Turns out New Jersey has more to offer on the music front than just Bruce Springsteen and The Gaslight Anthem…
Where are you guys from?
New Brunswick, NJ.
How did you meet?
Ed and Kevin met several years ago and played in bands together before forming City Of Tyrants. We met Chingkhei and Charlie through ads we posted looking for members and Josh is a college classmate of Ching’s.
How long have you been playing as a band?
3 years.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name “City Of Tyrants” came from an old demo song of ours. I believe the lyrics were referring to Salem, MA during the witch trials as a “city of tyrants”.
What are your influences?
We have so many! Our guitar players are very big fans of John Petrucci and Frederik Thordendal. Both of those guys are very different players but unique. Petrucci is a great songwriter and without the accomplishments of Dream Theater, we might not be here writing music today.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
With the number of new bands coming out today and the reach that streaming platforms have, it can be hard to truly stand out as an independent artist. Our goal on Revelations was just to put our own spin on the progressive metal genre. We try to write songs that we would enjoy listening to if we were the fans. With that being said, our new album has a lot to offer. We’re hoping it appeals to a very wide audience range. If you like big sing-along choruses, breakdowns or fun djenty riffs, you’ll find it on Revelations.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Our new album Revelations is a concept album. It is a story told from a first-person perspective about a man who is “chosen” to be a hero type figure in a post-apocalyptic world. Throughout the songs, he is dealing with his own personal ideology and fighting his urge to become the evil he sought to eradicate in the beginning of the story. The lyrics are telling of today’s society and political climate at times. We personally thought of it more like writing a script for a sci-fi movie and just had fun with it. It really is open to interpretation.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
The band has not played any shows with this current lineup but we have started practising for a busy album cycle starting early 2019. We expect the live shows to be a lot of fun and energetic! Our vocalist, Charlie, is a great frontman and he’s great when it comes to engaging a crowd.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play /etc.?
- Drums – Mapex
- Guitars – Washburn, Ibanez, Jackson and Schecter
- Bass – Dingwall
What are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We’re currently promoting our pre-release single “Astral Projection” before the album drops on November 16th. It’s available on all major music platforms including iTunes, Spotify, Google and Amazon.
What are your plans for 2018-2019?
To play as many shows as possible and meet lots of new people!
If you were second on a three band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or would like to.
I think we’d all love to be supporting Meshuggah! They have had such a huge influence on the genre and their live show is great. I think it’s a little too early in our career to name a band we’d want to open for us! We haven’t been out on any major tours yet but we are planning a lot of great stuff for 2019. We’d love to tour with Veil Of Maya since we worked with their vocalist Lukas Magyar on our new album. He was a huge inspiration for us!
What do each of you like to do on a night off when you aren’t working or playing music?
Speaking for a few of us, a night home watching Netflix is very common! Sometimes we go out for drinks, catch a show or work on some of our other hobbies.
City of Tyrants: facebook | twitter | youtube
