Tomboy
Brooklyn, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
Music
Press
Who: Brooklynites Sarah Aument and William McIntyre spend their days working together for the music publishing company Jingle Punks, but they also moonlight as the shadowy, electro-pop duo Tomboy. On the pre-release singles from their forthcoming EP, Aument and McIntyre (who goes by the stage name William Shore) unify synthetic and organic tones to create an original, straightforward sound: echoing vocals dance over marimba rolls and thumping drum-pad beats, while cycling synth lines further the songs' energetic force. Expect to hear DJs spinning these songs at future DIY warehouse parties.
Sounds Like: Little Dragon, Björk, GEMS
Where to Start: The tribal-charged "Moths," which captures the pair's fluency in trip-hop beats and love-stricken narratives. - SPIN
As this time of year's fickle weather agrees to settle on a wintry cold, Brooklyn-based band Tomboy brings on the chills in a different way. In their new video for "Moths," premiered below, black-and-white visuals show Will Shore and Sarah Aument illuminated by stark lights in an otherwise murky and sinister cellar, or perhaps abandoned warehouse. Moving their bodies in stiff, robotic gestures, the two appear to struggle in finding comfort both within themselves and their surroundings. The song and visuals emphasize experimental tribal percussion, summoning a harmless feeling of anxiety through its rhythmic irregularity. Elastic synths ebb and flow likes daunting waves, interweaving with Aument's unpredictable and Björk-like vocals.
"The song is about anxiety and a desire to be ‘normal.' Eventually, the remedy for the anxiety comes from self-acceptance," Aument explains. "There were a few specific months when my anxiety would wake me up extremely early in the morning. I didn't have a screen on my window, so I would crack the top part and moths, among other things, would find their way into my apartment. As moths do, they would all crowd around a light," she continues. "Looking retrospectively, I realized that a lot of my anxiety was based around ‘otherness,' kind of like being a moth that didn't want to crowd around a light. So, I took that and ran with it."
Filmed in Brooklyn's Nash Metalware this past May, the contrasting nature of a black-and-white aesthetic seemed perfect for the visuals according to the video's director, Maria Burns. "The video is a story about becoming, about tapping into the dark and finding your way towards the light, and black-and-white seemed to be a better choice to evoke this feeling," she says. "The message was easier to transmit via the interplay of darkness and light versus color."
When developing the video's thematic aesthetics, Burns found inspiration in not only Amuent's lyrics, but also Jean Cocteau's The Difficulty of Being. "His imagery triggered a creative sensation and helped me to portray the message of an inner struggle of a young human being on the path to his or her own honest self-fulfillment," the artist explains. "On the one hand, [the stylist and I] try to underline a conceptual choice, but ultimately Will and Sarah breathe their own personalities, and this needed to be considered." - Interview Magazine
Tomboy is the musical moniker of NYC residents Sarah Aument and Will Shore, longtime friends who finally joined forces last year. The duo’s spacious electro-pop references everything from Björk to Chairlift to Dirty Projectors to Purity Ring. “Moths,” the final pre-release single from their self-titled EP, matches booming low-end and skittering island percussion with Aument’s strikingly assured vocal performance. The music is complex yet streamlined, and when Aument cries, “Oh, you bring me back to life,” the vibrancy in her voice affirms that sentiment. Listen below. - Stereogum
If your Wednesday afternoon is dragging, we know just the thing to help--and it comes courtesy of Tomboy's self-described "tasty pop songs." The New York duo, comprised of Sarah Aument and William Shore, have been bubbling around the blogosphere for the past few months now, ever since they dropped their icy electro-pop single "Roll Out" upon the internet.
They followed that up with the ultra-dreamy gem "Hang Out," and now it's about time that the track scores a video that's just as gorgeous as the music itself. According to Aument and Shore, the song is 100-percent a love story, but one with the same complexities any relationship has to deal with. "The song is about the inability to stay in the moment with someone or anything really," they said. "But it's also a love song; it's one of the most straightforward love songs we have."
You can feel these vibes in the video--which offers a darker twist on the complications of love. But hey, don't just take our word for it. Watch "Hang Out" below, and then see when you can hang out with the band in real life at one of their upcoming shows here. - Nylon Magazine
2014 has been a great year for new synth-pop, from Allie X‘s soaring “Catch” to X priest X‘s uplifting “Sophie K” and a bevy of new acts without an “X” in the name. And now we have another addition, with Brooklyn duo Tomboy.
Sarah Aument and Will McIntyre’s debut single “Roll Out” (not a Ludacris cover, that would be “Rollout”) matches tribal-flavored fills and a yearning, wordless vocal melody with a synthetic four-on-the-floor pulse that pumps liquid-mercury synths. The result is a punchy and assured piece of dance music, made even more impressive when you realize it’s from their forthcoming self-titled debut EP.
