Exclusive Interview with Nick 13 for
Tigerarmy.com

We sat down with Nick 13 in early March, 2003 to get an exclusive interview for the site about where things were at in the process of creating the next Tiger Army album and life in general. On March 10th, drummer Fred Hell was shot (see News section for more details) and much of the interview became instantly out of date. A second interview was conducted in late March. What you see below is mostly from this second interview, but material from the first has been integrated in some places where possible. Similar interviews with Tiger Army members Geoff Kresge and Fred Hell specifically for this site are in the works, so check back soon! -- Vintage C, webmaster

Tigerarmy.com: First of all, how’s Fred doing?
Nick 13: He’s doing really well under the circumstances. He was released from the hospital awhile ago, and is now recovering at home. He’s already walking around, which is amazing. We’re all grateful that he’s alive.

Tigerarmy.com: That’s crazy. Is he going to be OK?
Nick 13: I think so. He’s a strong person. Luckily his mind is unaffected, which is incredible considering he’s literally got a bullet in his brain. I saw the X-ray. Anyway, there are a few medical issues that might be a factor in the future, but nothing we’ve seen so far has indicated that he won’t be able to make a full recovery with time.

Tigerarmy.com: That’s good to hear. How are the rest of you guys doing?
N13: We’re okay. I mean obviously that first week was an emotional rollercoaster for everyone who cares about Fred, especially Geoff and me because we’re like family at this point. There was bad news then good, bad then good so that wasn’t easy. There were a lot of people at the hospital, a lot of friends and people who care so that made it easier.

Tigerarmy.com: That’s something I wanted to ask, how has this affected the band? Can Fred return to playing?
N13: I think he’ll be able to. We don’t know for sure yet, he’s got to give his body time to heal up before he tries that kind of thing and he can take all the time he needs.

Tigerarmy.com: Cool… let’s switch it up a little bit. Tiger Army’s last gig was in January with Social D. What were you up to after that but before all this happened?
N13: Well, not much! (laughs) Let’s see… I got a PlayStation 2 this year; I was playing a lot of Vice City for awhile. I finally got a chance to get more tattoo stuff done, which was hard to do when we were on the road all the time, with appointments and everything. Spending too much time on eBay! (laughs) Playing guitar, working on new songs, practicing with the band, watching movies, insomnia...

Tigerarmy.com: I’ve gotta ask, what do you look for on eBay?
N13: Just various things I collect, mostly vintage monster stuff or antique Halloween stuff… anything to keep from having a life!

Tigerarmy.com: (Laughs) Had to ask. Okay, you mentioned songwriting and practice, where were things at with the next album before Fred was shot, and where are they now?
N13: Well, we spent a lot of January through March in the practice room, working on new songs. The band was playing eight songs, and we were hoping to get in the studio to begin the next album [Ed. Note: Tiger Army III is the tentative title] in a couple of months. It really sucks, because everything was sounding so good and we were all really stoked on how stuff was coming together. Now I’ve got ten songs, two that haven’t been played with the band. For now, Fred’s recovering and I’m still trying to write. We want to have fifteen to hit the studio with, so there’s a ways to go. We do thirteen on the record, but you always want to have a back-up in case a song or two doesn’t come together in the studio the way you’d pictured and you have to throw it out. If they all work, we can use the outtakes for something later. Anyway, the writing is about two-thirds done right now. You can’t force the inspiration to create something worthwhile, you have to take it as it comes. I’m just gonna take the time to come up with the best songs possible, meanwhile Fred’s on the mend, then at some point we’ll hit the jam room again, work the stuff out and hit the studio when we’re ready. There’s no way to say for sure when that’ll be, but we all hope it’ll be later this year.

Tigerarmy.com: So it’s safe to say there’ll be some delay in the record being done…
N13: Yeah, there’s gonna be some delay. Hopefully it won’t be too crazy. It should be worth the wait. We’d already made a decision about this record before Fred was shot that we wanted to have the best collection of songs possible before we start, not rushing to make a tour schedule or have the record out by this time or that time. That’ll go for the recording too. I can relate to the fact that people want stuff right away, because that’s how I am with stuff that I’m a fan of, but I also know that doing things right takes time. Nobody would be stoked if the record came out tomorrow and it had weak, thrown-together songs and sounded like shit!

Tigerarmy.com: (Laughs) Very true. Songwriting… how does it work for TA?
N13: When I write and finish a new track, I bring it in to the rehearsal room and show it to Geoff and Fred. Sometimes if I have all the parts but I'm stuck on an arrangement, I'll just show them the parts I have and that jogs things enough that I figure out how to finish it, maybe get some input. Usually it's totally done when I bring it in except for minor arrangement issues, which are worked out on the spot, and then further refined or changed if necessary as we continue to play the song.

Tigerarmy.com: I see… and the studio?
N13: Well, when we’re back in the practice room and the songs are all done or almost done, we’ll pick a timeframe to enter the studio and book the time. When we enter the studio things won’t happen overnight. The recording of the album could easily take two or three months of solid work from the time we go in to the time it’s totally finished, mixed and mastered. I've got a lot of production ideas. I want it to hit harder than ever and have plenty of atmosphere, so that takes awhile to accomplish. When we recorded Power [the second album], I owned one guitar and one amp, although there's a lot of borrowed equipment on the record. Now I've got more guitars: Gretsches, Fenders, a Rickenbacker, a Gibson, Danelectros -- as well as more amps, 60's Fenders, stuff like that. I want to put a lot of that stuff to use, getting different sounds and textures, depending what each song calls for. Once it’s totally done Hellcat needs a few months to actually have it made and to promote and set it up so that people know it’s coming out. We’ll definitely let everyone know what stage stuff is at through the site. [Ed. Note: Tigerarmy.com!]

