I can’t remember the last time a song punched me in the gut quite like ‘FUNNY!’, the latest offering from Melbourne dreamboat Tamara & the Dreams.
For context, it was 3 am, I was scrolling through Twitter in the midst of a corona-induced bout of insomnia, probably on the verge of tweeting some embarrassing bullshit when I saw Tamara plug her first single of 2020. I listened to it and cried like a god damn baby. It’s not that it’s a particularly sad song, but it excavated a bunch of unidentifiable feelings that I had experienced and not confronted because I didn’t understand them. Feelings of Gen Z loneliness symptomatic of the irony-poisoned hell that we’re entrenched in.
“‘FUNNY!’ is a statement about the downfall of our generation to sarcasm, irony and meme culture,” explains Tamara. “We build our identities around being ‘funny’ all of the time, we often end up hiding up our true selves. Tamara learnt this lesson during a close friendship that resulted in this track being written.”
I was so excited about the song and the overwhelming feelings exorcism it incited that I sent Tamara a very unprofessional DM asking her a bunch of burning to Get To Know questions. So please, throw yourself a ‘FUNNY!’ listening party and check out what Tamara had to say for herself below.
How did your artist name come about?
my artist name used to be Tamara Lee, and then I made a meme account called @manicpixiememegurl based on the literary trope of the manic pixie dream girl, and then I became Tamara Dream, and then I made a band with my friend Matt and he wanted to call it Teriyaki Tofu and I suggested Tamara & the Dreams, and then Matt left the band so it turned out ok.
Tell us a bit about your single, what it’s about and how it came about?
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I once said to my friend Jason in exasperation, ‘why do you always have to be funny?!’ and then went oh, I should write a song about this feeling. Then I made FUNNY! as a call out to both of us and to everyone I interact with online. Who doesn’t love using humour as a coping mechanism for dealing with real life?
What do you love about your hometown?
Melbourne is topographically flat (so it’s great to ride my bike everywhere) and culturally not flat at all (I get to part of it’s vibrant music community)
Favourite non-music hobby?
Wasting the finite hours of my life scrolling twitter, instagram and tiktok while avoiding all responsibilities!
What’s on your dream rider?
Decaf oat milk iced coffee, slightly sweet slightly salty popcorn and vegan duck bahn mi.
Dream music collaboration?
Charli XCX, Weezer, Frankie Cosmos
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Moved out of my mum’s house, or rich and famous, or both
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Fancy by Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
People will leave you on read, you will leave people on read, we all leave each other on read in the end; life goes on.
What’s one obsession you have that no one would guess after listening to your music?
I’m a diehard Taylor Swift fan
