Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore are closing a chapter. As the husband/wife duo who perform under the moniker Tennis, they’ve made a name for themselves by shelling out retro, purified lo-fi indie. It’s been their main focus since releasing Cape Dory back in 2011 — but all things must come to an end. Following the release of April’s Face Down In The Garden, the pair have decided to walk away from the project after 15 years.
Now, the band are making the rounds on a farewell tour. PAPER caught up with them at one of the stops, Salt Lake City’s Kilby Block Party. Watching them from the audience during their set, the crowd happily staring up at them, it’s hard to imagine that it’ll all be over soon. Still, they find the idea of closing this chapter and walking into a new one bitter but sweet. “We’re just trying to stay in the moment and be connected and really drink in the fact that this is our last tour,” Moore tells us. Riley agrees, adding that they now feel like their discography as Tennis is complete. “Being able to play a couple of the songs we wrote for Face Down in the Garden… songs that I felt our catalogue didn’t have. Now we have them,” he says.
Below the band send a message to their fans, talk about their final album Face Down in the Garden and discuss which songs they feel best encapsulate this final chapter of Tennis.
How are you feeling knowing this is the last album and tour you’ll be sharing as Tennis?
Alaina Moore: It’s feeling extremely bittersweet knowing that this is the last album we released and the last tour we’ll do in support of the record. There is a sense of relief since we’ve been working towards this moment for a long time. A moment of completion and finality. I feel like we’ve viewed Tennis as a project that had a specific purpose and we feel like we’ve achieved that and that feels incredible. We also feel really excited about the next thing. We’re just trying to stay in the moment and be connected and really drink in the fact that this is our last tour.
Patrick Riley: Also being able to play a couple of the songs we wrote for Face Down in the Garden … songs that I felt like our catalogue didn’t have. Now we have them. So we’re able to put our dream set list together.
Alaina: Yeah. It feels great.
What song do you feel like is the thesis statement of the album for you?
Patrick: Personally, for me, it’s “Weight of Desire.” I feel like that’s a song that we fit a lot of different ideas into and the arrangement is, at least for us, very interesting and exciting.
Alaina: I love that you say that. I feel like for me, the thesis statement of the album is “12 Blown Tires.” But I agree with you … “Weight of Desire” is another tentpole song of the record.
Patrick: Yeah, “12 Blown Tires” though is more of a rare, retrospective song. Alaina is telling a story of the last 15 years of our band and all the different things we’ve had to process. It’s an existential take on being a band and what it means to you.
What’s been the moment or experience that has stood out since you’ve decided this is the final Tennis album?
Alaina: The most bittersweet moment so far on tour has been actually crying with fans outside of the venue.
Patrick: I know, I cried too. I didn’t think I was going to. But it is weird to even acknowledge that our music has meant so much to people, which it clearly has.
Alaina: I met some people who met their spouse at our show. I met some people who met their best friend at our show and we were just crying about it because that’s so special. And I’m so grateful that our music got to be the soundtrack to someone’s life.
What message do you want to share with your fans?
Patrick: I’d say we’re out here to have a lot of fun because it is our last tour. And yeah, we want to play a lot of the songs that people want to hear.
Alaina: My message to fans would be, if all we ever did was have our connection with them and play music for them, we would never quit. Unfortunately, that’s only about five percent of what being in a band entails. So they are the best part of this and we would never stop it if that’s all it was. If that was the job, we would do this forever.
Photography: Lloyd Mongo