Interview with Tiger Army's Nick 13 from tlchicken.com.

TIGER ARMY'S NICK 13

Interview by Vinnie Baggadonuts
Photograph by Akilla Kojima

SEEING TIGER ARMY AT WARPED TOUR IS SO UNGRATIFYING. I ALWAYS WANT MORE-- A LONGER SET. THIS FALL, I'LL GET THAT AND THEN SOME, AS NICK 13 AND CO. TREK ACROSS THE U.S. WITH NONE OTHER THAN PUNK ROCK LEGENDS SOCIAL DISTORTION. VINNIE BAGGADONUTS SAT DOWN WITH THE TIGER ARMY FRONTMAN TO TALK ABOUT THE UPCOMING TOUR, THE TIGER ARMY VISION, AND THE GREATEST SPORT IN THE WORLD-- PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

Vinnie: I know you've done a few shows with Social Distortion before, but I also know that they're one of the bands you've always wanted to tour with. Are you excited about being on the road with them for two months.

Nick: Yeah, definitely. It's going to be one of the biggest tours we've done, in terms of length and in terms of venue size, crowd size, things like that.

V: Did you get a chance to hang out with any of them, when you played back in the day?

N: Johnny 2 Bags-- the rhythm guitarist-- is a friend of mine, and I definitely know Matt Freeman-- the bass player from Rancid, who's going to be playing bass with them this tour.

V: Oh, that's right!

N: Yeah. And actually, I did meet Mike Ness for like, two seconds...

Both: (laugh)

N:...but I wouldn't call it "hanging out."

Both: (laugh)

V: Well, know that you have this dream tour out of the way, I know you want to tour with Morrissey. Is that going to be the next one you chase down?

N: (laughs) Well, we don't really chase anything down. Luckily, things just sort of come to us. but, if anyone asked, we'd certainly want to do it. (laughs)

V: So, I have some standard questions I know you've been asked a million times, but I want to know about the album.

N: Okay.

V: Overall, how's the reception for Ghost Tigers Rise been?

N: Really good! It seems like some people were a little surprised by it, but a majority of the general responses have been positive.

V: Is the "surprise" factor because of the slight change in sound?

N: I guess. You know, it's funny, spending so much time with the songs in my head as I do, I'm not really as aware of any differences between album sounds as everyone else is. If anything, I listen to the previous albums, to practice for tours, and those sound weird to me, because they're not how I'd make them sound now.

Both: (laugh)

V: Is it a hard thing to hear a certain sound in your head, which is so intangible, then go and recreate it physically?

N: It can be. But sometimes it's the easiest thing in the world. Part of that comes with experience.

V: Yeah. And when you wrote and recorded this album, did it feel different at all?

N: I would say, hearing a song in my head, that I've written, but haven't recorded, is much like if you imagine hearing a song you've heard before, and rather than listening to it, you're just playing it back in your head. It's a lot like that. I can say that, on this record, it's definitely the closest I've ever come to putting the songs on tape exactly like I hear them in my head.

V: Wow!

N: I think it has a lot to do with having been in the studio for so many hours, at this point.

V: Are you beyond declaring influences now? Because I think you've developed your own sound, at this point. It's really Tiger Army, and nothing else.

N: Yeah! Definitely. There really were no direct influences on us for this album. I feel like it definitely became its own thing. You know, certain things I was a fan of when we recorded the first record, I'm sure they're still there, but they really receded in importance, into the background. And what it is at the core that's really unique about Tiger Army, really emerged into the forefront.

V: And you also seem like you weren't really concerned with making every song sounding the same. One song might have a more punk sound to it, but the next one would be more rockabilly.

N: Yeah. Definitely, the albums are made from the perspective that they're a collection of songs that I've written and am proud of. The most important thing is that I like the album, because if I don't, I can't expect anyone else to.

Both: (laugh)

N: Of course I want other people to like it, but there's a satisfaction in making something that you're proud of, and no one can take that away, regardless whether people like it or not. If you made the record you wanted to make, no one can take that away from you.

V: You didn't produce any of the other Tiger Army records, did you?

N: Yeah, I produced all of them.

V: No one else was with you? Man, I feel like an ass. I have them, and I swear this was the first one you solely produced. I had a question based on that!

Both: (laugh)

V: Well, is that just another part of the conceptual thoroughness of Tiger Army? I mean, the albums, the live show, the video, it's all so conceptually thorough. Is that something you've intended all along, since the very beginning?

N: I think what you're saying is just a result that I am completely involved in every step of every thing we've done, whether it's a video, the album cover, the album itself. I think the continuity comes from the fact that I'm involved in all of it. I was talking about this to someone last night. The new video we did, it's the first one I actually didn't direct, but the director was very open in letting me have my input.

V: Well, it didn't seem foreign to what I consider to be Tiger Army. It's really well shot, too.

N: I'm really happy with how it turned out.

V: Are you going to work with him more?

N: Well, there aren't really plans for a second video yet, but that's definitely something I'd like to do.

V: How hard is it to put videos together for your records?

N: It really depends. It's a lot of work, especially if you have a limited budget, which we usually do. You're trying to get the highest possible production value out if it, and make it look as good as possible. A lot of times the result is people donating their time or doing favors for you, in terms of loaning equipment. It's a lot more work than you might imagine.

V: When you do these, how do you come up with the ideas? How did this one come about? Did the director come to you?

N: The treatment was written by the director, Vince Haycock, and the general concept is his, and we kinda batted it back and forth and refined some things.

V: What was your first result when you saw the end result?

N: I was actually seeing edits for it, while on Warped Tour, so I was pleased with it all along. I just concerned myself with micro details.

V: When you started Tiger Army, were you involved with every aspect of it on so intense a level?

N: (laughing) It was always pretty intense. I mean, obviously we had a lot less going on when we started. Basically, the band's always been me. Not to say that there aren't a lot of people who've helped from time to time, but it's always something I've wound up being the driving force behind.

V: Was that just an instinct you developed in the beginning? You didn't attend school for business did you?

Both: (laugh)

N: No. A lot of people don't realize Tiger Army started eight years ago, so everything that's happened for us has been a slow, gradual process. You kind of learn as you go along. As far as the creative side, I think it just reflects who I am and the way I create, which is to have a really specific idea about what I want to hear and see. Other people are just helping me actualize that.

V: I read that you grew up in a really small town, and nobody was really into the things you were into.

N: Yeah.

V: Did you always knew you wanted to be in a band, and was it your driving force out of that town?

N: Pretty much. And yeah, the idea for the band definitely goes back to my teens. There was nothing other than music for me to focus on, so that's how it happened.

V: Do you ever go back to your hometown, having achieved what you've achieved, to tell kids in a similar situation to the one you were in growing up, "Hey, there's hope! You can get out of here and do something that you want to do!"

N: I actually don't get back there a whole lot. I'd like to, because my parents still live there.Things get really busy between touring and recording. The last time I was there was Christmas last year, and that will probably be the same for this year.

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