southern records

The Beginning: It was the end of 1990 and Kristin and Jenny were living in the same house where they ran Simple Machines. Earlier that summer they had met Andrew Webster when Jenny's band Geek (another Simple Machine band) had done a three-week tour with Superchunk and Seaweed. Andrew and Jenny made fast friends and eventually, he was (con)vinced to come up to Arlington around Thanksgiving 1990 to try to form a band that could play at a New Year's party one month later. After enlisting the support of former housemate John Pamer to play drums, Tsunami was formed. They weren't quite ready on the first of the year, but within a couple of months they were already packed into Kristin's Trooper in freezing February for their first tour.

1991: Without even a single to their name and only a handful of shows under their belt, Tsunami hopped in the Trooper and high-tailed it across the country in the middle of February to play four shows with Beat Happening.
Being as busy as they were, they had only allowed a few hours grace on the journey. So, when they heard the gnashing of gears at 2:00 AM in the middle of Indiana, they knew there may have to be a shift to Plan B. No, it wasn't as simple as low oil or water...it was half the transmission. After two days at the same hotel as a war convention, they had a new transmission and were on their way to Waukesha, WI for the third show. Tsunami rocketed home from their first tour, recorded their first four-track cassette "Cow Arcade", then went into Inner Ear to record the "Headringer" 7". Later that year they released a second single on Homesteads Records, "Genius of Crack". That summer, they squeezed in the Trooper again and trekked across the country, doing some shows with Scrawl and ending up in Olympia, WA for the K Convention.

In 1992, Tsunami got a lot of recording under their belt and appeared on four 7" singles. First there was the song "Left Behind" released on a Sub Pop Single of the Month split 7" with Velocity Girl, then they contributed "Punk Means Cuddle" to a Teriyaki Asthma compilation 7" for C/Z Records. Later in the year they recorded "Could Have Been Christmas" for the Simple Machines "Seasons Greetings" 7", and finally "Beautiful Arlington" - a 3 song 7" that was originally released only in Australia by IV Recordings and was later available in the US as well.

1993: Tsunami had over 7 releases in 1993 including their acclaimed Diner and Matchbook 7"s but the most important was the release of their first full length, Deep End, in June of that year. It had been recorded the previous summer but 3 change overs in manufacturing and an unsuccessful attempt at re-mixing had pushed it back by 10 months. In February of 1993, Tsunami got what they thought was a prank call. Some guy named John from Lollapalooza said he wanted Tsunami to play the side stage! It seemed too weird - they thought they were small potatoes but John Rubelli was determined to change the face of Lollapalooza, and Tsunami was excited to help out. Tsunami hooked up with Lollapalooza in New Orleans and headed west, doing six shows with Sebadoh, Free Kitten and Thurston Moore. Late in the year, in the middle of a 6-week American tour, Tsunami stopped for a week in Chicago to record their second full-length, The Heart's Tremolo.

1994 was Tsunami's big year of touring. Following the release of The Heart's Tremolo, their second full-length, Tsunami did two separate US tours and made two trips to England, one with Eggs and Rodan and the second to play the Phoenix Festival with Shellac, Girls v Boys, Bailter Space and The Raincoats.

1995: Drummer John Pamer - perpetual student - took off another semester of school from UMASS Amherst in the spring of 1995 and Tsunami set out on the road again. In the midst of a long spring tour, Simple Machines released World Tour and Other Destinations, a 22-song compilation of their hard-to-find singles, b-sides and compilation tracks. After a short East Coast tour in July, Tsunami dropped off John in Boston and bid him good luck - he was off to Amherst for one full year of summer school and college to finally finish his undergrad degree. With that, Tsunami was officially on hiatus until John's graduation in May 1996.

1996-97: Well, the end of 1995 and beginning of 1996 flew by, with a lot of Simple Machines activity but no Tsunami. As John's graduation approached, Jenny and Kristin kicked into high gear, writing songs like crazy and getting ready to practice again. Unfortunately for Tsunami, John decided to spend the summer in Amherst, making enough money to eventually move to New York City. Knowing John's long-term goal of living in NYC, they weren't surprised about his decision, but what to do? Drummer-less? After talking about commuting, tape swapping, or whatever, Tsunami took a bold step and contacted another drummer in Arlington to work on the new songs - Luther Gray. An ex-mailorder intern, Trip was last seen as the live drummer for Sea Saw in 1996 and played sax on Delta 72's record. He teaches drumming lessons and plays in a bunch of jazz combos and a gospel choir - a real find!
Tsunami are putting the finishing touches to their long awaited new full length. Keep an eye on the tour icon below for any up and coming shows.