Zigtebra Announce Busy 2017

Chicago’s favorite animal art-pop duo Zigtebra have announced plans to ramp up their game in 2017. Siblings Emily (Zebra) and Joseph (Tiger) will release a new song and accompanying video, via Soundcloud and Youtube, every month in 2017. They will compile these songs onto a series of three limited physical releases, each with an additional bonus track, which will come out on FPE throughout the course of the year.

The first video, for the song “Spectre”, is out now.

They also have an ambitious live schedule, planning a 100-day tour in the middle of the year from May to August, playing shows in the entire US as well as some shows in Canada and Mexico.

Taking inspiration from varied fascinations including Less Than Jake, Julieta Venegas, and the “kiss the girl” lagoon scene in the Little Mermaid, Zigtebra’s new material tackles topics of romance, acne, striving for your dreams, surviving in post-Trump America, and the importance of connection in community.

Zebra and Tiger are excited to dive into the demanding monthly release schedule. Of their motivations, they say, “It will keep us in active creation mode. ‘We will make our own world’ is one of our favorite Zigtebra lyrics. We love traveling, so touring while releasing is a dream come true. Working hard for our favorite things so that we can live how we want to, with some comfort, friendship, music, and adventure is so worth the effort.”

The songs will be recorded primarily at Zigtebra’s home studios, Studio Nudio and Cloud Palace, in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. They have lined up a number of talented friends and associates to make the videos, including Vice content creator Anthony Esquivel, and Bad Taste, the talented team behind their stop motion video for the song “Where Have You Gone?”.

Since their last album The Brave, they say, “we really grew into being able to handle our electronics more effectively. We played tons of live shows in 2015 and took 2016 to build the skills we needed to make the music we dream about.”

And what are those dreams? “We know a song is special when someone can take it and own it. There is no better feeling for our band than when we hear someone say ‘THAT IS MY SONG!’ about something we’ve written. We want our fans and friends to hear our songs and have one that is so totally theirs, their story, their feelings, their anthem. The spectrum of human emotion is wide, but relatable. We strive to be honest with what we feel and we hope to connect with our fans through our sincerity.” After the divisiveness and turmoil of 2016, it’s a message of healing that will resonate loudly in all corners. “From Maine to Key West, from Tijuana to Seattle, we’re ambassadors of strange charm.”