No Holds Barred is a new column by Sophie Abeles featuring unfiltered interviews with your favorite indie bands. Photos by Bianca Garza.
I meet my friend and photographer Bianca Garza on one of the first chilly Sunday evenings since the start of fall. Bianca and I agree that we’re not quite sure what to expect from our interview with Tiny Gun, a five-piece noise rock band that formed last year after being beckoned by known New York media multihyphenate, Kareem Rahma, of “SubwayTakes” and “Keep The Meter Running.” We’re greeted first by Tyler McCauley, Tiny Gun’s producer and one of its two guitarists, who guides us through the weaving underbelly of a random NoHo apartment building. Stopping to push past two doors, Tyler reveals a heavily carpeted rehearsal space where the rest of the band lounges, surrounded by an impressive collection of instruments and crushed-up beer cans. Tyler remarks that the band has been rehearsing since 3 PM in preparation for a “SubwayTakes” live show and an upcoming guest slot supporting New York’s underground rock darling, The Telescreens, who is set to headline tomorrow night at Webster Hall. Kareem lays on the floor cracking jokes with the band’s drummer, Dale Eisinger, who glances up at me over the rim of his tinted glasses. I mention that I just got back from a trip home to Baltimore, to which Joe Tirabassi, guitarist, pulls up his sleeve to reveal a Maryland crab tattoo that takes up most of the real estate on his left shoulder. Matt Morello, the band’s bassist, observes all of this with an impenetrable stoicism or maybe it’s boredom – I can’t tell.
We eventually settle in, Mk.Gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police playing at half-speed in the background, to discuss the band’s debut EP, No Worries If Not, why making music – or doing anything for that matter – should be mostly about having fun, and how this particular iteration of veteran musicians (plus Kareem) came together, while juggling 9-5’s and raising kids, to form the unabashed, mildly quirky, and all-together ingenious rock band that is Tiny Gun.
INTERVIEW:
Sophie: Cool, maybe everyone can say their name and what they play. That’d be helpful.
Matt: I’m Matt, I play bass.
Tyler: And you sing! Back-up vocals.
Matt: I do sing backup vocals.
Kareem: Kareem, singer.
Dale: I’m Dale, I play drums.
Tyler: Tyler, I play guitar.
Joe: (In a feigned British accent) I’m fuckin Joe, I play guitar as well.
Sophie: OK, and where is everyone from?
Kareem: I’m from Minneapolis.
Tyler: California.
Dale: I’m from Idaho.
Matt: I’m from Worcester, Massachusetts.
Sophie: Woah.
Matt: Joe’s from Baltimore.
Sophie: All deep cuts.
Kareem: Alotta deep cuts. I never thought about that.
Sophie: How did everyone end up in the city?
Kareem: I came in 2012 ‘cause I was sick of – well I was just sick and bored.
Sophie: You were physically ill?
Kareem: Well, I was gonna say that I was sick and tired of small-town living, but that wasn’t the case. I was just bored. I had two friends who moved to New York and I said, I guess I’ll do that, too.
Sophie: Makes sense to me. What’s there to do in Minneapolis?
Kareem: Go to a lot of rock-and-roll shows.
Sophie: Oh – so there’s a scene.
Kareem: There’s definitely a scene. A good scene, actually.
Tyler: I was getting over a bad breakup and living in San Francisco. San Francisco is too small a city to get over a breakup so I left for New York. And I’ve been here ever since.
Dale: I was born in Boise, Idaho, and the internet made me realize that there was more music in the city than what was happening there. So I got a journalism scholarship and moved to New York in 2009. And I was like – I can’t ever go back.
Sophie: Oh, so you know the grind.
Dale: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
Sophie: You’re playing music, though. That’s a grind in and of itself.
Dale: It’s a pleasure – it’s a privilege.
Sophie: You’re a drummer! Are your forearms ok?
Kareem: Dale’s jacked. He’s for sure the most jacked in the band.
Sophie: Tell us more.
Dale: I did recently get some dumbbells in my house.
