TRIBE ROYAL
After hitting the road hard last summer to support their latest album Samadhi, Tribe Royal is back at it, spending time in the studio working on a follow-up release. We caught up with vocalist/guitarist Terry O’Brien (TO) and got word about their future plans and the sounds apparent on their new album. Give their music a spin and read on to learn more about the group and their influences.
VITALS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/triberoyal/
Website: http://triberoyal.ca/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/triberoyal
Latest release: Samadhi (Album, 2014)
Upcoming shows: February 27 - Tribe Royal vs. Velvet Revolution, Moose Mcguires. Free. 8PM.
SA: How did Tribe Royal start as a band, and how did you come up with the name? TO: The band really started when Chris and I merged solo projects back in January 2014. Chris had been jamming with various people including a previous band and I had been using the name Tribe Royal for some solo tracks I had released in late 2013. The time was right and we had both been looking to start a band for a while so on January 3rd I think it was, Chris moved in to my place for the month and we just wrote like crazy. We would do nothing but write songs, meditate, and drink tea for days and days. We both happened to be in between jobs and it was the perfect environment for creativity. Chris and I were both going through particularly bad bouts of depression and I remember it as one of the best and worst times in my life.
We had our first gig at the Boston Pizza near my place in Orleans on January 15th. It was a nice crowd of friends and family that came out to support us and it turned out to be a great night. The second gig in fact turned out to be only two days later on the Friday at an east coast themed pub called the Lunenburg which is unfortunately no longer under the same management. We played roughly a quarter of all of our shows in 2014 on that tiny stage. It really was our starting point.
Bram was invited to audition for the band in February at Chris' house. He was one of Chris' good friends and we had hung out a number of times in the past, one of the local cats. We would all jam together on the beach nights I would hold in my backyard (another story entirely). I think he jammed along to like two or three songs when Chris and I nodded and decided he was in. Our first show with Bram was March 21st at an Expose benefit show at Cafe Alternatif. We opened up for The Love Machine and were greeted by new fans and really great feedback at the end of the show.
The only thing left to do was to pick up a drummer somewhere. Those guys are a dime a dozen (jokes jokes!). We put together a little add and sent it to a few friends in the industry to pass around. Erik Samuel had played on a few of my solo tracks I had recorded with Eric St-Cyr but was too busy to commit to another project so he said he would find us someone who would fit. The first (and only) reply we got was from this kid who talked all cocky and said things like 'your move' in the message. Chris and I decided to try him out and had him over to jam. He walked in the room with a bold Batman shirt on and we thought he was an interesting character immediately. The first thing that really set him apart was his knowledge of music theory and the fact that our music vocabulary and his were completely different. We were jammers and he was a music student. We played a few different tunes and we seemed to click. Having no other options and a pretty strong first audition we were happy to offer Mike the part. He was the necessary last piece in the puzzle. We played one small gig at the Lunenburg and then hit the legendary Zaphods stage on April 24th with Mike for the first time as a full band.
As for the name, well that's just something that came to my head once when my last band (from high school) was deciding on a new band name. For some reason I just loved how the words sounded together and how the meanings contrasted so well. We were all sitting together at the dining room table at my mom's place coming up with names and when it came down to the last few they dismissed it saying 'Think about how festivals and labels will react when they see a name like that, it doesn't make sense.' I went along with it and kept the name in the back of my head until a year later when things started to fall apart and I started going solo. Chris and I were talking about what we would call the band and he seemed to dig it. We both had the same general idea about what it meant with different ways of putting it. It's the contrast of Tribes and Royalty. It represents our sound in some ways because we write songs that are anywhere from good old rock n' roll to experimental folk ballads and everything in between. These days that just means you're in an indie rock band I guess but to us it makes sense. Also there's the whole group aspect of being in a tribe. We like to think that anyone and everyone who is a fan or has helped us out in any way along our journey is part of the picture - part of the Tribe.
SA: Who are your biggest influences, musically or otherwise? TO: It really ranges. I can't speak for all the members on specifics but I know Chris has always been a word smith at heart. Deep, meaningful lyrics come naturally to him and he's always been drawn towards folk and classic rock. He listened to all the greats of the 60s and 70s growing up and has a lot of different influences even from more recent times.
