Figg is the Seattle and Los Angeles-based duo of Robin Peringer and Gilden Tunador. Peringer’s musical past is like a giant quilt of the Northwest music scene, having played guitar in Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, Love as Laughter and many more luminaries of the region. When he teamed up with Tunador, the duo found local admiration and ultimately national attention as part of the (intentionally misspelled) band Carissa’s Wierd.

 

Figg was originally scheduled to release its debut album a decade ago. Figg’s sound was perfect for the moment, but, shoved, then shelved, the album’s champions went away. Jump to a decade later, and a new moment emerged for Peringer and Tunador as Figg’s self-titled debut, sounding fresh as ever, finally saw an appropriate record release to critical acclaim and a debut on the NACC Radio Top 200 Charts.

 

"Unaware of what was in store for the world, the album was released June 2020 in the midst of a pandemic and protests, yet somehow Figg is the just right music for right now,” wrote American Songwriter. Brooklyn Vegan described the album as "a very lovely dose of chamber pop-informed indie rock." And PopMatters declared “Seattle indie-rock duo Figg (ex-Carissa’s Wierd, Modest Mouse) prepares long-shelved LP for release with British-rock inspired single that suggests this band has been worth waiting for." 

 

Tunador says the album release was “an ego-smashing lesson in the appreciation of patience, the unfolding of the creative process, and the magic of universal timing."

 

Five years earlier in 2015, just as Bandcamp was becoming the leader in artist-focused and controlled streaming, Figg posted it without promotion or any fanfare at all. They just wanted their friends to be able to hear it. Friends tuned in, and the band felt satisfied that at least the album was available to the public. Some of that public included legendary and internationally influential public radio station KEXP. The album’s lead track “A Case Study in Plagiarism” was added to rotation and anointed as a station “Song of The Day.”  Figg was revived, at least in this small, but important way, and this development moved Peringer and Tunador to start stockpiling new songs, and to give their generally unheard debut album its due.

 

Tunador says that the album “navigates the positive and the negative within human relationships to ultimately find balance in love. You need to feel grief to heal grief,” she says. “Love is not just flowers and romance, but equal parts fear and worry that one needs to acknowledge in order to transcend.”

 

To that end, Figg’s songs are intentionally recorded in a slower BPM to give space for the process of reflection. “We want to take the listener on a contemplative journey,” Tunador explains. “It’s meant to be meditative.” Peringer offers an even more practical explanation: “I wanted this music to be satisfying to Seattle drivers. The traffic has gotten so bad that you’re forced to drive ten miles an hour slower than the speed limit. Figg is good to listen to in Seattle traffic.” Wise words from a band that knows how powerful a role patience plays in perseverance.

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Now on a roll, Figg saw their single, the Brian Eno song "Needle in the Camel's Eye" released on 9/18/20 and described by Surviving the Golden Age as "the fun comes across in the cover that keeps the same energy as the original but adds little unique flares like a xylophone melody and wobbly lead guitar. Tunador’s vocals lead the way while multi-instrumentalist Robin Peringer pounds it out on drums and adds like “bah bah bah” backing vocals. It ends up giving Eno’s 1973 classic a twee update."

 

Next up for Figg? Their highly anticipated sophomore album will arrive in the Spring of 2021.

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Figg PR:  Josh Bloom at

Fanatic https://www.fanaticpromotion.com/theartists#/figg

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Figg Radio: Graham MacRae at A Man A Plan A Canal

https://amanaplanacanal.com/2020/06/10/new-music-from-figg/

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