Music

The Ton Ton’s rock Fitzgerald’s

Local indie-blues band The Ton Tons rocked the audience at Fitzgerald’s on Friday before embarking on a West Coast tour. Singer Asli Omar, above, and band mates Tom Nguyen, Adam Martinez and Justin Martinez are touring behind “Golden, The EP.”  |  Zoe Quezada/The Daily Cougar

Local indie-blues band The Ton Tons rocked the audience at Fitzgerald’s on Friday before embarking on a West Coast tour. Singer Asli Omar, above, and band mates Tom Nguyen, Adam Martinez and Justin Martinez are touring behind “Golden, The EP.” | Zoe Quezada/The Daily Cougar

Coming out on stage with giant confetti balloons bouncing everywhere to a rambunctious crowd at Fitzgerald’s, Asli Omar, lead singer of local band The Ton Tons, told the audience exactly what she wanted: Everyone get down and dance to the band’s “baby-making music.”

Friday, local indie-blues band The Ton Tons celebrated the first night of their West Coast tour to promote their October release “Golden. The EP.” It is an autobiographical record inspired by a familiar theme of love and loss.

“For two years I was going through a relationship that was extremely consuming. It was a very intense relationship,” Omar said.

“It honestly catalogues for me the stage (from when) we were very happy all the way (to) our break up. It’s just five songs based off of two years. I wish it was something more complex and deep, but that’s it.”

The band wrote the album while Omar was studying art in New York.

On one end of the country, Omar focused on the lyrics while bassist Tom Nguyen, guitarist Adam Martinez and drummer Justin Martinez wrote the music back home.

“The (album) was two years of us going back and forth — they would write one thing and I would come home and work with them on another thing,” Omar said. “It was very time-consuming, but it’s five different songs that show how much we have grown since 2009.”

Over the next few months the band plans on touring the West Coast and the Midwest before coming back home to play festivals such as South by Southwest and 35 Denton.

As a band, they are happy to be touring and to be a part of the growing Houston music scene.

“There’s so many amazing things happening and I think for the first time people are turning to Houston and looking at it like something cultured and willing,” Omar said. “It’s exciting to be a part of this generation of artists and to experience it and reap the benefits because it’s really been a slow process.”

The Ton Tons hope to inspire people with their latest release and encourage local artists to get out there and perform.

“If you have a vision and you have an idea, there’s a way to achieve it, especially through music,” Omar said. “There are people doing amazing things with music and there (are) so many amazing musicians.

“Houston needs more musicians, more artists, more writers. We need to be a force to be reckoned with.”

[email protected]

Leave a Comment