Tiger Army

Tiger Army

Tiger Army performing at Warped Tour 2007
Background information
Origin Berkeley, California, United States
Genres Psychobilly, punk rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Years active 1996–present
Labels Luna Tone Records, Rise Records, Chapter Eleven, Hellcat
Website www.tigerarmy.com
Members
Past members

Tiger Army is an American band based in Los Angeles, California.[1] Associated with the musical style psychobilly, the band was formed in 1996 in Berkeley, California.[2][3] Its constant member and lead songwriter is singer/guitarist Nick 13. The band have released four studio albums and one EP. Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres.

History

Tiger Army played their first show at the 924 Gilman Street venue in Berkeley, California on March 29, 1996.[4] The band's sound draws from early punk, rock n' roll and rockabilly, as well as dark English pop. The band's first official release was a self-titled vinyl record EP, now referred to as the Temptation EP. The record was released by Chapter 11 Records. This EP caught the attention of Tim Armstrong, co-owner of Hellcat Records, who signed the band.

Tiger Army recorded their first full-length, the self-titled Tiger Army, in January 1999. It was released that October. Stand-up bassist Joel Day left Tiger Army before the band was signed, so the Quakes stand-up bassist Rob Peltier was hired to play on the album. Drummer Adam Carson of AFI (band), who had been helping out the band live, played on the record, as well. The band then embarked on a California mini-tour promoting the album in 1999. Then in 2000 Nick 13 asked former AFI (band) bassist Geoff Kresge, one of his former bandmates from Influence 13, to join Tiger Army. Ex-Samhain drummer London May came on board as well.

Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite followed in 2001. Fred Hell replaced London May shortly after the recording. The band toured with TSOL, The Damned (band), Dropkick Murphys and others in support of the record and went to Europe and Japan for the first time on the album as well. The band's friend and drum tech Mike Fasano played on the next Tiger Army album, Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise, when Hell was unable to record or tour behind the album. Nick 13 announced a new line-up for Tiger Army, featuring drummer James Meza and stand-up bassist Jeff Roffredo, formerly of Los Angeles psychobilly bands Cosmic Voodoo, Calavera, and The Rezurex in 2004. This lineup supported Social Distortion on an extensive US tour.

In spring, 2005, the band headlined a string of five sold out shows at the Hollywood House Of Blues. The following year, the band sold out four nights at the Anaheim House Of Blues. They also hit the road with Morrissey and AFI (band) performed several headlining tours around the world.

Nick 13 performing at a Warped Tour.

Tiger Army made major festival appearances across the US and Europe in support of their fourth album, titled Music from Regions Beyond. The album was released on June 5, 2007[5] and was produced by Jerry Finn.[6] "Forever Fades Away" went to No. 1 on Los Angeles rock station KROQ FM, which Tiger Army performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live![7] and at radio festivals like "BFD". Publications like New York Times, who said "[Tiger Army's] moody new CD, "Music From Regions Beyond," is one of the year's best punk albums",[8] and Spin covered the band for the first time, as well.

Geoff Kresge returned to Tiger Army in early 2008 and joined Nick 13 and drummer James Meza on tours of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe. The band launched a multi-night festival, Octoberflame, in Southern California in 2008, concluding two years of touring behind Music From Regions Beyond. Nick launched a solo project focused on Americana/country music in 2009, making his first live solo appearance at the Stagecoach Festival in 2010 in Indio, California. Tiger Army continued to appear at Octoberflame each year, as well as in cities like Las Vegas, San Diego, Tempe, Costa Mesa and the MusInk Festival. On June 7, 2011 Nick 13 released his solo album on Sugar Hill Records. Tiger Army has been less active while 13 has built his solo career in the Americana world.

Tiger Army played their largest standalone headlining show to date at the Orange County Fair in 2011. In March/April 2012, the band performed two shows in Southern California and one in Las Vegas dubbed "Spring Forward." Octoberflame V followed with six shows in five cities.[9] In December, 2012, Tiger Army announced "Spring Forward 2013," which took place in March, 2013 in San Diego, Ventura, CA and Las Vegas.[10] The band played a radio show in Arizona around the same time.

Octoberflame VI will take place in October, 2013 at City National Grove of Anaheim on October 25 and October 26.[11] The two back-to-back shows have been advertised as Tiger Army's last shows of 2013.[12] The Octoberflame events have become known for varied set lists that explore deep cuts and cover songs, special guests and diverse support acts running the gamut of rock, alt-rock, punk, hardcore, psychobilly, industrial, rockabilly and more.

In February 2014, Geoff Kresge announced he would be leaving Tiger Army via a lengthy statement on his Facebook page.[13]

In June 2014, Nick 13 announced that writing for a new Tiger Army album was underway via the band's Facebook page.[14] Recording of this album, the band's fifth, was announced to have commenced in March '15.[4] In October 2015, the band posted the first preview of music from the new album on their Instagram page, a 15-second clip of the song "Prisoner Of The Night".[15] The post refers to the album as "coming soon" but does not provide a release date.

After announcing that live performances including the annual Octoberflame dates would be on hold for 2014 to focus on preparing for the album,[16] the return of Octoberflame (VII) for 2015 was announced in June,[17] with tickets sold out by early July.[18]

The band will release their as yet to be titled fifth studio album, their first in nine years, in the spring of 2016 on Luna Tone Records/Rise Records. On February 26, 2016, "Prisoner of the Night", the first single from the upcoming album, was released on iTunes.[19]

Band members

Current
Former
Touring
Session
Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Compilations

References

  1. ↑ "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  2. ↑ "Tiger Army Biography". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  3. ↑ "Psychobilly bands - Tiger Army". Wreckingpit.com. 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  4. 1 2 "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  5. ↑ "Tiger Army Discography". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  6. ↑ "Tiger Army News". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  7. ↑ ""Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Episode #5.13 (TV Episode)". IMDb. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ "New York Times Music". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  9. ↑ "Tiger Army News". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  10. ↑ "Tiger Army News". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  11. ↑ "Orange County Register". Orange County Register. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  12. ↑ "Tiger Army News". Tigerarmy.com. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  13. ↑ "Geoff Kresge". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  14. ↑ "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
  15. ↑ "tigerarmy". Instagram. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  16. ↑ "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  17. ↑ "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-06-08.
  18. ↑ "Tiger Army". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-07-02.
  19. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/album/prisoner-of-the-night-single/id1084068778?app=itunes

External links

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