Interview

I would like you to know before reading this, this is not a typical review, it's kind of a hybrid between an interview and a show review. Hope you enjoy...

There is a little local venue in Charlotte called The Evening Muse down in the art district, and it is there that I was privileged enough to witness the next big thing; The Tide.

“It started with me trying to scrounge up musicians to play with” says front man, Steve Schallert. I must mention, before our little sit-down with the band, this man had just blown me away with an awesome display of vocal power. Not once did he sound off tempo, out of tune, or pretentious (something many great vocalists struggle with). It was as though he were a machine the way he kept his pitch perfect the whole time, but the passion told me he was as human as they come. The way he presented himself to the audience with such sincerity, it felt refreshing and I could tell this band was not putting up a phony pretense. In fact, when I asked him what their goal was as musicians, he said “To me, I want people to hear our music whatever that means. I really just want to be honest and be creative and push boundaries of art and music” “We want to personally feel great about what we are doing and open people’s thoughts to ideas they haven’t thought so much about. To really just to be honest about whom we are as people and what we want to portray as human beings, as individuals, as Christens, as people who just walk around and try and get through life”.

As we sat around talking about the show and what it was to be a band, my mind kept reeling back to the live set. I would just like to take a moment and encourage anyone reading this to look this band up and check out their tour dates, chances are they are going to be playing somewhere near your town with a popular local band, make sure to see this band live while you can still afford it. Their live performance is an auditory assault that brings all the clarity of a well timed slap in the face. Reviving what I considered nearly lost in today’s music scene, The Tide has brought passion back to the stage and I wanted to hear more about that. I wanted to know what inspired the songs and what they saw themselves doing in the future. Steve said “We just write whatever comes out of us and we listen to so much different stuff.” “I don’t think we are anything terribly groundbreaking, I really just think we are just trying to push ourselves to be creative and create emotional responses for the listeners. I think every musician’s goal should be moving on and progressing”.

Now if you don’t like The Tide for their humility, their sincerity, and you don’t like them for their powerful stage presence, then here is a little insider info that should win you over – “We have this huge 80s mix with, like, every 80s hit ever and it always seems to come on around 3am”. “We all like to rock, we put the 80s mix in and we like to take our shirts off in the van. We turn the lights on so people can see us”. I was then informed that there were dance moves to go along to the early morning, topless, dancing “It actually starts with us pumping our arms…” and that is where the line was drawn, I was privy to no more and I refuse to attempt and use my imagination.

In all seriousness, this is a talented, hard-working, fervent band that deserves your attention; they certainly got a hold of mine.