Easy Tiger
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Easy Tiger

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | SELF

Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | SELF
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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Interview with Easy Tiger - By Isabel Smith"

Feel good music can’t get any better than this! Easy Tiger’s
tunes are catchy, their lyrics are witty and their live gigs are
energetic and soulful. people magazine journalist Isabel Smith
caught up with the guys to find out a bit more.


THE first time I heard of Easy Tiger was a few months ago when Monday night drinks and bar
hopping led myself and a couple of friends to the Radium Beer Hall in Orange Grove, Johannesburg.

It was open mic night and I was ready to lose myself in good music. I must admit, however, that it was getting late and I was tired as a dog (the one
or two beers I had at the previous bar had nothing to do with it!) – until these guys took to the stage
and saved me from sleeping at a table with their unbelievable sounds! On their Facebook page
they describe bursting onto the scene in 2008 with the enthusiasm of a couple of kids in love. “Easy
Tiger was born on the eve of Shane Forrester’s bachelor’s party in Gerard’s Polo on the way to
buy cigarettes from the garage,” says Dale “Sugar Bear” Orchard, the bassist. “They didn’t have Lucky
Strike in the vending machine at the... erm... revue bar. We were listening to a disc that turned out to
be material that Ric (Gualtieri) had recorded a while before,” he says. “On return to the... erm... venue...
I proceeded to interrogate a very reluctant Ric as to why he hadn’t done anything with his songs
– which are really good, by the way! He told me that his music days were over... I remember
kicking him before I left... I got a phone call from him a couple of months later. We met for a beer
and started the band.” Add a guitarist in the form of Galan “G-Man” le Roux – “who didn’t have
anything better to do one weekend but start a band with Ric” – and drummer Travis Mein, and
you have an “Indie Popcorn” outfit called Easy Tiger!


What three words would describe you
best?
Dale: Lock up your daughters! No, hold on...
that’s four words...
Galan: World’s sexiest guitarist.
Ric: Party! Party! Party!
Travis: Rock and roll.


Where do you find inspiration for your
writing?
Ric: Everyday life gives me inspiration. I like
to write about real life, you know, like hangovers,
being broke, etcetera. I’ll usually bring the skeleton
of the song to rehearsal, then the rest of the boys
bring it to life with their own taste and flavour.
Everyone’s pretty much got carte blanche and it’s
a lot of fun and exciting to see what they come up
with.
Dale: From a rhythm section point of view; I’m
blessed to be able to play with somebody like
Travis. He knows what I’m gonna play before I do
– we’re tight.


When can we expect a studio album?
Galan: Early 2011.
Dale: Five tracks down, 5 to go... We have our
five-track EP that is available for purchase at our
shows. You should buy it ‘cos it’s awesome... Or
just torrent it like everyone else!


Most memorable gig?
Travis: I enjoyed the opening game if the Fifa
World Cup at the Montecasino fan park... They had
fireworks!
Ric: St. Mary’s High School break-up day... 500
girls screaming... I felt like Elvis!
Galan: Joburg Day 2010! Best crowd, best sound.
Just pure magic!
Dale: Lusitoland was awesome. I lost two pairs
of shoes and shredded my fingers on the bass...
literally! I was bleeding!


Do you have any rituals before going on
stage?
Ric: We try to do the whole get-in-a-circle-vibe,
arms stretched out, hands on top of each other
and in unison say: ‘Easy Tiger!’ We fluff it every
time.
Travis: The catch with that is it is not allowed to
be even remotely in time or coordinated in any
way.
Dale: Good old-fashioned baseball butt-slaps!
Galan: Tequila and a ‘Whoa, easy tiger!’


What’s the best about being on stage?
Galan: Connecting with complete strangers as
well as connecting with the band to the point
where you feel like it’s one big instrument.
Dale: Being on stage.
Travis: It’s the feeling of letting go and just doing
what I love to do and that is to play good music,
have fun and play drums.
Ric: The energy from the crowd, when it’s good
I’m just one big goosebump!


What makes being in a band hard?
Dale: Carrying my bass amp up and down the
stairs for practise... It’s a hernia looking for a place
to happen.
Ric: Carrying The Beast around. (Dale’s bass amp)


A typical day in the life of Easy Tiger?
Dale: Wake up, draw pictures, play music.
Ric: A lot of teasing and joking around... four guys
living the dream!
Galan: Wake up, do hair, play music.
Travis: Wake up, try make a buck. Find show.
Make a buck. Check Facebook. Make a buck. Band
practise. Spend three bucks. Market band. Spend a
buck. Find gig for five bucks.



Have you ever had a weird encounter with
a fan?
Travis: I had a strange lady want my babies and a
really drunk lady pole danced across a stage to ask
me out in the middle of a set... good times!
Ric: A guy and a girl started getting frisky, lying


down on the dance floor while we were p - People Magazine


Discography

Debut Album released in May 2011
Spectacular failures & Bad behaviour

Track Length Title
01 03:22 Spectacular Failures & Bad Behaviour
02 03:44 Saturday
03 03:35 Lovestung Child
04 03:01 The Bored & The Lonely
05 03:24 Don’t Know My Name
06 04:01 Cool
07 04:04 Vintage Weather
08 03:35 Vacation
09 03:58 House Of Pain
10 03:45 Lost Cause Movement

Youtube video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZYsaBaFM0

Photos

Bio

There are a couple of reasons why you can't get Easy Tiger's debut single out of your head. It may be the fact that the catchy ‘Love Stung Child’ spent 8 weeks at number one on the 94.7 Homebrew chart or, it could be that you've caught them live at a swanky music venue around Jo’burg. The boys have caused a feel-good riot at venues such as FTV, Tanz Cafe, Roxy Rhythm bar, Piatto Unplugged and Blues Room, just to name a modest few.

It's only been three years since Easy Tiger banded together, but already the momentum they've gathered has caught the keen eye - and ears - of music’s top brass.

With Ric Gualtieri on lead vocals, Galan 'G-man' Le Roux on guitar, Dale 'Sugar Bear' Orchard on bass and Travis Mein on drums, Easy Tiger have already won over thousands of fans at Joburg Day and Lusito Land, and their slick set even won them a 2 stage spot at the Montecasino Fan Park for the opening game of the South African World Cup 2010.

Easy Tiger is easy to listen to and easy to love, but it's defining them that proves a little difficult. Easy Tiger is a fusion of genres, as African beats - hand on hip - lean casually against pillars of cool jazz, and where pop - with a glimmer in her eye - bats a glittered lash at the dirty pretty things of rock. But as slick as they are, Easy Tiger are the first to admit that behind their chart topping success, lies a lot of hard work and commitment.

Galan describes an average day as: 'Wake up. Do hair. Play music..' But it only takes a listen to Easy Tiger favourites like "The Bored & the Lonely" & "Vintage Weather," to know that the band are not all follicles and fashion sense, but are serious at making good music. At the request of fans at the live shows in 2010, the boys threw out a taster in the form of a 5 track EP. The result has been a growing fan base and a demand for more.

So, with festivals, fans and a polished set under their belt, Easy Tiger are quickly becoming radio royalty. But what's next for this Johannesburg based foursome? ‘Fame, fortune, world domination?’ Says bassist Dale: 'We love doing what we do, and if, by some small chance, we're able to change one person’s life for the better, put a smile on someone's face or get someone to believe in something great, then we've achieved more than we could have hoped for!'