Kareem: Dale’s our Fitbit.
Sophie: Anyone else? Origin stories on moving to New York?
Matt: I moved here after college. Didn’t have any other ideas.
Sophie: And did you all grow up playing music?
Dale: I failed out of music school because no one could tell me what to do.
Sophie: Ok, Rebel Without A Cause.
Dale: But then I started writing about music and found out I could get into shows for free and parlay that into a journalism career. So that was part of an excuse to come to New York and do music.
Kareem: I always wanted to be in a band, but never was. Then at the tender age of 37, I decided it was about time. It was like a midlife crisis. I want to live a fulfilling life, so I was like – might as well do this.
Sophie: Why not?
Kareem: Why not – literally. And it’s sick because these guys have all been in bands for a very long time, so I get to be in a really good band that should have taken me 15 years to get into. I cut the line.
Sophie: But I’m sure there’s still a lot of learning going on between you guys as you get to know each other.
Tyler: Well, the rest of us have been playing together for 10 years in various combinations. You kinda end up finding the group of people who are like – we’re just not gonna quit. And not in the sense of “I’m gonna be famous” but in the sense of “I’m never gonna stop making things.” That’s the point. There’s a lot of shared knowledge of just having been on stages together –
Matt: That being said, we wouldn’t mind being famous.
Sophie: Naturally.
Tyler: Well, we’ve played a bunch of cool spaces and in some spaces with people who are admittedly much younger than us. These shows where we’re like we’ll just do it, whatever, it’ll be fine. And it turns into a crazy rager where the people are really invested in the city and in art.
Sophie: So what other venues have you played? You debuted at Baby’s All Right and mentioned a recent show at Early Terrible.
Kareem: Frog house.
Sophie: Frog house?
Tyler: Last Halloween, we played at an apartment – it was someone’s living room off of Bushwick and Grand. And it was funny because we were the first and last ones there. We set up early and then we were dead last to play.
Kareem: The Shop.
Dale: The exterminator place. It’s a pest control store.
Sophie: Yeah! I know it. That place is cool.
Dale: We played the first show they ever had there.
Kareem: That was fun.
Dale: We’ve played Niagra and Union Pool a few times.
Kareem: Elsewhere Rooftop.
Sophie: And your upcoming slot at Webster Hall – that’s a big one.
Kareem: That’s big.
Sophie: How do you guys feel about it?
Kareem: We feel great. We played with The Telescreens previously at Niagra. I just dm’ed Jackson and said I like your music and he asked to meet up. And Dale came. And then – he was like should we play a show together? I’ll text the Niagra guy right now.
Dale: Within 10 minutes of meeting him.
Sophie: That sounds like Jackson.
Kareem: Jackson is so hype and positive and motivated, more so than many young people I’ve met and I like it.
Dale: He also works out a lot.
Sophie: I wonder if he’ll continue to wear tank tops through the winter. So wait— speaking of other artists— I want to know where you guys draw inspiration from. I’ve listened to your stuff and it’s kind of grunge and noise rock, but then there’s a throughline where you can tell you guys are just sending it and having fun. You don’t take yourselves too seriously. Does that feel accurate?
Dale: We definitely don’t take ourselves too seriously because we’ve all been through the meat grinder –
Tyler: We’ve all been in very serious bands. Except for you, Kareem.
Kareem bursts out laughing.
Tyler: We’ve all been in bands where there’s a vision and it’s an art project with rules. And if you break the rules of being in a band, you’re bullshit. It’s not fun, though, being in a band that doesn’t have fun.
Kareem: The first rule of being in the band is fun. Wait – no, the first rule of the band is don’t lie to the band. The second rule of being in the band is to have fun.
Joe: The third rule is to never say no to a bit.
Kareem: I feel like I’ve approached everything in my life with fun as the priority. Because most things don’t have money — obviously you still want to make money — but I think that doing things with the purpose of fun first will at least make doing the thing easier. The process will be more enjoyable.
Dale: Wait – she’s asking about influences!
