Diamonds in the Rough 08.09.09: Tantric

Posted by Leo Rivera on 08.09.2009

The Tantric story like never told before! from Days of the New, to their rise as one of the top bands in modern rocks to their tulmutous break up. Find out how Hugo Ferriera bounced back with a new line up that is better than ever and a new album that kicks serious ass!

"I'm a victim of circumstance, always willing to take a chance, a unique individual and my pain is residual" sings vocalist Hugo Ferreira in "The One." Those words cannot ring any truer, over the past three years, the life and career of the Tantric front man have been anything but stable. What do you do when your record label goes out of business? when your drummer is forced to serve jail time for months?, when your bassist decides to call it quits in order to be with his family, and when your ace guitar player gives up on the dream, and you are suddenly rendered band less with no compass for which to navigate your once bright music career? Well if you are Hugo Ferreira you wipe the slate clean and do it all over again! And do it even better this time around! That is precisely what Hugo Ferreira did, he took a terrible and career ending, life altering situation, grabbed that bull by the horns and has come out of it on the other side with a fresh, innovative, kick ass band that is once again poised to reach the top of the modern rock heap. This is the story of one of the most enduring front men in modern rock, this is the story of one of the most innovative and creative bands of the last decade this is the story of Tantric!



The original incarnation of Tantric was formed in 1999 out of the ashes of alternative rock stand out Days of the New when guitarist Todd Whitener, Drummer Matt Taul, and Bassist Jesse Vest, recruited vocalist Hugo Ferreira out of the band Merge. Coming from the critically acclaimed Days of the New Todd, Matt and Jesse had already established a reputation as musicians that were not afraid to think outside of the box musically, coming from one of the key post grunge bands of the mid-1990's and writing the hit singles "Touch, Peel, and Stand" and the "The Down Town". Todd Whitener in particular was considered to be a master of the acoustic guitar and a prodigy on the electric guitar adding sonic layer after sonic layer into his guitar sound. After Days of the New singer Travis Meeks went on a drug induced ego trip and fired his entire band, Todd, Matt and Jesse were suddenly left without a singer or a label, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to them. They took one look at Merge singer Hugo Ferreira and knew that they had found the answer to their problem. With a similar sound to Travis Meeks, but without the drugs and the ego, and with a much more contemporary look, flavor and attitude, Hugo was a perfect fit for the trio who were desperate to remain vital, and Tantric was born.



The sudden formation of Tantric did not go unnoticed by music industry executives looking to cash in on the rock resurgence of the late 1990's. Tantric were quickly signed by the Madonna owned Maverick Records just months after their formation. Tantric teamed with up and coming producer Toby Wright to record their self titled debut album. Released in February 2001 just as Nu-Metal was hitting its apex Tantric Offered something refreshingly different. Right off the bat, the first track (and also the lead single) "Breakdown" starts off with what is now one of the most recognizable guitar intros in rock, a sonic kick in the ass that could easily be the soundtrack to navigating a cave. You get a sense that Travis Meeks was holding the rest of his old band back, and with the handcuffs off Todd and the boys were free to unleash a sonic boom that was both critically acclaimed and commercially appealing without compromising the integrity of the music. If there was any doubt about the new singer, those doubts were quickly put to rest as soon as Hugo's raspy voice injected itself into the music like a shot of testosterone to the veins (no this is not a commercial for steroids). Hugo's voice when layered on top of Todd's unique guitar sound made for a lethal combination, a musical connection that was missing between Todd and Travis.



Tantric was far from a one trick pony as track # 2 quickly proved that the band had the propensity and musical acumen to stand the test of time. "Life Your Life" starts with a remarkably catchy drum solo by Matt Tual that leads seamlessly into Todd's beautiful groove and if you could close your eyes at the very second you can literally feel the music take you through a maze known as the realm of Tantric. Hugo then enters the picture singing "If you live this way it's going to change" which seems like an uncomfortable warning to Travis Meeks and his drug habit. The songs staccato pattern with Hugo rapping in between is an acknowledgment of the highly influential rap/rock movement of the moment. "I Don't Care" proved that Tantric can write thoughtful ballads, and that when Todd decides to shift into his trusty acoustic guitars Hugo's raspy voice just adds to the deepness of the song. Case in point: "Mourning" I have to apologize right now, because my words cannot do this song justice, an incredible ballad that cuts to the bone and leaves you wanting more. I can say that when Tantric would enter the realm of acoustic songs they sounded eerily familiar to brooding Alice in Chains songs like "Stay Away" and "Would." The song "Astounded" is the perfect blend of the bands melodic hard rock sound and their power ballads and is yet another hit song in an album stacked with them.



