For today's Artist Spotlight, we spoke with Tigress a five-piece band from Chelmsford, England. Tigress features Katy Jackson, Sean Bishop, Tom Harrison, Josh Coombes and, Jack Divey. Tigress features an in your face alt-rock sound that really gets the listeners blood pumping.
1. How did you come to pursue music and how long have you been at it?
"Music started for all of us as teenagers. I've played in bands since I was 13/14 years old. I remember my first ever gig. It was in the town hall. We got everyone from school down. There was about 200 people there. It was mad! I think, for all of us, it's pretty much the same. Come across music and old CDs and thinking "I want to do that!". I went to see Linkin Park at Wembley arena in 2004. It was my first ever show and it confirmed it all to me."
2. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"Sean has a home studio where all of our demos take shape. He, along with Tom will come up with guitar parts. It could be just the riff or a couple of sections, maybe even longer. It will normally have a beat to it. Once we get round to recording it properly, I will add stuff, strip the drum part down, take bits away or build on what's there if it feels right. For the last two EPs we've jammed a lot in the studio once we've got the demos roughly down, which I love to do. I can feel it better than sitting down, programming drum parts. Back to the start though... Katy will listen to the demos and work her vocals out and we go from there!"
3. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"Too many! We all have different inspirations too, which is nice. It means we can bring a lot more into the writing process but if I was to name one that we can all agree on... Linkin Park."
4. Do you have any favorite music gear (guitars, amps, effects pedals, keyboards, etc.) that you love to use? If so, what's the story on them?
"My top three favourite bits of gear right now would be... the Mapex Black Panther Series Sledgehammer snare. One rim shot on that and it will crack through any venue! You can also here every single intricate ghost note as well which is a huge plus side for me. Next would be the Vater 1A wood tip drumsticks. I've always broken a lot of sticks over the years and these hold up against the onslaught. They're the best. Finally my Roland SPDSX Sampling Pad. It runs everything from our click tracks, backing tracks and my E Drum samples. It's the most reliable of it's kind.
The boys are all on Kempers now, as well. I'm no guitarist but the sounds they are getting on stage are insane. It's great for setting up, too. Plug in and go!"
5. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"I think, for me, it would be that it's honest. We made a decision a while back to write music that we would want to listen to. We didn't want to follow anyone or any specific scene, we just wanted to write good music that we enjoy."
6. Do you have any upcoming projects you would like fans to know about?
"Well... we are always writing. So keep your eyes and ears on us."
(Video for "Bring Me Down")
To get a sample of Tigress' sound, we have added the music video for "Bring Me Down". Be sure to go check out their music on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/4wJ6pekF4hqpKdlXco2rJN?si=SH2IyAoMRk2uuv2IqE3BLw.
FMI on Tigress go to http://www.tigressofficial.com/ or on social media (Facebook @Tigressofficial, Instagram @wearetigress, and Twitter @TIGRESSofficial).