INTERVIEW: Tempt is ready to make a statement with its new self-titled album
Photo: After COVID-19 delays, Tempt has released its new album. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by SRO PR with permission.
At the tail-end of summer, the rock band Tempt made a statement. The quartet of musicians — vocalist Zach Martin, guitarist Harrison Marcello, bassist Chris Gooden and drummer Nicholas Burrows — released their eagerly anticipated self-titled album and told fans they were ready to make a mark on the music industry. For the past few weeks, songs from that recording effort have been gaining traction online — tunes such as “Golden Tongue,” “Two Ways” and “Burn Me Down.”
The group has been working for years on this album, but they were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now that the music industry is alive and kicking, so are the members of Tempt. They have big plans to take these songs on the road and gather more interest in their unique style fo rock ‘n’ roll. For a preview of that sound, check out their duo with Dorothy; it’s called “Living Dangerous” and perfectly showcases Tempt’s sonic credentials.
Marcello and Martin recently talked with Hollywood Soapbox about the new album. Here’s what they had to say …
On how the band first came together …
MARCELLO: “So Zach and I met in high school, and we worked together on our first record we did, which was called Runaway. That came out in 2016, and that was just Zach and I. We were finishing high school. We were going to college. There were all sorts of stuff going on in our lives, so we didn’t really seriously pursue the band as a full-time career. It wasn’t until around 2017 that we got Nick, our drummer, and Chris, our bass player, involved, and that’s when we really formed Tempt as it is today and a vision for what we’ve done.”
On when the album project began …
MARCELLO: “I think when we write, it’s very fluid. We might go to rehearsal, and maybe someone will have a melody idea or riff. Or we’ll get together at my house and my studio or our drummer’s house or even Zach’s house sometimes to bounce ideas off each other. … Everything is digital, so you don’t really have to do demos anymore. … I know some of the guitar stuff on this current record is original stuff from day one recordings, so we like to take a‘it’s-ready-when-it’s-ready approach to our music. Luckily, with this album being delayed some because of COVID, we’ve had time to write a bunch of other songs now, too, so we have 25 songs backlogged.:
On how some of these songs were created …
MARTIN: “I remember one of the earlier songs that we wrote for the record was ‘Hideaway,’ ‘Living Dangerous,’ ‘Roses’ was even one of the earlier ones, and then we were writing songs really up until it was finished. We wrote ‘Addicted to Touch’ and ‘Golden Tongue’ and ‘Sneakin’ Around,’ those were right toward the end at the end of 2019. It was mixed and mastered in early 2000, so it was a segmented process over the span of a couple years.”
On how COVID-19 backed up the album’s release …
MARCELLO: “We had just signed our record deal with our label, Better Noise Music, at the end of 2019, and we want to be able to have this album be a success, be able to promote it, and do touring and all sorts of that stuff. When there was so much uncertainty, I mean if we released that record back in 2020 with no ability to tour, especially for a relatively new band, that’s kind of a death sentence on your record. We were patient with it, and it was hard. But I think it’s going to pay off in the end for us.”
MARTIN: “The original plan was to put out the record in 2020 and then do a European tour in 2020. The European tour got delayed until last year, and the album got delayed until this year. So that’s kind of the timing.”
On why call the album Tempt …
MARCELLO: “As I mentioned before, the first record we did, I think it’s still a great record, but Zach and I did that when we were like 17-18. It was the first time I had ever written that much music, especially a record. I think we didn’t have the same vision or maturity that we have with this record. That comes a few years later. I think also the influences of having Nick and Chris and have an actual solid band because before we had this band … Zach and I we were really only playing shows on winter breaks from school or summer break. When we did those shows, it was a revolving cast of drummers and bass players that weren’t really an integral part of what we do, so to have all four of us be on the same page, all sharing the same vision, it made sense to give this a self-title because this is our starting point. And it’s also showing what we’re trying to do with rock music and how we’re going to progress going forward.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Tempt’s new self-titled album is available now. Click here for more information.
