To celebrate the release of their brand new EP Who Cares (via LAB Records), Chelmsford rockers Tigress (composed of Katy Jackson, Sean Bishop, Tom Harrison, Jack Divey and Josh Coombes) are pleased to reveal the video for Hangman:
Commenting on the song, vocalist Katy Jackson explains:
‘We were half way through writing the EP and had a power cut for 2 days, so found ourselves with little to do. Sean picked up his acoustic guitar and just started playing, we had a load of candles lit and I just started singing. Sean and I wrote the song in a night, it was amazing to be cut off from everything and to just be alone with your thoughts.
‘The EP was recorded in South Devon with Peter Miles (Lonely The Brave, Canterbury, We Are The Ocean) at Middle Farm Studios and was mixed and mastered by Blake Eiseman (Justin Bieber and P!nk).’
Commenting on the EP, vocalist Katy Jackson explains:
‘We have been playing music together for a long time now and I wish I could say that things have changed over the years but that’s simply not true.
‘I am speaking of my own personal experiences and cannot speak for every female within the rock industry, but I have heard similar stories from friends in bands.
‘As a female in the industry you are either objectified or dismissed. A few years back we were made to play a festival called Chebfest without knowing what that actually meant – and only recently did a pub announce that they have banned all female fronted bands from playing their venue because their customers don’t like it.
‘As a band we have been told numerous times that their “female quota has been met” and that there is no place for us on festival line-ups, record labels, PR companies etc… simply because I am a female.
‘I can honestly say that it’s my belief that if I were a male, our band would have progressed a lot faster than it has.
The pressure I feel is at times is unbearable. You are made to feel that you must be the skinniest, the prettiest, the most talented, the best performer, the most confident etc – Those ideals are impossible to live up to and have often made me dread having to step out on stage.
‘I think that the industry is shallow and lazy. Long gone are the days when record labels hustled to make their artist a success, now the labels seek bands who already have a massive following and ride their wave of success. I feel that today’s industry is so heavily image lead that it isn’t about the music anymore. Long gone are the days that the likes of Freddie Mercury can front a band.
‘I often wonder if I feel this way because my band isn’t good enough, and maybe I think I’m owed something that I am not. But then I realise that I make music because I have to, it’s what keeps me sane and I can’t image doing anything else.
‘Personal experience has taught me to just keep moving forwards, no matter what gets in the way. I didn’t think I had anymore songs in me to write, but this new EP flowed so effortlessly. I spoke with honesty and we had the time of our lives making it. I don’t know if other people will like what we have done, but we love it. We decided to stop caring about what other people think and just do it for ourselves.’
Upcoming shows include a performance at the legendary Download Festival on the 9th June and Fat Lip Fest in Bristol in July. The band will be part of the Avalanche Stage line-up where they will be playing material from the new EP.
As well as the recent tour with InMe, previous live highlights include tours with Metro Station, Counterfeit and Billy Talent and performing at Liverpool Sound City, Vans Warped Tour UK and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The band were also handpicked by Green Day to open for them at their British Summer Time show in Hyde Park. Other one-off supports include shows with Alvarez Kings, Fort Hope, Seaway, The One Hundred and most recently – Japan’s Man With A Mission.
Tigress have previously seen coverage from Metro, Clash, Alternative Press, Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Scuzz TV, Kerrang! TV, Kerrang! Radio as well as hundreds of regional stations and webzines.
Who Cares tracklist:
1. Paranoid
2. Bring Me Down
3. Over Your Love
4. Hangman
5. The Cycle
Live Dates
9th June – Download Festival, Castle Donington
28th July – Fat Lip Fest, Bristol
31st August – Wilkestock, Hertford