The band formed in late '95/early '96 and our first gig was in March of that year. For a long time we didn't have a permanent drummer and used various friends for certain periods of time. The first bassist had left leaving only myself in the band when Tim Armstrong called about us recording for Hellcat in '97. At his suggestion, we did the first album as a studio lineup. The album's recording began in January '99 and it was released in October of that year. An old friend and former bandmate of mine called Geoff Kresge who was living in Canada at the time came to California for 3 weeks to play shows to promote the first album's release, by the following spring he'd moved to Los Angeles (my new home) and joined the band. We got London May on drums, played some shows and headed into the studio to record "Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite" which came out in July. May left the band after our first tour in June and we replaced him with our current drummer, Freddy "Hell" Telles and continued touring. We've done four tours now, with Amazing Crowns, TSOL, Dropkick Murphys/Sick Of It All and a trip to Japan where we played the Tokyo Big Rumble psychobilly festival.

Albums:
Tiger Army, self-titled CD/LP (Hellcat Records, 1999) 1,000 on Orange vinyl
Tiger Army II: Power of Moonlite CD/LP (Hellcat Records, 2001) 1,300 on Moon-yellow vinyl

E.P.'s:
"Temptation" 7" E.P. (Chapter 11 Records, 1997) 500 pressed, Out-of-Print
NOTE: the tracks from this e.p. may be re-released as a CD-EP on Hellcat in 2002

Compilations:
"Punk Fiction" compilation (Wedge Records, 1997), Out-of-Print
"Give 'Em The Boot II" compilation (Hellcat Records, 1999)

On the last tour with DKM we were stopped at a restaurant chain called Tim Horton's outside of Toledo, Ohio. Fred threw a box of rubbish from the van in a dumpster when we stopped. The police came in while we were eating because they thought we were terrorists who'd planted a bomb. It wasn't very funny at the time...

Probably Roy Orbison, the Smiths, or maybe the Clash in 1976.

In no particular order (I'm sure I'm forgetting a few): -- Quakes, "Last of the Human Beings" -- Apoptygma Berzerk, "Welcome To Earth" -- Meteors, "Psycho Down" -- Nerve Agents, "The Butterfly Collection" -- Cure, "Bloodflowers"

This is the type of question where the answer will pop into my head in a few months...

It's pretty healthy I'd say. A lot of subcultures, a lot of gigs and a lot of places to have them. The psycho subculture has never existed on any scale more than the tiniest handful of people in the U.S., but that's starting to change now. There's a growing psycho army in Southern California. There are a lot of punk, oi!, hardcore and rockabilly shows as well.

We've just come back from a monthlong U.S. tour with Dropkick Murphys and Sick Of It All which was a great time. This month (November) we do some headlining shows in California, then take December off. In mid/late January we'll hit the road again, including a possible UK visit, but that's not confirmed and may not happen. We'll hit the road again in the US after that. We definitely hope to play the UK/Europe in 2002. We hope to release a CDEP entitled "The Early Years" on Hellcat next year. It'll be about 4 or 5 tracks of unavailable or unreleased material from '96-'97. I'm writing material for TA III right now, but we won't enter the studio until Fall 2002 at the earliest.

Thanks for the interview, and thanks to all the psychos, punks and skins who've supported us in the UK. We hope to play for you soon. If anyone wants more info, MP3's or to learn about tour plans, check our website: www.tigerarmy.com Stay psycho! TIGER ARMY NEVER DIE!!!