The Ghost Tiger rise!

C a l i f o r n i e n - Mit ihrem 2ten Album "Power Of Moonlite" konnte sich die Tiger Army auch hierzulande einen festen Namen am Psychobilly-Himmel machen. Mit ihrer Mischung aus Rockabilly, Punk und Country kombiniert mit unverkennbarem und mitreissendem Gesang der Tipp auch für die, denen sich Psychobilly bis dato noch nicht so erschlossen hatte. Das neue Album "Ghost Tigers Rise" ist nun erschienen und erfüllt unsere hohen Erwartungen vollstens. Darum hier das längst fällige Interview mit dem Sänger und Gitarristen Nik 13:

How came that you choosed to become a psychobilly?
At a young age I discovered punk rock, but as the years went by I developed a love for rockabilly and 1950's rock'n'roll. After listening to so much punk and fifties music at the same time, I knew when I found psychobilly that it was meant for me!

What are your roots that made you start Tiger Army?
As I mentioned, I came from a punk background, but Tiger Army was inspired by European psychobilly as well as rockabilly and American and English punk directly!

What are your 5 favourite records now?
Right now, I'm listening to... Morrissey - "You Are the Quarry", Tiger Army - "III: Ghost Tigers Rise" (this sounds strange, I know, but I like to listen to our albums when we've just made them!), Frantic Flinstones - "Champagne For All", Dave Gahan - "Paper Monsters", Wumpscut - "Bone Peeler"

Your new release "Rise of the Ghost Tiger" will be released on june 28th. What can we expect?
The album is more mid-tempo than the last. We felt that things were getting so fast that we were losing some of the power. It's a step forward in some ways, but it stays true to the roots... It's my favorite album so far.

Tell us about your tattoos. Do you know how many you have? What's the most important one for you?
To count them individually at this point would be almost impossible, but the number would probably be in the 30's or 40's. I got the front of my throat done a little over a year ago, and it goes down into a chest piece that still needs work... I like them all but the ones with the most meaning are one for my parents and a friendship tattoo with two of my oldest friends...

What's your connection to AFI?
Two-thirds of Tiger Army and three-quarters of AFI grew up in a small town in Northern California called Ukiah. This group of people has played in different bands together and shared friendship for more than ten years. Geoff was in AFI, and both Geoff and I were in a band with Jade called Influence 13, my first real band. And of course Adam Carson, the drummer of AFI played in Tiger Army in the early days & on the first album. The AFI guys are still some of my best friends in the world.

Some time ago there where rumors, your drummer had been injured by gunshots. What's the true story?
In March, 2003 our drummer Fred was shot four times, including a shot to the head. He was at a friend's apartment when a home invasion robbery attempt occurred. We had been working on new material at the time for the album that was to become III: Ghost Tigers Rise. Fred was hospitalized and eventually returned home... Amazingly, we were able to slowly begin practicing again by the end of June. We entered the studio in late September to discover that his recovery was not as complete as we'd thought after three months of practice. We called a friend named Mike Fasano who had drum teched on the record and Mike wound up playing drums on the record with Fred's help. Fred's done all the live shows with us since the recording -- a tour with Rancid in November-December and a tour in the States in April-May, his drumming is sounding better than ever.

What do you think are the hottest newcomers around at the moment?
In the U.S. psychobilly scene, people should look out for Black Rose Phantoms, 12 Step Rebels and Graveyard Shift. Another new band I quite like from California is called Psyclon_Nine, but this is not psychobilly but rather harsh electro-industrial/EBM!

When will you finally come and play in munich?
We are hoping to do some dates in Germany later this year in the fall or perhaps winter -- hopefully one will be in Munich, the site of my first psychobilly-festival in 1995!

One last message for our readers?
Check out the new album on June 28th, we're proud of it! For those who want news, tourdates or MP3's, check out our internet-site: www.tigerarmy.com. We hope to see you later this year in Germany! Stay Psycho! TxAxNxDx