Nick 13, founder, singer, songwriter of the psychobilly band Tiger Army got into the rock-a-billy movement gradually, having spent his youth involved in the punk rock skateboarding scene. “That was the first music that I really fell in love with and got deeply into,” Nick 13 told Life In A Bungalo backstage at a local Damned show. “At the same time I always liked 1950s rock n’ roll and what little I knew of rock-a-billy, whether it was the Stray Cats or stuff like Buddy Holly.”

As he got more and more into the California punk rock scene, Nick became fascinated in the connection between 1970s punk rock with 1950s rock, be it The Cramps, The Ramones or The Sex Pistols. “A lot of it was similar chord structures and solos, and a lot of early punk was just ’50s rock n’ roll just played louder and more aggressively,” Nick 13 said. “And I thought that was really cool.”

In the mid-1980s, Nick 13 began delving into the roots of rock-a-billy, searching for his idols’ influences, such as Eddie Cochran, The Meteors and Johnny Brunnett. Eventually, his musical exploration led him to discover the psychobilly movement, a scene of bands that blend punk and rock-a-billy with a fondness for the macabre. The psychobilly subculture had existed in Europe for years, but never caught on in the states until the early-1990s, with an explosion of bands like Tiger Army and The Nekromantics.

“I had been listening to The Meteors and a couple of other bands for a while, and when I moved to Berkeley in 1994 I got a hold of some ‘zines, and I found out that there were literally dozens of bands that played psychobilly,” Nick 13 said. “Naturally, having been drawn towards horror movies and rock n’ roll, finding this type of music… that was it for me, this was the type of music I wanted to play.”

Having played guitar for over 13 years, and serving time in punk bands like Influence 13, Nick was ready to start up his own psycho band. His first challenge was finding an upright bassist that could pack the punch of the European psychobilly groups. Enter Joel Day, who recorded the group’s demos (recently released on Hellcat), Rob Peltier and Geoff Kresge, formerly of AFI. Drum duties also rotated on an album by album basis, first by Adam Carson of AFI who appeared on the demos and the debut album, and eventually replaced by London May of Samhain.

“We didn’t tour at all on the first album,” Nick said. “The first shows Geoff played with us were in late ‘99, right after the first album came out, and that was just a California tour. By the time we started touring (just before the release of their second record Power of Moonlight), pretty much everywhere we went, there were people who were singing along to our songs.”

While Tiger Army’s eponymous first release stuck to more of a dark rock-a-billy approach, the follow-up was a lot heavier and drove home the group’s punk rock roots. “Mostly, what people react to on the second album is the way it’s mixed,” Nick 13 said. “It definitely veered away from the rock-a-billy influence a little bit, but I wouldn’t say it’s more punk. Songwriting-wise, I think it’s more of a progression to the more modern psychobilly in Europe, but we weren’t really happy with the way the bass sound was recorded on the second album. On a traditional psychobilly mix the bass should be the background of the sound, but on the second album the bass is quiet and the drums are loud.”

The second record also continues to play up themes of darkness and horror with songs like Grey Dawn Breaking and When Night Comes Down. “Horror movies, are just in my nature,” Nick 13 said. “It’s something I’ve been drawn to ever since I was in grade school. I’ve always been interested in the supernatural, Halloween and ghost stories. As far as the stuff that has influenced me, I’m not into gore stuff. My favorite era of horror is the early ’30s through the very early ’60s. I’m drawn to the atmosphere, and some of it does influence my work, but I don’t want to become a cartoonish parody. We’re not a horror rock band.”

After a year of touring throughout America and Europe, the band plans on taking a break and start writing new songs with an album to come in the near future.