Tiger Army

show at 924 Gilman St in Berkeley, the same venue that gave

Operation Ivy, Green Day and AFI their start. How big a role did it

play in getting the band started and how important is such a venue

to the local scene?

Gilman St. They were putting together a bill for their headlining

show while hanging out at my apartment, and I talked them into

throwing us on. I didn't know at the time we'd wind up using their

drummer Adam for the gig! I think Gilman St. was tremendously

important at the time, obviously if there's nowhere to play, it's

hard to have a scene. One of the benefits for us was that it tended

to draw a crowd that was quite open-minded and that was important,

as we were a psychobilly band playing in a country without a

You have described your latest album III: Ghost Tigers Rise as the

bands finest work yet. What can we expect from it, and how does it

compare to II: Power of Moonlite?

breakneck fast - it's a little moodier, more melodic in spots,

although melody's always been an element of our sound. I think the

song writing took a step forward, but a big part was just knowing

how to get what I wanted in the studio. This was definitely a result

of having the experience of making the first two records. Ghost

Tigers Rise was an evolution for the band, but one that stayed in

touch with our roots; it's a bit more like our first album than

Apart from obviously being a psychobilly fan, I hear who have a soft

spot for many post-punk bands like the Smiths, The Cure and

Morrissey, do these bands creep into influencing the band?

thing, but certainly the bands you mention along with stuff like New

Order/Joy Division and Depeche Mode have occupied my stereo pretty

consistently for a long time. I guess it's natural that they all

finally seeped in to my music, although I didn't notice for the most

part until other people heard the record and pointed it out, they

A lot of the themes is Tiger Army songs are 'atmospheric and dark'

where does the lyrical inspiration come from?

up from my subconscious. I never sit down and think, "I'm going to

write a song about this topic." I often have no idea what the song

is about as I write the first verse. Eventually some theme will

emerge from what I've written and I follow it. The dark aspects are

How did your recent tours of United Kingdom and Ireland go, and what

is the psychobilly scene like in other countries?

only once before, supporting Dropkick Murphys three years ago and

while that was cool at the time, the interest and enthusiasm of fans

in the UK has really grown. The shows were packed and the energy

from the crowd was fantastic. As far as the psycho scene, it's

definitely older in England. We saw a lot of older psychos who've

been into it since the eighties and a lot of the younger people at

our shows there were more from a punk/hc background. We're always

How big is the psychobilly scene in the states?

The area where it's the most popular is certainly Southern

California. The scene was very small & almost nonexistent in the

U.S. prior to 2000, but it's definitely something that people are

gaining awareness of and it seems to get a little bigger each

Psychobilly is a relatively unknown genre in Australia, for those

that aren't yet in the know, how would you describe it?

a kind of hybrid between punk rock and rockabilly that dates back to

early-eighties England. It also tends to be dark with at least a

touch of the macabre. There are many different flavours of

psychobilly, much the same as punk, but there's a certain sprit that

defines it. It's hard to describe but it's easy to get into when you

Do you think psychobilly will ever be accepted by the mainstream, or

would you prefer it as an underground subculture?

embraced or understood as a subculture by the mainstream, but I'm

also not one to advocate limiting the number of people who could or

should be into a style of music. The fact is, in the U.S. anyway, is

that a decreasing number of people listen to rock music anyway, it's

all hip-hop. So there doesn't seem much point to worry about too

many people digging a style of music based on darkness and true

rock'n'roll, that's just not gonna happen. The more the merrier I

say, as someone who remembers when there was NO scene at all in the

Do you ever think people get too caught up in the fashion and image

side of psychobilly, that they lose sight of the music?

into the style, but there are definitely people who focus on that

before the music. One of the problems with subcultures is that some

of the people they attract are only into it to try and appear

"different" or "unique" when really they're as conformist as any

idiot in the street. These people only stay until they can jump on

the next obscure trend, looking for identity. If someone's truly

With limited radio and video play and a fan base built on word of

mouth, does is surprise you that people all over the world,

including Australia, are such big fans of your band?

used to, but it is quite strange. It's one thing to have a crowd in

a town where you've toured and played many times, it's quite another

to have an amazing crowd in a city or country you've never been to

in your life! I'm happy that it seems like wherever Tiger Army goes

in the civilized world, it seems like there's someone there who's a

You are coming to Australia for the first time shortly, what are you

expecting of our country?

audiences are quite rabid and appreciative of those who make the

long journey, as few bands do. We're quite happy to get the chance.

The only bands I know personally who've done it are AFI and Rancid,

they both say it's a great place to play so I'm quite looking

So what can audiences expect from a Tiger Army show?

we've got into the live performances. Sometimes they're more

aggressive than people would expect, onstage that is. We're a three

Have you heard of any Australian bands?

The band have had several line-up changes over the years, is the

current line-up now permanent?

I'm having a great time playing with Jeff and James. They seem to be

enjoying Tiger Army as well, so unless one of them moves on to other

things, this is the band as far as I'm concerned. They are certainly

among the most talented musicians I've played with in this or any

What's it like playing on the Warped Tour to a whole bunch of

pop-punk kids?

LOT of the music on Warped, but the people who choose to come see

Tiger Army at Warped obviously have the best taste! One of the cool

things about Warped is that you reach kids who are still open-minded

musically; they're not as jaded yet. If seeing our band positively

Any final words, or things you want to tell the people of Australia?

and rock! It's an honour to make the trip, see you all soon! If

anyone's interested in gig dates or just more info on the band,