Recently I had the pleasure of chatting it up with a band that is quickly rising to the top, “Blame the Tyrant.” This band is comprised of four unique gentlemen: Jeff, 29, Jeremy, 31, Buckley, 25, and Ryan, 25. They are locals from the 321, specifically Cape Canaveral, and have played several shows around Brevard County.
Jeff plays guitar and is the mastermind behind the band but says he likes having each band member take part in writing music and lyrics. He recently graduated from UCF with a business degree and has his eye on the prize. “Now it’s just finding the right career. Or, if we’re lucky, going big which seems to be a very possible dream for us.”
And why not? They’ve only been playing together for about five or six months, and have already accomplished what takes some bands several years to achieve.
They played their first show in February with national act Mobile Deathcamp at the 321 Local Rock Bar on Hwy 520. They followed that up with several more shows, most recently played a showcase on April 26th and Metal Fest on April 28th.
So after a few laughs we got down’n’dirty with the questions.
The most important thing when creating music is how it comes to life, Jeff explained, saying, “Most definitely the ‘almighty riff’ comes first.”
The order of importance, according to Jeff and Ryan, is guitar, drums, bass, and then the lyrics. They said that it almost always starts with a sound in their heads — even just screwing around making guitar and drums noises into the phone then a move forward from there. Jeff would eventually like try starting with lyrics first – just to keep an open mind and to try everything.
Listening to their music, you’ll notice a lot of start/stop riffing. When asked about this Jeff acknowledged this writing style, but said he wants to try and make the riffs longer. He feels as though he plays certain chords too long and would rather switch it up.
No harm in that, it keeps the music interesting.
So what other bands, have these guys been in prior to Blame the Tyrant? Jeff has been in about seven other bands and has played guitar for about 14 years. He began in the band Broke and ended with Jon the Liar, just prior to Blame the Tyrant. Ryan was in one band before this one, called Soldier City Legends. Jeremy played in a few different bands, his last one being Missing Picket. As for Buckley, this would actually be his first band.
The particular name they chose for the band is a vital part of the way the group thinks. The name “Blame the Tyrant” comes from the age-old idea of victimization with the victim never being considered to be at fault. This same “victim” never actually does anything about the situation or takes responsibility for allowing himself to be victimized.
A name can be a powerful thing, and the music, even more so.
When asked if they’d consider themselves a “Power Metal” band they erupted in laughter.
Okay, so then who is the closet emo/screamo fan? That was a tossup between Jeff and Ryan.
Who wears leather in the band, was an instant “Jeremy” overall (wink wink) with quite a bit of laughter following after.
Who would be the bar brawler? Again, that was a tossup between Jeff and Jeremy (maybe not so much a leather wearer after all right?) but in the end they said it would really be no one because all of the guys are super laid back peaceful kind of people.
Lastly, the final “ha ha” question was which guy was the one who had bangs longer than his hair in high school and combed them to the side, all the while listening to Thursday every day of the week? This question was once more a tie between Jeff and Ryan, Ryan being the one who combed his bangs to the side and Jeff being the one who listened to Thursday, though later in college because he is an old man (according to him).
When asked if they could open for any band, alive or dead, which would, they choose, Jeff said “That’s actually a really hard question being that it’s more than just choosing a band we love… it has to do with the audience watching.”
A very insightful answer to a question they still have time to ponder.
So ladies and gents, if you want a piece of this band check them out on Facebook, Youtube, and Reverbnation.com.
From the entire band: “Expect us to be hitting the scene really hard, and always remember…. blood from a skull!”
