Exclusive: Carridale Interview

Carridale is one of the most hard-working bands around, with constant tours booked, whether their van agrees with them or not is irrelevant. Earlier this year they released the Relapse In The River City EP, and now it has just been pressed on 12" vinyl, courtesy of Hang Tight Records, available here. Keep reading on to catch our interview with vocalist, Nathan Edwards.
Firstly, can you state your name and role in Carridale?

Nathan: Surely! My name is Nathan and I sing for Carridale.

So you guys and With The Punches recently wrapped up the full US Squid Life tour. Regardless of the size of the band, a full US tour seems like a huge endurance test. How did you guys fare on the dates? Did it make for many worthy tour stories?

Nathan: Oh absolutely, this tour was incredible. Definitely one of the more solid tours we've had. It was 7 weeks, but it felt like an instant. It went by incredibly fast. WTP and Thieves are just great dudes, and they made the tour that much more enjoyable. As far as worthy tour stories, we had something interesting happen around the Northern California/Oregon border. We were pulling a late night drive through to Gresham, OR to stay with some friends. I was driving and most everyone was still awake. We were driving through some intense mountains/forestry when I saw a black/brown creature running across the street. After a second, third and fourth glance, I realized it was a damn BEAR. That's right, a bear. Not a wussy bear from the Zoo. A wild bear, just chillin, crossing the damn street. It ruled. Haha. Well for us Alabama boys it ruled. Never seen a bear in the wild before.

Around the same time you also ran into some van troubles, though the response from fans to help seemed to be quite positive. Were you able to find a more long-term solution?

Nathan: Ish? Haha. We kind of had to scramble last minute and took a chance on a van. Luckily the van ran great for the most part and got us through the whole tour. It was a huge risk though. The van got put in our name the day before we left. If it had broken down, we would have been beyond financially bound. But we made it!

The band's latest EP, Relapse In The River City, came out in February, and was the follow-up to 2009's Attack Of The BRO-Bots: Redux. What would you attribute the change in sound to? Do you guys still play any of the old songs at shows?

Nathan: Well, the change in the line-up would definitely affect that. But more than that I would say touring as much as we have. When your band starts, you have an idea of the sound you want and where you take your project. Being on the road kind of shifts your focus from trying to do a certain something to just doing what you feel or enjoy more. And we definitely still play some of the old songs. Almost half the set is still comprised of songs off of Bro-Bots. And if people ask to hear a specific something we're usually pretty good about making that happen.

The lyrics on the Relapse EP seem to be very personal. Tell us, what kind of subjects do you deal with in the songs?

Nathan: Everything man. Mostly everything I had been through personally in the past year. Losing friends, turmoil in my relationship, coming home from tour and feeling like a stranger to a lot of people. We draw all of our inspiration from real life events and circumstances, like most bands. But the past year, was awesome and awful at the same time. But no matter where my mindset, I try to keep a positive spin on things. The last track on our new record, My Oubliette, was just that for me. It was the last song on the record and I wanted to basically say in it, that no matter how much chaos is going on around me, I'm doing what I love with people I love and I have to remind myself of that. We all get down sometimes, that song was sort of my pick me up.

So I understand yourself, Josh, and Wayne used to be in a Metal band. As I mentioned, both EPs seem to show different sides to Carridale - where would you say most of your influences come from?

Nathan: All over man. We have a pretty wide range of musical taste in the band. On the new record, we were listening to a lot of the Beatles and Boston and classic bands like that. It was a good step outside the box and I think we had positive results. But we listen to everything. Hip Hop, Death Metal, Country, Pop Punk, Rock. We are music fans and want to put out records we are happy with and we would enjoy hearing. If people attach themselves, relate, or appreciate what we do, then it is just the most ideal of situations.

Have you guys been working on any new material since then, and what can we expect from the band's next release?

Nathan: Yes actually. Us, With The Punches, and Thieves rented out a practice space in Memphis on this tour and started jamming some stuff. Our guitarist, Josh, and I have both been compiling stuff. Our goal is to write this Winter, do a few tours here and there and track in either December or January. We've also tossed around the idea of doing an acoustic album, just not sure entirely sure yet. If we do everything as planned, we'd like to have a new record out by spring or summer.

A few months ago, it was also announced that guitarist Kyle Ray would be leaving the band - have you since found a replacement?

Nathan: We have not entirely. Our bassist, Wayne, switched to guitar and our friend Mark Styles filled in on bass for this tour. We have some people that we are interested in and this time during the Fall/Winter will be set aside for writing and working that situation out. We definitely have a dude we are stoked on. We just don't want to make anything formal until we know for sure.

Even though the band has remained unsigned over the years, the Relapse EP is about to be release on vinyl, through Hang Tight Records. Has this been a conscious decision or has the right offer not come along?

Nathan: It started as not the right offer. We've talked to some great people at some awesome labels, but it just didn't work out the way we wanted or feel like the right fit. We are actively pursuing it, but we've done well on our own and we aren't really in a hurry. When the time comes and the right offer comes, we'll be on board.

Being an entire ocean away, how did you guys get involved with UK-based label, Hang Tight?

Nathan: Joe Hurst, the owner, actually emailed me directly. He has worked with us and a lot of our friends bands and he's just a really great dude. We've wanted to put Relapse on vinyl for a while now and it was just a really great situation. Hang Tight Records is an awesome label that is great to us. We know Joe has our backs and isn't trying to do us wrong, and in this industry, that is rare.

What else does the future hold for Carridale? Now that you're back home, are you guys gonna be taking some time off?

Nathan: Lots of video games for the time being haha. And like I mentioned earlier, writing, possibly recording, regional shows, and getting our line-up solidified. We may be home but it will be a busy few months. Then we head back out on tour in December.

Thanks for doing this, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Nathan: Yeah, thank you. You guys have backed our band pretty much since inception and it means the world to us. I follow your blogs and news posts and I appreciate everything you guys have done for us and our friends bands. Beyond that, check out our new record Relapse In The River City, now available on 12" vinyl in three colors via Hang Tight Records (http://www.hangtightrecords.co.uk). You can also pick it up on iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp, etc. We'll see everyone in December!

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