The “Roll Out” music video premiered today (April 16), so check it out below. - Idolator
Tomboy — “Roll Out”
Tomboy’s a new Brooklyn duo that plays electro-pop in similar vein as CHVRCHES and Haerts. Their first single, “Roll Out,” has a bit more oomph in the BPM department than the artists I just mentioned. I get a slight Classixx vibe, and you can really dance to it — which I will be doing all spring. Tomboy’s self-released debut will be out this summer. - Flavorwire
We are certainly not afraid of pop, but it can still be somewhat daunting to write about a track that does not try to obscure its pop sensibilities behind a sham of electronica and ambience and, instead, wears them loudly and proudly on its sleeve. “Moths", the latest from Brooklyn duo Tomboy (Sarah Aument and William Shore), belongs to that latter group of demons. "Moths" is an electro-pop earsplash that both respects and subverts the contemporary presence of pop music. No, Aument’s clear and powerful vocals are not necessarily challenging any radio pop norms, but they do sound quite anomalous in a world of filtration, distortion, and trigger-happy studio subterfuge.
The production on "Moths" is austere: the track's brunt is borne by sparse syncopated beats, which rest halfway between tonal and percussive, and as a result straddle a strange line between bedroom electronica and hip-hop. On the other hand, “Moths” sounds kind of like Homogenic-era Bjork as reinterpreted by AlunaGeorge. Though definitely more midsummer than early autumn, Tomboy give "Moths" enough flexibility to make a proverbial jump in a pile of leaves feel like a dive into a swimming pool.
Tomboy play Brooklyn’s Glasslands on September 23; their self-titled debut is out this fall. - No Fear of Pop
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Tomboy is Sarah Aument and William Shore. After knowing each other for years and making music separately under various monikers, the two finally joined musical forces in early 2013. They were excited by their sound: sensuous and melodic electro pop that pulsates within a spectrum of playfulness and seriousness. Interview Magazine wrote, “[E]lastic synths ebb and flow like daunting waves, interweaving with Aument's unpredictable and Bjork-like vocals." Their music is both experimental and pop, heavy and delicate, masculine and feminine.
Shore and Aument develop their sound through experimenting with live percussion and vocals in their Brooklyn studio. They incorporate live and often raw elements into a polished and produced electronic sound, a tension that puts them at home both on that heavy-hitting club setting and on your headphones. Though SPIN magazine “[e]xpect[s] to hear DJs spinning these songs at future DIY warehouse parties,” their music also delves into a deep level of detail in the songwriting. Aument’s melodies ignite small moments of bliss among a whirlwind of rhythms. Her melodic phrases are accented by lyrics based in sensory feelings, that weave vivid, imaginative stories of honest and exposed truths.
If anything, their live show expands their sound. Shore plays a vibraphone that is run through a pickup system and effects pedals, banging out rhythmic phrases and melodies that interplay with Aument’s vocal lines. While Shore jumps back and forth between a synth and sampler, Aument is belting out her lyrics, and adding subtle electronic vocal effects. Her analog synth fills out the bass lines. The two of them have an intricate exchange onstage, that has taken them to venues such as Baby’s All Right and Bowery Ballroom. Live, the dynamic range of the band is dramatic; they can effortlessly sweep the audience up from intimate moments to intensely driving dance music.
Tomboy’s passion for making music videos is undeniable. Tomboy has released three music videos with their first album, an unusual feat for a young band. Nylon Magazine premiered their second video ‘Hang Out;’ saying one could "float away on a river of lush electro-pop” while listening to the single. Filmed in Shore’s hometown, the duo was featured under rising tides and wind swept sand dunes. After SPIN magazine named them one of the best new artists of October 2014, they premiered their third video on Interview Magazine for their song ‘Moths’. They used a much more stark, austere, and fashion-oriented aesthetic to accent the anxiety provoking lyrics of the song.
They both grew up in musical families. Aument played guitar and trombone as a child, and was drawn into songwriting from an early age. Now she writes top-lines for other artists in the industry, and constantly explores different styles of music. Although she is a self-described singer-songwriter, you can find her playing bass for a noise/punk group, manipulating electric guitars in Brooklyn practice spaces, and providing backup for others across the city. Shore has been an improviser from the beginning. He started playing vibraphone and piano at the tender age of eight and studied classical percussion in college. You can see him playing around New York, where he fits his vibraphone into noise or avant-garde improvised music. He also composes for film and TV, and uses his distinct percussive production to write for short fashion films. Although Aument and Shore each bring their own strengths into the band, they enjoy collaborating equally on all aspects of the music.
"Elastic synths ebb and flow likes daunting waves, interweaving with Aument's unpredictable and Bjork-like vocals." - Interview Magazine
"Expect to hear DJs spinning these songs at future DIY warehouse parties." - Spin
"float away on a river of lush electro-pop" -Nylon Magazine
"matches tribal-flavored fills and a yearning, wordless vocal melody with a synthetic four-on-the-floor pulse that pumps liquid-mercury synths" - Idolator
Band Members
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