Tiger Army tour info plus an interview with frontman Nick 13.
Tiger Army begin their Australian dates this Wedneday in Brisbane. The band will be playing around the country for ten days finishing off with two Sydney shows.
Very shortly after returning they begin the first Tiger Army US headling tour dubbed the Dark Romance tour! Cities are being added all the time and as you know the tour wraps up with three shows at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip! Tickets for these shows go on sale this Saturday, March 12th at 10 AM href='http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/712366' target='_blank'>HERE! Be sure to get in quick because the Anaheim House Of Blues show sold out in just 4 hours. For a full list of dates go to the Tiger Army website at href='http://tigerarmy.com/tourdates.htm' target='_blank'>tigerarmy.com!
Here is an interview with Nick 13 conducted on Tiger Army's recent tour to Europe. The interview is from nofrontteeth.com and is from the London show at the Underworld.
NFT: How's the UK tour going so far?
Nick 13: It's been quite good, yeah, this is the last show in England, our 10th show. Then we go over to Ireland for 2 more and I have to say that the crowds at basically every show have been great, so definitely had a god time, yeah.
NFT: This is your first time back in the UK since you were over with the Dropkicks and the Unseen 3 years ago how come you haven't been over since?
Nick 13: It had to do with what was going on with the band. We were on the road a lot in the States and also with our former drummer being shot and getting the last album done- that took up a lot of our time...
NFT: How do you feel about this London show being sold out- we're you expecting anything like that?
Nick 13: I wasn't and it's a really cool thing to come to a country that you've only played in once and kind of sell out a show like that. The tickets were gone before we even landed and we've been here for almost two weeks now and that was definitely a cool feeling.
NFT: Have you noticed anything different this time around, crowd-wise? Apart from the crowds being bigger...
Nick 13: Yeah, we were doing support slots with the Dropkicks when we were last over and it seems that there's more people who are really into it this time around. I mean, there were certainly people who were into it on that tour but it seems like the fan base has definitely grown and has gotten more intense.
NFT: You said in interviews in the past that when you started out in 1995 there was no Psychobilly scene whatsoever in the US. How responsible do you think Tiger Army are for creating the bigger and healthier Psychobilly scene we see today?
Nick 13: I think with Hellcat releasing our album - that was the first time in the States that a major independent label had released a Psychobilly record and you know, the Psychobilly records that you got in the States were really hard to find, they kind of trickled in as imports and you really weren't going to come across them so I think Hellcat releasing our album and the fact that starting in 2001 we became a hard-touring band, I think those 2 elements are definitely responsible for Psychobilly coming to the attention of a lot more people.
NFT: It seems that Tiger army were one of the first bands Hellcat signed that strayed from the Punk/Hardcore/Reggae or Ska sound and after that many more interesting bands joined the Hellcat roster like Nekromantix, Nerve Agents, 12 Step Rebels, Rezurex etc Do you think Tiger Army are responsible for surfacing a different sound to a new audience and pushing the boundaries?
Nick 13: Yeah, it's a combination of our music and the fact that it was receiving much better distribution through a label like Hellcat, you know, I think- certainly in the UK there's always been ties between a lot of various underground rock n roll sub-genres like Streetpunk, Psychobilly, Ska and as far as the artistic concept of what Hellcat is in Tim's mind, I think it made a lot of sense for him to put out a Psychobilly band. That's one of the things that I like about the label - it's not a cookie-cutter sound.
NFT: Yeah- it's a hugely different label now than it was when I started especially if you listen to the Give 'Em the Boot comps.
Nick 13: Yeah, for sure.
NFT: I think "Ghost Tigers Rise" is very different to the 2 earlier records. On the new record you really established the Tiger Army sound - you can hear elements from the 2 prior records coming together to shape a really unique sound. Is that what you were aiming for?
Nick 13: Yeah, I'd say so. One of the things about the new album is that during the time of the recording of the first album and even the second album, you know, I was a bit more of a fan of certain things whereas, you know, I still appreciate the music I grew up listening to but I've kind of reached a point where my own music is far more important to me than that of anyone else and I'm not looking to anyone else, certainly, at this point and, basically, I did want to take elements of the first record and elements of the second record and a little something new and kind of combine them and that's largely what the new record is.
NFT: Vince Haycock directed and came up with the concepts for the "Rose Of The Devils Garden" video - he's directed videos for some quite big bands - was that strange for you since you usually direct the videos yourself?
