I became friends with the guys in Tides of Man when on tour with Ranges last October. The two bands shared three dates on tour, as well as both playing the inaugural dunk!USA festival in Vermont. The day that I really got to know the guys in Tides was in Clifton, NJ. We got to the venue with plenty of time to spare, so after loading our gear into the venue we went on an adventure, exploring some nearby drains nicknamed “Gates of Hell”. Nothing like a shared adventure to help form a friendship!
That night I got locked backstage while the band played. It was during that set that I realised just how good the band was. I was already a Tides of Man fan based off their album Young and Courageous, but being able to watch them play that night, and the few nights that followed, added to my appreciation of the band.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this new album since then. I was lucky enough to hear some of the new tracks played live in America, and again at dunk!festival in Belgium this May, so I knew that the record was going to be great.
Technically, this record is excellent. Most of the guys moonlight as sessions musicians, so are clearly adept at their craft and know their way around a studio. Not to mention that they have already released three other albums with which they could refine their sound and gel as a group.
I’ve listened to Every Nothing on heavy rotation for a month now. It’s an album that ages with time. With Every Nothing they’re trying new sounds, new textures, new feelings. And it’s stunning.
Most people’s first introduction to the album will be through the track “Static Hymn”, seeing as it is both the first single, and first track on the album. It warmly beckons us in, enveloping us with swirling haze. There’s a lot going on without it sounding overly busy. At 2.40 the music launches into blast beats and drill picking, melding a new hybrid of sounds that I’m going to nickname hope thrash – both intense and inviting.
Exploring sonic textural possibilities has paid off, because Every Nothing sounds so warm! They paint moody atmosphere with every masterful stroke. I can’t wait to get a copy on vinyl to hear it in its full glory.
It must be mentioned that Alan Jaye is a brilliant bass player. He dials his tones in – from the in-you-face intro of “Everything Is Fine, Everyone Is Happy”, to the spacey feel of “Outside Ourselves”. The solo bass during the drop out of “Waxwing” hits the spot so well.
His rhythmic counterpart Josh Gould matches him with talent and diversity, with plenty of interesting moments like the distant percussion outro in “Mercury Fields”, the open/close hi-hat playing in “Mosaic”. One hang up I have is that Josh’s drum tones could cut through more at times when his bright washy cymbals dominate the mix. I can’t fault his playing, I would just like to hear it more clearly in certain sections.
Possibly the best example of this Josh’s playing can be found in “Outside Ourselves”. Saturated with feeling, and offering sweet melodies, it is one the leviathan tracks on the album. Josh shows off his chops with prog drumming, playing around the beat with subtle finesse.
“New Futures” is one of the standout tracks, boasting powerful drumming and defined guitar playing. I dig this articulate sound, picking up Lost In The Riots kind of vibes. Josh brings us in on drums, with crisp rapping on the rims and alternate sticking on the hi-hats. The guitars come in looped layers of delay.
I hear a new side of the band in piano ballad “Far Off”. Solemn, ghostly and ambient, it’s a song with strong gravitas. And, going off on a wild tangent: what do we hear in the background at 1.19 mark? A child shouting something?
The This Will Destroy You influences are noticeable in “Death Is No Dread Enemy”. It’s hard to tell how much is digital or analogue within the mix, but there are certainly elements that sound electronic/triggered and offer fresh new textures and timbre. A brooding, searing piece that fluctuates between introspective and intense.
There are many brilliant moments to be found throughout Every Nothing. There are too many to list, but some of my favourite moments include during “Old 88″, when the sadness and longing explodes into something raw and defiant; The outro of “Keep Telling Yourself” with plucking sounds that mimic a lullaby music box; And the piece in “Waxwing” that transitions from harmonic riffing, to a bass solo, to everyone coming back in full force after the drop-out.
Strong emotions arise when I think of Tide of Man’s music. Being overwhelmed with joy when dancing along to “We Were Only Dreaming” every time I’ve seen them play it; Having raucous, carefree laughter as we drunkenly ‘sang’ the lead melody of “Young and Courageous” to some uninducted French Canadians in the back of a van after dunk!festival; Experiencing bittersweet sadness as Joey put on Young And Courageous in the tour van as we drove through New York state the day that our bands parted ways.
