems by heart, my cousin giving me that first poem by Adrienne Hardesty, A Great Somebody, and memorizing it to do it at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, messing it up, my grandmother making me do it before my grandfather would speak so I would get it just right so I became a confident speaker.

I just remember the first thing that loved me back. My tone wasn't always amazing in singing. I couldn't always riff like my older sisters, but this poetry came to me so easily and it loved me back and it didn't judge me. I just feel just like myself. I always wanted to lead with it, but a mentor of mine told me, "I think you should do the music first, and let the poetry accompany it. Because people tend to love music more than poetry."

Alison Stewart: How do we get people to love poetry more?

Tank Ball: Listen to this album,-

Norman Spence: -and keep putting music behind it. Shoot, look at Jill Scott's first album. In fact, she said, "I'm a poet first," right?

Tank Ball: She is.

Alison Stewart: Yes.

Norman Spence: She certainly is but the melody is what drew us. Just like a musician. I think the reverse happens when you are a musician. As you mentioned Robert Glasper, but he had albums before Black Radio. Only musicians and jazz heads knew about their albums like that. It was the Roy Hargrove formula in my mind, once you put all the artists on there, like RH Factor, it was full of artists, like, Common, Erykah Badu, so many other greats. It was like, "All right, now we can listen to this jazz album." You know what I mean? It's the same with the poetry world. Shout out to J. Ivy and all.

Alison Stewart: Oh, yes, he's good.

Norman Spence: Absolutely. Absolutely. Music is the glue.

Tank Ball: Yes.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about the last song. Little Things, tell us a little bit about it.

Tank Ball: Little Things is doing its thing right now on the charts, and I didn't think it was going to do all that. It's very exciting.

Norman Spence: [unintelligible 00:24:06]

Tank Ball: Iman Omari helped us produce this one. I've always wanted to work with Iman. I think he's just so gifted and so cool, and I love the way he puts sounds together. He makes me want to write. This was a dream collab to sit down and write three songs with him. Just about being in the studio, I just remember a bug was flying by, and he just smacked it, he killed it. I went, "Damn." For some reason, it made me think about the way that people are killed, especially little Black boys, so quickly, without a second thought. And a lot of people may not know what I'm talking about, but I'm letting you know. Little Fly is about our boys.

Alison Stewart: Tank and the Bangas, let's hear it.

[MUSIC - Little Things: Tank and the Bangas]

Norman Spence: All right.

Alison Stewart: All right. That was Tank and the Bangas. Thanks so much to Tank Ball and Norman Spence. The Heart, The Mind, The Soul. Two parts are out now. The third is out August 30th. Thank you so much for spending time with us.

Tank Ball: Thank you, Alison.

Norman Spence: Thank you for having us.

Tank Ball: You like them.

Alison Stewart: I like them. I love them.

Tank Ball: Yey.

 

Copyright © 2024 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.