Pride Tiger Share A Manly Cry With Priestess

Let's get it out of the way first: Pride Tiger are a band who are man enough to admit that they don't mind a good cry. Especially when other bands are involved.

Before any of Pride Tiger's future touring partners get uncomfortable, let it be known that Vancouver's next big secret enjoy the sort of teary-eyed bonding that's associated with tight brotherhood and camaraderie. You know, manly stuff of the highest degree. The subject comes up as Pride Tiger recount their recent experience recording their upcoming major label debut in Los Angeles with producer Matt Hyde (Perry Farrell, Slayer, Sum 41).

"It was a little crazy, man," says vocalist/drummer Matt Wood. "We really wanted to work with Matt, and he lives down there. So he kind of hooked it up where he would have a studio and a backline company and a place to stay and all that shit."

"And as far as the backline is concerned, it all belongs to him," adds bassist/vocalist Mike Payette. "It was like six or seven hundred thousand dollars of amps and guitars that he just has stored at this storage spot.

"We recorded with 1950s Les Pauls and the most amazing amps. So yeah, the record sounds pretty awesome."

Surely four Canadian boys living the high life in L.A. could manage to find some trouble, right?

"No," answers Payette rather quickly. But then, just as quickly, he adds, "I dunno. Did we?"

"Of course," cackles Wood. "But just minor trouble.

"Lots of drinking. The same old usual shit. Lots of puking, lots of hangovers."

"I wasn't around for this because I had to leave a couple of days before everybody else because my dog got sick," says Payette. "But our friends, [Montreal metalheads] Priestess, were down on the last day, and Pride Tiger and Priestess all had a heavy drinking throwdown emotional cry fest."

"Too much drinking," says Wood with a laugh. "Heavy bro bonding, good to see each other — that kind of thing."

That the Pride Tigers enjoy good-time bonding should come as no surprise when you consider the sort of party their music can start. Their independently released debut album, Wood, Dhak, Froese, Payette (named simply for the band members' last names, including guitarist Sunny Dhak and guitarist/vocalist Bob Froese — not the former goalie, Flyers fans), puts the boogie back in indie rock by taking cues from an overlooked music era: the '70s. Take your favourite Badfinger, Raspberries and Steely Dan records, mix them in your brain, and then play them back with Thin Lizzy riffs blaring through your ears, and then you will know what it's like to listen to Pride Tiger.

"We were all heavily into metal and punk and stuff when we first met each other," says Payette. "When Bob and Sunny and I started working at this print shop together, we started listening to Deep Purple and King Crimson and stuff.

"And then we hooked up with Matt and we all just started listening to different kinds of music. Pride Tiger had been nothing more than drunken plans for a good year until we actually got together and jammed, and it was great because we all basically liked the same tunes."

Canadian metal fans in the know might already be familiar with some of Pride Tiger's members' previous work. Froese, Dhak and Wood were all members of the Dungeons And Dragons-inspired heavy metal posse, 3 Inches Of Blood. Froese and Dhak were actually founding members, with Wood coming on board before the release of the band's second album, Advance And Vanquish. Fans of 3IOB will be happy to know that, despite losing almost half the lineup, that band are alive and well.

"Oh no, they're still rockin'," says Wood. "We just left and they kept on and they got some of our friends in there and it sounds better than ever. Better than when we were part of the band, that's for sure. And they have a new album coming out in May."

Speaking of new albums, what about this major label debut (slated for a June release) that Pride Tiger spent recording during those lovely few months in L.A.?

"We've definitely made a big improvement," says Wood. "We weren't working and were dirt poor, but we worked so hard to get somewhere. I just think it is a jump in the right direction. I'm really proud of everybody."

"We have Cypress Hill's bongo player playing some percussion on the record," adds Payette, rather randomly.

"There was this other guy called the Duke. I don't even know how to describe him. He was just some crazy, older dude with a big afro playing the organ on a bunch of tracks. And then we had some gospel back-ups — these amazing women doing some crazy gospel backgrounds. They'd apparently just finished working with Rod Stewart."

With half a year to wait before the release of the album, the Tigers will fill their dance cards with major touring. The guys are fully aware that the rest of the country is pretty much oblivious to their existence.

"Yeah, people don't really know who the fuck we are yet, and we got signed," says Payette, alluding somewhat to the pressure of inking their deal with EMI fairly early on in their career. "So we gotta get people to fuckin' know who we are."

February sees the Tigers on the road in Canada, with a Chart/Horseshoe Tavern Canadian Music Week showcase looming on the horizon on March 8. Naturally, the guys are stoked to find new bands to bond with, Pride Tiger style. And you already know what that means.

"We're hoping to meet some really wicked bros on the road," says a very stoked Wood. "Maybe some rock band from Guelph or something that we can have another drunken cry fest with."

Here are Pride Tiger's tour dates:
Feb. 2 Trios Rivieres, QC @ Cafe Nord-Ouest
Feb. 3 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
Feb. 22 Nanaimo, BC @ Queen's Hotel
Feb. 23 Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar
Feb. 24 Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt
Feb. 25 Whistler, BC @ Garfinkels
Feb. 26 Calgary, AB @ Hi Fi
Feb. 28 Banff, AB @ Devil's Gap
March 1 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
March 2 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos
March 3 Winnipeg, MB @ Royal Albert
March 4 Thunder Bay, ON @ Killroy's
March 5 Timmins, ON @ G.V. Hotel
March 6 Sudbury, ON @ Townhouse
March 8 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern (Chart showcase)
April 12 Vancouver, BC @ Arts County Fair