Alt-cabaret act want to share the worst with us
There are acts who will tell you they’re prolific. And then there are The Tiger Lillies. Over the past three decades the ‘alternative cabaret’ trio have released a dizzying number of albums. As bass player Adrian Stout puts it: ‘I think we're nearly up to 50 albums by now – we've definitely gone past 40 – but who’s counting?’
They are currently on a UK tour, From the Circus to the Cemetery, to mark the release of their first ‘best of ’ album, The Worst of The Tiger Lillies.
’It will probably end up being in multiple volumes, but we thought we'd start with the most popular and well-known songs!’ says Adrian.
As well as ‘regular’ albums, the three-piece have been involved in creating scores for numerous theatre shows, including Shockheaded Peter, which ended up with a West
End run and a brace of Olivier Awards. It was the show which put them on the map.
‘When we were first approached to do it, we were playing pubs in Islington,’ recalls Adrian. ‘The producer of the show saw us and he was the one who suggested we get involved.
‘If you're doing 12 shows a week in the West End and playing in theatres all over the world, you certainly got expanded options. It really lifted us up and enabled us to keep going until, well, today!
‘It's hard to get an audience when you're doing something slightly unusual, so putting it in the context of a theatre show made it much more accessible.’
They’ve since gone on to do shows – and albums – based on works by Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Coleridge, and HP Lovecraft among others.
Given the pace of their work, it’s not surprising to hear plans for the tour have changed.
‘It's changed a bit since we first conceived it – we thought it would be a greatest hits thing, we'd take something from all of the catalogue, play the songs people like which fans know, and then play some more obscure songs. It's a stage concert with three people on stage changing between instruments – Martin, the singer plays accordion mostly, but also plays a bit of ukulele and a bit of piano. I mostly play double bass, but then I also play the musical saw, the theremin, acoustic guitar, the drummer has various percussion objects too.
‘But then in the last couple of weeks we've just finished an album on Ukraine and the war. So Martin felt it was the right thing to introduce a few of those songs into the set, and it's important to talk about that.’
Indeed, the band are intending to play two shows in the wartorn country this July. And even when dealing with something as horrific as the war, the songs are still laced with their trademark pitch-black humour.
‘You can't just be dark and bleak the whole time, there are elements of humour in it. The new album has songs about Putin, trying to spear the megalomania – there's one song called We'll Be So Happy When You Die, which is a singalong, so we get everyone involved.’
The trio play at The New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth on Friday, June 9. Tickets £26.50. Go to newtheatreroyal.com.