Chopping It Up with Tightwire's Tane Graves About Head Full of Snakes, Red Scare Industries & Working with Dillinger Four's Paddy Costello (The Witzard Interview)
Tightwire full-color illustration (CREDIT: David Buist, @david_buist)
The best Pop-punk bands come from the Midwest. That thar's a scientific fact. Another proven law of Ramones-core is that the second album is even better. So, you can see why we're fired up about this new record: Head Full of Snakes is destined for greatness! Tightwire came storming outta Minneapolis in 2018 with a catchy/crusty/spooky debut, Six Feet Deep, and toured with Dillinger Four, CHIXDIGGIT!, Off With Their Heads, and more. Since then, they've only gotten stronger with the addition of Noelle Stolp on second guitar and added vocals. She's Iowa Punk royalty!
And now that Tightwire 2.0 is armed with 12 new songs about darkness and damnation, they'll be hitting the road on some tasty tours and festivals. It appears as though since Tightwire's 2018 effort, Six Feet Deep, the band has gone through some major changes, re-structuring, revitalization, and is now back better than ever! We got achance to speak with Tightwire bassist and vocalist Tane Graves about their latest effort, Head Full of Snakes, and what's planned next for the band. Head Full of Snakes is now available on Red Scare Industries. Additionally, you can catch Tightwire on tour now through late October with Teenage Bottlerocket.
I. Who are the current members of Tightwire and what is each member's role within the band?
Tane Graves:
Noelle Stolp - guitar/vocals (Intelligent One)
Tane Graves - bass/vocals (Wild Card)
Paul Mullaney - guitar/vocals (Sex Appeal)
Parker Thompson - drums (Sex Appeal)
II. How did you guys end up linking up with Red Scare Industries to unleash your latest album, Head Full of Snakes?
Graves: Red Scare [Industries] had put out our previous release and, although, we had million-dollar offers from major labels, we figured we’d help Red Scare out once more with this masterpiece.
III. How would you attempt to best describe the sounds to be heard across Head Full of Snakes for new fans and/or first-time listeners?
Graves: Pop-punk for 35-year-old drunks, who hide their neck fat with beards.
IV. Who or what would you readily cite as some of your greatest sources of inspiration and influence while creating Head Full of Snakes?
Graves: DARK THOUGHTS (the band and the ones in my head,) depression, alcoholism, [and] Jesus Christ.
V. What did the typical writing, creation, recording, production, etc. processes behind the making-of Head Full of Snakes generally entail?
Graves: Get drunk, feel sorry for myself, write the song on voice memos, sober up, record the more coherent version in my basement, send it to our engineer, who makes it sound like it wasn't recorded in a basement, [and,] then, go to an [Alcoholics Anonymous] (A.A.) Meeting.
VI. How would you say Tightwire's overall sound has grown, evolved, changed, and progressed since your last original release, 2018's Six Feet Deep?
Graves: Six Feet Deep was an extremely rushed recording process, so this time around we took our time to record many layers of guitars, organ parts, and vocal harmonies. We lost a singer and replaced him with two others. So, I'd say our sound has become more full both on recordings and live.
VII. In addition to or aside from the members of Tightwire, who helped created and worked on making Head Full of Snakes?
Graves: Tobias Jeg (Red Scare) offered guidance by gently telling us what song to not put on the record, Xander Moser, who mixed the sh*t out this record at his amazing studio, TreeSpeak [Recording Studio] in Northeast [Minneapolis, Minnesota], Matt Webster from Supportive Parents, who layered a million tracks of vocal harmonies, and Paddy [Costello] from Dillinger Four, who screamed all over one of the songs. I'm probably forgetting a few others—sorry!
VIII. What's the significance, intended meaning, and/or original source of the image seen across the Head Full of Snakes album cover?
Graves: They are the same two characters from our first record. The mad scientist and his helping hand, Iggy. The artwork for both albums were created by our friend and artist, C.M. Dugan. The album cover is meant to continue the story of the characters working on the body they exhumed from the grave on the cover of our first record, [Six Feet Deep].
IX. Do you fellas have any immediate plans to tour behind or in support of Head Full of Snakes?
Graves: We have tours coming up with Audio Karate, Teenage Bottlerocket, and a few others we can't announce quite yet. You can find your details on our website and socials.
<a href="https://tightwirempls.bandcamp.com/album/head-full-of-snakes">Head Full Of Snakes by Tightwire</a>
X. If you had to pick a specific beer and or alcoholic drink to suggest having while listening to Head Full of Snakes, what would you suggest drinking and why?
Graves: High-proof hard liquor. The challenge is to get drunk before the 19-minute record ends.
XI. Who designed the album cover artwork for Head Full of Snakes? What can you tell us about your decision to have such vile, repulsive artwork commissioned for the LP?
Graves: "Vile?" "Repulsive?" I guess I didn't realize this was a good Christian interview... (EDITOR'S NOTE: this was a mix-up on my part during the initial emailing of these questions to Tightwire, although, it yielded a humorous response!) The artwork for both albums were created by our friend and artist, C.M. Dugan. He's the best.
XII. What's planned next for Tightwire?
Graves: Playing as many shows as possible, doing podcasts, keeping Tane sober, and visiting the best toy/collectible shops in every town we pass through.
Tightwire's September '23 Tour flyer (SOURCE: Facebook)