Tigerarmy.com: What can we expect from the next album?
N13: Well, I don’t want to give away too much, but it’s gonna be a step forward in some ways, and a return to the roots in some ways. It’ll have all the elements people have come to associate with our sound: hard stuff, melodic stuff, rootsy stuff, dark stuff and it should definitely keep the wrecking pit moving. I know it’s cliché to say this, but I really think it has the potential to be the best thing we’ve ever done. I mean, it hasn’t been made yet, but from where the songs are at, where the playing was at… Let’s put it this way, I think anyone who’s ever been a fan of TA, whether it was the earlier stuff or the later is gonna be very pleased with the next record.

Tigerarmy.com: Can’t wait to hear it. What about touring?
N13: Well, again it’s impossible to say for sure, but we hope to do some kind of touring by the end of the year, maybe the fall. We might be in the studio at that time, I don’t know.

Tigerarmy.com: Look forward to that as well. I get a lot of questions about your setup, can you tell us about it? What's your main guitar, or do you use more than one?
N13: For a long time my main guitar was a Gretsch Anniversary, a '60. That's what I used on the first two records. That guitar's kind of retired, I use it for mostly for writing now but I'm sure I'll do some tracking with it. Now I mostly play a Gretsch DuoJet. I have a '57 that I'll probably use for much of the record, and a '57 reissue that's become my main live guitar. Amp-wise I play a Fender Tone Master both studio and live, although there'll be some 1960’s Fenders on the record as well. I like old Boss pedals… I always use a Boss DM-2 analog Delay and I usually use some kind of chorus, although that varies as to type.

Tigerarmy.com: Right on. Are there any other Tiger Army-related projects coming up, other than the third album?
N13: We’re talking about doing a DVD-EP. It’s not confirmed, but we’re hoping that will come together. It would have the videos and maybe some live stuff. It’s great that the videos are on the web but even with DSL it doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the real thing. “Cupid’s Victm” and “Incorporeal” were both shot on 16mm film so they have a smoothness and richness that don’t come through on any Internet setup. Anyway, people might hear more about that later in the year if it works out. Something that’s definitely coming out is Hellcat’s Give ‘Em The Boot movie, I heard it might be out in July. It has two or three live Tiger Army songs from the Punks vs. Psychos show at the Glass House, and the footage looks really good. Multi camera, DAT sound. I can’t wait for that. It’s gonna have Rancid, Nerve Agents, Nekromantix, Transplants, a bunch of kick-ass bands.

TigerArmy.com: Excellent. Hopefully we'll be doing more of these interviews for the site in the future, but I want to ask a random personal question. You always get asked about movies and books, but what are your favorite TV shows, both currently on and of all time?
N13: Ok, let's see. First of all, I should say that I don't really watch TV. I have a TV with a DVD player, and that's what I watch. I don't have cable and it's not set up to get anything through the air. The only shows that I care about that are currently on are: The Simpsons, The Sopranos and WWE's Smackdown and Raw. I basically watch these any chance I get, which is not much lately. I've just started watching Six Feet Under on DVD, and that's really good. My favorite shows of all time are The Simpsons and The Sopranos, which I've already mentioned, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, The Veil -- which was a precursor to The Twilight Zone starring Boris Karloff that doesn't really count since I don’t think it ever aired, Twin Peaks, The Young Ones, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dragnet and Leave It To Beaver. I'm probably forgetting something. Anyway, a lot of my favorites are from the 50's.

Tigerarmy.com: Right on. How do you like doing interviews?
N13: Interviews are cool. There are a few things I don't like, like bad transcription -- that sucks! When someone has a pencil instead of a tape recorder, that's a bad sign. There's nothing worse than when you see the interview later and things are misquoted -- even a subtle change from what you actually said can drastically effect its meaning or the way you come off. If the mistakes aren’t subtle and there are a lot of them, then you’re really fucked! The only other thing I'm not into is the certain questions that you answer over and over and over. That gets really boring, but it's probably a necessary evil to some extent. Other than those two things, I like interviews. It’s usually no problem for me to talk about myself! (laughs)

Tigerarmy.com: Good stuff (laughs). How has the response to the Early Years E.P. been so far?
N13: Really good. A lot more people wanted that first seven inch than even I imagined. People understand that it’s not where we’re at now, but it’s where we came from. I still dig that early stuff. We started playing “Temptation” and “Jungle Cat” live again, for the first time since ’97. The only downside is the renewed calls for “Twenty Flight Rock” and “American Nightmare” at shows!

Tigerarmy.com: What’s up with “Twenty Flight Rock”?
N13: I’m sorry, I’m just over playing that song. It’s a great song, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that we played it so much in the early days of the band that I’m totally burnt on it. Same with “American Nightmare.” I won’t say I’ll never play either of those songs again, but don’t count on hearing ‘em live anytime soon. We’re sort of over covers in general, but you never know, if we find the right song we’ll do it. There’s one in particular I have in mind actually, we’ll see if it works or not.

Tigerarmy.com: Any last words?
N13: I'd just like to thank everybody who's supported the band over the last few years, you've been amazing and you help make what we do possible. It’s been amazing and very inspiring to see the support and love for Fred and the rest of the band, everyone keep him in your thoughts. With any luck we’ll be back strong before you know it! Don't forget about us... it may seem like we've gone away but with everyday we’re that much closer to a new album and a return to the road. We WILL be back. That’s it, thanks Vintage C for the interview and redoing the site! Stay psycho, Tiger Army Never Die!

-fin-