Credit should definitely be given to the incomparable Toby Wright as well as Tantric is an unbelievably well mixed and produced album but then again he was not working with slouches either as Tantric were all amazing musicians in their own right.. The album was light years ahead of anything that Tantric's contemporary's like Creed, 3 Doors Down and Nickelback were capable of writing. The ironic thing is that on tour the band wound opening up for those same musically inferior but more commercially established bands. In 2001 Tantric went on an extended tour opening for Kid Rock and the after mentioned Creed. You know it's funny what the established status quo can do to your perspective, I remember first seeing Tantric on MTV for their "Breakdown" video and when I saw Hugo, the first thing that came to mind was, "man, what a Scott Stapp rip off!", boy was I ever naive and flat out wrong! "Breakdown", "Astounded" and "Mourning" became hit singles and while debut at #193 in the billboard charts, by the end of 2001 Tantric had been certified platinum.

After extensive touring that helped establish Tantric as one of the top bands in modern rock, the band returned to the studio with producer Toby Wright to record their follow up album. Tantrics sophomore album After We Go was released in in February 2004, exactly three years after their debut album and debuted at #56 in the Billboard Charts. I know your probably thinking "if they were one of the top bands in Modern Rock in 2002 why did they only debut at #54?" well like Hugo sang in "The One" Tantric where a victim of circumstances. While the album should have easily debuted in the top 20, by 2004 times had changed, like I have stated many times over in this column, record executives thought they should have gone "back to the future" with bands that were a throwback to the 1960's (and yeah that went over like a fart in a high school classroom) and they discarded all nu-metal and hard rock bands that were so successful just 24 months prior. Never in the history of the music business had there been a time period where the record executives so blatantly turned their back on something that was working so well and force fed the general public garbage like The Darkness (hey where are they again, oh yeah that's right obscurity right where they belong, still trying to fit into their spandex tights). Tantric where one of the many talented bands that were shunned and not given enough promotion by their own label (which was by this time Atlantic Records, which had bought off Maverick Records) and thus many fans (note: this was before the self-promotion craze known as Myspace had taken off) did not even realize the band had a new album.



It's a crying shame that After We Go was not better promoted because it was a great album and arguably better than the first. As good as Tantric was there where a few filler songs on the album, where as After We Go seemed more focused and it was also a harder straight forward rock record. The album kicks off with the heaviest rock song that Tantric had recorded up to that point "Chasing After" and after a raucous guitar intro Hugo whispers "you said that you never hurt me, but you did anyway" and later the chorus "cause I tried to work things out, but a little mistake has slowed me down, to find out what I'm chasing after." The title track "After We Go" sounds like Breakdown part 2 which is a good thing! "Falling Away" is probably the only filler (and some might disagree with that) on the album in that it's not really a standout track, it's just there. The single "Hey Now" was everything we had come to expect from Tantric, a solid modern rock track with a catchy chorus and a sick guitar breakdown in the middle. "Hero" and "The Chain" are the ballads, the first being a melodic love song and the latter being a cover of a classic Fleetwood Mac song. I know it seems random, and that's because it was, the band were kicking around ideas for a possible cover song to be included in the album and asked fans what they would like for them to cover, the voted on "The Chain" the band had never heard the song but gave it a listen and gave it a try. Surprisingly (but it probably should not have been) the song turned out really well with Tantric putting a fresh spin on it. Perhaps the most experimental song on the album is "Change the World" which was the bands most blatant foray into a darker sound. "Just Once" is Tantric and it's soulful best and a very powerful ballad, the song "Relentless" when listening back to it now and seeing how the music industry pulled the rug out from under them and so many other bands, is almost like a cry for help as the band sings in unison "Something tells me I'm not alone, it seems as though we lost control of everything that we have fought for I wish that I could be so much more."



Despite slow album sales, the Tantric train chugged along, touring with 3 Doors Down and Shinedown throughout 2004, but because of slow sales, the band slid down the totem pole and lost significant momentum. Beginning in 2005, a chain of events occurred that would forever change the course of the band. In early 2005, bassist Jesse Vest left Tantric to spend more time with his family; he was replaced by Bruce Lafronce on recommendation of touring guitar player Kevin McCreery (also front man of Outspoken). With a new member to the fold, the band set out to record their third album titled Tantric III. the band hired producer Elliot Blakey and recorded over a dozen songs including "Worth Waiting For", "Stay with You" and "Fall Down" and "The One" and even locked in a release date of May 26, 2006. Everything seemed to be back on track and the band even started to perform live again (they were largely absent throughout 2005) then just as Tantric III was getting ready to be completed they parted ways with their record label, and then…the bottom fell out.

With no record label, Tantric III was indefinitely postponed, then in early 2007, drummer Matt Taul was arrested on drug related charges thus complicating and hurting the bands chances of landing a deal with a new record label. Then finally in the summer of 2007, the unthinkable happened, Todd Whitener abruptly quit the band that he had started. Todd had grown fed up with the stagnation of Tantric and the bands failure to be more successful, due in large part to it's incompetent record labels. Hugo was left a man without a land, no band and no record deal, critics and cynics wrote the band off as another failed modern rock band. But the critics wrote Hugo off too soon, he was far from done, plus he had an ace in the whole, as the last remaining founding member of the band, Hugo had the rights to the Tantric name. While he could no longer play with the original Tantric, that did not mean he could not make a whole new Tantric, and that is exactly what he proceeded to do.



