Nick 13 (centre) of Tiger Army managed to keep his band together long enough to finally headline a tour in Canada
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Tiger Army never die.
Such has been the mantra of this Berkeley, California-based psychobilly trio since 1995. In the face of an endless stream of internal changes — a drummer’s hospitalization after being shot during a botched home invasion, road woes and psychobilly’s here-today, gone-tomorrow attitude, guitarist-singer Nick 13’s strong conviction has kept the band alive.
The band’s fourth studio effort, 2007’s Music From Regions Beyond (Hellcat/Epitaph) proves they have prevailed. Welcoming latest standup bassist Jeff Roffredo and drummer James Meza into the fold, Tiger Army’s unique take on the thump-and-bomp of rockabilly amalgamated with punk rock’s driving beat and scorching vocal delivery is back yet again.
This time, they’ll finally be able to perform a full set for Canadians. Despite broaching the 49th parallel many times with the likes of AFI, Rancid and The Damned, Tiger Army has never once headlined in the Great White North.
“It sounds crazy, but we’ve never done it after 13 years,” says a bemused 13. “It’s many years overdue. Doing a full-fledged headlining stint in Canada was something we originally turned to around the end of touring for Ghost Tigers Rise in 2005. But there were scheduling problems, [and] I was getting burned out from time on the road. It was time to come off the road and write music for what would become Music From Regions Beyond. It’s such a hassle to get over the border with all of the red tape, so rather than go through the headache and just play a couple of shows, we wanted to dedicate the time to do a coast-to-coast tour.”
That time is now. A headlining show means more than the half-hour to 45 minutes of face time Tiger Army has previously given Canucks. Understandably, 13 is excited to do more than blast through fan favourites and get to some of his own personal favourites, many of which come from Music From Regions Beyond.
“It’s my favourite Tiger Army album to date,” he admits. “It’s our best in a number of ways. It sounds the best quality-wise, it’s got the best songwriting and we’re the tightest performance-wise. A lot of it has to do with the experience you gain from making each record — I’ve had worlds more now than I did in 1999 with our first album.”
Similarly, he notes that while not entirely estranged from the hyperactivity and overt wailing that dominates most Tiger Army contemporaries, Music From Regions Beyond’s more intricate craftsmanship and modest genre exploration pushes the borders of psychobilly. This suits the band’s original intent of escaping the confines of both punk and rockabilly. While incorrigible scenesters may scoff at Tiger Army’s refusal to be tied down, 13 scoffs back, adhering to the sentiment that true artists refuse to stifle creativity.
“The evolution of Tiger Army is a natural byproduct of the passage of time, but some is intentional,” he says. “I’ve never wanted to make the same record twice. There are bands that reach a level of popularity, and whether it was because they lost their creative spark or they just wanted to please their fans, they made the same record over and over. I never want to do that. Whether something’s good or bad, when you’ve done it, there are diminishing returns when you try to repeat what you’ve already done. There’s always a little bit of risk there, but the process of trying —whether it works or not — is more important than if it works or not.”
