While the stand-up bass might have onlookers immediately thinking about rockabilly, Tiger Army instead mixes in some punk to create psychobilly … well, most of the time.
Trying to categorize the California trio isn’t easy. While they’re credited with bringing the psychobilly genre to the United States in the mid-1990s, their albums also find moments of country and modern rock. “I think from the beginning of Tiger Army we’ve always drawn in a lot of influences,” singer Nick 13 says from his Los Angeles home. “While psychobilly is kind of the center of what we do, we’ve always liked to step outside that and explore some of the other influences we have. Keeping it interesting is definitely a big part of the motivation.”
He adds that categories are useful for description, but he hopes they don’t close people’s minds. There’s even one tune, “Hechizo de Amor,” off their new album, 2007’s Music From Regions Beyond, that’s sung completely in Spanish. “Doing a song in another language is something I’ve wanted to do for a number of years,” Nick 13 says. “I knew it had to be the right song. This song was originally written with English lyrics and called, ‘Love Spell,’ but the idea to record it in Spanish happened when I was waking up from a dream. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.”
While the music has been consistent since the band’s beginning, the lineup hasn’t. The only constant has been Nick 13. The band’s third drummer, Fred Hell, left the band to recover after being shot during an armed robbery. James Meza is now the fifth drummer for the band. It was announced last week that Jeff Roffredo, the band’s fourth bass player, left the group and that third bass player, Geoff Kresge has returned. Kresge played bass from 1997 to 2004.
“I think each player kind of brings their own unique element to the band and their own strengths,” Nick 13 says. “I think the fact it’s all filtered through my ear has given it consistency. The drumming of James Meza — I think he’s the most versatile drummer that Tiger Army has ever had. It’s made me able to realize any musical idea that I have.”
Mixing up the genres has allowed the band to play with a wide range of other musicians. They’ve done shows with long-time friends AFI and toured with Morrissey. “When this band started, there was no psychobilly scene in the United States,” Nick 13 says. “The thing we found is that it might be a good thing because different kinds of music fans and different listeners were drawn to the band for different reasons — the punk aspects, the roots aspects. Because our music is diverse, we’re able to play with a lot of different artists.”
He says that while the band has grown and changed over the years, his writing has remained constant. He continues to be the main writer for the band — instead of a collaboration — and produced the group’s first three albums. He decided against producing Regions Beyond because he “felt like he had taken the music as far as he could.”
“The first three records were definitely a learning process,” Nick 13 says. “With the third album, I got what I was going for so it was a natural time to turn to someone else so it could keep growing.”
The wide fan base has created die-hard fans, as can be expected. A quick search online reveals some of the many tattoos that fans have gotten of the band’s logo, album covers or other artwork. Nick 13 designed the logo — a tiger head with bat wings — to represent the nocturnal aspect of the band, a characteristic that carries over into touring.
While the band has played three Warped Tours in the past — including last summer’s which stopped in Charlotte — Nick 13 says he’s in no rush to get back out with it. “I don’t mind it being a short set since the conditions are so brutal,” he says. “For me, the best part is the opportunity to play to new people or playing in areas where you don’t get to as much as you’d like to. I’m not an outdoor person, I’m not a daytime person and I don’t like the extreme heat, so it speaks for itself.”
Tiger Army will perform with Revolution Mother and The Dear and Departed at Tremont Music Hall at 8 p.m. on Jan. 29. Tickets are $13 in advance and $14 on the day of show.
This article appears in Jan 23-29, 2008.
