Getting to Know… Under The Tongue

Reading Time: 6 min read

For the 93^rd interview on The Musical Hype, we chat with Mark & Julia Eden about their Berlin-based band, Under The Tongue.

“People usually scream, dance and go nuts at the gigs and sing back our lyrics to us even when we sing the wrong ones…” If you checked out the previous interview, Getting to Know… Mark Eden: Interview #92, let’s just say, you’ll be familiar with one of the interviewees in this interview. That’s right, Mark Eden is back, this time among the representatives for a band he actually mentioned in his previous interview, Under The Tongue.

That said, Mr. Eden isn’t the only participant, as his wife and fellow band member, Julia Eden, also provides us with commentary about UTT. Basically, the introduction for Getting to Know…Under the Tongue: Interview #93 wrote itself without me having to spoil much – HA! Without further ado, embrace Mark and Julia with “Open Arms”!

Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with Under the Tongue, what makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Mark: Hey Musical Hype, first off, thanks for having us here we really appreciate it. What makes us distinct or unique that’s a good one. We are Mark Eden (vocals, guitar, drums and drum programming) from Australia and Julia Eden (vocals, bass, and piano) from Berlin and are currently situated in Berlin… probably not so unique ;). We are completely independent and do everything ourselves from recording, writing, booking gigs, making videos etc…Ok, probably also not so unique…mmm!!! We love the music to be full of juxtapositions for e.g., a dirty drum groove or sound with a sweet melody, something deep from the unconscious is always a good vibe. What we do has our slant on it and I suppose that is what makes us unique.

We rock the audience’s socks off by getting everyone involved in the experience. As the audience feeds of us we feed off them making it a great experience for everyone, not just us. People usually scream, dance and go nuts at the gigs and sing back our lyrics to us even when we sing the wrong ones… gotta love that. Big drum grooves, simple guitar lines, singalong chanting choruses and a dirty bass feel will rock your socks off and if it doesn’t you are at the wrong gig.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your Under the Tongue form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

Julia: We met in 2008 after I contacted Mark on old school Myspace 🙂 I went to see a solo concert of his at a small music festival in Berlin. I’m a big fan of everything Australian so I saw that this Aussie muso was playing and so I went and really enjoyed the show. I danced and trust me, I normally don’t dance… So, I wrote to him over Myspace and said that I really loved the gig. He wrote back a couple of days later to thank me and saw on my profile that I played piano, bass and sang. As it so happened Mark was looking for a bass player at the time and he suggested we have a jam. So, we met up and spoke for hours about music and life and realised that we had heaps of things in common. The UTT music project started pretty much then and there while walking the streets of Berlin.

UTT: I think one of the goals early on was to make music that could fit easily into a Tim Burton film but just as easily be sung at a rock gig.

Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

UTT: Early on we wanted to make soundtrack/rock song/soundscapes and wanted to play around Berlin and have fun. We still want to do that but to play all over the world now is our goal and to reach as many people as possible. Also, to make super cool videos where you can escape into our world for at least a few minutes of your day… that would be cool.

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

UTT: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Audioslave, The Jackson 5, Black Sabbath, Slade, Elliot Smith and we could go on. They have been influential by exhibiting all the characteristics we love about music. Longevity, not giving a fuck, big grooves, catchy choruses, being experimental, changing their sound whenever they wanted to, not getting too comfortable and making cool videos.

“Not giving a fuck,” huh? Couldn’t help but chuckle at that. #Rock On. Anyways, moving no to the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

Mark: During a performance once in Australia, a lady was taking her top off while singing, then started to scream then began to cry all while she was dancing. I suppose you could say that she really went through the gamut of emotions in one song. Gotta say I loved the fact that she felt free enough to do that, I could be a bit jealous of her being so uninhibited. <3

I remember being on stage and having nowhere to stay for the night, so I simply asked the audience. From that a super cool dude offered us his place in the mountains in Denmark Australia, it was house that he built himself and it was massive, with 3 stories. He ended up playing on stage with us at the next gig. I know it is not so crazy, but it is a cool one.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

UTT: We have a couple for ya. “Be Kind” is a new song that will be out later on in the year and we have performed that a few times and it was truly awesome, it is a 5-6-minute song with chanting and huge cinematic drums. “Make Yourself” from the first UTT album, Make a Wish, is super cool to perform live and totally rocks. What makes them both special is the feel and groove of the song … love it.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

UTT: We actually feel pretty boring to be honest. We love what we do and are super passionate about it. As far as being cool, we suppose being cool is doing what you love and not giving a toss what people think and no matter what the outcome is.

Oh yeah!!! We love land paddling, growing veggies and keeping fit. Mark actually gives motivational seminars (there is one for ya 😉). We eat bucketloads of micro greens 😀.

Julia is an interior stylist also which is a real passion of hers. Told ya we were boring. 😀.

Eh, nothing wrong with any of that! Closing things out, what is UTT currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

UTT: Alrighty, we are currently working on the new video for the first single “Waterfall” which was just released on June 5^th, 2020. The video [arrived] on July the 3^rd.

Also, we will release another single and video 3-4 weeks after that….no one knows that – shhhh!!! That is a secret just between us and your readers.

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

UTT: This has been super cool for us, we have enjoyed your great questions and your approach here, so thank you The Musical Hype so much for your good vibes and your time, we really do appreciate it.

Cheers,

Under The Tongue