BLACK TIDE

The young metal upstarts discuss their impressive debut and trying to poison your bandmates for their birthdays...

Photo by Karen McBride

Florida's Black Tide may have grabbed the headlines for their prodigious ages, but debut album Light For Above indicates a technical expertise that time can't buy. Ali Ryland dragged the band away from their girly magazines for a few minutes to talk about their impressive debut and trying to poison your bandmates for their birthdays.

"I just want to ball out!" Florida-born Steven Spence says after being ushered into Black Tide's (and Bleeding Through's) plush tour bus. The drummer is rather relaxed for someone who in hours will be facing a sold out Manchester Apollo in support of Bullet For My Valentine, something scary enough to make anyone's knees a bit wobbly. Guitarist Austin Panix is similarly unflustered as he flicks through what appears to be an adult magazine. Naughty naughty, young man!

Much of the press has focused on the fact that the band are barely old enough to get into the venues they play (frontman Gabriel Garcia has only recently celebrated his 16th birthday).

"I don't feel that young!" exclaims Panix as he lounges upon the bus's cosy seats. "We're friends with all people, age difference isn't a big problem, though we're 15 years younger than most people on this tour," adds Spence.

Of course, this may not be a problem in the UK, but the rules are rather stricter back in their home country. "Yeah for 21 and up shows in the States we're not allowed to be let into our own show!" Spence seems agitated for the first time, a wry smile on the young man's face at the bizarre twist. "For them we're not even allowed to watch the bands, we have to stay in our dressing rooms."

Age restrictions don't hinder the long-haired metallers' capacity for fun, however. "When it was Zach's [Sandler, Bass] birthday, we pulled him up on stage to chug a drink in front of all these screaming kids and he couldn't chug it!" laughs Spence. "Even after three tries he couldn't, so he got booed! Though it was a weird concoction." Hardly surprising - it contained more spirits than you'd find on Tesco shelves and even some tobacco floating around in it. Imagine the spring breaks these lads must have experienced.

Black Tide are a name that won't soon be wiped off rock fans vocabulary. The frontman may be young and slender, but Garcia's scarily deep, resonating vocals can turn a head or two alone, and the band are more than capable of handling themselves. It's not surprising that the Bullet For My Valentine fans "can get into" them.

"The reception's really good- it's something Bullet fans can relate to," Spence explains, as Austin uums and aahs over his dirty paraphernalia. "We just try to warm up the crowd, sometimes they get straight into it and other times it takes a few songs." Of course, it's nothing unusual for them, after Black Tide toured with Avenged Sevenfold back in January this year. "The shows were a little similar but the shows we played with A7X were a lot smaller. It's like yesterday we played the Alexandra Palace, for 9000 people, it was amazing."

With influences including some of the greatest monsters of metal (Megadeth, Metallica, Pantera) Black Tide reveal they're not just another band out for money.

"We're branching out from the rock sound," says the now engaging Austin. "We want to motivate people. It's our job, and our industry, we want to make it better. We get out there to make music."

And they've recently had their first chance to develop that sound on their recent debut album.

"We're really proud with how Light From Above turned out," Spence says excitedly, as Austin nods along to his band mate's enthusiasm. "I like all the tracks though some are more fun to play live, like "Show Me The Way" and "Light From Above". It took us about 6 months to finish the album, then there was pre-production and downtime. It was really laid back, towards the end was the best when we got to change some things and hammer some riffs out."

But we can safely say that Black Tide aren't planning on retirement yet. In five years time, Steven Spence expects to have his own house, and both members are hopeful for the future. "It would be awesome to do Download Festival again," Spence says wistfully. "We were there this year, and it would be awesome to headline one day." And with the way this band have been going, that seems like a wish you can bet on.

by Ali Ryland

Further links

Black Tide music.com

Homepage of Miami's throwback thrashers. 80's rules, 80's rule!

Black Tide on Myspace

Myspace travels back to 1987 to present Miami thrashers Black Tide. Metaaaaalllll!!!!