What could you really say about tundra? The name came from a fight between my father and my sister. At first I hated the name but it grew on me, funny how that happens.
It all started when Charles taught me to play guitar. I still remember him pointing out guitars in a pamphlet during class back in year 9. At the time he was playing bass in ZOA. I remember watching them in the band room, they seemed so important coming to school with their guitars. I used to watch in awe in the fact that they could play songs you could kind of recognise.Charles and I started playing catamaran by Kyuss and making up some of our own stuff. After not finding a drummer, Charles decided to put down the blue bass and taught himself to play drums. Jean-Pierre started coming around to play bass and we noticed we were learning songs to play, mainly nirvana covers. Tundra was born.Jean and Charles wrote the songs as I was still learning how to play; they were both ways better than me. One day they made me sing because I was the guitarist and that's how it goes, right? I hated that idea as well. I was so shy that when I heard my voice on the mic I would pull back.After a while I started to write. My first song was rose, which I wrote in an English class. We wrote some more and we played some gigs. Hyland road will be the most cherished time for me. Three dorky teenagers playing between western Sydney punk and metal bands on their own page, sneaking in alcohol (amongst other things) and smashing equipment we could barely afford. People started to recognise the songs. Songs like "fade-away" would be played 2nd last because people would sing the yeahs. "Dozer" would be first because it fuels the energy right from the beginning of the gig. "Stonerism" was always last, kind of our smells like teen spirit.It really wasn't about getting famous or taking over the world, it was about rocking out on a Friday night and funny little band rivalries. I kind of remember the night we got smashed on vodka up on the hill then came down to play on zoa's equipment. It was going to be the debut of "canal song" but I was just way to drunk, so we played "black jeweller" instead. Three chords, screaming fuck you, blind on vodka, like literally unable to see. I turn around and the amp was on smoking and Charles had bent a cymbal. We didn’t use their equipment again.We recorded in the summer of 2004, when everyone was on schoolies. The sound was striped back with an eary reverbed up chorus. We had a pretty progressive side at time, with songs like "nemesia" and "desert bride". Who knows what around genre was in the end, we just made music.Charles left the band in 2005. He went to pursue his own music and change in style. This was when we met up with Linda Westman, Swedish drummer extraordinaire. She really opened us up to life at a crucial time. I remember hanging on the beach at Bronte with some coronas. We went of into a tangent of 10 minute epics of down tuned doom. Jean-Pierre left to pursue his uni work so Charles came back to fill the bass roll. I remember people waiting for "serial killer" at Merrylands and all they got was a long droney sound city attack, it was great.When Linda left for china we got David tapia to play drums. We kind of went back to reality, if only for a short while. Although nothing really happened at this time some good songs did come out. It was a time of a lot of parties and confusion.
It was early 2007 when Dave left and I met up with yoshi and Liam. We played these long progressive jams which had changed dramatically from our early stuff. I would consider this more a part of the spaceticket story than of tundra.Tundra will always be a special time and I was always look back with nostalgic love for a very special time of my life and anyway who was around to see it. We painted a very good picture and we want to leave it as it is. Who know maybe tundra will be playing a gig sometime in the future, like some kind of reunion, at hyland of course.Luke Burnheim
