Right before their tour with Frustration kicks off on June 1st, we had a chance to ask Twitching Tongues guitarist Taylor Young some questions. It sounds like they can’t wait to start their European tour, and so can’t we. You can now win 2×2 tickets, check here for all information.
The Sleep Therapy European tour is coming up, what do you guys think of the hardcore scene in mainland Europe?
All of Europe is amazing. We were lucky enough to be there in March of last year when our 7″ came out and we had some wild reactions.
The album dropped in March, how have the reactions been so far?
It actually came out in April. The reactions have been great so far but of course there will be negative opinions when a band sounds different. It feels great to finally have it out since it has been recorded for over a year.
What does making/playing your music mean to you?
It means everything to us. From playing live to writing to recording, the whole spectrum is my favorite thing in life. I don’t want to do anything else, ever.
We love your (unusual) sound; what bands would you say are or have been an influence for you guys as a band?
We all listen to a lot of things. When we started the band, the idea was to start a band like Type O Negative mixed with Only Living Witness, who we named the band after, as well as other 90′s Boston/New York hardcore like Sam Black Church, Life of Agony and 454 Big Block. After the demo, we decided to incorporate more elements of classic doom and death metal like Pentagram, Candlemass, Warning, Bolt Thrower and Obituary while keeping the same flavor we’ve already built.
If Twitching Tongues hadn’t worked out as well as it did, where would you see yourself now?
Ruckus would probably be a bigger band. We would have focused on that instead. We’ll never stop doing that band either, it’s just more of a fun band to make ultra ignorant music with.
What is the weirdest/funniest thing that has happened to you on tour?
We’ve had some crazy and silly shit happen but I don’t have time to type that all out. The other day, the alternator died in our van and we drove without any electronics in our van for almost an hour. No gauges, nothing.
You guys are playing a lot of shows and have started to play some big tours a long way from home. How do you manage to combine tour life and the situation at home?
It’s not too bad. I have a recording studio so I just work when I’m home. Everyone else’s jobs are similar, except for Keith [Paull]. He couldn’t get off work for the European tour so we have our friend Nic Samayoa, who sings in HARNESS, filling in on bass for us. Check out Harness ASAP.
If you could choose any band in the world, hardcore or not, with who would you like to play a show?
My dream line up for a Twitching Tongues show would be: Type O Negative/Carnivore, Candlemass, Breakdown, Kickback, and Twitching Tongues. One of those is impossible though.
What places in the world do you really want to go to on tour?
Australia and Japan. I’m hoping we can make those happen in the next year or so.
What is the ultimate goal of Twitching Tongues?
We just want to play everywhere we possibly can, and do it with bands we like.
Words by Tim van Reyswoud
