RED TIDE RISING INTERVIEW 2016

RED TIDE RISING INTERVIEW
BY STEPHANIE STEVENS​

I want to start out by saying hard work, practice and development and consistency can make one hell of an impact on something your passionate about. I fell upon this band called RED TIDE RISING. Never heard of them but I did hear they have toured with some high notched bands and also heard they were a young band so I was ready for something that could need some work.
The band just released a EP entitled VOICES and with one listen to production of this EP I knew something serious was happening then I starting listening to the vocals and was like there is no god damn way this kid is this young. The maturity the depth of his pitch is just outstanding and music wise its solid hard hitting with melody and just a really impressive EP from a band so young.
So world meet RED TIDE RISING. The band is out of Denver and came into the scene in 2012 the band, consist of brothers Andrew (guitar) and Matthew (vocals) Whiteman, Matt Guerin (drums)and Michael LeBois (bass)
VOICES has been released to the world; 5 solid tracks, dominating, full of aggression, and full of powerful lyrics. Age is just a number when it comes to maturity, RED TIDE RISING has a whole hell of a lot to offer in the next few years so watch out for them and just get your taste now so you can watch them climb the ladder of success.
I had a chance to ask the Brothers some questions on starting out at a young age, the EP and the touring they are going to be doing well into 2016.
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​WHERE DOES THE NAME RED TIDE RISING COME FROM?
M - It has no meaning or back story to it, it was just something in 2008 that sounded cool so we stuck with it.
 
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCE GROWING UP AND DID THAT HELP YOU STICK WITH LEARNING MUSIC AT A YOUNG AGE?
 
M - My biggest influences were the vocalists that took things to the next level by switching vocal styles several times in each song. Jonathan Davis from Korn and David Draiman from Disturbed are two of my early influences. I would say their influence helped me stick with all the tedious practicing involved with developing a musical ability.
 
HOW DID YOU GUYS ALL MEET AND BECOME A BAND?
 
M - My brother and I have been in bands together for a while. Our drummer Matt went to the same high school as me, a couple grades ahead. We picked him up through there. Lastly, our bassist Michael has been in the Denver music scene for a while, so we reached out to him because we knew him well when we lost our previous bassist.
 
WHAT IS THE SCARIEST PART ABOUT BEING SO YOUNG AND BEING IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IF ANY?
 
M- I don’t think there is anything necessarily scary, the whole thing is a gamble for anyone, no matter how old or young. If you are young though, you have to bring the A game, otherwise someone will pass you or grab opportunities you were working for.
 
MATT YOUR VOCALS ARE SO MATURE FOR A YOUNG MAN WHAT KIND OF VOCAL TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD?
 
M - At a very young age of 9 I started doing covers of AC/DC, I met a talented vocal coach at a gig one night by the name of Bob Harris. He saw the potential in me and helped develop my voice from age 12 to about 17 or 18. At that point he and I agreed that he had taught me all he could so I picked up Melisa Cross’ “Zen of Screaming” and self- taught myself using the skills Bob had given me. So to sum it up, I've had 12 years of intense vocal training.
 
FROM AN EARLY START YOU HAVE TOURED WITH SOME KNOWN BANDS HAS THAT HELPED YOU IN PUTTING TOGETHER A SOLID SOUND AND A TOURING PACKAGE?
 
M - It definitely has. We had the opportunity to tour with In This Moment right as Blood was released, so we witnessed their overnight success happen. When we went out with Drowning Pool we learned a ton because those guys are all veteran players who know the ins and outs of the industry extremely well. Working with Mike Luce on our last CD, ‘Voices,’ definitely reigned in our sound.
 
GETTING OUT AND TOURING IS WAY DIFFERENT THEN GOING INTO THE STUDIO TRACKING A SONG AND GOING HOME. NIGHT AFTER NIGHT OF PLAYING HOW DO YOU GUYS GEAR UP FOR NOT WEARING YOURSELVES OUT ESPECIALLY VOCAL WISE OUT ON THE ROAD YOUR PLAYING NIGHT AFTER NIGHT?
 
M - Going back to the training question, Bob had taught me the importance of vocal health and with that I have my own code I follow. I try to limit my talking as much as I can, I don't do any hard vocals without warming up properly, and when the show is done I take the time to warm down before talking with the fans. Add all of those up with a good night’s rest and you can go on and on and on without damage.
 
BACK IN THE DAY YOU DID PORTIONS TO SALES OF A SONG TO AN ORGANIZATION IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS WILL STICK WITH AND DO YOU HAVE ONE PARTICULAR ONE YOU STICK WITH AND SUPPORT?
 
A - We still donate proceeds from “Finding Home” to the Out of the Darkness suicide prevention program. That is currently the only charity we are donating to at this moment.
 
SO NOW VOICES JUST CAME OUT FIRST THING BEFORE WE GET INTO THE MUSIC IS WHY ONLY AN EP IS THIS JUST A TASTE OF WHAT A FULL LENGTH IS GOING TO SOUND LIKE?
A - We wanted to bring the best possible songs to the table for the new release, and we all felt that releasing an EP with solid tracks as opposed to rushing to record a full length and having it sound spotty would be best. It allowed us to spend more time on these songs and prepare them for studio. It is but a taste of what the full length will have in store.
 
WILL YOU TOUR FOR THE EP? AND FOR HOW LONG?
A - We are going out with metal legends Sevendust in August to support their Kill the Flaw tour in US and Canada with Crobot. After that we are planning on at least one more solid tour in the fall before we focus on recording the rest of our record.
 
ARE U WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL FOR A FULL LENGTH COMING OUT POSSIBLY THIS YEAR?
WILL YOU WORK WITH THE SAME PRODUCER FOR THE EP?
A - We have been working on the follow up for a couple months now. We will continue to have Mike Luce produce the record.
 
WHAT’S THE CONCEPT SONGWRITING WISE ON VOICES SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE LETTING OUT SOME ANGER THIS TIME AROUND?
 
A - We are always letting out anger. That’s the beauty of music, you can freely express yourself in it. The anger might be more apparent in Matthew’s voice mainly due to the zen of screaming program finally being completed by him. He has a much more aggressive take overall now with his singing/screaming, which makes things that much heavier and angrier.
 
WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT SUFFOCATE (MY FAVORITE SONG) ABOUT ADDICTION, IS THIS A CLOSE AT HOME TOPIC?
 
A - Not so much a close at home topic, but it’s something we see a lot of as we continue to go deeper into the industry. We've seen hometown bands suffer from it, so to fit the theme of survival that’s what the song serves as.
 
IF YOU COULD PICK ANYBODIES BRAIN IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHAT THREE THINGS WOULD YOU ASK THEM?
A - I would ask Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones:
1. How did you all become inspired to create one of the first rock bands the world has known?
2. How do you keep inspiration for songs, especially this long into your career?
3. When the nukes go off, what kind of world do you want us to leave behind for you?
 
WHAT DO YOU WANT RED TIDE RISING TO BE KNOWN FOR?
 
A - We want to be known as a band that brings it at all of our shows. We want people to leave an RTR show feeling spent from the amount of energy that we give off and feed to them, and in return they feed to us. We want to be undeniable.
 
LAST COMMENTS?
 
A - Thank you to all of our fans and haters who have supported us and motivated us through the years to keep writing, playing, and having a great time with music.