Joe: Lou Reed.
Dale: For Tiny Gun, it’s Gang of Four.
Kareem: For the EP, it was the Pixies.
Tyler: I re-listened to a lot of Steve Albini stuff, especially right after he died. We tried to make the EP sound like the New York bands. We listened to a lot of Television.
Kareem: Iggy Pop.
Dale: He’s not New York.
Sophie: New York likes to claim him, though.
Kareem: He was around.
Tyler: We also all have very different backgrounds. Like Matt works on religious music sometimes, Dale makes beautiful ambient Americana records –
Dale: Aw, thanks buddy.
Tyler: – so I think the other stuff we make doesn’t necessarily connect back to Tiny Gun. It’s intentional that this project is about personality and being yourselves on stage more than cheating a lookbook.
Kareem: Sometimes we’ll collectively revisit an old song. And then everyone is like we should use this as a starting point.
Tyler: We also think about how fun a song would be to play on stage. We’re asking ourselves how it would feel to play it in a crowded room.
Sophie: Do you write together? Or does one person come in with an idea and the band builds around it?
Tyler: A lot of the original music started with Kareem and I writing together and then having the band arrange it. But No Worries If Not really took everyone’s full involvement.
Sophie: Hilarious name by the way.
Kareem: That was Dale.
Dale: The name was a joke at first but –
Kareem: I think everyone was immediately like fuck yeah, that’s an iconic name.
Dale: It’s so stupid.
Matt: It was before the Niagra show.
Dale: Yea, we were all standing on the corner before the show.
Tyler: Oh yeah, that’s when Kareem was super sick.
Kareem: I was sleeping in my car and then I got out and the first thing everyone said to me was – “we got the EP title dude!” and I was like, I’m gonna barf. I slept in my car right up until that point, like a couple minutes before we went up.
Sophie: So everyone told you the title and you proceeded to barf?
Kareem: I was like – this is it for sure.
Sophie: That reminds me, does anyone have any pre-show rituals?
Kareem: Sometimes we have dinner.
Sophie: Very wholesome. Mature men vibes.
Kareem: We’re pretty adult in terms of rituals.
Sophie: Right, so dinner before. Any particular spots?
Matt: We need martinis.
Dale: Any place with steak and martinis.
Joe: I’ll go do a steam in the morning.
Sophie: Dinner. Steam. What else?
Kareem: I listen to the songs a lot. I get nervous.
Sophie: I’m sure you guys get insane adrenaline.
Kareem: Tyler’s always calm. No one’s nervous before shows, except for me.
Matt: I can’t sleep after a show.
Kareem: I think I’m more anxious than nervous – I just want to get up there and perform because I like it. I put stand-up comedy on a hiatus because of the music.
Sophie: Right, you did comedy before Tiny Gun for a while.
Kareem: And then it became too much to do both. And I preferred music.
Sophie: Doing stand-up doesn’t seem like it’d be nearly as fun as being in a rock band.
Joe: You can’t drown out the silence…
Kareem: I don’t need to drown out the silence! I get laughs.
Dale: He gets laughs, Joe!
Kareem: But I’m putting up a live show at Joe’s Pub tomorrow for “Subway Takes” and Tiny Gun is doing the music. It’s been really cool to be able to mix worlds.
Joe: It’s like his school friends and camp friends are meeting.
Kareem: My girlfriend who goes to another school.
Tyler: That’s us.
Sophie: When was your first show together?
Kareem: It was at Baby’s All Right in March 2023 with Paris Spleen who’s now called Voyeur.
Sophie: It’s crazy that it’s only been one year since your first show and now you’re playing Webster Hall.
Matt: Kareem’s very famous.
Dale: Although that doesn’t really translate to listens …
Kareem: I think it can translate to listens. My manager tells me the more you appear – the more infamous I become – the more it’ll benefit all the other things.
Sophie: Has that been weird? People saying – “hey, you’re that SubwayTakes guy!” and in your head, you’re like, “And Tiny Gun!”
