{"id":13206,"date":"2014-06-10T01:00:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13206"},"modified":"2014-06-10T09:56:31","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:56:31","slug":"content-needed-blowin-wind-with-kadavars-tiger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13206","title":{"rendered":"Blowin’ Wind with Kadavar’s Tiger: “This kind of music has a very different approach. It\u2019s about not erasing all the instabilities, all the little mistakes. Maybe it\u2019s even about featuring them. “"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Img_7796\"Kadavar quickly made their way to the top tier of my favorite new bands after hearing their 2013 release Abra Kadavar. With their raw, no frills Cream like psychedelic power trio sound, Kadavar piqued my interest and had excited to be music lover. Kadavar was a band that I was dying to see live and after a full on American tour with Scorpion Child failed to even come to the Southeast, I thought I had lost my chance to see them. In 2014 Kadavar hit the road for a successful maiden voyage US tour. The band played to small, cavernous like rooms to appreciative crowds and steadily built a following from town town. Just when I thought it couldn\u2019t get better, I not only got to see them headline but only a month or so later they would return as direct support for Wolfmother.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After an amazing set I had the opportunity to sit down with Kadavar drummer Tiger and finally meet in person. Over a few cold PBRs we talked about his love of Kadavar and touring, his gratitude to the fans, his favorite bands to listen to, and all else in between. This was a fantastic interview and I hope you all will enjoy my 2nd interview with Tiger from Kadavar. Cheers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Tiger, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me tonight. It\u2019s great to see finally meet you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you Don. It\u2019s great to meet you too. I also want to say that I read your review of our last show and thanks for saying that there was no need for an encore [laughs]. I really have to say thank you for that. It\u2019s always a problem to explain to people why we don\u2019t do them and I was glad to see someone write that there was no need for it [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Tiger, I\u2019m glad you enjoyed that review. Hell, I\u2019m glad you read it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] It was really good, Don. Thank you.<\/p>\n

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So Tiger, tell me how Kadavar actually come to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all been through shitty phases music wise and at the time we met, everybody knew that if we continue doing music, we\u2019re just doing what we want. There\u2019s no thinking about what everybody else might like. Now it\u2019s upon us to create something that we can enjoy because otherwise I can get a day job. If I do music that I don\u2019t like it\u2019s just not worth it. There were no expectations. The first 18 months we were just messing around every couple of weeks in the rehearsal place, drinking beers, and enjoying our time. We listened to music, played a little bit and I think we slowly created a situation that everybody was very comfortable with. Then we started rehearsing more, getting more serious and it took about half a year before our first gig. It had been such a long time since I\u2019d been on stage and I felt nervous. The first show gave me so much energy and a few more shows later the energy just built up. We had two shows in 2010. We had 12 shows in 2011, and 100 shows in 2012.<\/p>\n

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The last time we did an interview you were calling me from the back of a van while on tour in Germany and now here you are on your 3rd US tour. Is it everything you thought and hoped it would be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the beginning, I didn\u2019t even have the hope to come here. The first time we toured here it was such an amazing experience. It was so different and also kind of stressful because we lost our bass player. When you go to a different continent you have to deal with the closeness of being in a band in a totally different way. I thought it just brought things out that were there before. Being on tour here is like being on holiday because it\u2019s not our home. It\u2019s very interesting touring on a different continent. People react differently and I think it\u2019s a gift that we\u2019re able to do that. I love being in America and I love to go to Australia and I hope we can go to South America, Africa, and Asia very soon. I think that everything that comes to us in the future is a good thing for the band but also a personal experience that we are very excited to have.<\/p>\n

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Since the release and first tour of Abra Kadavar, you changed bassists and now have Simon on the bass. The last time we talked he was brand new. Now that he\u2019s been in the band a while, how has this changed the dynamic of the band?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the sound changed a little more because he\u2019s a really hard puncher. Like he beats the shit out of his bass [laughs]. I think the whole thing has increased in energy and especially in tightness. His understanding of music is great and the connection is way better. Like how we can talk about little things when we are rehearsing or about the gig and there\u2019s these little things that are always very open. I think it made us a better band. He\u2019s a really good bass player. Especially after a year that he\u2019s grown into the band I can feel that there\u2019s a very good development for us.<\/p>\n

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Were there any pleasant surprises for you touring the US?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Um, the tour that we are doing right now is already better than the first one. We were part of a five band package on the first tour so it was a lot easier to draw people in on that run. I can see something developing and I\u2019m very thankful for that. I\u2019m thankful that the shows are bigger this time. I\u2019m very humbled that I can see this development. The people have been great on all the shows and meeting people after the shows is great. It\u2019s always so nice to see how much they like it, especially when you\u2019re far away from your home.<\/p>\n

