Nick 13 talks about the past, present and future of "psychobilly"
Hot rods from hell: Equally obsessed with Elvis and Bela Lugosi, Tiger Army is giving rockabilly a serious fright
By Jeff Inman
Las Vegas City Life
Tiger Army frontman and founder Nick 13 doesn't get a lot of love these days. Not because he can't crank out nitro-fueled psychobilly with all the attitude of a pissed off and punked out Brian Setzer; 13 has been doing that for years now. Hell, he can blend up Sun Records rockabilly and safety-pinned punk quicker than a bartender cooking up a batch of margaritas for a backyard barbecue. The problem: He does it better than most everyone else, and that makes him a target. Purists think he's killing the legacy. Hardcore fans think he's shining a spotlight where it doesn't belong. Neither are afraid of firing off a few rounds at him whenever possible.
"I just don't get it," he says. "Basically, I've been bringing a little attention to the genre and those people who want to keep it to themselves aren't happy with that. But that's what happens when things grow. And the people who are really into rockabilly think what I do is a bastardization of the music. But to me it's truer to the form than forgetting it's not 1955. The music is great and all, but it had its time. You can't do better than Elvis or Charlie Burnett. So you better take the influence and do your own thing, just like they did back then."
It's what 13 has always tried to do. While most of the rockabilly revivalist groups have been content to stick to the traditional formulas - hot rods, hot babes, hot heads - 13 has always been more interested in the seedier, slightly disturbing British psychobilly scene. Unlike early American torchbearers like the Cramps and even the Reverend Horton Heat, who just mixed up punk speed with rockabilly swagger, British psychobilly was just as obsessed with Bela Lugosi as it was Elvis. Slap bass still ruled, but lyrics tended to be full of B-horror shtick, with extra points for graphic depictions of pure evil.
"It's really a combination of everything I love," 13 says. "I grew up on a lot of punk, but as I've gotten older my tastes have gotten more diverse. Psychobilly has it all: the speed, the roots of rock, country, and it has that real dark feeling to it, like an old drive-in movie or something."
But when Tiger Army started revving up its psychobilly engine in 1995, few people in the U.S. had heard what the Brits had come up with. For some, the reaction was immediate. ("I always say psychos are born, not made," 13 says. "The instant they hear the music, it just hits them.") For others - those purists and such - Tiger Army was just a Halloween version of something good.
Even so, the group impressed Rancid's Tim Armstrong enough for him to sign Tiger Army to his label, Hellcat, in '97. By the time the group's self-titled debut came out in '99, the psycho underground was beginning to spread through the hot-rod set.
Three years later, Tiger Army's version of psychobilly has sparked enough interest to justify releasing The Early Years EP, a collection of long out-of-print singles and demos. According to 13, the original vinyl singles have been selling on the Internet for over $300. Most punk kids can't even scrap together enough for a decent pink dye job. Shit, 13 can't even afford one. And though slightly scratchy and primitive when compared to Tiger Army's last disc, Power of Moonlite, the six tracks are full of the kind of greaser gore and speed-walking strut that fans love. So, in 13's eyes, why deprive people just because they don't have the cash?
"When I'm a fan of a band, I want everything," he says. "I don't care what it is: demos, bootlegs, I want it all. And I think our fans are like me, so why not put it out?"
Added bonus: It's likely to shut up some of the critics for a while. Songs like "Jungle Cat" and "Twenty Flight Rock" definitely skew more towards the traditionalist angle, just as long as there's a rocket strapped to the hood of a hot rod. And since EPs rarely attract more than the super-dedicated, there's no worry about Tiger Army suddenly winding up on MTV.
"Like that's ever going to happen," 13 laughs. "Some people are talking about psychobilly going mainstream, but it's so far removed from most people that there's no way. Ask a hundred people what it is and 99 will have no clue. That's not mainstream. That's nothing to worry about."
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