Cautionary Tales
Origin: Aotearoa/New Zealand
Style: Art-Rock, Post-Punk
Influences: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, David Bowie, Swans, Einstürzende Neubaten, Low, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Radiohead
Cautionary Tales is an experimental art-rock collective, based in Berlin via Aotearoa and NYC. Fronted by Will Marshall, a songwriter with a swaggering baritone, Cautionary Tales work with a palette borrowed from contemporary art-rock, Greek myth, modernist poetry, the weirder edges of electronic music, indie pop and post-punk.
The phrase “cautionary tales” describes one of the fundamental types of story-telling; the story that tells us “what not to do”. With roots in folklore and myth, these stories are found in everything from fables, to epic Greek poetry, to modern horror films, exploring the myriad ways life can go terribly or comically wrong.
Rooting their story-telling in this ancient form, Cautionary Tales' shows are a surrealist blend of disparate musical influences. Often spacious and sometimes bitingly aggressive, they move seamlessly between post-rock compositions, tight garage-rock grooves, and industrial-inflected trip-hop, painting vivid backdrops to Will’s blackly comic narratives.
“Cautionary Tales” was released August 2023 by Siren Song Records, available at cautionary-tales.bandcamp.com or via streaming services.
Cautionary Tales
Album (downloadable on Dropbox):
Tech:
Input list and detailed requirements available on request
2x keyboards
1x lead vocals
2x backup vocals
1x drums
1x bass
2x guitars
SIREN SONG RECORDS: Wellington, New Zealand, hello@sirensonrecordings.com
CAUTIONARY TALES: Berlin, Germany, hello@cautionarytales.band