Every Nothing replicates these feelings, spanning the emotional spectrum as the band explores both the meaningfulness and monotony of life. Tender, mournful moments sit alongside intense elated explosions.
It’s a grower of an album, for sure. Bound to blow you away at first, but also rewarding you with new discovered intricacies upon repeated listens. There’s an undeniable homeliness to the record, being so warm, comforting and familiar. But even though it is settling, it also tugs you along on an epic adventure filled with exhilarating danger.
I befriended Florida-based Tides of Man last year when they played a handful of shows with the band Ranges, who I was on tour with. We fast became friends, and hearing them play unreleased songs every night raised my expectations of upcoming album, Every Nothing.
They called me by my nickname of Baggins – a New Zealand/ Lord of the Rings reference that Ranges started – and we shared some great times on the road. It was a ridiculously fun week involving lots of beer, Taco Bell, sleeping in tour vans and listening to great music. I was fortunate enough to see them again half a year later, when they played dunk!festival in Belgium this May.
Their last album, Young and Courageous, stands as one of my favourites. And Every Nothing follows suit as a well-crafted, emotionally charged masterpiece.
I interviewed guitarist Spencer Gill to find out what Tides of Man have been up to in recent years, and to learn a bit more about the new record coming out.
Spencer at dunk!festival 2018
Joseph James (Baggins) – Will Not Fade: First up, congrats on the new album. I know you’ve put a lot of time into Every Nothing, so it must feel good to see all that effort coming to fruition.
Let’s go back a bit to start with. Tides of Man started off as an entirely different sounding project. To me, your earlier albums sound like Coheed & Cambria. Then Tilian (vocals) left, and after failing to choose on a new singer, you decided to continue without one. How did your old fans react to Young and Courageous being an instrumental album?
Spencer Gill – Tides of Man: Our old fans were very open to our new sound. We had overwhelming support on our crowdfunding campaign from our existing fanbase and a lot of people were very happy with the transition. Of course there were people who didn’t appreciate the transition, but that’s completely natural in any big change I think.
How does writing instrumental music compare to writing music that features lyrics?
It’s definitely different. You can’t rely on a Verse/Chorus structure, and you have a lot more space to fill than if there were vocals there. I think each part has to be chosen carefully and you have to keep the melody interesting. The feel of a build, or the tone of an individual instrument suddenly becomes very important when it’s not sitting back in the mix underneath vocals.
Does your music have a message? What inspires the songwriting process?
We like to be subtle with our message. We feel that music (especially instrumental) has a lot to do with the listener’s personal connection to it. We definitely have a certain theme in mind for each album, but we like to leave a little interpretation there for the listener.
Inspiration for us comes from so many different things. Dan could be listening to a new record and really like the tone of some guitar and then we kind of pull from that and write a whole new song. We could be jamming in the practice space, and all of the sudden Alan and Josh just lock into some cool groove out of nowhere. A lot of our songs start off like this, then we quickly record them and rework them until we are completely happy.
I know that a lot of people I’ve talked to discovered Tides of Man through Audiotree. Tell me about the experience of recording an Audiotree session.
That was full-on nerve racking. But the guys at Audiotree made it so smooth, and were very nice to us. They guided us through the whole thing.
We thought it turned out great, and the recording quality was unreal! We are super thankful to Audiotree for having us on there, and we have definitely noticed that as one of the top ways that people have discovered our new music.
It has been four years since you released your last record. Talk me through what you’ve been doing since then.
Writing, jamming, re-writing, scratching everything all together, fully second guessing all of our ability to write anything again, then re-writing again. In the end, we are finally happy with our new record and proud to put it out. We have put a lot of late nights into this album and we made it a point to never compromise if we didn’t like something. We kept working at it until we were happy.