Kareem: No, because sometimes people come up to us and tell us they love Tiny Gun. They might’ve heard about it through my other work, but if they compliment the band, that’s all that matters. I don’t care how they heard about us.
Sophie: If people are listening, that is all that matters.
Kareem: It’s hard to get people to pay attention, even for a second. So anything helps just to get people in the door. And then they can become a fan or they can say, it’s not for me.
Sophie: You’ve just gotta pique someone’s interest for two seconds.
Kareem: I think the hardest part is piquing the interest. But we have that to our advantage which is good. But I think undoubtedly we need more music.
Sophie: Are you writing more?
Dale: Always.
Kareem: The thing is that our catalog isn’t big. The EP was a reintroduction to the band. The first songs were all supposed to be funny – “Hasbullah,” “Halloween 1,” and “Halloween 2.” “Meticulous vibes.”
Dale: What’s up with Hasbullah? Kareem, call up Hasbullah.
Kareem: I’ve tried so many times, dude.
Tyler: There’s a funny rap record we threw away.
Sophie: I need to hear that.
Kareem: That was a good one. But then the song “Really Rich Parents” towed the line between sonically ambitious and cool and a little bit funny. And then we started trending more in that direction – we realized it was more fun that way – until the EP became a regular EP.
Sophie: What do you guys do besides music? Kareem, we know what you do.
Joe: Boxing.
Sophie: Oh yeah?
Joe: No, I’m totally joking.
Kareem: Matt?
Matt: I have two kids.
Sophie: Enough said.
Dale: I produce a podcast and I write about music, mostly.
Sophi: What’s the podcast?
Dale: It’s called “The Underworld.” It’s about global organized crime. We’re doing well.
Tyler: Joe and I work in marketing and advertising. We do the email jobs. And we have one-year-olds.
Joe: Well, separately.
Tyler: Yes, not together.
Sophie: When do you guys sleep?
Dale: I don’t have kids.
Joe: Dales got dogs.
Sophie: They can be demanding.
Tyler: But when you have these other things in your life, it makes everything more meaningful. And I’ve never been in a band before where everyone’s punctual.
Matt: It’s an accountability mechanism and a good opportunity to get out to see the boys. But the music’s also good, so that adds to it. It’s been a real pleasure.
Joe: It also feels like a bonus round. Because we had all been playing in bands forever and then COVID hit and we were like, welp, guess that’s over. And everyone settled down. So when this came around, all of us jumped on it.
Dale: Yeah, and I don’t think any of us expected anything of it. Being back on stage was the main goal.
Tyler: Getting to do it is the benefit of doing it. The goal of releasing a song is to write and release another song.
Sophie: Is there an ultimate goal for Tiny Gun?
KAreem: I think to keep going and opening doors. It might be that we just keep playing in New York City and that sounds great.
Joe: Or we go and play in Egypt.
Kareem: Or we play in Egypt. Or we get a sync.
Dale: Can you get us a sync? That’s a joke.
Kareem: We want to do a hometown tour. But we’ve got kids. It’d be the breakeven tour. Sponsored by Spirit Air. Anyway. Tyler has a newsletter.
Sophie: Oop! What’s your newsletter called?
Tyler: I’ll send you a link.
Kareem: It’s great and I’m a subscriber to it and everyone should read it.
Sophie: Making a mental note to subscribe. One last thing– why should people come out to Webster Hall?
Joe: Cheap beer.
Tyler: There may be some free beer.
Kareem: People should come out and have a blast and see three awesome bands. It’s a Tuesday night. People have to live. Don’t sit at home on your phone.
Dale: We’re so tired of our phones.
Tyler: My brain rotted last week; I’m not looking at my phone for a year.
Kareem: People should expect fun.
Dale: People have fun at our shows, I know that.
Grab your tickets to see Tiny Gun play Webster Hall with Skorts and The Telescreens tomorrow night. Subscribe to Tyler’s newsletter. Listen to The Underworld podcast. No worries, if not.