1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Tyler: We are just a couple of guys making some angsty music together. We just make the music we want to hear and hope other people want to hear it too.
Tom: Yeah, from our beginnings just jamming in a room we've continued to go where the wind takes us, like Pocahontas.
2. How would you describe your musical sound?
Tom: Imagine you have a big cauldron of music and you throw in some doom, sludge, black, and maybe a bit of Madonna and that's pretty much Tuskar.
Tyler: We are trying to create something a little bit different from the scene, we take inspiration from all the great bands around us but put our own twist on it. We feel it helps that we're both pretty young so we have a fresh approach to how doom should be done.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Tyler: Well the first EP is based around the Celtic goddess Arianrhod. The majority of the lyrical content is based around fate and the concept of time. Like life is short, so control your own destiny.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tuskar'?
Tom: As much as Tyler doesn’t want to admit it, we are named after a video game character, we were in the pub and struggling for a name so I just thought of the doomiest sounding character I could think of. No deep shit here haha.
5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Tom: While the idea has crossed our minds I think we both enjoy the dynamic of being a two piece - less people to organise, less people to have creative differences with, and less people to share rider beer with.
Tyler: Yeah I don’t think we're gonna expand anytime soon, but it’s never going going to be completely off the table.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Tyler: Playing with Monolord was one of my favourite shows, they are such an on point band live! And as for our show I try to create energy on the stage that translates across into the crowd, despite me being in the same place I try to never stay static on stage.
Tom: I think our shows are a bit like a journey. There's a beginning, a middle and an end and hopefully you’re in a different place than when we started.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Tyler: Yeah we have a few more shows to finish the year off, including an awesome hometown show supporting Red Fang. Then we are gonna leave the beginning of 2018 off to work on the new EP and then hit the road in March and April, hopefully hitting Europe in the process!
Tom: There's some killer lineups we’ve been added to in November and December that I can’t wait to play, we're going to be on the road from the 30th of Nov to the 3rd of Dec including our first headline show.
8.Currently the band is signed to 'Riff Rock Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Tom: Riff Rock is great, ever since we got on board they’ve been behind us all the way. We definitely wouldn’t be speaking to you guys now if it weren’t for them haha.
Tyler: Leigh has really helped us find a footing with the the scene and beyond so we can’t thank him enough, also he's real good for buying Guinness.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner, sludge and doom metal?
Tyler: I’ve been really surprised with the response from afar that we have been getting. Got to give a big shoutout to Ygor Silva from Brazil for helping spread our music on a global level.
Tom: Yeah I’m so glad that our music is being enjoyed by people from all corners of the world, I just hope we can go out and play for them one day!
10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Tom: We have plans for a full length at the end of next year but nothing is set in stone, we will just go with what feels right, we don’t want to release something that isn’t the best of what we have.
Tyler: Yeah as we change as musicians we are going to change as a band so our music won’t ever stay the same. With each release we are going to experiment more and more, with everything from styles, instrumentation, composition, the lot! Hopefully you won’t ever be able to expect what's going to come next.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Tyler: So many bands have influenced our style, we try to keep our sound as separate from anything that’s around at the moment and I feel like we’ve achieved that. Listening wise, I think I can speak for both of us when I say we listen to such broad range of music, but recently I’d say the main band I’ve been listening to is Aussie sludge/death titans ‘LO!’.
Tom: Everything we listen to ends up changing what we write one way or another, whether it be bands like Mastodon and Conan to artist such as Thundercat and Kendrick Lamar (as unlikely as that sounds) so it’s hard to pinpoint specific influences. At the moment I’m spinning Mars Red Sky’s album ‘Apex III(Praise for the Burning Soul)’ pretty much on repeat.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Tyler: To be honest music takes up pretty much all of my life, but when I’m not playing, booking and organising shows I’m a bit of a foodie and I love to cook. Also can’t forget drinking Guinness.
Tom: My free time is taken up by two things when I’m not playing - my girlfriend and good ol' PC gaming.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Tom: Praise the Riff
Tyler: Hail the Loud
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