Tia Carrera interview
Tia Carrera have been melting minds for over a decade now. Tried and True is their upcoming album available via Small Stone Records in June!
We are all excited to hear Tried and True! It will be available in June. What’s the story behind it?
Jason Morales: Well first off I think it’s some of the coolest stuff of ours to be released so far. Five tunes in all.
For this one it was decided that we really needed to get something out in Europe. We just hooked up with Total Volume Agency in France to do a European tour in 2020. I guess our last record didn’t really get a lot of distribution over there so this one was specifically for that.
We had two jams that were ready to be recorded, one of them, the title track “Tried and True”, was one of the first tunes we ever wrote…20 something years ago, the other was “Layback”. We recorded a version of that a couple years ago and put it up on our band camp. I’d say that version was probably the first or second time we jammed it.
The version on “Tried and True” is a brand new recording and it’s quite a bit more polished than the original so that’s cool. The other three tunes we basically wrote and recorded for the record.
“Zen” and “Taos” were complete improvisations and “Swingin’ Wing” is more of a jam with an improvised middle part. Even with “T-N-T” and “Layback” I’d say a good 80% of it is improvised, it’s pretty easy to tell what parts were practiced and what wasn’t.
Erik Conn: As far as I know, the story behind Tried and True is basically this. After such a long time between record #6 Cosmic Priestess, and #7 Visitors / Early Purple, which came out last year, (yet not officially overseas), we wanted to put out something sooner than later, both stateside and abroad. With a deliberate focus to finally tour Europe.
“Performance is way more important than fidelity.”
Where did you record it? What kind of equipment did you use and who was the producer? How many hours did you spend in the studio?
Jason Morales: For the last 4 records we’ve been recording in my studio, The BBQ Shack. It’s basically a ’16 x 24′ building in my back yard.
We have an Otari Mx 70 16 track analog tape machine and an old Soundcraft 600 series console. I’ve got a few modest pieces of outboard gear and some basic mics, nothing too special really in that department. There’s no separation between instruments and no separate control room. Everything is all in the same space. As an Engineer it can be a challenge getting sounds and stuff but for the bands the vibe is great because no one is playing while listening through headphones. It’s real similar to jamming in a practice space. I built it that way because I feel that performance is way more important than fidelity.
The battle is getting a great performance out of a band and if I can make that part easier by having everyone in the same room right next to their own amp then it’s that much easier. The concept was primarily for us but it worked well for most of the bands I’ve recorded in there.
As far as time spent on this record, we did it in three different sessions, I think. The way we’ve done it in the past is we load in on a Friday night, get sounds, party and maybe burn a tape, which is about 30 minutes of music. So we’ll fill up that tape and make sure all the sounds are tight. Next day we’ll come in and take a listen. If there is some good stuff we may keep it but regardless we’ll burn a second tape We’re usually a little more focused on the second day. If we don’t have anything usable we may come back on Sunday and do another but usually by that time we’ve got something…so that’s one session. On the album “Tried and True” was recorded in the first session, of course we did other jams that weekend but for what ever reason we didn’t use them. Second session we did “Taos”, “Layback” and “Swingin’ Wing”. There was one more that we were gonna go with but after listening to the album sequence we decided it wasn’t gonna make the cut so we came in for one last minute session to record “Zen”. We did two versions back to back and chose the second one. That was a super quick session, just a couple of hours from start to mix.
Eric Conn: Like the last three records, (#5 The Quintessential, #6 Cosmic Priestess, #7 Visitors / Early Purple), we recorded and mixed it at Jason’s home studio, “The BBQ Shack”. It’s an out-building fully decked, natural light, 16 track 1″ tape. Jason has all the details on the gear etc. It’s been home for us for awhile now, recording all live and loud, jammin’ together in the same room as usual. We get mic’d up however Jason is into at the moment. Often less is more on the drums but maybe not. At any rate we sound really good there, natural vibes, super comfortable. The new record consists of 3 separate sessions, and old one from maybe a year ago? (the title track). Then another weekend scenario for 3 more tracks. Then one single evening set up and recording for the last track “Zen”. Add in the mixing…still not a whole ton of hours, just mostly us hanging out and listening back to what we recorded. I gotta brag on Morales, he has us so dialed in, that a lot of the time it’s as if the tracks mix themselves. He fine tunes it of course, we listen back and decide if anything needs to be addressed. Hit ‘record’ and go.
Jason usually spends time listening back to everything by himself too ya know? It’s his lair, he goes through things and often mixes by himself because he’s able to. He knows where we’re all coming from and what we’re after. We’ll then get together and slightly critique whatever little nuances we might be hearing, but overall Jason knows/hears what his bros are layin’ down.
How pleased were you with the sound of the album?
Jason Morales: I’m really pleased with the way it turned out! It’s cool because between the three sessions we never used the same set up, and by that I mean the mic and pre amp scenario. So in a way the sounds are different from session to session. I don’t like getting to comfortable recording the same way. I like to experiment with mics and pre amps. Less mics on drums sometimes, more on other times.