Dan at dunk!festival 2018
This is your fourth studio album. How have things changed since you released your first EP ten years ago?
Ha! We are better musicians for sure. We know our way around a studio now, and can really focus on getting great tones and making the studio make the song even better. Before, we were scared of the metronome, and had no idea what we were doing as far as amp selection, drum selection, production, etc. But I think every band goes through that transition of getting familiar with the studio and then using it to their advantage.
Are emo fringes ever going to come back in fashion?
Did they ever go out of fashion? Is this because we used to rock that haircut?
Haha maybe…
You used crowd funding when recording Young and Courageous. Why didn’t you opt to do that again for Every Nothing?
The last crowd funding campaign was awesome, but we always intended to make the band support itself as a business. Putting out Young and Courageous on our own without a label allowed us to make that a reality. We wanted to make the band do Every Nothing on it’s own dime. It forced us to make decisions with our money and be responsible not only as musicians, but as a business.
Alan at dunk!festival 2018
On a related note, how does recording and releasing an album independently compare to when you were signed to Rise Records?
There’s a lot more work involved to be short. When you are on a label, you get booked in a studio and show up to record your album. They take care of marketing, packaging, design, distribution, etc. That’s all on us as an independent band.
We are involved in every aspect of the release of the record, right down to arguing about what exactly should be on the center label of the vinyl.
A Thousand Arms are awesome, and I love those guys so much, but is there an easier option for ordering the record for those of us who don’t live in America?
We are in the works of setting up European distribution of vinyl.
Every Nothing sounds a lot heavier than Young and Courageous. Was this a conscious decision you made when songwriting?
I think it was a natural progression that just sort of happened. The quiet parts are quieter, and the loud parts are louder. That’s how we felt at the time of writing these particular songs.
Tides Of Man setlist from their US tour last year
I notice that the song names written on your setlist from tour last year differ from the new album track names. Have you renamed them, or are there some b-sides in the works?
We have horrible working titles for our tracks, and we have them for so long that we tend to remember them as that title rather than the actual title on the record. A B-Side or two may be in the works, but no promises.
Joel Frieders discovered that on your last album, the track “Hold Still” starts like the Yo Gabba Gabba song by the same name. Have you hidden any Easter eggs like that on the new record?
Ha! That was an absolute coincidence. Someone told me the other day that it apparently has a train noise in a section of it too.
As far as we know, there are no similarities to any children’s tv shows in our music, but we would be happy to find out after the fact that we accidentally ripped off Barney.
Many of you work as studio musicians. Which has more pressure: playing for other musicians, or working on your own project?
Playing for other musicians is definitely a job in and of itself, and we always want to deliver exactly what each client wants, so there is pressure for sure.
But writing your own music has so much more. It’s hard to explain why, but it feels like you are laying your identity on the line with each note, and if you mess it up you’re done for.
I know that the artwork was one of last things that you sorted out for this album. Would you care to talk about the album cover and general art direction? I know that Dan does design, and Alan is a photographer, so the visuals must be important to you.
Design is definitely important to us. As an instrumental band, all we have to communicate the feel of the record is the design and song titles, so we spend a lot of time throwing ideas back and forth on the direction and how it fits the album. On this one we wanted something that showed mundane everyday existence against pure nothingness. The album is really about the interplay between our fixation on mundane, meaningless things and the bigger picture that we forget to look at.
I should also add that the video for “Static Hymn” is great.
Thanks! Stephen Mlinarcik brought that idea to life! He was awesome to work with.
Tides of Man is based in Tampa, Florida, but Josh lives in London, and last I heard, Alan lives in LA. How do you make it work with such big distances between you all?
Luckily we all enjoy traveling. We always have a home base in Tampa, and Josh and Alan never hesitate to fly in and stay for a while. We’ve never had a problem with the distance.
I’ve seen you play at dunk!festival in both the US and Belgium and you have Arctangent coming up. Does your approach change between playing festivals and standard shows?
We try to simply play our music well and feel it with the crowd. I don’t think that should be any different between festivals and standard shows.
