Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner are staying at a friend’s house during a tour stop in New York when they tune in, by Zoom, for an interview that goes well over its allotted time.
The married couple — better known by music lovers as the Oakland-based indie-pop outfit Tune-Yards — has plenty to chat about on this day. Most notably, Garbus (vocals and other instruments) and Brenner (bass and more instruments) are happy to discuss the latest Tune-Yards album, “Better Dreaming,” which was released in mid-May.
It’s the sixth Tune-Yards full-length album to date, following such efforts as 2021’s “Sketchy” and 2011’s “Whokill” — the latter being the massively adored outing that ended its year of release at the No. 1 spot on The Village Voice’s prestigious annual Pazz and Jop critics’ poll. Thanks to “Whokill,” the Tune-Yards emerged from almost out of nowhere to become one of the more acclaimed new voices in indie-rock, and they remain one of the Bay Area’s most consistently compelling indie acts.
Tune-Yards will support “Better Dreaming” with three local shows — June 13 at The UC Theatre in Berkeley, June 14 at Felton Music Hall and June 15 at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park. Visit tune-yards.com for ticket and show information.
Here’s our interview with Garbus and Brenner, who chatted about music while their son was in the background watching videos of garbage trucks. And, no, I’m not joking.
Q: Should we read anything into the choice of the album’s title? I know it comes from an album track, obviously. But why did you pick that particular one for a name?
Garbus: Album titles are tricky. I mean, they have been for me. I think a lot of the record felt like it didn’t want us to complicate it too much. “Better Dreaming” is one of my favorite songs we’ve ever worked on together. And it wasn’t going to be a single. It’s pretty down-tempo sad. So, (the album title) was a way of getting people to pay attention to that track more.
Q: Tricky! But I’m guessing there was more than just that behind the name choice.
Garbus: The album, I think, really wanted to offer a kind of energy around dreaming into the future. There are other parts — there is anger, there is sadness. There is a lot in the record. But I think that element of the record was what we wanted to lead with.
Related Articles
La Onda rises above ‘challenging times’ to celebrate Latino community
Bay Area events calendar for June 6 weekly editions
Photos: Festival La Onda returns to Napa for second year
Review: Coldplay does something that had never been done before
Review: Biggest concert tour of 2025 can’t quite live up to its promise
Q: One of my favorite cuts on the album is “Heartbreak,” that’s just an indie-funk fest. I didn’t know heartbreak could be that groovy.
Garbus: I’m glad it feels that way. I was trying to find my own way around how to deal with heartbreak upon heartbreak upon heartbreak in a way that that felt like, “Well, the rest of our lives might be like this — so, how are going to get through it? And not just surviving, but with a joy for living?”
Q: In my opinion, you have succeeded in that endeavor.
Garbus: What I like about Tune-Yards as a project is that I think we often combine super heavy (expletive) with really joyful music. So, (“Heartbreak”) is part of that family of songs.
Tune-Yards band members Nate Brenner, left, and his wife, Merrill Garbus, look on at their studio in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Q: Well, you’re not just operating as a duo on “Better Dreaming.” So, tell me about the guest vocalist I hear on “Limelight” as well as I think other parts of the record.
Garbus: He’s right over there with headphones on (pointing to the couple’s son), watching videos of garbage trucks.
Q: That’s so funny. My daughter loved garbage trucks when she was a little one.
Garbus: 2, 3, 4, 5 (years old)? When does it end?
Q: I think she was about 3 when she got over the garbage trucks.
Garbus: Well, it works really well on tour, because there are a lot of “we need to distract you with something while we go do the things we need to do.”
Brenner: As a parent, you probably remember where (the child) wanted to hear the same song over and over again. But it was helpful for us when we were making the album because he’d just be like, “This one!” We’d be writing a bunch of demos and we’d put them on in the house. You’d just immediately see (the child’s reaction). Like with “Limelight,” he’d just start dancing like crazy. So, we felt that was good — like having this outside producer.
Q: That’s great. And I agree with him — “Limelight” is such a happy and joyous song. Yet, I hear you were a little reluctant to put it on the album?
Garbus: Yeah, I think, just for that reason. But I found we needed songs to dance to. And when you have a kid, you just can’t be on your phone looking at news all the time. You’ve got to be really present and really observing the joyful things in life.
Q: Yeah, you really do.
A: But, at a certain point, it felt like, “How dare we release a song that is full of sunlight and joy at a time when the kids are not alright?” And I can name plenty of examples around the world where kids are not alright. So, for a long time, I was like, “This is actually very inappropriate to release a song like this.”
Then the reaction we got back was, “No, people really need a song like this right now.” People who are doing the work that needs to be done in the world — they need this song too right now. And the other parents.
Tune-Yards band members Merrill Garbus, left, and her husband, Nate Brenner strike a pose at their studio in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Q: Is this a good time to be a recording artist? Because there is certainly no shortage of topics and events to respond to and write about in 2025.
Garbus: I don’t know if my answer is yes (in general). But I feel like, for me, the answer is absolutely. Because we are absolutely “hashtag” blessed. We are. We’ve gotten really lucky with people — the label we work with, the people who are on our team. Also, the way that we write music — first of all, that we get to be married and do this. That we are on tour as a family, instead of having to leave our family.
Q: Take me back to 2011 and help me understand what it was like to experience the massive critical acclaim surrounding the “Whokill” album. Because it changed everything for you.
Brenner: I think, now, we can look back and really appreciate how special and rare all those opportunities were. At the time, we were just like, “Oh, I just want to sleep.”
Garbus: Yeah, not a lot of sleep.
Brenner: I just remember so many situations where we pulling all-nighters. We had all these amazing opportunities, but it would be like, “Oh, we are playing in Glastonbury (festival), but to get there we are sleeping in the van. Then we have to drive straight to the airport after the set and fly to L.A to open for Goldfrapp at the Hollywood Bowl.”
Garbus: He remembers these things. I don’t remember them.
Brenner: Just insane traveling. Like in one month we might have three or four nights where you’re just not sleeping because you are traveling to the next gig in a van or on a red-eye flight. We know you have to do it, because we both grew up around musicians — my dad was a musician — and know how hard it is for any musician to make a living. But then you’re like, “Just let me sleep.”
Garbus: I think it was hard to let it soak in. To Nate’s point, you are really so kind of overworked that it’s hard to go, “Oh, my gosh, this is actually incredible.” We would do that sometimes. And now, in retrospect, we’re even more grateful for those opportunities.
But, yeah, it is like a (expletive) storm — a positive (expletive) storm.
Tune-Yards band members Nate Brenner, left, and his wife, Merrill Garbus, look on at their studio in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
