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’t 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.
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.
Tiger, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me tonight. It’s great to see finally meet you.
Thank you Don. It’s 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’s always a problem to explain to people why we don’t do them and I was glad to see someone write that there was no need for it [laughs].
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Tiger, I’m glad you enjoyed that review. Hell, I’m glad you read it.
[laughs] It was really good, Don. Thank you.
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So Tiger, tell me how Kadavar actually come to be?
We’ve all been through shitty phases music wise and at the time we met, everybody knew that if we continue doing music, we’re just doing what we want. There’s no thinking about what everybody else might like. Now it’s upon us to create something that we can enjoy because otherwise I can get a day job. If I do music that I don’t like it’s 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’d 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.
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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?
In the beginning, I didn’t 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’s not our home. It’s very interesting touring on a different continent. People react differently and I think it’s a gift that we’re 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.
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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’s been in the band a while, how has this changed the dynamic of the band?
I think the sound changed a little more because he’s 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’s these little things that are always very open. I think it made us a better band. He’s a really good bass player. Especially after a year that he’s grown into the band I can feel that there’s a very good development for us.
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Were there any pleasant surprises for you touring the US?
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’m very thankful for that. I’m thankful that the shows are bigger this time. I’m 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’s always so nice to see how much they like it, especially when you’re far away from your home.
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So you’re touring the South again. Did you get you some good southern cooking?
[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’ve had all the deep fried shit, all the burgers, we tried everything. It didn’t make touring easier but we had to do it [laughs].
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Did you have a favorite food?
Actually, when we were in St. Louis we ate at a European restaurant and that was the best [laughs].
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Did you not have some good ol’ barbecue?
Oh yeah, we did. I like it. In Austin we drove ½ and hour south to this place that was called Smitty’s that was very old, traditional barbecue. In New Orleans we didn’t have the crawfish but we had deep fried pickles [laughs].
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How did you like that?
Oh it’s so bad for you but it’s so good [laughs]. We went sightseeing in New Orleans and people would look at us and go, “Hey! Eat something!” [laughs]
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Have you started saying “y’all” yet?
[laughs] I say that from time to time [laughs].
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Kadavar’s music really hit a chord with me. There’s 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’s music?
In the beginning I wasn’t 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’t think that anybody would like it but because we’re just trying to do what we like.
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Kadavar, Graveyard, Blues Pills, Purson, Jess & The Ancient Ones. There’s 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?
I think that it has to do with the situation that we’re 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’s about not erasing all the instabilities, all the little mistakes. Maybe it’s even about featuring them. It’s about feeling what you play and being comfortable with it. Just playing as you play and not doing artificial stuff on top.
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I feel that some bands just think too much instead of just doing.
Yes, definitely. It’s difficult because I’d say that there’s 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’re writing the songs and then there’s a point when you’re so focused on little things. That’s 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.
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So Abra Kadvar has been out a while. Do you look back on that album now and say, “I wish we would’ve done something different” now that you’ve had time to live with it a while?
That’s a good question. I definitely say that for what it is I’m really, really happy with it. I mean, somebody else try to do that in 10 days [laughs]. If we would’ve had six months I’m sure that we would’ve been able to do things differently. I think that you can definitely hear that the songs are a little simpler in structure and I’m fine with that. This is the 2nd record and I’m proud of it. It could’ve definitely been a total different thing but that was the moment and that is how the 2nd record is. It’s a bit simpler than the first one.
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Are there any particular Kadavar songs that you feel more closely connected to than the others?
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’s doing quite the same but it’s like the tiny things. There’s always a little room to make it better and to get closer to it. For example, the song “Black Sun.” In the beginning I didn’t like that song at all [laughs]. I don’t know why but now it’s one of my favorites. After 300 shows, it’s like the stone on the sea shore that just keeps getting rounder and rounder. I don’t have to think about anything playing the old songs. With the new songs I’m getting to that point. I’m sure that in a year I could tell you, ‘Yeah, it’s way easier.” I like all the songs that we have and you can always improve them a little bit.
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Abra Kadavar was written in 10 days. Is this a formula that you’ll continue with moving into the next album cycle?
No. We don’t want to do that again. As I said, I’m 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’ve 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’re done with the European tour in the fall we will concentrate on writing everything. We’ll 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’ll take the time that we need.
How about the recording process? Will you go into the new album will that process stay the same?
Always. Always because that’s who we are. We are a rock band. We are just a simple, classic rock band. What makes us special is that we just don’t try to fuck around with anything. The record will be on the least possible amount of tracks, we’ll play it live together, and the record will be dirty and loud. That’s something that we won’t fuck around with. That will definitely stay the same. It might sound a little different, maybe it’ll sound more like the first record again, it might also go in a slightly different direction. We just know what we love, we know our sound and we will generally stick to this way of producing records.
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Kadavar is such a strong live entity and Nuclear Blast is about to release a live album which I’m very excited about. What can you tell us about that?
We recorded the show live last year in Antwerp. The album will be called Live in Antwerp and will be released very soon. It’s part of the re-issue of Abra Kadavar but a double LP of this show will be also available. People have been asking for a live album from us and that was something I personally didn’t really think of before. Our record company asked us if we would like to do one and we were glad that they wanted to. We were very open to it. We recorded two shows; one in Germany and one in Belgium. We liked the Belgium show better so we went with that show [laughs].
