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Nick 13:
Guitar/Vocals
Jeff Roffredo: Stand-up Bass/Vocals
James Meza: Drums
Whether speaking of the latest album III: Ghost Tigers Rise or Tiger
Army in general, the story can be summed up in one word - perseverance.
Members shot, members changed, situations that would have finished other
bands a thousand times over and still the band has recently delivered
its best album to date under the guidance of singer/guitarist/songwriter
Nick 13.
III: Ghost Tigers Rise is the band's most distinguished work yet, and while
it rests comfortably within the “psychobilly” style that Tiger Army
is credited with bringing to the attention of the United States underground,
it also transcends genre with its intoxicating mix of vintage punk,
rock'n'roll and bittersweet melody. One might hear strains of 80's darkpop
or postpunk (think Smiths, The Cure, or Depeche Mode) or a hillbilly
pedal steel guitar, but the emphasis is squarely on songwriting, never
on novelty or gimmick. Atmospheric and dark, vibrant and beautiful,
songs like “Ghostfire” or “Rose of the Devil's Garden” show a band that
is connected with the lineage of the past's great rock'n'roll and pop,
but the band is no “retro” act - 13 has crafted a sound that is both
distinct and unique, no simple feat in a time where rehashing without
innovation is the order of the day.
The
road to this point has been anything but easy. The band came together
in early 1996, where they played their first show at the legendary 924
Gilman in Berkeley, CA (the punk collective where bands such as Green
Day, AFI and Rancid got their start), opening for longtime hometown
friends AFI and in fact borrowing their drummer Adam Carson. Local gigging
on a variety of musically mixed bills and recording demos (later released
as the Early Years EP), the band quickly came to the attention
of Rancid frontman and Hellcat Records co-founder Tim Armstrong, who
contacted Nick 13 and asked him to record an album. Overjoyed but chagrined,
13 had to inform him that he didn't currently have a lineup! In a remarkable
display of artistic confidence, Armstrong suggested going forward with
a studio lineup, knowing that 13 was the sole songwriter.
The
eventual result was the band's self-title debut, released in late '99.
It was an album that was to announce the long-overdue arrival of the
psychobilly subculture (born in early-eighties England) to the North
American continent, introducing countless fans to the style that had
gone unnoticed here for so long. In 2000, Nick 13 moved to Los Angeles,
intent on finding a touring lineup for the band.
With
the release of Tiger Army's second full-length II: Power of Moonlite
in the summer of 2001, the band began a relentless period of touring
that lasted eighteen months, taking the band across the States several
times and over the oceans to Japan and Europe. Now consisting of Geoff
Kresge and Fred Hell in addition to 13, the band cut its teeth on the
road, touring with Dropkick Murphys, Reverend Horton Heat and The Damned
in addition to various festivals and headlining dates.
In
early 2003 as the band rehearsed material for the album that was to
become III: Ghost Tigers Rise, tragedy struck as drummer Fred Hell was
shot four times in a home-invasion robbery. Despite waiting several
months for his recovery, he was ultimately unable to record with the
band and friend and longtime drum tech Mike Fasano stepped in to handle
drum duties in the studio. Despite a seemingly miraculous recovery and
a return to the road with the band for a tour supporting Rancid and
some regional headlining dates, lingering health issues sadly prevented
Hell from continuing on with the band.
After
two sold-out record release shows at the House of Blues Sunset Strip
in July to mark the arrival of III: Ghost Tigers Rise, Mike Fasano once
again returned to fill the drummer's seat as the band embarked on the
second month of the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, playing 28 shows on the main
stage. Stand-up bass player Geoff Kresge, with the band since the second
album announced his departure from the band after returning home from
the Warped Tour.
What
would have been the end of most bands was just another new beginning
for Tiger Army. No one would deny the band's sound and vision belonged
to founder Nick 13 and when he found himself back at square one, he
did what he always did - he picked up the pieces and moved on. Enter
Jeff Roffredo and James Meza, stand-up bass and drums respectively.
A longtime acquaintance of Nick's, Roffredo was in seminal West Coast
psychobilly band Cosmic Voodoo and later a founding member of Calavera.
Part of the same tiny tribe of musicians playing psychobilly in California
in the 1990's, 13 had even discussed playing on the first Tiger Army
album with Roffredo at one point. James Meza was already a friend of
13's and had spent time in a number of local Los Angeles psychobilly
outfits, including one with Roffredo as well as drumming for the Nekromantix
on a U.S. tour.
This
was to be the new Tiger Army as they embarked on their longest tour
yet, a nine-and-a-half week, 46 show odyssey supporting the legendary
Social Distortion on a full U.S. tour -- a trial by fire, to be sure.
Despite the odds, the new lineup has a chemistry all it's own and is
said by many to be the band's tightest and best-sounding line-up live
to date!
2005
saw a full tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, with numerous sold
out shows and amazing crowd response. While there, the band had the
honor of recording live at the BBC for broadcast on Radio One. Next,
the band did their first-ever tour of Australia, with much the same
response as the UK!
Shortly
after returning home from abroad, the band embarked on its first full-U.S.
headlining tour, known as the “Dark Romance Tour.” The two-month tour
ended in late May with FIVE triumphant sold out shows at the House of
Blues in LA on the Sunset Strip (one was even attended by none other
than the legendary Morrissey!), an almost unheard of feat for a band
on an independent label with virtually no airplay! Touring and word-of-mouth
have also built the band a strong following elsewhere and various cities
around the world are catching up with the enthusiasm and energy that
Southern California has shown the band from day one, as the Dark Romance
Tour proved with its attendances (the band's best) and numerous sold-out
shows.
The
end of the Dark Romance Tour represented the end of a two-year touring
and recording cycle for bandleader Nick 13. Tiger Army came off the
road and outside the occasional festival performance, spent much of the
latter half of 2005 working on new material for the next full-length
album.
With
songwriting still the primary focus, 2006 has nonetheless seen a
sold-out four night run at the House of Blues Anaheim, dates with
Morrissey in the US and UK, a headlining tour of England, a headlining
performance at Orange County's annual “Hootenanny” festival
and a trip to the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver to support
Social Distortion, among other shows in the western US. The band
joins AFI as direct support for a leg of their tour in September and
hopes to enter the studio shortly thereafter to record the new album
that Alternative Press has named one of its “most
anticipated.” Likely release will be in the first half of
2007.
Nick
13 is a man with a mission, Tiger Army a band with a vision. Listen
to the latest album III: Ghost Tigers Rise to hear the passion, energy
and originality that is Tiger Army - if you haven't yet, you need to
find out what you've been missing.
www.tigerarmy.com
www.myspace.com/tigerarmy
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