Steve Tulipana has been one of the commanding forces of the Kansas City music scene for years. As a member of several prominent local bands and a co-owner of recordBar, Tulipana has more than made his mark in the community. Two of his bands, Roman Numerals and Thee Water MoccaSins, will be appearing at Middle of the Map Fest next week.
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?
Steve Tulipana: Roman Numerals: Post-post-punk.
Thee Water MoccaSins: Electro-psych fractal pop.
The Deli: What other artists are you looking forward to seeing at MotM?
The Deli: It always amazes me to watch either of the bands perform since Billy Smith (Smith lives in NYC) isn’t in town often to rehearse. How do you make it work?
ST: We’ve all known each other a very long time and have very similar tastes so yeah, I guess it just gels easily.
The Deli: It’s always a big celebration when either band has a chance to play in town. Do you guys have any releases coming up?
ST: Roman Numerals: Probably not, though I wish there was a proper release for the last stuff we did.
TWM: Most definitely. Still hoping to release our album (From the Rivers of Missouri and The Banks of Fear, The Deli KC’s #1 album of 2012) on vinyl. I just finished a new “found footage” video I should be releasing any day now.
The Deli: Anything special planned for either of the bands for MotM?
ST: Roman Numerals is playing with our original drummer Pete LaPorte. We’ve not played with him in about 5 years. We’ll also be playing material from the first record, which we haven’t played in a long time. Probably will be some Joy Division tunes thrown in there too.
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
ST: It’s second nature to me. It’s vital. It’s air and blood. Without it I’m dead.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?
Both of these bands will be playing at Middle of the Map Fest next week, and since they don’t play often, you won’t want to miss them. Thee Water MoccaSins will be playing Thursday, April 4 at recordBar at 11:00 pm, and Roman Numerals will be playing on Saturday at 5:00 pm on The Outdoor Stage.