There were a couple tunes where we weren’t super stoked on the bass tone so we re-amped the DI track to get another Amp tone on there. We had it Mastered by the same person who did our last record, Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Mastering. He and his wife Dianne run the business together, they are super great people and I love what he does with our stuff so I think it sounds amazing!
Erik Conn: Fuckin’ stoked. I’ve been playing drums a long time, 30+ years, 20 of which with Jason. Played in a ton of bands etc, still in pursuit of a certain standard I hear in my head.
That being said, personally speaking, this new Tia Carrera record is hands down the most accurate description, sonically speaking and performance-wise of what I do with the guys I love to do it with. Maybe ever? I’ve been a part of some incredible music over the years and the recordings thereof. However, this one really sticks out to me, even the rough mixes. Pretty much the closest I’ve been to capturing what I do and the way I want people to hear it. The way I tune my drums and my style within the context of Jason and Curt. It sounds amazing to me!
You also recently released Visitors / Early Purple, which I enjoyed a lot! How would you compare it with your upcoming album?
Jason Morales: I’m glad you like that one, I love it too. So there are a couple differences. The first being the tunes are longer on Visitors / Early Purple. For Tried and True at least my personal view was to try to make this one a little more accessible with some shorter length jams. Honestly that’s kind of a new concept for us and in turn can make a jam more focused than some of the longer ones. Being aware of the time changes things a little when improvising and also coming up with endings on a couple of these which usually hadn’t happened for us…We let the jams fizzle out more often than having a synchronized ending. Actually we got lucky with “Taos” because the end of the tape decided how long that jam was and I love the way that sounds when the tape rolls off the heads and the reverb is still going…cool stuff.
“Each record is its own thing at the moment.”
Erik Conn: To me there’s no comparison to the last record or any other. At the moment each record is underway, to me it’s all that exists right then. It’s the best material at that place and time. Although it’s very human to compare and contrast things like that, for me it just doesn’t apply. Each record is its own thing at the moment. Ya know?
We recorded Visitors / Early Purple EP the same way as the new one, minus trying to be mindful of running time. “Visitors” is 100% improv, “Early Purple” is the riff as the launchpad for the improv that follows after a few minutes in. At the time we thought both tracks sounded great, “fuck it, let’s put it out?!”
We thought it would be cool to have just two tracks, one each side of a record. Honestly we just hoped it would’ve come out about 3 years before it did. Oh well, at least it came out!!!
Tried and True was a little bit more thought out, yet only in the fact that we were thinking full-length record. Hence five shorter tracks instead of two long ones. The “Layback” is a rad jam, up tempo and sassy. A relatively new Morales riff not yet totally realized until this session we’ve got on the new record. “Taos” is from the same weekend session, yet total improv… (a personal fave, Curt’s bass is hauntingly mysterious and wicked). “Swingin’ Wing” is also from that same sesh, and another Morales riff that’s fairly new. We actually recorded another version that was really slick, technically perfect. Like click-track tempo, everyone super tight and ultra precise on the changes. It just didn’t have the fire and sass like the version we chose. We like the raw emotion and energy!
The title track, “Tried and True” is a jam from the earliest years before we ever played out publicly in 2001. We recorded it a few times over the years, just never captured the goods. Some time last year, jammin’ at Jason’s we finally did. That’s pretty much that. For the last track, Jason had us play and record what we’ve always referred to as “the thunderstorm”, the improv build-up before busting into the actual riff. Instead we just stayed with the storm so-to-speak, which is the track “Zen”. The new record flows all the way front to back, we’re all stoked and excited for folks to hear it.
How do you usually approach music making?
Jason Morales: A couple of different ways. Sometimes I’ll have a couple of riffs that I’ll bring to the band and then we’ll expand off of those. Other times we’ll free jam and see if something comes out of that. We don’t really have the chance to get together that often so when we do, if we are in the studio we usually record it so we can listen back to see if something sounds cool.
Erik Conn: Although we discuss various ideas and possibilities, we’ve mostly just been about jamming. Playin’ together in the moment, improvising within a predetermined key and that’s about it. Jazz-like. Raw & musical, flaws and all.
Since the early days we’ll figure out places to go, a chord change that Jason can signal. Or like after we mellow out on a jam, “the look” that can signify a total rhythm change or something. After all these years though, no matter who we’ve had on bass, it’s mostly improv. Listen to your mates and play accordingly. Even when Jason brings in a new riff, (and often a change to go with it), once we lock down on it, figure out how it feels, grooves and moves along, the rest of it is all off the cuff.
“We know about 10-15 maybe 20% of what we’re gonna try to do at a show or recording.”
