www.facebook.com/tragicearth
From: Melbourne, Australia
Sounds like: Hard Rock/Metal
All questions answered by Mick.
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “Tragic Earth” and is there any meaning behind it?
I originally wanted to be a guitarist until my then neighbor was a drummer, I had seen him play and after that I was hooked on drums. I grew up listening to Kiss, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Anthrax and many more of those stadium arena bands and once I saw Kiss' 1984 concert for the then album "Animalize", I simply was blown away how four guys could make thousands of people go into a frenzy, and said to myself I want in on that. So I started playing each day before school started the drums and then once I got home I would head over to my neighbors place and play drums again until he got home. It just became a ritual to play to his records and try and copy what was going on with each track.
I thought of the name "Tragic Earth" and it just seemed to fit the mold of what I wanted to put together and how I was perceiving the world with the many issues that have been going on for the better part of 20 years now and some even longer. I wanted the name to strike a chord with people and stand out instantly and that's how the name "Tragic Earth" was born.
2. What do you want listeners to take away from the "Hatred And Tolerance" album?
The listeners will get in some ways where we left off with our debut EP with strong heavy riffs and grooves. In other ways the songs have enhanced our sound even more with different moods both heavy in lyrical content and not so heavy in musical style. It's really a collection of 13 tracks that take you on a journey through personal situations and also based loosely on society issues as well. What won't confuse anyone is that it's a real rock album with substance not following any trends nor trying to only draw on past era's or bands.
3. What can people expect from your live show?
We aren't trying to reinvent the wheel here. You will get four guys that will give you everything they have each night. We make no apologies in saying that we are aiming to be an arena band and the world is crying out for a new Guns & Roses to have that edge not only in songs but in performance. Just ask the people of Warburtion or Bendigo. A lot of people are finding us refreshing because we are bringing back rock with substance that has good music accompanied equally with thought provoking lyrics and power onslaught of a performance that leaves people with nothing else to say but WOW!
4. What's your favorite track to play live?
That's a really hard question to answer because I have several but if I have to answer for just one track it would have to be "Bittersweet Reality".
5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
At this stage of our career we don't have a preferred amount of bands we want to tour with. We wanna play with anyone who wants to share a stage with us. We are definitely a band that wants to tour all parts of the world with as many bands as possible. In terms of Australian bands, we would love to share stages with The Baby Animals, The Screaming Jets and next time with AC/DC.
6. Any crazy show stories?
Yes, that's what makes touring fun. There was one night in Rural Victoria we were playing a show and it was a place where the crowd loved their live music and liked to party as well. That makes for a lot of things to happen without any control such as a few women completely getting naked and dancing on top of the bar right in front of us. The best part about it was that it was only our first night of a two night stay at that venue. The next night I woke up in the park down the street not really knowing how I got there.
7. What’s your take on the current state of rock?
The state of rock hasn't recovered from the change that the 90's brought. I'm not saying I blame grunge because we got Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. Both two hugely big influences on me also. But rock has lost that larger than life appeal it once had and that's where we are giving you a show to say "ok this is great I haven't seen this before or in many years". It's about time a new band came along and gave people something to get excited about rather than just relying on the elder types because it's a safe bet.
8. What’s the current music scene like there in the Australia both locally and country wide?
Melbourne has the strongest scene here in Australia. There is an amazing amount of bands going around that are quality. In many senses we have recreated the strip in LA of the 80's here in Melbourne but that's not saying the bands are dated sounding. It just becomes really tough to decide which gig to go to when you have bands playing all over the city on any given night. It's an exciting time to be a part of this movement and I'm confident you will be seeing many Aussie bands abroad in due time mixing it with the big boys. The rest of the country has a scene also, we recently traveled to Brisbane Queensland and played with some great bands there as well as Adelaide in South Australia.
9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
I have no problem on any legal downloading, you're still purchasing the album or song the artist created. I for one prefer to still buy CDs and vinyls. Illegal downloading is a problem but I think if someone generally likes the content you have put out they wanna do the right thing and buy it in some format rather than just have a song from a site without a face.
10. What’s next for Tragic Earth?
The new album "Hatred and Tolerance" just came out a week ago so right now it's all about touring and supporting the album. There is a video in the works and should be completed shortly for release. After the first leg of the tour is done we will do another video and then look to head back out for the second leg of the tour around September.
11. Any shoutouts?
The support and feedback from the new album has been very positive. The fans are always increasing and without you no one can survive, so thank you for buying the new album. To some of the stations here that have been behind us since the beginning. Phoenix FM, Collision FM, THRS The Hard Rock Radio Show, thank you as always for the efforts and dedication you have for up and coming bands and to all the bands we have shared a stage with so far, never give up and keep rocking.