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I think it’s great that people will get a chance to really hear Kadavar in that element.
Yeah, we are very happy with it. This show was probably one of the best shows that year. It doesn’t sound like a live record that I’ve heard from other bands. It sounds very special and when I listened to the final mix I thought it sounded really interesting. It’s not like our studio records but it’s also not like every other live record.
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Tiger, what goes through your mind right before you walk out on stage?
30 minutes before I go on stage I just try to warm up a little bit and focus. I’m actually not really thinking about anything. I’m trying to warm up, do some exercises, and of course there’s a lot of tension that I’m about to release so I just try stay calm in my head and get my body warmed up so that I can just release everything when I go out on stage.
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You give 110% every fucking night thrashing like Animal on the drums. How do you come down from that intense of a performance every night?
I think it takes about an hour or so. What we always do when we get off stage is we go backstage, we have a beer, and we talk about the show. Then we go out and speak to the fans. It takes a while to be honest. There’s this adrenaline rush and it stays for a bit of time.
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Kadavar is always out there after shows meeting the fans and I love seeing that. A lot of bands these days are charging their fans money to meet them. What’s your opinion on that?
I think it’s the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard. I’ve seen big bands charging lots of money for their fans to meet them. What the fuck? I hope I will never do this [laughs]. For us, it was always a very natural thing to say hi to everyone and talk to everyone because we appreciate that there are people that like our music. Of course there are nights where a lot of people speak to you and maybe you get a little tired because the show is over and you’ve given everything and you’re coming down. Still, I’m very thankful that people like it so I try and be available to them if they want.
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Who would you like to see Kadavar touring with?
Actually, from a personal point of view I really enjoyed touring with The Shrine. They are one of my favorite bands right now. They are super awesome people and they give everything on stage. They even push me to try harder. I really like what they do, they are very energetic, and they are also only three people. Aside from them I would really like to tour with Danava.
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I’ve never heard of them. Who are they?
They are a heavy rock band from Portland. You should really check them out. They are probably my favorite band. We have played with them once in Berlin back in 2012. Cristoph (singer/guitarist) has always been a big fan of theirs and he turned me on to them. I’d love to play shows with them in the future.
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The last time you guys were here I got turned on to Stone Axe because they were being played as your intermission music. I loved that you guys turned me on to such a great band unintentionally so while I have you, who else should I be listening to?
[laughs] Danava for sure. A great band from Sweden called Dean Allen Foyd. They do very authentic psychedelic rock. Great musicians. Definitely need to check them out. You know Blues Pills obviously [laughs].
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Tiger, at what point did you know you wanted to be a musician.
When I quit my studies in Winstrand, a little town where I come from. After school I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I liked philosophy but my philosophy teacher told me not to study it because I wouldn’t make any money doing it. I really respected her and she was my favorite teacher. I figured if I didn’t do philosophy I might be interested in law because it has something to do with philosophy. I tried to study law but it was just not my thing. After two seasons I realize that my life was going into a very wrong direction so I moved to Berlin and tried to find people to make music with. Also, I’m a sound engineer and that’s what I did first. I started recording bands at the age of 17. I did a lot of punk rock and hardcore bands. Then I met these guys. I’ve always liked the 70’s rock. The Beatles are still my favorite band. When I was a child my mother listened to the Beatles and Bob Dylan and Neil Young a lot. I just rediscovered this kind of music and I just started digging deeper and deeper and discovering other bands.
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Are there any bands or types of music we’d be surprised to hear you’re a fan of.
Oh man, I don’t know what would surprise you [laughs]. I really can enjoy any kind of music. I love all the Amphetamine/Reptile records kind of bands. One of my favorite bands is the Jesus Lizard. I love Sonic Youth.
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In your opinion, what is one hard rock/metal album that you feel everybody should own?
The first Captain Beyond record. Master’s Apprentices, a great Australian band. I would also have to say the first Taste record, Rory Gallagher’s old band and the ’68 release from Bubble Puppy.
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Wow, more bands to check out thanks to my friends in Kadavar.
[laughs] Check them all out, Don. They’re amazing.
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If you could drum for any band for one night, who would it be?
Oh man, that’s hard to figure out. I’m not being spontaneous right now [laughs]. Actually, I think I’d like to play with Jesus Lizard. I wouldn’t like to play in Cream or Led Zeppelin. I think Ginger Baker’s my favorite drummer but I would never try and go for that.
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I can see that you’re a huge Ginger Baker fan. You play like Ginger Baker. Did you watch a lot of his performances growing up?
Actually, there’s one particular video that’s so amazing. It’s for the rehearsals for the record Disraeli Gears. Jack Bruce is wearing that fur hat and Ginger Baker is so fucked up on something but it’s so great how he’s playing [laughs]. I don’t know what he was feeling at that point but it was so awesome.
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What are your hopes and dreams for Kadavar from here on?
Basically I just hope that we can keep on doing what we are doing for the longest possible amount of time. I’m very happy right now doing what I’m doing and if it can stay like this that’s all I want.
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Finish this sentence. If I wasn’t a musician I would be ___________.
A sound engineer. That’s my back up plan. If this doesn’t work out at one point I will go back to my studio and just increase the amount of recordings I do.
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Thanks so much for doing this interview today Tiger.
No problem Don. Thank you. Next time let’s have a barbecue [laughs].
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