Who or what are TIRIKILATOPS?

Alan Dearling has a quick chat with Bom Carrot, Super Bodreong and Kangcoo

Alan: So, I’ve heard the Tirikilatops described as a Korean K-pop group. Is that part of the ‘story’?

Tirikilatops : No, not really. Though Bom Carrot is Korean and is the singer and we do play pop songs, so, in fairness, you could get away with callling Tirikilatops (티리킬라톱쓰) K-pop. But, in the truest sense of the genre we’re not sure the shoe would fit. Just what shoe would fit we’re not sure of either.

Alan: I’ve seen you live on stage twice. You’re a fun-loving band, you make people smile… lively, bouncy, and oddly off-kilter…

Tirikilatops: Despite the eons, no one knows just why we (the human race) or anything else is here and yet most humans take life all very seriously. So, even if just for the duration of the gig, we like to celebrate the fact that life is wonderfully strange and act accordingly. Usually we end up with a party atmosphere 🙂

Alan: It’s performance – musical theatre, perhaps…is that how you see it?

Tirikilatops: We can see how on face value Tirikilatops could be interpreted as that but, no, that’s not how we view things really. Our stage performance has grown organically and, to be honest, even we are not sure anymore how or why we look the way we do. The band initially started as a bit of fun so I think the roots of the costumes etc. are lost in the mists of time. Now it’s just something we are glad to run with. Also, when we go and see a band ourselves, we enjoy a spectacle. We want magic and to escape into something other than reality. So maybe we just came up with the band we would want to bump into whilst wandering drunkenly around a festival?

Alan: You seem to encourage people to be happy, you really connect and interact with your audience members. Bom Carrot is like a multi-coloured, twinkling Christmas tree decoration. Bouncing around stage, belting out Korean words and songs into a mic, alongside her singing partner, the rather creepy, ghoulish figure, with a third Tirikilatop, the ‘old man’, in the background, controlling the sounds.

Tirikilatops: Encouraging people to be happy, and having fun, are two parts of our main remit. We find that there are usually two parts to a typical Tirikilatops’ gig. Especially if the audience hasn’t been to one of our shows before. Part one is the, “What the hell is this?” reaction. Part two is the “Oh! I’m enjoying myself! Let’s party!” Of course, part two doesn’t always kick in for some. But we’re as much fans of bemused audience faces as party audience faces.

Rather creepy and ghoulish? The “old man”? That’ll be Super Bodreong and Kangcoo. Often beauty is in the eye of the beholder but you can be assured that they are both nice and friendly people. Also that their Mothers love them very much.

Alan: Tell me a bit about who you are and where you come from?

Tirikilatops:

Bom Carrot (봄캐롯) is the singer and lyricist. She is from South Korea.

Super Bodreong (슈퍼보드레옹) is the song writer. He is from the UK.

Kangcoo (캉쿠) pushes the knobs. He’s from the UK. All of us are based in the UK.

Alan: I sense that the Tirikilatops could be very popular on festival stages – is that your focus?

Tirikilatops: Yes, we think you could be right there. We do well at festivals and have played a fair few in the UK, the EU and South Korea. We don’t think it would be right to say it is our main focus though. We are happy to play anywhere.

Alan: You’ve been in the recording studio and you have released a single, ‘Popcorn’. Do you want to be recording artists?

Tirikilatops: “I want popcorn”? That’s quite a funny song for you to choose as it was written during the pandemic when we were all frustrated about not being able to play live etc.. So, we channelled that frustration. It is more of a punk song and not really indicative of our sound or the direction we are headed. It is, and was, fun to produce and make a video for though. Not sure what you mean by “Do you want to be recording artists?” though. We are in the middle of recording our new album right now.

Alan: An example of your recent live show at the culmination of the Tor Festival: You called out for one of the organisers, Jake, to come up on stage. The crowd yelled out, increasingly loudly, for Jake. No sign of the missing Jake. You told the audience, “It’s Jakes’ birthday”, and someone not-Jake, a good fun geezer, came up on stage…the audience was now mega-loud, screaming, “Fake Jake, Fake Jake” and we all sang: “Happy birthday, Fake Jake”. Wonderfully surreal! Yells for Fake Jake continued throughout the show. Is this the essence of Tirikilatops?

Tirikilatops: Yes, it’s about extracting as much fun and surreality out of a situation as we can. Jake isn’t there? Ok, let’s have a Fake Jake then! Let’s ALL sing Happy Birthday to a Fake Jake!

Alan: Later in the live show you waved a new sign a bit like a Roman trident – a symbol of Todmorden and UFOs – it seemed like a symbol of ‘Alternative Todmorden’… it was another transcendent moment…

Tirikilatops: Ah, yes. That’s our UFO prop for our “Hello UFO” song. The best town to play that song given its saucer-shaped history.

Alan: What are your hopes and plans for the future? What are the best links on-line to see and hear Tirikilatops?

Tirikilatops: We recently won an opportunity to have a new song included on a coloured ten-inch vinyl of four Yorkshire bands coming out on ‘Come Play With Me records’. It will be available in Spring. We’re currently recording an album that’ll be out next year. We’ve a few gigs lined up and are back in the EU for gigs in March but I think we’re going to take some time off gigging for Winter and concentrate on the studio and a whole new live set. As for hopes? Just to keep on spreading the good vibes, travelling and meeting good folk.

Here are links to find out more about us!

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tirikilatops

Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXQvyAnqZJYh76apm51P0Q