So for sure, that lore about Tia Carrera is real and true. We know about 10-15 maybe 20% of what we’re gonna try to do at a show or recording. The rest is just jammin’ and where the magic is. In the sense that the ego isn’t allowed time to impose order on the music, it just happens live at the moment, straight out of the creative source, which is in the heart. Folks hear it how they hear it, hopefully they dig what we’re doin’. We just do what we do and hope to “get in the zone” and enjoy it ourselves too.
Who is behind the artwork for your latest two releases?
Jason Morales: For the Visitors / Early Purple release our good friend Tim Kerr (Big Boys, Up Around the Sun) painted the cover for us. We really kinda considered that a 12″ single since it was only 2 songs so he gave us 2 covers one for each song. I really love the way that turned out. Tim Lives in my neighborhood and he’s recorded a few times in my studio, most notably the last Up Around the Sun LP on Monofonus.
For Tried and True we went back to Alexander Von Wieding and asked him to work with us again. We were so stoked when he let us use his painting, Cosmic Priestess for our 2nd Small Stone release, so much so that we asked to use the title for the album…for this one he sort of used the titles of the tunes for inspiration on the cover, the Hot Wheels car (“Swingin’ Wing”), the empty pool in the foreground ready to skate (“Layback”), the mountains of Taos and all within the composition of a Zen Circle. He did such a bad ass job on this one…
What would you say influenced you the most? Have influences changed during the years?
Jason Morales: Well for me personally, a good mix of old school classic rock, 80’s hardcore and 90’s rock from the Northwest.
In my later years there’s also a bit of Bitches Brew, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, the edgier side of jazz, the jams. A bit of Texas Psych and by that I mean Butthole Surfers, not Roky Erickson
There’s not a lot of new music that I would say influences me but I do love hearing what all my local bros and sisters are coming up with. That can be really exciting here in Austin especially as a recording engineer.
Curt Christenson: My influences are all over the place. I started playing bass as a kid because my junior high jazz band needed a bass player. I was playing guitar and was pretty bad at it. Learned bass in a week and got the gig in Jazz 1 and originally thought I was just trying out for Jazz 2. I had a bunch of traditional jazz pushed on me as a result. Then in high school my instructor was really into old Chicago so I became obsessed with old Chicago and still listen to that stuff all the time.Of course I loved classic rock so Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Sabbath, you know all the standards. I also played in bands in high school that played everything from Testament to Sabbath to Circle Jerks and Black Flag. In college I had a bass instructor that got me into James Jamerson and all the Motown stuff. I also love old County music especially the early 70s outlaw county. I started playing piano at age 4 and played in orchestra and symphonic band in school so I love classical as well.
Erik Conn: For Tia, since the earliest days when I first ever started jammin’ with Morales, I thought for such a bad ass & ferocious rocker, he had this serious Hendrix vibe. I mean, when bands talk about music and their influences, it’s quite likely that a guitarist might mention Hendrix or Page or whatever. Drummers, Bonham and Baker etc. Like no shit right?
However I think some cats really do have an actual essence that conjures some of those influences. Ya know? Like, “that dude really has that Tom Petty phrasing on his vocals”…or…”gal over there in that band really has that Billy Gibbons’ tone on lock”. My point is that I’ve always though Jason and I have had a real genuine potluck going on. Later era Hendrix, early-mid Zep, Melvins, Jesus Lizard, and early trio-era Jazz.
How has that changed over the years? Not at all. Curt fits in that equation like we’ve all been playing together since we were were kids.
To me it’s super cool to still be a part of a genre that not only still exists, but is flourishing stronger than ever. When we first started playing out ‘stoner & heavy psych’ wasn’t quite as hip or cool, and accepted as it is now. We feel very fortunate to have been around this long and still have people care about what we’re doing. Especially for a band that isn’t playing the traditional formula, verses, choruses, and singing etc.
We’ve made so many friends over the years, fans & bands we’ve played with, everything. It’s so rad! It’s humbling to be a part of such a big beautiful picture, however obscure we might actually be.
What’s the story behind your band name?! I can imagine it started out as a joke…
Jason Morales: Ha! No real long story here. Back when we were first starting to jam we would record little one off cds with a bunch of different dudes playing bass, just for ourselves. This is way before we ever had a studio. I had a little stand up 8 track half inch machine that we did some stuff on. Anyway we would always use different band names, one day we used Tia Carrera and it just stuck, rolls of the tongue nicely and is sexy and shit, I don’t know…we intentionally spelled it differently of course.. mind you this is way before we even knew we were gonna play out with this band, we were just having fun. Our first show was a benefit for a skate park and it was also the first time we ever jammed with Andrew Duplantis. He and Erik had been in a band called Dismukes and we knew we always wanted to get him to jam, he said he didn’t have time to rehearse but to book a show and he’d show up…second show was a gong show where bands would get up and play until they were gonged off the stage. We did a free jam and of course got gonged but for some reason we kept playing. After that the owner of the bar asked us to come back every week and jam. That was the beginning of Psychedelic Friday, for about 2 or 3 years there after we would jam every Friday at 8 at Room 710. It was our rehearsal and gig all at the same time and we just kept using Tia Carrera.