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So you\u2019re touring the South again. Did you get you some good southern cooking?<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] You know, we had been in Austin for almost a month and this is the holiday aspect of the whole thing. Of course you want to try the food in whatever area you are in. We\u2019ve had all the deep fried shit, all the burgers, we tried everything. It didn\u2019t make touring easier but we had to do it [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Did you have a favorite food?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, when we were in St. Louis we ate at a European restaurant and that was the best [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Did you not have some good ol\u2019 barbecue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, we did. I like it. In Austin we drove \u00bd and hour south to this place that was called Smitty\u2019s that was very old, traditional barbecue. In New Orleans we didn\u2019t have the crawfish but we had deep fried pickles [laughs].<\/p>\n

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How did you like that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh it\u2019s so bad for you but it\u2019s so good [laughs]. We went sightseeing in New Orleans and people would look at us and go, \u201cHey! Eat something!\u201d [laughs]<\/p>\n

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Have you started saying \u201cy\u2019all\u201d yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

[laughs] I say that from time to time [laughs].<\/p>\n

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Kadavar\u2019s music really hit a chord with me. There\u2019s just something about it that moves me and I feel this connection to it which is pretty amazing. Is that something you had hoped to do with Kadavar\u2019s music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the beginning I wasn\u2019t even hoping anything. Hoping we could inspire people was like maybe two years after we started this band. We saw that people were enjoying it and it gives us a positive vibe and we want to give it back by doing it even better. In the beginning, we didn\u2019t think that anybody would like it but because we\u2019re just trying to do what we like.<\/p>\n

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Kadavar, Graveyard, Blues Pills, Purson, Jess & The Ancient Ones. There\u2019s something about this kind of music that bands are playing and striking a chord with listeners. What is it about this kind of music that seems to be connecting with people now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that it has to do with the situation that we\u2019re in with all the technique that we have to improve recordings, to embellish recordings, and to dehumanize recordings. We can now make everything perfect. This kind of music has a very different approach. It\u2019s about not erasing all the instabilities, all the little mistakes. Maybe it\u2019s even about featuring them. It\u2019s about feeling what you play and being comfortable with it. Just playing as you play and not doing artificial stuff on top.<\/p>\n

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I feel that some bands just think too much instead of just doing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, definitely. It\u2019s difficult because I\u2019d say that there\u2019s a process that develops from the first idea of a song until you finally play it live. You have this microscope and you make it bigger and bigger when you\u2019re writing the songs and then there\u2019s a point when you\u2019re so focused on little things. That\u2019s probably the point where you should just record the song and after that you prepare it for the live shows and then when you finally play it you can make everything smaller again and finally enjoy the song.<\/p>\n

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So Abra Kadvar has been out a while. Do you look back on that album now and say, \u201cI wish we would\u2019ve done something different\u201d now that you\u2019ve had time to live with it a while?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a good question. I definitely say that for what it is I\u2019m really, really happy with it. I mean, somebody else try to do that in 10 days [laughs]. If we would\u2019ve had six months I\u2019m sure that we would\u2019ve been able to do things differently. I think that you can definitely hear that the songs are a little simpler in structure and I\u2019m fine with that. This is the 2nd record and I\u2019m proud of it. It could\u2019ve definitely been a total different thing but that was the moment and that is how the 2nd record is. It\u2019s a bit simpler than the first one.<\/p>\n

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Are there any particular Kadavar songs that you feel more closely connected to than the others?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say every song is a process and the more you play it, the closer you can get to it. You are never finished with a song. I play probably exactly the same notes on the drums and everybody\u2019s doing quite the same but it\u2019s like the tiny things. There\u2019s always a little room to make it better and to get closer to it. For example, the song \u201cBlack Sun.\u201d In the beginning I didn\u2019t like that song at all [laughs]. I don\u2019t know why but now it\u2019s one of my favorites. After 300 shows, it\u2019s like the stone on the sea shore that just keeps getting rounder and rounder. I don\u2019t have to think about anything playing the old songs. With the new songs I\u2019m getting to that point. I\u2019m sure that in a year I could tell you, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s way easier.\u201d I like all the songs that we have and you can always improve them a little bit.<\/p>\n

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Abra Kadavar was written in 10 days. Is this a formula that you\u2019ll continue with moving into the next album cycle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. We don\u2019t want to do that again. As I said, I\u2019m still happy with that album for what it is and a record should always be a picture of the moment. The moment of the next record, we want to take the time that we need to make the best album we can. We\u2019ve already written four songs. We had this period in Austin where we rehearsed for three weeks for this tour and we wrote some new stuff. There are tons of ideas that we can work on while we are doing the festival season in Europe. When we\u2019re done with the European tour in the fall we will concentrate on writing everything. We\u2019ll definitely take our time because the third record needs to be better than the 2nd one. I just want to be happy with the material before we start recording and we\u2019ll take the time that we need.<\/p>\n