Shotgunned around the US (in terms of placement, not in terms of having holes in them), Tallah are our Band of the Day…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Our Drummer, Max, is in Coopersburg, PA. Our bassist, Cooper, is in Allentown, PA. Our guitarist, Derrick, is in NJ, and our singer, Justin, is in MA.
How did you meet?
Max met Derrick through their other band Next To None. Cooper and Max met from their other bands playing local gigs together. Max knew of Justin from his semi-popular YouTube channels, so when Tallah was looking for a vocalist, he reached out to Justin.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Tallah’s first gig as a full band was January 7th, 2018, so we have been a full-band for about two and a half years.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Back in 2017, Max was filling in for his girlfriend’s band, Doll Skin. He had already planned to start Tallah, so at Doll Skin’s merch booth, he left a suggestion sheet for band names. This young girl decided to write her name down, and we liked it as a band name. We even used her handwriting for the band font.
What are your influences?
Our mutual influences are Korn, Slipknot, Code Orange, Linkin Park, and System Of A Down, but we have tons of other individual influences.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our music is chaotic and wild. Everyone brings their own intense energy to the band, and since we all come from different musical backgrounds, everybody has something special to add. “Who could be you better than you?” Justin has a unique perspective on vocals, which lets him go places a lot of modern vocalists do not go. Cooper’s wild stage theatrics make it difficult to take your eyes off him. Max is an incredible drummer, songwriter, and visionary—he is the core of the band. Derrick can shred like there is nothing to it and is an extremely tight player, as well as providing some beautiful background harmonies to some of the vocals. We are an odd group of people who have all come together to make something special and fun.
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Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Justin tackles all the lyrics, and he is known for writing concept/themed albums. Matriphagy is a dark story about a man who is trapped in a house, under the thumb of his mother, and begins to lose his mind and touch insanity as he scrambles to escape. The album touches on oppression, society’s social engineering, nature vs. nurture, metaphysics, and all kinds of psychological themes that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Max always kicks us off with some sort of wild intro, and we all immediately start losing our minds. We are scary, aggressive, violent, and theatrical. We want people to be concerned for our well-being. Several people have described our live show as a “religious experience.” The goal is to keep that energy up the entire set and give the audience the best possible show. We play like we will not be on this planet tomorrow, and we leave it all on the stage. We have done a few big tours, a few small tours, and a lot of one-offs, so it is hard to say exactly how many shows we have played in the last two and a half years.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
To this date, the wildest thing that has happened to us was when Justin was hanging from an I-beam while rapping the beginning of our song “Placenta”. A security guard yanked him down, tackled him across the stage, threw him to the floor, and our sound was cut, but Justin kept screaming the pre-chorus of “Placenta” while he was being held down. Max started drumming again, and eventually, the sound guy turned everybody back on and let us finish the song. Justin was escorted off the stage by security after we finished, then he got arrested and spent nineteen hours in jail.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Cooper plays (BTB 675) Ibanez basses, Derrick plays Electra guitars, and Max plays on a Tama kit.
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What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We have a new song/video out for our single, “The Silo,” and our debut full-length album Matriphagy will be out Oct 2nd.
What are your plans for 2020?
We recorded Matriphagy back in January/February, and we plan to release it on October 2nd. Because of the quarantine, the video for “The Silo” was self-made, so if the quarantine is not lifted soon, we might have to make more self-made, home content. If we could get out and tour, that would be ideal, but we, unfortunately, have to wait until the sanctions are lifted.
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 a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Being realistic, it would be awesome to direct support bands like Varials, King810, Cane Hill, Ded, Knocked Loose, and other popular hardcore/nu metal bands of today’s day and age, maybe even a rapper like Scarlxrd. If we could open for some of the bigger bands out there, Slipknot, Code Orange, and Korn would be a dream-come-true. As for opening for us, we have toured with a lot of bands we love: Guerilla Warfare, Sharptooth, A Killer’s Confession, and Fathom Farewell are five bands we have played quite a few shows with and support all the way to the moon and back.