Erik Conn: The Name?! Ha! Yes it was kind of a joke, yet it had a bit of sex appeal and rolled off the tongue nicely, indeed it just stuck.
A nerdy detail that I’ll divulge is as follows; one after-hours party at the old Starfish house (Jason’s early ATX punk rock band), like ’96 or ’97? We were all partying and the topic of discussion was band names. What we had landed on mutually (he and I) was the appeal of a feminine name for a heavy band. As in, when one reads a name like Slayer, without ever hearing what they sound like, one can get a basic idea of what they do. It’s immediately inclusive. So like if you’re into Earth Wind and Fire, sifting through the album bins, Slayer ain’t likely gonna work. Not that we were at all that formulaic about our name, but it’s not so damn obvious what we sound like. We did consciously adjust the last name, CARRERA, Spanish for “fast or race-like”. Seemed cool enough at the time and again it stuck, sometimes it’s still kinda funny.
What occupied your life after Cosmic Priestess from 2011?
Jason Morales: Ah yes a long break between albums. We were still playing shows quite a bit. As I said earlier it’s always been hard to get the guys together for jams and recording so it was really easy for us to just keep playing shows without ever rehearsing or recording new material, the jams were never played the same each time so it was always fresh material. We never got bored enough to write new stuff or record.
There’s probably some stoner laziness in there too for sure. We did have a line up change in that time as well.
Erik Conn: Oh man. We went through a member change (again). We didn’t know if we had anyone interested in putting out a two song slab of vinyl.
We had hoped to tour on Cosmic Priestess which didn’t happen, stateside or abroad. We recorded and then promptly sat on Visitors / Early Purple…we still played our asses off locally, like always really. Got in our best groove ever with Curt, even took a little time-out for a bit. 20 years is a long time with no outside help, obviously we’re not so good at self promotion…we just exist.
Now the founding duo recruited longtime friend and Austin legend Curt Christenson (Dixie Witch, Crimson Devils) as a permanent member. Was it difficult to start again with a new member or was it more of a spontaneous moment where everything clicked, since you were already friends for many years?
Jason Morales: Not at all…even back when we were with Andrew, he couldn’t always be there for what ever reason so we had a lot of fill in bass players, Josh Zarbo from Spoon, Gian Ortiz from Amplified Heat, our good friend John Era who was the original Bass player before Andrew, Jamey Simms who’s on the Cosmic Priestess record and of course Curt. He use to fill in quite a bit so when he came on full time the transition was pretty seamless. It kicked us into a new level of macho tone in the bass department as well!!!
Erik Conn: Yes Curt! Yeah, we’ve played with some of best bassists on the planet yet none like Curt. Not only one of the coolest, most stylish and original musicians ever, he’s also one of the most humble, patient, and generous human beings you will ever meet. Great sense of humor and also a fiery soul like Jason and I, different but same.
Nothing but high praise to our friends who’ve we’ve played with in the past. At each moment in our evolution everyone of them was perfect and helped us be the best we could be in that moment. Partly why the comparison thing is weird for me. I get it, but for me it’s all a part of the whole evolution of the band. In the case of Tia Carrera, two particular variables remain the same, (Jason & I). The third variable (bass) dictates how we interact as a whole and what that sounds like at that time.
However, in my opinion, Curt has single handedly brought Jason and I up to a level I don’t think either of us knew existed. I mean, not until he became THE bassist for Tia Carrera anyway. Honestly, I can’t say enough about the guy and the things he’s done for the band. He’s definitely the low end wizard who brings out our best.
How important is improvisation for you?
Jason Morales: For Tia it’s super important and it really takes all three of us to be able to pull it off. In a way it’s easier but it can also be a little nerve racking. The idea of not having any constrictions in a jam, not being too tied up in a chord progression can be very liberating…each of us free to roam around in key and tempo, you can really lose yourself in the jam. Then there are those times when I’ll wake up on stage out of a blissful moment and think to myself “where the hell am I gonna go from here???”. The not knowing can be pretty exhilarating in the moment.
Erik Conn: Improvisation. To me it’s the absolute most important variable to any band I’ve ever played in. Hard period there. Since I was a teenager, playin’ in bands started for me as improv. Jamming out parts to eventually refine into a song. “This part sounds like the verse, this part sounds like the chorus, this part could be the bridge etc”. I think that whenever everyone in the room is allowed total creative freedom on their instrument, dictated ONLY by the tempo, rhythm, and key, can the absolute best potential of a song come to fruition. Of course there’s exceptions to that.
