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Tiger Army.
 In an industry full of closed minds and far too many pigeonholes, "psychobilly" isn't exactly the most common genre to namedrop. However, mention Tiger Army and you'll be surprised how many psychobilly fans seem to come out of the woodwork. Around a decade on, the band are still amazing people the world over with their sound - despite a past that would make most bands pull the plug. Injuries, fights, band members quitting - you name it, it's happened.
The culmination of all this drama has been a fantastic new line up and quite possibly their best album to date. Vocalist/guitarist Nick 13 is the only remaining original member, at times single handedly carrying the Tiger Army flame through some of the hardest times in his life.
"Tiger Army is my life." he explains. "I don't know if the importance of the music to me could be overstated. It would've been great to continue with one line up of people who were just as dedicated as I was, but that wasn't the way it happened. It wasn't the first or even the second time that the band was just me. It sucks, feeling like you have to start from scratch, but in other ways having done it before gives you the strength to carry on and lets you know you can do it again.
"The one thing I wouldn't compromise is the band's sound and reputation by getting onstage with an inferior line up. I always want to at least match if not surpass what we've done before so if I didn't feel I could do that, it would be time to hang it up. Luckily for me, that's far from the position we're in at the present... I'm grateful that the hard work of the past several years is paying off and that we're still achieving new things. I always felt that things would work out if I could just keep them going and that's what seems to be happening. It feels like a natural progression, but at the same time we've paid at least our share of dues, and probably a bit more!"
Nick 13 found himself in this position almost by accident, yet it's a scene he fits into so well that it's hard to imagine him not fronting the band. "I'd been into punk for a number of years and developed a parallel interest in 'fifties rock'n'roll, then rockabilly. A lot of my favourite punk bands, 'seventies stuff, seemed to touch on the original rock'n'roll anyway. When I realized that the psycho scene in Europe wasn't just a few bands, it crystallised the direction I wanted to head in, that would tie together all this different stuff floating around in my head."
Once he found others that shared his vision, the band was born and a lifetime of shows and friends soon followed. "The psycho scene in the 'States only popped up about five years ago in any sizable form. There are definitely regions that favour it, like Southern California or Texas. As a band though, we've got many fans who are psychos and many who are not, so things are pretty good no matter where we tour. There are just as many punks, hardcore kids, goths, skins etcetera as psychos at the average gig and that's true whether in America, England, Japan or wherever."
Soon Australia will be added to that list, with Tiger Army about to embark on their first Australian tour. "I've been aware of the fans in Australia for some time; we'd get e-mails asking us to play, meet people at shows who flew to see us play in the 'States. I've wanted to go there for years and we'd heard rumblings of people wanting to bring us there, but late 2004 was the first time someone actually got in touch and said 'I want you to come to Australia and tour.' ."
And quite the tour it promises to be, as Nick 13 explains. "Energy. Intensity. We put everything we have physically and mentally into a Tiger Army performance. I would hope to see the same on the part of the fans and from what I understand, that's the kind of scene it is!"
Ryan Smith
 | Tiger Army play at the Enigma Bar on Thurs 17 March with The Satellites. |
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