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Black Tide
Profile of
Black Tide
Type(s) of Music: Heavy Metal, hard rock
Names of Members of Group:
Gabriel (lead vocals, lead/rhythm
guitar)
Lex (lead/rhythm guitar)
Zakk (bass)
Steven (drums)
Place of Origin: Miami, Florida
Year the Act Began:
Musical Influences:
Black Tide News
Black Tide rolled into Seattle today (7/9) to kick off another summer
full of metal madness on the inaugural Mayhem Festival. Fan’s attending
the festival can expect to hear
Light From Above favorite “Warriors of Time” as well as their
spot-on cover of Iron Maiden’s classic, “Prowler.”
Biography/History of
Black Tide
Ever since he was eight years old, Gabriel Garcia knew exactly what he
wanted to do with his life — write songs, sing lead and play shredding
guitar for a hard-rocking band. “My cousin used listen to Iron Maiden,
Megadeth, Pantera and all that stuff,” Gabriel remembers. “He played it
for me, and he taught me how to play guitar. And then I just practiced
my ass off.” Gabriel learned fast; six years later, at an age when most
budding guitarists are still getting their chops together and dreaming
of future stardom, his band Black Tide has already opened for
Ozzy Osbourne and Lamb of God on
the mainstage of OZZfest 2007, and are preparing to unleash Light From
Above, their debut record for Interscope.
Don’t let Black Tide’s youthfulness fool you; Gabriel may be only
fourteen, and his three bandmates all under twenty, but this Miami-based
band is unquestionably the real deal. Gabriel, guitarist Alex Nunez,
bassist Zakk Sandler and drummer Steven Spence hit the stage with a
street gang’s confident swagger, and back it up with a combination of
raw power and highly developed chops that would easily shame bands ten
years their senior. “We’re young, and we come from Florida,” says Zakk,
“but that doesn’t mean we’re a boy band or a novelty. We rehearsed our
album every day in our guitarist’s garage, in the middle of the summer
in Miami. We weren’t working on our choreography, and we certainly
weren’t waiting around for our next song to come in the mail!”
Though they’re too young to remember the Eighties, Black Tide’s music
draws from the best hard rock and thrash from the era (think
Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth,
Metallica, Iron Maiden and Skid Row)
while giving it a 21st century kick up the ass. “Shockwave,” the band’s
calling card and the album’s opening track, is an utter classic — all
bloody-knuckled thrash riffs, squealing guitars, rampaging drums,
in-your-face vocals and an instantly memorable chorus. The rest of Light
From Above is up to the same impressive standard; anthemic,
take-no-prisoners tracks like “Shout,” “Black Abyss,” “Let Me,” “Live
Fast Die Young,” the Maiden-esque “Warriors of Time” and their spot-on
cover of Metallica’s “Hit The Lights” will punch any metal fan squarely
in their pleasure centers.
Despite the obvious influences, what makes Black Tide’s music sound so
fresh is the fact that all four members harbor vastly different musical
obsessions. “We all agree with the Iron Maiden, Pantera, Megadeth —
everyone’s into ‘em — but we all kind of branch off from there,” Zakk
explains. “Alex is really into grind and crust-punk, and he loves bands
like Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and
Phobia. Steve is into Rush, Dream Theater and newer metal stuff like
Killswitch Engage and All That Remains. Gabriel’s into Satriani. Vai and
Death, all that shred kind of stuff; and I’m into Meatloaf, Lynyrd
Skynyrd and the Doors. Things that really don’t make sense together, but
it works for us!”
Black Tide first started playing Miami-area clubs about four years ago,
shortly after Zakk — at the time, a lead guitarist for a rival group —
agreed to fill in for a couple of gigs on bass. (“How quickly two shows
become four years,” Zakk laughs.) Though Gabriel was only ten at the
time, none of the older guys were remotely fazed by the idea of playing
in a band with him. “We were all into skateboarding and music,” Alex
explains. “All we would do is skate all day and jam all night — and
since Gabe was so much into the same stuff we were, he never seemed like
a little kid to me.”
After playing countless house parties and club gigs, Black Tide scored
their big break when they talked their way onto the main showcase at the
2006 Florida Music Festival. “We did three songs in front of all these
industry people, and everyone was like, ‘What the fuck was that? Who
were those kids?’” Zakk recalls. “All of a sudden, we started getting
all these calls from major labels.”
Interscope signed Black Tide and flew them to Chicago, where they
recorded their debut album, Light From Above, at Groovemaster Studios,
with Johnny K (Disturbed, Machine Head, Soil) producing. “They stuck us
in Chicago in the roughest part of the winter,” Alex laughs. “There was
one point where the heater broke, and we were all in there, watching
movies and playing foosball with our gloves and winter jackets on!”
After the album sessions wrapped, the band scored their coveted main
stage slot on OZZfest 2007. “It was crazy, man,” says Gabriel. “Sharing
the stage with Ozzy and Lamb of God, it was just an awesome feeling.
I’ve been listening to Lamb of God constantly for the past two years;
then we got to meet them, and they turned out to be really cool.” “We
learned so much about touring on OZZfest,” adds Zakk. “We learned what
the pros do. It was our first real tour, so it was like, ‘Okay — this is
how you properly soundcheck; this is how you properly sing into a mic;
this is what you should never say to a crowd in Detroit!’”
After ending 2007 on another high note — a six-week tour with Avenged
Sevenfold — the band is ready to take it to a whole other level with the
release of Light From Above.
[Jan. 28, 2009] It has been announced that
the newly released “Shout” video from thrashers BLACK TIDE will be
featured on mtvU’s new artist show, The Freshman. The show spotlights
emerging artists both on air and online, with a chance for one of the
competing videos to get an automatic add into rotation on the channel
the following week. Be sure to visit http://freshmen.mtvu.com and vote!
Fans can vote as many times as they want. On the strength of their
electric debut album, Light From Above, BLACK TIDE has been voted “Best
New Artist” from several media outlets including Guitar World, Kerrang!,
and TheGauntlet.com. BLACK TIDE is currently overseas in the UK touring
with Bring Me The Horizon, Mindless Self Indulgence and others. The band
will return home in February to kick off a US tour with Escape The Fate.
BLACK TIDE will also be a main stage performer all summer long on Warped
Tour 2009.
[Dec. 3, 2008]
Gamecock Media Group and
Interscope Records today announced that they have brought together
heavy metal stars Black Tide with Spark Unlimited, developer of the
acclaimed action game of mythic proportions, Legendary, for a
contest that puts fans in the director’s seat. By visiting
www.blacktidemusic.com/legendary, fans of Black Tide and
Legendary will be able to combine live concert footage of the band
with clips from the video game to create a music video for the song
Warriors of Time.
Once completed, videos are uploaded to YouTube with links to the
video posted to the competition website. On February 22nd,
2009 the best videos will be chosen by Black Tide and Spark, and a
bevy of prizes will be awarded. Prizes that will be given to the
winners include:
Grand
Prize:
-
Gaming Computer, Schecter Guitar, Original Game Artwork, a copy of
the game, T-shirt + CD + Poster
Runner
Up (2) Prizes:
-T-shirt + CD+ Poster and a copy of the game
The deadline for entry is
February 22nd so be sure to go to the website and start
creating your masterpiece right away!
