Tall Tales

      The hardcore band, Tall Tales, despite the name, is a pretty honest group of guys. Once the interview was under way, they quickly admitted several funny facts. Some facts included the original plan to use a girl vocalist, in hopes of sounding a bit like Paramore. Another, they admit that the band name is really just that, a name. No double meaning or secret messages, just Tall Tales.

      "The name actually came from lyrics from a band called Burden Of A Day.  The song title is "Battle Of Hoth".  To us, it's just a name.  Usually in the hardcore/punk/metal world, most bands have "The ______" names, or some other name that makes them appear as if they are heavy or tough.  When we started writing all our songs, being heavy just wasn't a factor." Says the band.

      The young band, only about half a year old, comes from Grand Rapids, MI. Funny enough, they've been compared to the band that inspired the name, Burden of a Day as well as The Ghost Inside. "Even though we are a young band, all our members have been playing in bands for years.  Some longer than others, but all in all this is something that we still strive to do."

      The band started as a three-piece outfit. They didn't have a vocalist or a lead guitarist. "The mindset that we had at the time was that we we're going to do something completely different than everyone else at the time.  A lot of the bands right now are going for that real heavy sound" It was at this stage in the band's life that a lot of the basic groundwork was done. "We started writing and got the blue prints down for all the songs that we play right now, including the songs we have on our new demo"

      After several conversations about joining a band, Bryan Neterer AKA Brian #2 who was known to play deathcore, grind and other heavy genres joined the band, after he proved he could bring talent (and an incredibly ridiculous laugh) to the band.

      The band consists of  Bryan Stadick (vocals), Jake McCaffrey (bass), Nick Whittle (drums), Bryan Neterer (lead guitar), and David Cygan (rhythm gutiar).

      The band admits that they wouldn't consider themselves to be too unique, but are pretty confident they're bring something different to the Midwest music scene. "We aren't trying to be something that we aren't.  (We) admit that all of us are metal heads, plain and simple.  But we do like other kinds of music.  Everything from punk to indie and rock n' roll.  So we took all our influences and mashed them into one, and with the help of a great producer and recording engineer (Brian "Bone" Thorburn from Threshold Studios in Indianapolis, Indiana) we have the sound that we have."

      The band has very few shows to their name, but that have had the privelige to play with Hawthorne Heights in Michigan and played for a decent 100+ show in Chicago. The band openly talked about their wants and the work they put into shows. They had this to say:

 "We want to tour, 10 months out of the year if possible. Never being home, always on the road.  The shows we have managed to get or that are upcoming we booked ourselves.  No agents, or management, just a true DIY attitude. 

      We promote all our shows as much as we can.  Handing out filers, putting them on cars, up at gas stations, etc.  We even are throwing our own shows now too.  West Michigan used to have a great scene but a lot of venues and promoters have died out.  And most the venues that are still around expect pre sales and sometimes even money up front just to play. 

      To us, that just isn't going fly.  So we have somewhat assembled a team of people and plan to bring back real shows.  House shows, basement shows, community centers, vfw halls, etc.  Those are real shows to us"

      The band is currently in the process of writing songs for the new EP, after the self-proclaimed success of their free single, "We Are The World". "To be honest, we had no idea what the response was going to be to "We are the world".  Seeing as all of us have always been in metal bands, we didn't even know what to make of it.  But we are more than overwhelmed by the outcome as of late. "

      The band hopes to have 12 written and ready. Then, they want to pick the best ones to put on the EP and get over to indianapolis to record. "The new record is going to take our sound to a whole new place." Says the band. "We might be adding a few new elements such as clean vocals, synth/keys, or possibly even a new member.  Everything is up in the air right now.  I wouldn't say that we are going to changing completely, but it will be different from 'We are the world'."

      With work schedules and such, the band is limited to play Saturdays, but once the cooler seasons come around, they plan to travel a lot more. As far as long term goals go, the band hopes to have the EP out by early 2012 and hope to start a small tour called the "We're In It For The Money Tour". The tour will be composed of house shows and DIY venues booked exclusively through DIYUSA. The band hopes to continue writing and play the "What would you rather do?" game.

      What would you rather do?
A. Let a girl take a dump in your mouth?
B. Toss a guys salad?

      I'd have to go with A and hope it comes out clean. What?