Tongs – Live in Studio 2A

Tongs is made up of what is, essentially, a synth-heavy rhythm section.

Personnel include:

Keyboard – Chris Peña
Bass – Chris Pierce
Drums/Percussion – Tom Beech

If you see a lot of live shows Downtown, you may recognize band member Christopher Pierce as the bassist with bright red beard in what seems like a million different Tucson bands. Pierce and his Steff and the Articles band mate, drummer Tom Beech, have been jamming together for years, so when their old Phoenix acquaintance keyboardist Chris Peña moved to town, it was pretty inevitable that the three would play together.

Tongs is a rarity in our indie rock heavy local music scene in that they are an all-instrumental live band. Peña’s keyboards build the base of the band’s melodies with a novel sound that’s equal parts synth rock and piano jazz while the Pierce and Beech pile on the soul, funk as they finally breaking free from the lonely shadows of backing band rhythm section anonymity. In a landscape where anything with a synth gets automatically labeled “electronic music,” Tongs’ keys laced but low end heavy fusion based sound stands out. Which is why the band kind of defies labeling. That being said, at the heart of it all is the groove.