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Indie Outing: TV on the Radio

Indie-Jam Connection: Talk about an ideal living situation. In the 1990s, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe shared a Brooklyn apartment with Antibalas founder Martin Perna and Daptone Records co-founder/Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings bassist Gabe Roth. The three musicians remained close as their individual projects moved in different directions and continue to collaborate both onstage and in the studio. Perna and the members of the jam-friendly Antibalas have appeared on several of TV on the Radio’s albums, including seminal indie releases like 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain and 2008’s Dear Science. Since Antibalas was the first group in the Dap-Kings/TV on the Radio/Antibalas family to secure a national audience—largely through its association with the jamband touring circuit—early on the members of the Afrobeat group invited TV on the Radio onstage a few times during its shows (search out TV on the Radio’s April 21, 2005 sit-in with Antibalas on New York’s Tonic for a particularly heady collaboration). The Antibalas Horns have also performed with TV on the Radio countless time over the years—most notable saxophonist Stuart Bogie, a stalwart of the jamband scene who joined TV on the Radio onstage at Bonnaroo in 2009.

Notable Jam Moments: TV on the Radio is one of a few indie groups that Phish has covered since reuniting in 2009. The Vermont Quartet busted out the Dear Science track “Golden Age” in Albany, NY on November 27, 2009 and took a second stab at the number Broomfield, CO on October 11, 2010. Oddly enough, the studio version of the song features contributions from The Antibalas Horns, members of whom also joined Phish in Atlantic City this past Halloween. (Closing the circle, Phish also performed with Sharon Jones and members of the Dap-King family in Indio, CA the previous Halloween.)

Lot Talk: “[Antibalas] co-founder Martin Perna, Gabe Roth of Daptone records and TV on the Radio singer Tunde Adebimpe all lived at the same apartment years ago in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Then everyone grew in these different directions, but we all share a lot of roots. I played on TV on the Radio’s albums and toured with them when they needed a horn section. We also share a lot of roots with Budos Band and, of course, the Dap Kings. Every time we do a recording session the roots go deeper. I recently did some work with Iron & Wine and it turns out he liked my song [from 2004’s Who Is This America? ] “Indictment” and loved the first TV on the Radio record and Martin’s parts on that record. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I’m like, “Ooh, you’re getting a little old.” [laughter] But things are just starting to combine and that’s an amazingly beautiful thing,” Stuart Bogie, Jambands.com