Yet if a musician is able to navigate their instrument on the fly, listening to their bandmates at each passing note and second, he ability to predict seemingly unpredictable nuances becomes enhanced, and can be developed over time. The mechanical mind doesn’t have time to impose order on a particular idea, it just flows out. Of course those initial ideas can be refined, especially in writing whole songs together. Doesn’t matter how great a song writer might be, because that’s deliberation. The idea and inspiration gets combed through and refined again and again. Which is great.
Improv though, that’s where the pain is, the heartbreak, the solace, and the triumph. It’s pure emotional expression based solely on what one’s band mates are expressing at that very same moment.
For us we’ll try and learn it, repeat it, then it becomes a jam and gets a name. So yeah, improv is everything, it’s where individual style and feel comes from.
Would you like to comment your playing technique? Give us some insights on developing your technique.
Jason Morales: Oh man I can’t say that I have any…I mean I think I learned one scale and then just started playing along with records when I was a kid. I had one of the 2 slabs from Song Remains the Same, the one with “Dazed and Confused” and “Since I’ve been Loving You”, so I would play along with those and then I had one side of a live Hendrix album that had “Stone Free” and “Hear My Train Coming” so I’d jam those.
I learned all the Minor Threat stuff. The 2 records and the Salad Days single. 7 seconds, Black Flag, Sabbath. I never learned any Rush or Yes but I would listen to some of those records and really loved the journey that some of those long songs took you on. Then I heard Melvins’ Gluey Porch Treatments and I was floored! I would try to play some of that stuff but it was hard, but my heavy tone and slow vibe comes from them.
Erik Conn: Like I said, been playing in bands for 30+ years. Not including the time before that learning rudiments in middle school, I reckon I’ve accomplished my own sound and style. As far as my technique? It all comes from years of developing an otherwise unorthodox approach. Playing emotionally and physically as a way to express myself within the music I’m helping create in a band. I think my influences are pretty obvious, yet all over the map. My folks weren’t hippies but definitely 60’s kids, I was fortunate enough to grow up listening to the Doors, The Who, Hendrix, Zeppelin (clearly), Tchaikovsky, Ravel, whatever, Fleetwood Mac, George Benson…lots of music! So as a teenager, discovering punk rock and hardcore (all through skateboarding), sniffing around through the different metal styles, hell even digging on the origins of early hip hop. All of it was allowed and encouraged by my parents. I was able to find my “voice” at an early age and stubborn enough to stick to it all these years. I’ve been teaching drums for the past 20 years now but my favorite aspect other than playing is tech & tuning, which I feel is my strongest suit. I’m still inspired to be a better player, but I’ve long since given up chasing the notion of being some sort of bad ass. I just do my thing, still love playing the drums as much as I did as a kid. My bandmates are what set the standard, I just play to them. I dig that there’s no top, just keep learning and evolving.
Tia Carrera released quite a lot of albums, first being Live 6-3-03! I think your band and Earthless are two bands that really pushed the sound further. Would it be possible to comment the transition between albums and what are some of the highlights on them?
Jason Morales: Wow so that live album 6-3-03 was recorded at Stubbs on the inside stage after a Tomohawk show. Our great friend Craig Stewart who’s Emperor Jones label put out the record, had been working with us recording live shows around that time on his portable DAT recorder in hopes of capturing one for release. That one just had the magic. A big crowd left over from Tomohawk paired with enough weed and whiskey to pull it off. Was a fun night.
The November Session was right after that I think??? That was really the first time we took Tia into an actual studio if i remember correctly. Totally had no idea what we were gonna get but it turned out really cool! Local engineer Eric Wofford recorded that one and mixed it with Erik. The tones on that one are definitely big and sweet. It was a really good representation of what we were doing at that time. A few of those riffs were developed during the psych Friday gigs where we would learn riffs while fogging out the green room and then get on stage and improvise on them for the next hour. So the jams on The November Session were kind of a mirror image of what we were playing live at that time and it was all experimental in the sense that we were just discovering it and expanding on it. Keeping the memorable riffs from shows and parties that led to good improvising and playing them in the studio.
Next was I think a self-titled release with 6 or 7 tunes on it. Recorded half with Erik Wofford and the other half at Ohm, I think Chico Jones engineered it and I mixed it…can’t remember, any way that one is a lot of improvising and experimenting. First time we had some guests come in and overdub stuff over our tunes. Ezra Reynolds on keys, he had jammed with us live a few times at the Friday thing. Another bud, Jeff Swanson who I was playing music with in the band Gorch Fock, came in and did some samples over count down lift off.
After that we released a 7″ on Arclight Records. It was an out take from the Ohm sessions, a LungFish song called “You Are The War” of the Feral Hymns album. Kind of a weird choice to do a cover of , I know, but it was just what I was listening to at the time and I loved the riff so we covered it. Changed it quite a bit too…the song spans both sides of the 7″ with the vocals coming in on side b. First time doing vocals for Tia.
