Lost on You - The Tigers Jaw Interview

Avid and excited Tigers Jaw fan Kelly Flatley got the chance to sit down backstage at Crossroads in Garwood, New Jersey, with band members Ben, Mark, and Ted for an interview. During the interview, you can really see Kelly’s excitement; she’s seen them perform 9 or 10 times since 2016! Funnily enough, before she knew she was working this interview, she had bought tickets to this very show months in advance.

During our chats, we talked all about the gear, dove in heavily on song writing, collaborating with new dynamics, how Tigers Jaw keeps it fun, and all about the Plane vs. Tank vs. Submarine.

Imagine a moment where your pedalboard is completed and stunningly beyond compare. Then a fan trips on your board, causing a chain reaction, frying your whole setup. Well, then your name would be Mark Lebiecki. But great news, he has a whole new setup that he loves yet again!

Taking a closer look, Mark recently started rocking the EarthQuaker Hoof Fuzz, a Strymon Blue Sky, and a Strymon Sunset Overdrive pedal. Ben also has been playing a new Taylor Gold Label 517e, as well as a Heritage 535 Semi-Hollow Guitar, and loving every second of it. Ted has been smashing on a Blackwood kit and has a new Zildjian spread!

You know that endless stream of notes and voice memos we all have on our phones? That's how Tigers Jaw writes a bunch of their songs, including the songs on their latest record, Lost on You.

“We were pretty methodical about it for this record. We had accumulated a bunch of ideas. We had made it a point to get together a bunch of different times and just demo everything out.” See, the only difference between your notes and theirs is that they take it to the next level. We’re all just sitting on a gold mine of inspiration!

There doesn’t seem to be a set equation for how Tigers Jaw collaborates on a song. They take a plane ticket to come together with their ideas and build the song from there.

“It’s fun to get together with no shows planned and just tweak all your stuff. You land with a different mindset, versus like let’s really quick write a song after sound check in a green room. We’ve been setting dedicated time lately.”

Fun fact, this is also Mark's first time writing with Tigers Jaw. It seems to keep things fresh, and they’re having tons of fun. Speaking of fun..

Tigers Jaw has noticed that over time more people per night are singing the chorus to their songs — specifically, their favorite ones like “Anxious Blade” and “Baptized on a Redwood Drive.” They also noticed the fans’ favorite being “Head is like a Sinking Stone,” which is another song they love playing due to its cold and hard intro that they just barrel through on queue.

“That's another part of it. It’s just like that's the intuition of playing so many shows with the same people. It's a locked-in band, which makes it fun.” The band loves to see the crowd singing and dancing along, and they play into it. It’s all part of the fun.

What do a Plane, a Tank, and a Submarine have in common? Well, it's Tiger Jaws most popular hit, of course! There was no way we were going to miss the opportunity to ask where the inspiration came from. “It was based on a dream that my ex-bandmate had, where a plane, a tank, and a submarine battle each other. I don’t know who won.” They know it doesn’t make sense at all, but they needed a name for that song and they just went with it.

If you have never dreamed of battles between three things, let me help you out with mine. Who would win the Like, Comment, or Subscribe button on the AMS YouTube Channel? Well, there’s only one way to find out. Go hit that button! And if you want to check out any of the gear mentioned during the interview, you can find it right here at AMS.