You’ve played with some great bands during your career. I can imagine that the Karnivool tour would have been incredible. And you were all buzzing when I last saw you in Europe after playing with EF and aswekeepsearching. Which bands have you most enjoy playing with, and who do you still to aspire to share a stage with?
Karnivool was definitely a treat to watch every night. We also really enjoyed playing with Rare Futures (formerly Happy Body, Slow Brain). Of course, touring with Covet and Vasudeva was awesome! Those guys are super talented. Ranges was also awesome to tour with. There’s too many good times to pick and choose which tour we were most grateful for. We have made amazing friends from all over the world because we are able to go out and tour. It’s just been amazing from the get go.
In the future we’d love to tour with This Will Destroy You, Russian Circles, Mogwai, Circa Survive, Thrice, and many more.
Vinny Capitani playing with Tides of Man at dunk!USA festival 2017
We’ve all spent our fair share of time sleeping in vans. Do your wives/girlfriends get jealous that you sleep beside Vinny Capitani on tour?
They were absolutely jealous until he removed his beautiful locks. Now, not so much.
What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learnt about touring as a band?
If you don’t constantly try to improve as a band, and tackle something bigger you end up nagging at each other over stupid shit. We’ve learned this from personal experience. You always have to be pushing yourselves towards being better as a band, and you can never get stuck on the losses.
You’ve all eaten a lot of taco bell in your time, having been sponsored by Taco Bell through the Feed The Beat program. What are your top tips for making the most of the Taco Bell menu? I’m happy to hear vegan options too, seeing as a few of you are vegan.
Order anything grilled “extra crispy”
Add a lot of Fire Sauce
Get that creamy jalapeño sauce too
If you’re vegan, get on that Fresco menu. It’s great.
My favourite memory of the times spent with Tides of Man was when we went on an adventure in New Jersey, exploring the “Gates of Hell” during the time between load in and sound check. What are some other memorable adventures that you’ve been on as a band?
So many amazing memories as a band! Driving all night to see Moab, Utah at sunrise. A day off at Cedar Point Park back in 2010 when we rode coasters all day with the entire tour party. Sky Diving at sunset on the coast of California. No A/C in the van for 5 days in Texas. Holding up signs at shows to find a place to stay for the night. Seeing Europe and the UK for the first time. Taking shots of “Red Death” in Tours, France. These are just a few.
Every Nothing is due out in August. What upcoming plans do you have for the band?
We are playing Fete De Lion festival August 3rd, and then ArcTanGent festival August 18th, and we plan to do a Europe/UK run in-between the two. Later in the fall we will be doing a US run.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. I’m enjoying the new record and I’m sure that you are excited to share it with the rest of the world shortly. Is there anything else that you would like to mention?
Yes, thank you Baggins. Only other thing to mention is that you can pre-order our album now over at A Thousand Arms website. Check it out.
Bear with me when I try to explain The Sun Burns Bright.
The Sun Burns Bright is a solo project from Chris Garr, of Birmingham, England. It is also a Coastlands side-project.
Wait… what?
Garr contacted Coastlands guitarist Jason Sissoyev when he was writing this album, just discussing music in general. The two became pen pals, trading recordings back and forth as they collaboratively wrote an album over the course of 6-8 months. Coastlands drummer Richard Keefer added his beats, and then other Coastlands guitarist Jordan Patrick created the album art.
So we have a trans-Atlantic collaborative solo side project. Got it?
Through Dusk, Came The Light is an exercise in serenity. Tranquil notes, picked with care and precision.
As one has come to expect from the genre, there are serene passages, later with added percussion, which crescendos later in the piece, only to return to the calm soon after. It’s post-rock by numbers, but that isn’t always a bad thing. We find comfort in the familiar, and the warm tones found within Through Dusk, Came The Light only add to that homely feeling.
It’s a beautifully recorded album written with deliberate, exact notes and gorgeous tones. Which is surprising when you consider how it was recorded. That is, on iPads.