Next was another Arclight release called the Heaven/Hell EP. I took advantage of some late night recording at a studio I worked at called Sweatbox here in Austin and we recorded that one… Three jams, short and sweet… It was the CD that I feel got us over to Roadburn in 2008. Right about then we signed with Small Stone, we literally signed a contract and put it in the mail on the way to the airport to fly to Roadburn. It was just Erik and I at that point, Andrew had moved on to play with Son Volt and both Jamey and Curt were playing shows with us on bass. We knew that Curt was going to be at Roadburn with Dixie Witch. Walter gave us the slot right before them and Curt did double duty that night. It was pretty magical.
So after that we recorded The Quintessential. LP numero uno on Small Stone. Oddly enough Andrew came back and played Bass on a few of those tunes and Curt played on “New Orleans”. I think Ezra was on the the second jam where we had him come in and over dub a part where Andrew broke a bass string during the jam.
Jamey Simms came in played a huge part in the next release, Cosmic Priestess. After getting back from Roadburnm Curt was still busy with Dixie Witch and Andrew with Son Volt so Jamey was our guy. Tia definitely did some blossoming during that time. Jamey and I started switching instruments half way through the set trying to seamlessly do it mid jam during a feedback interlude which was awesome when we pulled it off. We only really captured it once on recording but it never was released, but live we would do it every show. We recorded “Cosmic” entirely with Jamey and even included a jam with him on Guitar and me on Bass. Jamey is an insanely good guitar player so that jam is bonkers good. Stand out tune on that record is the 33 minute long “Saturn Missile Battery”…good shit
Moving on to Visitors which was actually recorded in 2014, but did not get released until 2018 I think…just took us forever to get it mastered and then in line at Small Stone for a release date. Cool record though like I said before the idea was a 12″ single 2 16+ minute songs both recorded on the same night during one of our weekend swarees in the studio. That night was funny because our friend Abbey was in town from Chicago with her boyfriend at the time and they came in and hung out while we recorded those tunes. That’s why the first one is called “Visitors”. They were the visitors and that tune was a totally improvised, we had to name it something. “Early Purple” was a jam that we already had in our pockets that we decided to record that day. Both songs feature Curt on Bass.
Fast forward to Tried and True. I think this album is a great representation of Tia as a solid line up, how we’ve honed in on our craft and what we are capable of. The communication between the three of us is the very best its been and the jams seem effortless. All of the hard work has paid off on this one and I’m really proud of how it came out…
Erik Conn: #1 The November Session
Recorded on Saturday November 24, 2002. My buddy Erik Wofford had started working at this new studio (at the time) eventually named Cacophony. Tia was fresh and getting good local press, he hit me up to record as a guinea pig experiment. To record a loud band, full volume, all in the same room, for him to determine what pitfalls lurked in such an endeavor, end result being educational for him, and we’d have a free live studio recording. Thus far as a new band, we’d only been handing out live recordings (bootlegs) of our weekly Friday night happy hour jams. An interesting detail to this recording (CD only), is that at the end of each track you can hear us chat about the performance, pass the joint, then discuss what to play next. The entire session was recorded, hence the name. My favorite part is, if you crank up the volume you can hear us talkin’ leading up to track 5 “J. Bankston Manor”. Jason suggests I do a fill as the intro to the jam. At a reduced volume by using only a couple of ambient mics, you can hear me figure out and try said fill. Then as the track sequence clicks over to track 5, all the mics come back up and the track version starts and plays out. Lots of rough edges left on that one but still to this day, I have yet to hear a record like it. Very intimate to say the least. Originally released on Perverted Son Records, re-released on Australian Cattle God Records. Both ATX family labels. My mom handmade the stamps out of leaves from her yard that had fallen that Autumn regarding the artwork on the cover.
#2 6-3-03
Second release, 300 limited edition vinyl on Trance Syndicate subsidiary EMPEROR JONES.
Melvins/Tomahawk after show inside stage at Stubb’s. Literally as soon as their last note was finished, we were peeling the paint off the walls. In fact, we’d already had a good feedback drone going on by the time they zipped up. The crowd filtered inside and we ripped. Bearded Lady printers, Rachel Kolar did the super bitchin’ 3-headed Sparrow artwork. I don’t think I even have a copy anymore.
#3 No. 3/ The Blue One (CD only)
2006 on Australian Cattle God Records. Parts of this recording made it my absolute favorite for many years…specifically tracks #1, 4, 5 & 6. Half of it was recorded at Cacophony, Half at Ohm studio. Jason had just become a father. The amazing Win Wallace did the artwork.
#4 Heaven and Hell EP.
(CD only) on Arclight Records ATX. I forget the year it officially came out but it wasn’t long after the 3rd one. It was the first time Jason engineered the entire thing, all at the old and somewhat legendary Sweatbox Studio right before the building it was in burned down. It was also the first official release featuring our long time friend and occasional member, Jamey Simms on bass. I used to own a (1 of 1000) Matamp GT 120 head, he’d play bass through it plugged into an o.g. Ampeg 8/10. Sounded like Blue Cheer! I think Bearded Lady printed that one too, regardless Rachel Kolar did the artwork on it, we had shirts with the lion from the middle panel for about a week.
