Merrill Garbus is the performer and multi-instrumentalist behind tUnE-yArDs — a music project that blends African-inspired rhythms and vocals with electric bass and saxophone. But she only discovered music after a failed career as a puppeteer. She tells Kurt Andersen she found musical inspiration as a student living in Africa; her mother’s ukelele, purchased at an Army-Navy store, helped her to take the plunge.
Watch tUnE-yArDs perform songs from the album w h o k i l l in WNYC’s Greene Space below.
(Originally aired: June 3, 2011)
Video: tUnE-yArDs performs “Gangsta”
Video: tUnE-yArDs performs “You Yes You”
Video: tUnE-yArDs performs “Bizness”