Interview With Patrick From the Awesome Tiny Tuesday Concert Series (March Show THIS WEEK, March 19th)

Tiny Tuesday is a local music showcase that happens once a month (on a Tuesday, natch) at the Eagles Clubs in south Minneapolis. The brainchild of Patrick Larkin and Tim Piotrowski, each month sees five bands playing 12 minutes set, all starting at 8pm and ending around 10pm. It’s catnip for those of us who get tired earlier than we used to (but you young crazy kids are welcome as well to kick off your night) and for music fans who love seeing experimental music that always surprises. The shows have been happening monthly for over a year now, and I can attest as someone who has only missed a few that each month has proven very well worth the time (see a few videos I’ve grabbed in this post to get a sampling). Ahead of this week’s (3/19) show, we had a brief conversation with one of the two founders about how this came to be, some favorite sets and where things go next. Check it out this Tuesday, next month (April 16th) or hopefully every month well into the future!

Reviler: For the uninitiated, what’s the headline version of what Tiny Tuesdays are? 

Patrick Larkin (co-creator of Tiny Tuesday): A monthly showcase with a wide assortment of (mostly) musical acts in mini proportions. Five 12 minute sets that aren’t super loud. Presented by Tim Piotrowski and myself.

Reviler: What was the goal with creating Tiny Tuesdays? Have an early show? Challenge artists to do short sets? Bring together different types of music? Or something totally different? 

PL: All three of those! The goal is to make something quiet, short, and with a wide variety of acts. The slogans adorning every flier are: “where the sets are short and the night ends early” and “tolerable to the naked ear.” Quiet and short are surprisingly uncommon aspects of many live music events. And different aspects of these parameters are challenging to different performers. The quiet part for some – sheer volume can be a bit of a crutch. I especially like it when rock bands have to figure out how to be quiet. And time constraints are hard for some – I really enjoy the 12 minute set aspect. People really have to whittle down their set or idea. They might have to omit some ideas or songs they really like. People of course tend to go longer than that rather than shorter – lots of Tiny Tuesday performers cheat on time, but this way it’s more like 12 minutes turning into 15 minutes as opposed to a 20 minute set turning into a 35 minute set. So yeah, short performances are a challenge in and of themselves, and they also allow the events to cover a lot in a short amount of time. It’s a Tuesday night, most folks are not trying to see a show that ends at 11:30. To see 5 acts in under 2 hours is a distinct treat.

It’s also just for me personally a great way to ensure I get out of the house and hang out with people and meet new people. In order to not book the same people over and over, Tim and I have to keep finding new performers and thus meeting new people and going to shows etc. Would like to take this moment to thank Tim for prodding me to do it again, and for sharing duties with me and helping the whole thing run smoothly. This co-production could not happen without him!

Reviler: What do you think it is about the Twin Cities music scene that allows for something like Tiny Tuesdays to be so successful? 

PL: I think the Twin Cities have got a pretty good diversity of performers and a lot of people engaging with them – this lends itself to open minded listeners, which allows for “eclectic” events like what Tiny Tuesdays tends towards. That mixed with having a place as affordable and low-key as the Eagles, with decent sound and low overhead for events, makes it doable here. I struggle to think of another venue that would work as well in town. 

Reviler: I’ve seen an amazingly wide spectrum of genres and sounds over the last year-plus going to Tiny Tuesdays….how do you pick who is playing each month? Any rhyme or reason? 

PL: Tim and I collaborate via a shared online notepad. We try to keep it varied. I think we both want each bill to be beautifully hodgepodge. I want to ensure you don’t get a night with five somewhat straightforward singer-songwriters or five straight up noise musicians, for example. We try to make sure we are asking all sorts of people representing all sorts of identities to perform as well. Varied music and varied people performing it.

Reviler: You did one whole show around Drone Not Drones last fall…are there any other things like that you’ve wanted to do or are thinking of trying? 

PL: One idea was an extremely small 1-year anniversary show with 12 performers doing 5 minutes each in round robin fashion. That hasn’t yet come to fruition but I’d still like it to. Tim has talked about themed nights before, but we need to explore that further. I do think it would be fun to give all the musicians a prompt based around a theme for the evening, such as “sports” or “rush hour traffic” or “beach party.” Open to suggestions from our dear readers.

Reviler: Any favorite sets during the run so far? Any huge surprises? 

PL: There have been many great and surprising sets and I’m reluctant to pick favorites. Instead, here are stream of consciousness sets that arise: Noah OB playing trumpet extremely quietly and responding to the karaoke which was cutting through the folding wall, Alone-A opening the series very mellowly in the middle of the floor, being blown away by (neo?) classical guitar player Maja Radovanlija, Fez doing absurd midi songs with video including an uncanny and spooky rendering of the room we were in at Eagles, Matt Olson (Robot Slide) doing a set where everyone in the audience played synchronized tracks on their phones based around their horoscope, people approximating awkward folk dances to Italian folk act Sogni Dorati, Pig in the City playing amazing full rock band stuff but quiet, Los Pinche Gueys ripping in a typically unhinged fashion… There are many more I am ommitting! I only have 12 minutes!

7. Any bands/artists/sounds you’d really want to join that haven’t so far? 

I want more rock bands to try being quiet via Tiny Tuesdays. Just saw black metal band Kaldeket and Id love to see them play Tiny. Any rock bands who want to do this get at me. But you have to be quiet! 

8. Any final words on Tiny Tuesdays and what you are your crew have built with this awesome series? 

It’s been a pleasure to work with folks at Eagles 34, including Dan and Valerie who do sound and door, Mickey who did a lot of the sound but hasn’t lately, and the bartender and wait staff. The Eagles feels like a community center plus dive bar and it’s been a great place to do this. Hope we get to keep it going for a long while. If you have questions about Tiny Tuesday, you can contact us via instagram at @tinytuesdaysmpls. If you want to perform, the most enticing thing for me is if you have a concept in mind beyond “I’d like to play my songs.” Of course, I do like it when people just play their songs too. It’s just that it’s the most common proposition we get.

Thanks!