#5 The Quintessential. (CD only)
First release on Small Stone in 2009. First recording done completely by ourselves at the hands of Jason himself at his own, and brand new home studio. Kind of a real turning point in some ways, although subtle. This was our last record featuring Andrew Duplantis on bass. Occasionally we’d jam with our Bro Ezra Reynolds on some sort of keys, he’s on this one too. Curt plays on a track that we still reference today, (“New Orleans”). Kind of the precursor to what our potential could and would eventually be with him. I got to play a gong on the first track. Mark Deutrom helped us realize the mixes which were thankful for. It’s all the quintessential sound we’re known for making, our fifth offering, 5 tracks, hence the crown on the cover with the five jewels. The cover was a reference to this little voodoo box of incense I picked up once in New Orleans, kinda looked like a firework, same kinda paper.
#6 Cosmic Priestess
Released in 2011. We took the name off of the artwork that Alex Von Wieding had come up with for the release whilst jammin our tunes. We were honored by the notion and this quickly became our best record to date. Came out on vinyl (rare colored as well) with a gatefold, the CD version has an extra track. Of which Jamey Simms plays guitar and Jason plays bass. We’ve got Ezra on a track too if I remember correctly. All done at Jason’s with him at helm, kinda recall Mark D. helping out here and there again too on some of the mixing.
#7 Visitors / Early Purple
Released in 2019 (Vinyl only, U.S. limited). Shit, we recorded this about 4 years before it came out. Floods in Michigan had hindered Scott at Small Stone’s ability to adhere to a timeline, plus lots of life happened between this and the previous record. Being the guitar shredder Jamey is, he made the jump to front his own trio. Dixie Witch had wrapped it up for the foreseeable future, so we finally snagged Curt full time and promptly started playing what would become some of our best shows. On one particular jam at Morales’, we captured these two tracks. Went down the street for beers to celebrate & name the jams. That was that. “Visitors” is a reference to having out of town guests hang out during that particular jam…(or aliens if you prefer). “Early Purple” is Early Purple if you know your weeds.
We were so stoked on this one, it was so quick and easy, mic set-up, jammin’, mixing was a breeze…we had our local guru Jerry Tubb beautifully master it. The icing on the cake was having the legendary Tim Kerr do the artwork. If you know, you know. A huge honor for us and ever time I look at it I get a huge smile. Scott surprised us with a thick slab of purple vinyl. It’s groovy and was rad to put something out again, folks were stoked!
#8 Tried and True
Summer of 2020. Colored vinyl (it’s a surprise) and CD (also a surprise). Obviously I’m biased but I think this is hands down our best recording to date. We did ourselves again at Jason’s. He has his place (and us) so dialed. All we have to do is really perform. Seems like we did, hope everyone thinks so too. I love the sounds and the jams, Jason did an incredible job of capturing the magic. I love the way it’s sequenced and Jerry Tubb’s master versions, plus I absolutely love the artwork. Our second release featuring the fantastic artwork of Alex Von Wieding.
Jason, you also played in a few local bands like Lemonade, Helltrout, Starfish and Gorch Fock…What was that like?
Erik Conn: Jason can tell you more about himself and his history than I can. I will tell you this though. I moved to Austin, (Late November ’95), and right away, he was the first cat I saw shredding guitar in his band at the time (Starfish), where I instantly thought to myself, “eventually I’ve gotta be in a band with that guy!” Definitely my brother from another mother. Can’t imagine not playing with him…his sound and fury, the colors he uses when he plays. I’m fortunate to be friends with him all these years and we definitely have a genuine chemistry within the music that seems wholly unique, and for which I am grateful to be a part of.
