Alternative post hardcore band TRUTH & TRAGEDY has been around for sometime now, releasing an EP, album, and single, with an upcoming all new EP release out really soon in fact! The band chats of their music and further plans below.
1. Please tell us about the history of the band and its members.
Truth & Tragedy actually began as a duo in September 2020 in Bamberg, Germany. At that time, Aaron (vocals) and Freddy (guitar) were in another band together, but of course Covid hit, and it was suddenly illegal for the band to meet up - crazy times! As a duo, Aaron and Freddy created a side-project, which then became Truth & Tragedy and suddenly caught momentum. Once it looked like live shows might start up again in 2021, T&T was joined by Kai (guitar), Vitali (bass) and Domi (drums), all amazing musicians in their own right. And that made Truth & Tragedy the 5-piece band it is today!
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
When we were first thinking up a name for our project, Aaron initially pitched ‘Triumph & Tragedy’, inspired by a line in the song ‘Aftermath’ by The Ghost Inside. But after some beers and mulling it over with Freddy, we changed it to ‘Truth & Tragedy’.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Officially, our band is based in Bamberg (Bavaria, Germany) - but only Freddy actually lives there now! Kai, Vitali and Domi live in the nearby city of Würzburg, and Aaron now lives in the UK. The wonders of technology mean we can have this kind of long-distance set up, where our musicians can practice and write music together in Bamberg, and our singer can write his lyrics and practice with a backing track in the UK. Then when we have upcoming shows, or just want to hang out and play, Aaron just travels over to Germany and joins us!
The hardcore scene in Germany is generally great, but a little slow coming out of Covid restrictions, so it can be tough for bands at the moment! We’ve been lucky to have already played with some amazing bands, including Oceans, Our Mirage, Watch Out Stampede, Marathonmann and Sperling. Check out Empty Home from Dortmund too, and send some love their way!
4. How would you describe your style?
We generally describe ourselves as a post-hardcore band, but we take inspiration from lots of alternative genres, especially metalcore, melodic hardcore and punk. We like to play around, and although a lot of our songs are pretty serious, dealing with themes of trauma, PTSD and suicide (inspired by Aaron’s time serving in the US Army in Afghanistan), we also have a range of more fun, light-hearted songs. We’ve tried our hand at a couple of pop-punk numbers, and our latest single ‘Kelvin’s Not A Rockstar Yet’ is our tongue-in-cheek tribute to Weezer’s ‘Beverley Hills’ and Nickelback’s ‘Rockstar’. So our style is a bit of everything really - but always loud!
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
So far we have released an EP ‘Thanks For Nothing’ (2020), single ‘Helmand’ (2020), our debut album ‘Innocence Abandoned’ (2021) and our latest single ‘Kelvin’s Not A Rockstar Yet’ (2022), plus a number of music videos. In our musicality, we use a mix of clean vocals and screams, with breakdowns and guitar solos. Although we have a lot of fun with our music, our lyrics can be pretty raw and nihilistic, so you can expect there to be something heartfelt and meaningful behind a lot of our songs.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Yes! In fact our latest EP ‘Blood on Blood’ is set for release on May 24, and will be available in all the usual spots. This 3-track EP has some of our favorite tracks to date, starting with our instrumental ‘Artery’, and transitioning into one of our heaviest songs ‘My Brother’s Keeper’, dealing with the suicide of a brother. We end on a high note with ‘Neo’, a track dedicated to Freddy’s new born son, and the EP will be released on Neo’s first birthday. We’d love to hear what you think of it!
7. How about playing shows and touring? Anything planned out?
Despite everything, 2022 has turned out to be a great year for T&T show-wise! We are really excited to play Stattbahnhof Schweinfurt’s ‘First Act Night’ in May, as well as Wacken Foundation’s ‘Rock Das Ding’ festival in July. Then from there, we dive straight into our first international tour from August to October, with shows planned across Germany, Austria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Italy and Croatia - plus more dates and more countries to be announced!
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We’ll just keep going until someone stops us!
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can find Truth & Tragedy’s music on all streaming platforms, and we are always active on social media (@truth_and_tragedy) if you’d like to get in touch! For merch, you can head directly to truthandtragedy.com - thanks so much for your support!
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Truth & Tragedy - Press 13.05.2022
Probably the DIY-approach to our work! We don’t over-produce our music, and try to keep it as close to ‘live’ as possible - we like the imperfections of emotion and the rawness of our tracks, and we hope our listeners do too! You can find us via any of these links - we’d love to hear from you!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truth_and_tragedy/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/TruthandTragedy/?tsid=0.3186018207367527&source=result
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0WEUmP3DPtJIexlk4JoVmP?si=-wbduduLR1mjINrl4nn9Zw
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-UQk6I2YapgoFKsUzvbjOg
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/truth-tragedy-hc
Website: https://truthandtragedy.com
Much love, T&T
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