Toronto indie rock/ alt pop duo TANDM recently released their new single, “2quick2trust”, a song inspired by their own experiences of being taken advantage of. We caught up with Maxine and Thomas to chat about the track, how they got started, and their non-musical hobbies.From The Strait: Tell us about the new single, “2quick2trust”.
Maxine: 2quick2trust is a retaliation song at many different people who had wronged us in the music industry. Because Thomas and I had been so naive/innocent at the beginning of our music careers, our music and ingenuity was taken advantage of. We wrote this song as a punch back.
From The Strait: How did TANDM get its start?
Maxine: Thomas and I were in a band with two of our friends from highschool before we all left for university. Thomas and I continued studying music together at York University and, in doing so, began writing original music that could be performed just between the two of us. For this reason, many of our early songs had prominent musical parts of drums, guitar and vocals, as that was all we could play the two of us on stage together! The band name was my mom’s idea. She liked how ABBA used the first letters of the band members’ names, and thought we could do the same → Thomas and Maxine, T and M, TANDM.
From The Strait: What first made you want to be a musician? Was it a song, an artist, or just an undeniable pull to make music?
Thomas: For me, seeing my favorite musicians play live was what drew me to music. I always wanted to play on stage and perform in front of others. Specifically Foals, they made me really appreciate the difference between live and studio.
Maxine: I went to see the national perform at Massey Hall when I was younger, and a trio called Daughter opened for them. Daughter were positioned off the stage, almost in the audience, performing with just the three of them. They barely said a word in between songs, were extremely introverted , and I fell in love. I have always been a shy performer, and hearing the most incredible music come from such a humble performance greatly inspired me to pursue music.
From The Strait: What’s one album you can’t get enough of right now?
Thomas: I’ve had Mr Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar on repeat essentially since it was released last year. The album has such dynamic sounds, from fun upbeat anthems to somber, melancholy songs – this album has it all, making it timeless.
Maxine: I would be lying if I said I wasn’t obsessed with Taylor Swift right now. The new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has been on repeat for me, along with Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” album. But mostly I’ve been flipping through singles from Fletcher, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, and Billie Eilish. Quite frankly, I am obsessed with female pop music right now.
From The Strait: What are some of your non-musical hobbies?
Thomas: I have been into Lego (specifically star wars Lego) since I was a kid, and the pandemic really re-ignited my passion for Lego. I also recently got back into collecting hockey cards which has been super fun as well!
Maxine: I adore video games. The other half of my life outside of music lies in streaming video-games on Twitch! I have been playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare II, specifically Warzone recently! I also really enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 2, and Dead Island 2 (featuring an AMAZING menu theme song “Drown” by Karen O and Danger Mouse).
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Check out “2quick2trust”, the latest from TANDM
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