Now I know that most serious musos use Mac computers. I’m not a serious musician, so I couldn’t tell you why. But as a teacher, I’ve got very strong opinions about iPads. They’re cameras that don’t capture an image as well as a cheap point and shoot, computers with less functionality than a laptop, and overall horrible devices that create addicts of children in the name of “education”.
I can’t ever see myself changing my mind on this argument. But I cannot argue with the results here. This record sounds great. You won’t ever find me advocating for the use of iPads, but if Garr can create an incredible album like this through the use of Garageband and an iPad then I’ll accept that they have their uses.
Garr proves more then adept on guitar and composition. He explores aural textures with dynamic awareness and subtle layering. And Keefer’s deft drumming perfectly complements the music, adding thunderous energy without overpowering.
Through Dusk, Came The Light takes the listener on a journey. From the epic climax of album opener “The Glass Is Always Full”, to the sweet melody of “Never Departing Shadow”, past the grandiose “Sky, Wand and Waves” to the sweeping solos of “Home Is Not A Place, It’s A Person”, to the final glitch infused pads of “Silhouette In The Shade”, this is an album that continually moves forward and treads the path of beauty.
The Sun Burns Bright isn’t the most original. But nor is it a tired imitation. It’s a solid début that appears to have already earned Garr a decent following from what I see online. And those fans have a lot to look forward – Garr is already working on album no. three, before even releasing his second one!
Update April 2022:Chris Garr has asked me to clarify that this wasn’t actually a Coastlands project. Garr wrote the album and The Sun Burns Bright is his project, he just had some of the guys from Coastlands help to record it. He has since had a rotating roster of other musicians help to record ensuing records. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to mislead anyone when I wrote this, I was more focused on making my writing entertaining to read.
Please contact me if you are an artist featured here and I will gladly send you images I took. Feel free to share photos, but please remember to credit Will Not Fade
Day 3
Tuesday 8 May
Hard Rock Cafe, Lyon, France
w/ Cloud Shelter, Lodz
Everyone was in a great mood. Both nights of tour so far had been great, with good attendance, friendly people, great food and new experiences in foriegn cities. It was a welcome change from America, where people make less effort to support the music scene.
Tiffany and her grandmother provided a breakfast of toast, fruit and homemade honey and jam. The sun was shining with intense heat and we drank in the peaceful noises of birds chirping as we sat in the garden eating.
It felt like a long drive to Lyon. I didn’t to get to see as much of Lyon as I’d seen of Paris, but Zeidler and I went off to find something to eat while the band soundchecked. We found a neat plaza behind the town hall which featured a stunning water fountain with steam that arose from the noses of the horse statues. We had some difficulty ordering, but eventually managed to order some crepes and had a nice meal before heading back to the venue.
The Hard Rock Cafe in Lyon stands among one of my favourite venues I’ve ever been to. Anyone familiar with the chain will know what to expect – a restaurant/bar, merchandise shop, and plenty of music memorabilia to look at on the walls. This one was relatively new (two years old, I believe), sat next to the Rhone river.
Most dedicated venues feel dingy. I’m sure you know what I mean – gross toilets, graffiti and stickers, sticky floors, dark spaces. Hard Rock was none of these things. It was bright, clean, had good access, they provided a nice meal and a good green room. And as an actual venue it was awesome. It sounded good, and the lighting was fantastic.
Cloud Shelter
First up was Cloud Shelter, featuring promoter Jean Sebastian on drums. They kicked the night off with a solid set of post-rock, crescendo rich and dynamic. The place was fairly packed already at that stage, showing that either Jean Sebastian is a great promoter, Lyon has a supportive music scene, or both.
Lodz
Lodz’s set began with an impact, launching straight into their hard-fitting energetic music. It was gloomy, atmospheric and heavy, touching on Deftones territory. Daylight had faded by this point, and the orange streetlamps shining in from outside added to the visuals onstage.
