“The industry is starting to feel more inclusive” – Interview with Tigress

British rock band Tigress toured a bit with the legendary Evanescence in June. The band got to play their first arena show and first show at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland on 19th of June. Chaoszine had the pleasure to interview the band.

How was your tour with Evanescence?

We had a blast touring with Evanescence. They are amazing people and we learnt a lot from watching how they work and perform.

How did the people receive you on this tour?

People were really up for it and we had a great response during and after the shows. Usually we would meet people after the show but we needed to avoid catching covid so we weren’t able to do that on this tour which was annoying. 

How was your show in Finland like?

It was our first time playing and visiting Finland and we really enjoyed playing the show. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to have a look around Tampere as Finnair lost all our music equipment so we spent the whole day panicking and sourcing equipment so we could play the show, but the promoters, Cyan Kicks and Evanescence saved the day and managed to give us everything we needed to perform. 

Has Brexit affected your tour in some surprising way?

Brexit has definitely made touring more challenging. There are a lot more touring costs, a lot more rules and regulations and issues that need to be overcome and planned before leaving for tour, which means our tour manager has a tougher time. I think after a few more tours we will be more used to it but it’s definitely not as easy as it used to be.

What is one thing about touring that a lot of the fans would be surprised to know?

Touring is really hard work, there’s not a lot of sleep, there’s a lot of travelling, you spend most of the tour inside a bus and you rarely get to go and look around the city you are in. One thing that might surprise fans about tour is the fact that we never drink or party on tour, we know that we need to sound and perform to our best ability, so partying is banned on tour! We will hangout out with the other bands backstage but we won’t drink, and most bands we have met also don’t get drunk and party on tour, the show is the most important thing and it can’t be compromised because you got drunk! 

What songs from your new album you enjoy performing live the best?

We love performing ‘Alive’ because it’s always a crowd favourite and it gives me (Katy) a moment to show off because of all the high singing parts in the chorus.

Do you have some new music in the works?

We always have new music in the works, we have written a few new songs and have lots of others in the works. We aren’t sure if we are writing for a new album, an EP or just a single but we are having fun writing so we will see what happens.

What do you think is currently the state of rock music?

Rock music has always been awesome, regardless of whether it’s popular or not. I think rock music is making a slow comeback in mainstream media but rock music has always been such an integral part of the music industry and people are so happy to have live rock music back after the past few years. 

Who are some modern rock groups that inspire you?

Musically we love listening to are Nothing But Thieves, Highly Suspect, Badflower and Wolf Alice. But any band that is working hard and gaining success is inspiring for us as we love to see bands break through and climb to the top, it’s a tough scene as it’s so competitive and anyone achieving success is very inspiring. 

What would you change in the music industry?

Thats a tough question, I think things have changed a lot in the music industry over the past few years. Rock music used to favour male singers and it used to be very hard for women in rock, but that is slowly changing. I spoke to Amy Lee about her championing women in music by having female fronted bands support Evanescence on all their headline shows and she purposely made that discussion to help give a platform to females in rock, which is totally awesome. The industry is starting to feel more inclusive but it still has a way to go as some people are still of the mind that rock music is a man’s world.