Bram is very much into soul, funk, RnB, as well as hip hop but also listens to almost anything under the sun. He'll send us tracks of artists we've never heard of and is always listening to something new, always changing it up.
Mike too likes funk and jazz but also has a taste for rock n' roll. He's always trying to push the envelope rhythmically and his ever growing knowledge in music theory means he's usually listening to something somewhat complex.
As for myself I've always been a fan of rock music but all through high school I was listening to post hardcore and punk. It was only later on in senior high and college that I switched over to listening to groups from the early/mid 60s. I can remember a year in which I listened to nothing but that and traditional Chinese music.
SA: Thus far in your career, what has been your biggest success? TO: The biggest success so far would have to be organizing and carrying out an east coast tour entirely ourselves. We almost signed our lives away to a small time record label based in Toronto (which would have been a horrible idea) and instead decided to take matters into our own hands and book a month long summer tour with only two months of prep time before we were to leave. We learned a lot and had a lot of fun. It was amazing meeting people and experiencing life on the road like that. We made a lot of friends and contacts in various cities along the way and are currently in the midst of organizing a big tour for this summer (2016).
SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? TO: We've run into various minor issues and the tour really showed us how and where we need to change things. After all, a month on the road sleeping in close quarters and running low on money with your brothers can be stressful at times. We've had our arguments and personality differences but in the end you learn to respect your peers and value each other for what everyone has to offer musically and emotionally.
SA: How do you approach the song-writing process? TO: It's different for each of us and it really depends on the song. There's the 'jam some music until something sounds good and fit words to a melody' approach and then there's the 'write words and compose music around them' approach. Both are great and both serve different purposes and functions. We have used both methods and it usually turns out that you get something more raw and meaningful out of writing the words first whereas fitting words to a predetermined melody line gives you something more catchy and concise. But it's not always like that. Sometimes you write a song in its entirety all at once in a few minutes. You just know it's something special when you're writing it, even if it's just for yourself.
SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? TO: Ottawa's scene is small but at the same time it's impressive for a Government town. You get to know most people pretty quick. Everyone has worked with / recorded with everyone and yes everyone knows Ashley Newall. Eric St-Cyr and Jasen Colson really helped to get us into the scene. Eric booked a lot of the shows we played early on. As I've been told and as I've seen throughout the last decade, the scene has gone through periods of growth and decline just like anything else.
SA: According to your social media pages, you guys have been doing some recording recently. What can fans expect next from you guys, and how has that process been going? TO: If you liked Samadhi, we have no idea if you'll like this next one. In some ways we're staying true to some of the core elements that make up our sound but this next batch of songs and sounds is quite different on many levels. The songs are different, the instruments and tones are different, even the production is different. We've had this new batch of songs in our set lists for a while and we'd been looking to record as soon as we were done with Samadhi. Unfortunately time and money are factors in almost any endeavor in life so we had to wait for an opportune moment. We hope anyone who is already interested in us will enjoy this addition to the Tribe Royal sound.
SA: You guys shot your 2014 video for "Something About Her" on Ottawa's Rideau Canal. Watching it, I have to know, how did you shoot it in one take and ensure that no major collisions occurred? TO: That's Chris pushing our good friend and fellow artist Matthieu Halle in a sled we rented. Basically Chris and Matthieu had to nail it; I just had to sing the damn song haha.
SA: If you could narrow it down, what would be your top 3 favourite moments from your Samadhi East Coast Tour this past summer? TO: The adventure, the people, and the ocean. There were so many moments and beautiful memories that come to mind. I'm sure everyone would have completely different answers.
SA: Lastly, what’s in store for Tribe Royal in 2016 and onwards? TO: In 2016 we've got an album coming out, a major summer tour already booked with a second in the works, lots of larger gigs, music videos, a third album in the works and many more adventures.
You can look at the future a couple different ways. One, you can wander off into blackness. The other you can charge forward into blinding light. We don't really know what to expect but I think we're gonna give it a charge.