July 14, 2009 --
TANTRIC’s fourth album, MIND CONTROL, will now
be released August 4 on the Silent Majority Group label (through
Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group). Originally
scheduled for July 21, the album was produced by Brett Hestla
(Creed, Framing Hanley, Dark New Day) and is the follow-up to
2008’s THE END BEGINS, which produced the Top Five
Rock hit, “Down and Out.”
The album’s
first single, “Mind Control,” is currently in the
Top 40 on the Mediabase Active Rock chart after only two weeks,
garnering spins on over 50 radio stations nationwide including
Phoenix, Detroit, Dallas, Houston and Chicago, and including
Sirius XM’s “Octane” channel. A video for
the track was recently shot in Nashville with director Mason
Dixon (who directed the video for “Down and Out”)
and will be debuting nationwide via MTV2’s Unleashed on
August 4.
In touring news,
the band--Hugo Ferreira (lead vocals, keyboards), Joe Pessia
(guitars), Erik Leonhardt (bass and vocals), Marcus Ratzenboeck
(violin) and Richie Monica (drums)—is gearing up for a
U.S. tour with their special guests Aranda and Vayden starting
July 31 in Syracuse, which will also include various radio station
festivals along the route.
After spending nearly
a year on the road promoting THE END BEGINS, Tantric
returned home to begin penning their new album. Except home,
for each member, was a different place in the U.S. So instead
of sitting together in a rehearsal space in the same city, the
members of Tantric wrote separately, sending files electronically
to Hugo, who compiled them into working demos. After a few months,
the band had written almost thirty songs.
“It was a
really unique way of approaching a record,” Hugo says.
“It was definitely more of a collaboration than the last
record in terms of writing. And we wrote it together even though
we were thousands of miles apart. I don’t know how, but
we really wrote an incredible record in a short period of time.
I’ve always wanted to make a record like this.”
The band then reconvened
in the secluded studio in Poconos where they had recorded their
last album, where they spent a week playing the songs live and
experimenting with what they had written long distance for MIND
CONTROL. Inevitably, some of the numbers shifted and evolved
during that week.
“We had written
the whole record over the computer,” says Erik. “So
a lot of it changed once we got into the studio. When you have
everyone in the same room the ideas start changing. ‘What
if we do this? What if we do that?’ We definitely went
heavier on this record, too. I think it has a lot to do with
having all new members. This is the new band, full on and writing
together. We never said ‘let’s write a heavier record,’
this is just what happened.”
The songs on MIND
CONTROL are far ranging both in terms of lyrical content
and sonic aesthetic, something the band feels truly encapsulates
who they are as artists. The title track and first single, “Mind
Control,” a song about the media, sits on the heavier
end of the spectrum, chugging with propulsive guitars and an
arena-ready rock melody. “What Are You Waiting For,”
fills the other end of the spectrum, an emotionally urgent power
ballad that immediately engages its listener. The album, as
a cohesive whole, reveals the band that Tantric has become.
After a tumultuous ten-year career, a shifting of members, and
four albums spent searching for themselves, Tantric has solidified
their line-up and crafted an album that successfully represents
who they are.
“My goal is
always to do what I love and survive at it,” explains
Hugo, “but I would like this record to take us farther
than the last record. I would like it to establish Tantric as
this band that’s not going anywhere. We’ve been
here for four records already and every record that we’re
delivering is getting better. I’m so proud of MIND
CONTROL. It’s the one I’ve always wanted to
make.”
Check out Tantric at any of the upcoming tour dates:
| DATE |
CITY |
VENUE |
| All
dates with Aranda and Vayden (except for the radio shows
indicated): |
| |
|
|
| Fri
7/31 |
Syracuse,
NY |
Lost
Horizon |
| *Sat
8/1 |
Altamont,
NY |
WZMR
Edgefest/Altamont Fairgrounds |
| Sun
8/2 |
Hartford,
CT |
Webster
Underground |
| Tue
8/4 |
Boston,
MA |
Middle
East (downstairs) |
| Thu
8/6 |
Poughkeepsie,
NY |
The
Chance |
| Fri
8/7 |
Baltimore,
MD |
The
Quarter |
| Sat
8/8 |
Laurel,
DE |
The
House Sports Bar & Grill |
| *Sun
8/9 |
Rochester,
NY |
WZNE
show/Riverside Festival Site |
| Tue
8/11 |
Pittsburgh,
PA |
ALtar
Bar |
| Wed
8/12 |
Cincinnati,
OH |
20th
Century Theatre |
| Fri
8/14 |
Louisville,
KY |
Phoenix
Hill Tavern |
| Sat
8/15 |
Flint,
MI |
The
Machine Shop |
| *Sun
8/16 |
South
Bend, IN |
Big
10 Rock Fest/St. Patrick's Park |
| Sat
8/22 |
Maplewood,
MN |
The
Rock |
| *Sun
8/23 |
Algona,
IA |
Rock
Gone Wild Festival/Freedom Park |
| Fri
8/28 |
Dallas,
TX |
Trees |
| Sat
8/29 |
Houston,
TX |
Scout
Bar |
| Sun
8/30 |
Beaumont,
TX |
Scout
Bar |
| Wed
9/2 |
San
Antonio, TX |
Scout
Bar |
| Thu
9/3 |
Abilene,
TX |
Midnite
Rodeo |
| Fri
9/4 |
Lubbock,
TX |
Tequila
Jungle |
| Sat
9/5 |
Odessa,
TX |
Dos
Amigos Cantina |
| *Sun
9/6 |
Sunland
Park, NM |
KLAQ
BBQ/Western Playland |
| *Sat
9/12 |
Huntington,
WV |
XFest
2009/Harris Riverfront Park |
| *Wed
9/16 |
York,
PA |
York
Fair |
* Indicates radio
show.