Tiger Army
is an American psychobilly band that was formed in 1996 in Berkeley, California. [1] [2] Its constant member and lead song writer is Nick 13. The band has released a total of 4 studio albums, some of them having gained considerable airplay.
|
TIGER ARMY TICKETS
|
History
The band played their first show at the famous
924 Gilman Street venue in
Berkeley, California, with
AFI on
March 29,
1996. After making a name for themselves playing shows throughout the
California area alongside
AFI and
English psychobilly pioneers
The Meteors, they were signed to
Chapter Eleven Records.
Tiger Army first entered the studio in the summer of 1996 to record a self-titled
vinyl record EP, now referred to as the
Temptation EP
. This EP caught the attention of
Tim Armstrong, 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.
During the ensuing California mini-tour promoting the album,
Nick 13 asked
Geoff Kresge, one of his former bandmates from
Influence 13, to join Tiger Army. Kresge accepted, and joined as a permanent member a few months later.
[2]The band was asked to play on the
Danzig and
Samhain tour in 2000, where they befriended Samhain drummer
London May. He joined the band when
Adam Carson left.
The band recorded a second album,
Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite
in 2001. London May left shortly after the recording, and was replaced with Fred Hell.
On
March 10,
2003, Fred Hell was shot four times, including once in the head, by armed robbers who broke into his friend's apartment in
Chino, California. A bullet became lodged in his brain, making it necessary for him to go through physical therapy before he could play drums again. At the time, the band was in the process of recording the album
Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise
. At first, the record was repeatedly delayed to make time for him to recover enough to perform, but his injuries proved serious enough for the band to hire a studio drummer,
Mike Fasano, drum tech for both
Rancid and Tiger Army, to play on the album. Hell attempted to play on the tour supporting the album's release, but he was again forced to stay and recover while Fasano joined the band on the road. In July 2004, Hell decided to depart from the band in light of his injuries.
Only months later, in September 2004, Geoff Kresge departed the band to focus his efforts on his new record label, Dead Body Records and began recruiting members for a new band called
Viva Hate. He would join his wife
Kamilla Vanilla with
Horrorpops as a guitarist a month later. Nick 13 quickly announced a new line-up for Tiger Army, featuring drummer "Wasted" James Meza (formerly of The Rezurex and numerous other small
Los Angeles psychobilly bands, and a former touring drummer for the
Nekromantix) and stand-up bassist Jeff Roffredo (formerly of Cosmic Voodoo, Calavera and The Rezurex), who were full-time members of Tiger Army, until Jeff Roffredo, departed from the band in early 2008, leaving Geoff Kresge to once again take the position.
Tiger Army's fourth album, titled
Music from Regions Beyond
, was released on June 5, 2007
[4] and was produced by
Jerry Finn.
[5]
In 2008, Tiger Army played a number of shows in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe.
Band members
Current members
- Nick 13 - lead vocals, lead guitar, songwriter (1996 - present)
- Geoff Kresge - stand-up bass, backing vocals (1999 - 2004, 2008 - present)
- James Meza - drums, percussion (2004 - present)
Former members
- Joel Day - stand-up bass (1996 - 1997)
- Adam Carson - drums, percussion (1996 - 2000, one show in 2008)
- London May -drums, percussion (2000 - 2002)
- Fred Hell - drums, percussion (2002 - 2004)
- Jeff Roffredo - stand-up bass (2004 - 2008)
Session members
- Rob Peltier - stand-up bass (1999, Tiger Army
)
- Mike Fasano - drums, percussion (2004, live and Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise
)
Discography
Studio albums
- 1999: Tiger Army
- 2001: Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite
- 2004: Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise
- #146 US
- 2007: Music from Regions Beyond
- #49 US
EPs
- 1997: Temptation EP
- 2002: Early Years EP
- 2004: Ghost Tigers EP
Compilations
- 1997: ''Punk Fiction "F.T.W" "Wedge Records"
- 1999: ''Give 'Em the Boot II "HellCat" "Nocturnal"
- 2002: ''Give 'Em the Boot III "HellCat" "Power of Moonlite"
- 2004: ''Give 'Em the Boot IV "HellCat" "Atomic"
- 2004: ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9 "Temptation"
- 2005: ''Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10 "Ghostfire/Rose of the Devil's Garden video" "Epitaph Records"
- 2005: ''Give 'Em the Boot DVD "HellCat" "Never Die"
- 2006: ''Give 'Em the Boot V "HellCat" "Swift Silent Deadly"
- 2007: 2007 Warped Tour Compilation
- 2008: ''Nightmare Revisited "Oogie Boogie's Song (Bonus Track)"
References
- Tiger Army Biography
- Psychobilly bands - Tiger Army
- Psychobilly bands - Tiger Army
- Tiger Army Discography
- Tiger Army News