Nick 13: Yeah, "Rose Of The Devils Garden" was our third proper video and yeah it was the first that was directed by someone else. I think I was quite pleased with the "Incorporeal" video which was the second one and the last one I directed. I was pleased with the way it turned out but I found it a bit too stressful ultimately to be on both sides of the camera at once and I think having 2 videos that I could show to someone and kind of say, 'this is the visual style of the bad', that makes me feel a lot more comfortable working with someone else.
NFT: I mean, you had a big input in the video anyway...
Nick 13: Yeah and that was the other thing- Vince is a longtime friend and it was cool because while a lot of the concepts and things were his, it was all kind of filtered through me and he was definitely open to my input and that's definitely the only way I could work with someone else I think.
NFT: Are you the solitary, independent tiger that reflects the Tiger Army metaphor? You write all the songs, produce direct...like a one-man army!
Nick 13: I suppose it could be...(laughs) I won't say for sure either way!
NFT: Did you come up with anything besides Tiger Army when you were thinking up names?
Nick 13: No, it's funny, my last band previous to Tiger Army broke up in 1993 and that was my first band, I was quite young at the time, and I spent about 2 years trying to think of band names and as soon as I thought of Tiger Army, which was in 1995, I knew for sure that was the name.
NFT: What's your opinion on the current US punk rock scene? I know a huge factor of Tiger Amy is that you're not generic...
Nick 13: Yeah, I can't say I think much of any new music coming out now. It seems like whether you're talking about punk or music in general, mainstream or non-mainstream, I think there's a real lack of originality right now and a real lack of anything exciting that's going on and I really think that applies to the punk scene as well as everything else.
NFT: What are you listening to at the moment?
Nick 13: You know, I find myself listening to a lot of old stuff. Rarely do I listen o anything newer that the 80s but as far as newer stuff I quite like the Morissey record that came out last year and also the new Interpol record I think is quite good.
NFT: Did Fred's shooting change you at all?
Nick 13: I don't think it did change me, certainly, it was traumatic and one of the most difficult experiences of my life but I found that it served to kind of reinforce the things I already believed about life rather than present some radical new change or different way of looking at things.
NFT: Did it change Fred a lot?
Nick 13: It's hard to say...certainly anyone who comes through an experience like that is going to have a bit of personal growth.
NFT: So will Fred not be joining Tiger Army again?
Nick 13: I don't think so. There's been elements in his life subsequent to the shooting that I think he's kind of in a different place now.
NFT: So was it his decision to quit as well?
Nick 13: As far as his departure from the band it was something that became quite obvious to Jeff and I at the time that he physically wasn't able to do it. It wasn't for lack of wanting to, but it was his body that wasn't up to it and we felt like we had to step in and say something because I think he might have driven himself to the point where he would cause his health to go back downhill.
NFT: Do you think that Influence 13 paved the way for what Tiger Army became years later- helped you to choose and establish a direction in terms of knowing exactly what you want and don't want out of your band?
Nick 13: Yeah I think so. Influence 13 was a real learning experience for me. It was a 5 piece and it taught me a lot about, kind of, relating to other musicians but also made me realise that I wanted to do something that was wholly my own. I was one of the 2 main song-writers in that band but everything was always filtered through 5 people and I only did backing vocals in that band and I think by the time I was done with that band I knew I wanted to sing , I knew I wanted a 3 piece and I knew what I wanted to, kind of, not have to get someone else's OK for the creative direction.
NFT: You played the Warped Tour a couple years- how did you like them?
Nick 13: I can't say the Warped Tour is all that pleasant as an experience. You know, I'm not a fan of the daytime or the hot weather...I really enjoy the half hour you're on the stage at Warped Tour but it's kind of everything else that I'm not so keen on.
NFT: What's the next step for Tiger Army?
Nick 13: Well, we'll remain on the road for a while for this album that's just come out. We're doing an Australian tour in March, our first ever headlining tour of North America in April and May and, you know, we're going to start working at some point...whether it writing, I don't know if we'll actually go into the studio by the end of this year, but we're already thinking of the next album but that's later in the year.
NFT: So who's on drums now?
Nick 13: James Meza
NFT: And he's going to be the permanent drummer?
Nick 13: Yeah...I hope so! (laughs)