With the unenviable task of completely re-hauling one of modern rocks top bands, Hugo looked to a man that had similar experiences and success in modern rock, former drummer of the multi-platinum selling band Fuel Kevin Miller. Miller was well known within the modern rock word for being one hell of a drummer and brought tons of experience to Tantric, he also has connections. After quitting Fuel Miller had formed the rock band Fosterchild and when he found out Hugo was forming a new Tantric, he recommended his bass player Eric Leonhardt. On a role Hugo then recruited Dramagods guitar player Joe Pessia who he knew through mutual friend Nuno Bettencourt. With a new drummer, bass player and guitarist on board, the new Tantric lineup seemed complete, but Hugo had one more ace up his sleeve: Marcus Ratzenboeck a classical musician who would assume the role of electric violinist. The good news just kept on coming like a snow ball effect, shortly after forming the new line up Hugo announced that the band had signed with up and coming record label Silent Majority Group (Foster Child, Vayden, Candlebox) and had hired a new management group JHMP.



Hugo had done the unthinkable, in just a matter of months he took a bleak and almost unsalvageable situation and through sheer determination and perseverance, he breathed new life into Tantric. With a new band and label it was now time for Hugo to prove that he still belonged at the top of the modern rock scene. Out of respect to his former bandmates and a show of faith to his new ones, Hugo scrapped TantricIII and recorded an entire new album, the result was the aptly titled The End Begins.

Released in April of 2008, The End Begins was a coming out party for Hugo's new band, an introduction if you will, and what a party it was. The new band comes rushing out the gate with "Regret" which sounds familiar enough to Todd Whiteners sound to know that Hugo would not completely abandon the bands signature sound. However the second track "Down and Out" (also the hit single of the album) shatters all of the doubts that this new line-up was just coasting on it's namesakes reputation. "Down and Out" is as unique a modern rock song to come out in quite some time and catchy to boot. The song starts off with an amazing electronic violin intro that blazes out of the speakers and proves that Marcus's violin will be a welcome addition to Tantrum's already unique sound. The song itself is Hugo's call out to all his doubters as he triumphantly announces "Just when you think that we're down and out we come from the back and knock it out!"



Knocked one out the park is exactly what Hugo did with The End Begins. Ten new songs were recorded for the album, but there was one song from Tantric III that made the cut, a revamped version of the after mentioned "The One." the new version featured vocals from Candelbox front man Kevin Martin and is definitely worth a listen, the deepest song Tantric has ever written (and that includes the emotional "Mourning") Kevin Martins Falsetto vocals are the polar opposite of Hugo's raspy voice which makes for the perfect song. Other standout tracks include "Wishing" "Lucky One" and "Monopoly." The band toured throughout 2008, using a set list that both complemented it's past and shed light into the bands future, The End Begins has sold over 100,000 copies thus far.



After a successful return tour that saw Hugo and the boys share the stage with Fosterchild, Drowning Pool, and Saliva the band returned home. Everyone was abuzz over how well the shows had gone, however veteran rocker Kevin Miller was having second thoughts about constantly being on the road, one of the reasons 40+ year old Miller had quite Fuel was because of the rigors of being on the road constantly. While in Tantric, he was also pulling double duty on the road, opening for Tantric as the drummer of Fosterchild, the return of the heavy road schedule began to wear thin on Miller and by the end of 2008, he quite both Tantric and Fosterchild to spend more time at home with his family. Miller's departure from Tantric was amicable and he will forever be remembered as one of the key reason for why Tantric is still around today, a point that Hugo acknowledges publicly, that and he was an amazing drummer. In late 2008, with a new drummer in tow, Tantric headed to upstate New York to work on their follow up to The End Begins. For this particular album they choose Brett Hestla to man the boards.



Brett Hestla is hardly a stranger to the modern rock world, as a producer, he was also at one point the bass player for Creed and is the front man of hard rock band Dark New Day. The result of Hestla on the board is Mind Controleasily the hardest rock record that Tantric have ever produced. Feeling more comfortable as a band and with a full tour behind them, Tantric cranked up the intensity and have come up with a pulverizing compilation of songs that barely ever lets up. The lead single "Mind Control" is the heaviest single they have ever put out and is a swift musical kick in the ass. Marcus's electronic violin is still prominently featured but in a way that emphasizes Tantrum's darker more brooding sound throughout, a perfect example is "Coming Undone" which is the darkest tantric has ever sounded. The song "Kickback" is killer rock track in the vein of Saliva during their Survival of the Sickest days. "Dessert Me" starts with a guitar intro that is strikingly familiar to the intro to Ozzy Osborne's "No More Tears." "Run Out" is a loose groovy rocker, that actually sounds like Todd Whitener era Tantric. "Walk Away" features a creepy violin string attack that makes the listener feel like their trapped in a maze.

While Tantric sound all sort of pissed off on Mind Control the reality is, they are anything but, they are just a rejuvenated band that are letting their intensity and determination guide their musical direction and right now that is hard rock at it's finest!