Go Ghetto

Tiger

Roller Coaster Year

_____________________________

It's been a busy year of rebuilding in the Go Ghetto Tiger camp.

Before going out on last year's tour to support their 2007 release, they found out guitarist Skoty B couldn't join them on tour. This left the local trio with a rather large hole to fill to not only do the tour - but to continue on with Go Ghetto Tiger life as they knew it.

But thankfully for Go Ghetto Tiger fans, the roller coaster year has left the band with a brighter future than ever before. They added a drummer to the mix - creating a whole new dynamic and sound for the band, and they restructured the keys to fill in the hole left by the absent guitar.

They've continued on writing with this new set up, and according to bassist and vocalist MarQuo Blacquiere, the process has resulted in a stronger Go Ghetto Tiger, and plans are already underway for a new album.

"We feel the songs we have now going into the next recording are so advanced compared to what we did before," said Blacquiere over the phone. "We've really narrowed in on performance and being really clear about our songwriting. We feel like we've cut out all the fat, and that we've really progressed."

But fans of Go Ghetto Tiger would be even more happy to hear, that Skoty B isn't completely off the roster, and will still have a role in the new Go Ghetto Tiger. He wasn't able to join them on tour because of plans to start his own recording studio named castOpus, which will be kind of like a home for artists during the crafting their album.

And according the Blacquiere, this just gives him a new role in the band.

"Skoty B is actually still very much a part of Go Ghetto Tiger," said Blacquiere. "He just changed hats. He wants to start that kind of commune where people are coming in and they sleep over and stay for a while and he helps produce and co-write. So that's what's going on now, and we're going to do our next record with him."

But for a trio that only had a bassist, a guitar player a keyboad player backed by an MP3 player, losing a member means taking a big hit. So it wasn't an easy road rebuilding Go Ghetto Tiger over the past year.

According to Blacquiere, the chain reaction that set off their roller coaster year started when the band found out that going on tour wasn't in the cards for Skoty B. And everything after was about trying to not only repair Go Ghetto Tiger, but to create something new out of the ashes.

"When we went on tour, and Skot wasn't able to come with us, we had to find a guitar player, and it was a total problem," said Blacquiere. "First we had to borrow all his gear, and find somebody to come on tour, and it's a total process. He's an excellent guitar player, and he had a very distinct sound."

Many bands faced with the same situation might have thrown in the towel of surrender. But thankfully for Go Ghetto Tiger fans - Blacquiere won't let anything get in his way.

"I'm very ambitious about my own music career - and my music career with Go Ghetto Tiger,". "I feel like it gives me so much happiness that little things like members changes - I mean - that's just life you know? That's just part of life."

Blaquiere said he managed to find a guitar player to fill in on the tour. But when they returned in November, they were again faced with a hole where the guitar used to be. The search didn't pan out in a guitar player, but in January, they ended up finding something they had in mind all along, in JQ, who joined up with the band in January.

"In the beginning we had a drummer in mind, and we tried out acoustic drummers," said Blacquiere. But for the longest time we were just going ahead and thinking that if we never find anybody, we're still gonna do it. Imagine," he added, "trying to find a drummer that plays an electronic kit - it took us basically the whole three years we were a band."

And according to Blacquiere, finding drummer Jason, or JQ in Go Ghetto speak, made a world of improvement both on stage and in the sound.

"It's adding so much," beamed Blacquiere. "Jason is also a showman, so we went from the MP3 player to having a showman on stage," he laughed.

"So yeah, just the energy and plus with the equipment that Jason brought with him, it was like 20 times better. Now all the people that come to our show, are like 'Wow - this is so much better - you guys have improved so much having the drums and having Jason.'"

The addition of JQ and his electronic kit powered by a Roland amp and equipped with a harmonic sub-woofer, may have made a world of difference in the band - but the hole still remained where the guitar used to be. So they continued their search for a guitar player.

But Blacquiere said that adapting to fill the void temporarily - bought out the long term solution.

"We looked for a guitar player for a while, and then we were like, 'Ok, we still have shows to play, and we're not going to find a guitar player. So let's start changing the piano parts, and changing them so they're not as atmospheric and they're more rhythmic.' And then we thought, 'You know, let's make the band sound great just with piano, bass and drums - and that way when a guitar player comes in, it will be that much better.'"

"And then when we started changing parts," he added. "We were like, 'You know what? This record is going to be the three of us - we're really confident with just piano and bass, and plus Jason started using distortion pedals - so he's really simulating guitar sounds just on the keys. "

And according the Blacquiere, who also wears the managerial hat in the band, the new sound and the new dynamic might open up a few doors when it comes to label and promoter interest. He explained that with the sound from the 2007 album, he had a hard time booking shows with promoters who really didn't quite get what genre Go Ghetto Tiger fell under.

"Promoters are still like, 'What are you guys?' In out there places, some promoters are like, 'You know what? Uh, we can't put you with a rock band.'"

"I think that when you listen to our recording, it's a lot more subdued than our performance," he added. "So hopefully that will change now that we have real drums and we'll be able to slow things down, and speed things up. It was just so rhythmic and click track tight last time."

So for now, the trio is collaborating on new material, and working with Skoty B on pre-production, and getting set to hit the studio to start recording around August, where they'll spend two or three months in castOpus, working on the new album. Then it will be up to Blacquiere to work hard promoting the album independently.

"I think with us, every record means the recording and then about eight months afterwards, of you know, doing the CD release in town. And the last time we went on tour across Canada, but we have different plans this time. Like we're thinking about Europe and Japan."

While Blacquiere says he'll keep working hard independently on the managerial end of things - he's optimistically keeping his fingers crossed that some day soon, he'll get a little label help.

"Well that's what I'm hoping. But I'll keep on keeping on, and not making any money - and living in my shitty appartment until you know - whenever," he laughed. "But I feel that you know, we deserve to go to the next level. The encouraging thing is that we are seeing bands like Fake Shark Real Zombie going into Japan, and bands like You Say Party We Say Die! and Black Mountain who are now at the highest level and getting the greatest accolades. So to me, that's very encouraging."

For those of you curious about the new sound after their roller coaster year you can check them out on the 24th when they hit the stage at the Media Club with the new line up, and their new dynamic.

-randy gaudreau

randy@cityintune.com

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