Lodz
The lights were simply great, adding a whole new dimension to the experience. Cloud Shelter had Edison bulbs on light stands, reminding me of Ranges’ set up on their American tour. Usually Ranges play with their own lighting rig, synced up to the backing track. But it wasn’t feasible bringing so much gear overseas, with airline fees being as expensive as they are. I’m beginning to have second thoughts about that lighting rig. I certainly helped Ranges to stand out last year, but these European shows have been even better without them. Plus they’re easier to photograph without their own rig.
I’m wondering if the lights are always this good at Hard Rock Lyon, because there were so many photographers in attendance. I sparked up a conversation with one couple who lived about an hour from Lyon. They were simply delightful to chat to. Come to think of it, everyone was friendly and happy to be there. Lyon gives off great vibes.
I’ve seen Ranges play close to 20 times by this point. I’m not even sure if I’ve seen Declaration AD play that many times – and I used to live with them! And I’m convinced that this is the best Ranges show I’ve seen. All the elements were there – receptive audience, good numbers, good audio mix, nice venue, great lighting, and the band played well. The crowd were lapping it up. At the end of the hour-long set the band went backstage and the audience began cheering and chanting for an encore. This placed the band in an awkward situation. Usually they just pay their piece and that’s it. This was a first – having the crowd demanding an encore. They didn’t even have any other songs ready to play. But there’s no way they could get away without a few more songs, so they returned to the stage played another two songs.
Jerome from Cloud Shelter hosted us in his apartment. Mark, Wilson and I grabbed some pizzas from a fantastic little shop nearby, and we spent most of the night talking rubbish at Jerome’s. They had French alcohol called Pontelier Anis (made in a neighbouring township) that we drank. It tasted similar to sambuca, and changed colour from transparent to cloudy white when you add water.
CJ and Wilson slept in the van, fearful that some local goon may try to break in a steal the musical gear inside. Zeidler was segregated to the lounge as penance for his bear imitations the night before. Mark, Joey and I cuddled up in a cozy space in the next room, where we slept for about for about three hours.
Day 4
Wednesday 9 May
Slow Club, Frieberg, Germany
w/ Nonsun
Touring takes its toll on one’s body. Long days spent sediantry in a van, unhealthy diets that consist mostly of gas station food, and lack of sleep all begin to wear you down. We had a blast in Lyon, but only a few hours sleep before the drive to Frieberg.
Slow Club was a cool venue. Almost polar opposite from the modern Hard Rock Cafe, it was a more traditional style club. They cool thing about it is that it is a community resource, run and operated by volunteers. There was something reassuringly familiar about it. And the best thing about it is that there was a studio apartment upstairs, with bunk beds that remind me of school camps and a small kitchen. Staying on site is amazing – taking away the process of packing up and driving to a place to sleep at the end of the night.
In other ways it was vastly different from other places I’d been. People smoked inside the venue. This was outlawed in New Zealand well before I was old enough to go to bars, so the only times I’ve ever experienced people smoking inside is at casinos in Las Vegas. There was even an ashtray fixed to the wall between the urinals in the bathroom. The staircase and hallway featured artistic photos that reminded me of the band Pussy Riot – controversial images of topless women with ski masks.
After sound check Joey and I went to check out a local attraction with a friend of Jared’s. Frieburg Munster cathedral, like most cathedrals, is a gorgeous building with large spires, stained glass windows, ornate sculptures and an overall awe-inspiring feel. My favourite feature was the many gargoyles – all different from each other. They had a mass on when we went inside so we chose not to stay long, but it’s always worthwhile seeing even the smallest sample of a new city.
Ukraine-based Nonsun recently signed to dunk!records. They play music so heavy and slow it’s oppressive. Zeidler described them as making Glacier look cheerful. I don’t like that style of music so I stayed upstairs and rested while they played.
Apparently that rest was inadequate. I helped Mark set up his drums for the Ranges set, and then sat down on a couch next to the bar to watch the set. I managed so catch maybe half, but true to form, I dozed off half way through.
There were only six bunks upstairs so I pulled out a spare mattress and slept on the floor. The next morning I was told that everyone was kept up by loud German singing all night. I was so exhausted that I never noticed a thing.
Day 3