Jason Morales: Wow Yea Lemonade and Helltrout were two different bands I was in during my college years. HellTrout came first. That band was a trip and contained some of my best bros to this day. Since we, almost by accident, hooked up with a drummer Dave Foster who grew up in Aberdeen, Washington, learned how to play drums from Dale Crover and was one of the first drummers for Nirvana, we ended up getting to open up some killer shows for Melvins and Nirvana, not to mention No Means No and other kick ass bands around that time. Was my first real rock’n’roll experience and a lucky one at that. Lemonade was another great experience. I teamed up with, now Portland, Oregon documentary film maker, Matt Zodrow and college friend Timo Ellis, Who now fronts the NY band Netherlands which by the way is one of the heaviest bands around right now. Their music is so kick ass and bazaar, it’s great to see. Timo is one of those guys who can play any instrument really well. I learned so much about playing and writing music from him. So to this day I consider him a huge influence on what I do in bands. Helltrout has an LP and a Cd and Lemonade has a 7″ out there somewhere. After leaving Olympia, Washington and moving to Austin TX. My partner and I started a band called Starfish. She and I teamed up with drummer Scott Marcus from the Texas band Glass Eye, signed with King Cofffee’s label Trance Syndicate and put out a few albums on that label. Most notable one was probably Stellar Sonic Solutions which was produced by Bob Mould. Starfish ended up doing a lot of touring in the early to mid 90’s supporting bands like Butthole Surfers, the Cows, Us Maple, Kepone, P.W. Long, to name a few…another really lucky break in my Rock’n’Roll experience. During our one European Tour we had a meltdown mid tour and I was kicked out of the van in Prague. That was a trip. Made it back to Austin with about a dollar in my pocket and started a Metal Band called Migas with my Helltrout Bro Don Stewart who’s in the Tacoma Band, Tacos! Band, currently. He added Tia Drummer Erik Conn to the mix and still rock to this day when Don makes his way to Austin… Last September we got to do a few shows in the north west and opened up for Red Fang in Portland. More Lucky Breaks…lets see right around 2003- 2004 I joined a 7 piece noise parade called Gorch Fock. I was on drums in this band. Basically every show was shit show circus of noise and mayhem which led to some really fun times. Did a few tours and recorded a few records which are barely listenable but live probably one of the most fun bands I’ve ever been in. Around that same time I was asked to play second drummer for The Butthole Surfers!!! Having known those guys from my Starfish days I found it really easy to join in with them and do the thing…was an amazing experience! I was second drummer and roadie so I was driving the Uhaul around with the gear, they would fly to shows. I’d get there first, set everything up before soundcheck, everybody else would roll in after that. We’d do the gig and then they’d hang out with their very loyal fans and the road crew team would clean everything up. The crew was sound guy, film crew and merch guy plus me. The stage was usually a huge mess of stuffed animal stuffing, lighter fluid, beer and instrument cables but again some of the most fun times I’ve had on a tour. Final 2 shows for me were the Fuji Rock fest in Japan and and L.A. gig after that. Yet another stroke of luck.
Currently along with Tia and Migas, I play bass in an 80’s style hardcore band called Black Mercy. We Just put out a 7″ and a video on Insect Records. They’re out there on the webs somewhere.
Andrew Duplantis was and still is very active too.
Jason Morales: Andrew has always been active I don’t know if i can list all of the bands he’s been in but a few are Son Volt, John D Graham and Alejandro Esacovedo. He also writes and records his own tunes.
Eric Conn: Andrew Duplantis was one of the first dudes I met that I didn’t already know when I arrived in Austin. Friend of friends, we became housemates and eventually bandmates in a band called the Dismukes. Lots of improvised jams in that band too! Although we’d wrangle it all into songs, we’d still have segments in the set, certain songs had freeform parts to them. If the Melvins and Guided by Voices had a lovechild that was The Dismukes. Like Jason said, Andrew knew we had to jam together as a trio, first time was in front of a crowd, a benefit for a skatepark.
Eric, you played in in Roach Factory and Stick, right?
Eric Conn: Roach Factory and Stick? DEEP CUTS! How do you even know about those bands?!
R.F, ’88-’93, 3rd highschool band, first to record and tour. (Think CCR, Replacements, Jesus Lizard, Dinosaur Jr, Soundgarden). Did the whole “dog and pony show” in the early 90’s where all the major labels scoured the Midwest looking for the next Nirvana or whatever. Many rad experiences and adventures. Wrote songs collectively out of improvised jams. Hometown Bros, Manhattan Kansas (K-State) still in touch.
I joined Stick when I moved to Lawrence Kansas (K.U) afterwards. They were one of the area bands that DID sign with a major. I was their second drummer, played on the second record Disgruntled Ex-Employee, which came out on a local indie label. Great band. (Soundgarden meets Bad Religion)? Again, we wrote songs collectively out of improv jams. Once the original bassist decided to leave, (mid ’95) I felt like I had to as well. I pretty much promptly moved to Austin, Texas.
I recently heard A Taste for Blood by Crimson Devils with Curt Christenson on bass. Great stuff!
Jason Morales: Really Kick ass band!!! Curt?
Curt Christenson: Thanks! A couple of friends started that band years ago and had opened for Dixie Witch a few times. I had met Jake Unruh, singer and guitarist for Crimson Devils, through a mutual friend and he was working on my amps and basses. After Dixie Witch had gone on hiatus Jake called and asked if I would be interested in coming in and jamming with them. At the time Jake was only on vocals which I thought was weird because he is a great guitarist and songwriter. Jake told me he was now playing second guitar and writing new songs. I was not in a band for the first time in over 20 years so I went for it. Six years later it’s still going and we are almost ready to record another album as a three piece now. It’s a fun band and we have a great drummer as well, Patrick “Scooch” Pascucci who has been in MOD with Billy Milano, Creeper, and Dick Delicious with Ruyter from Nashville Pussy. Oddly enough the first show I played with Crimson Devils was opening a show with Tia Carrera on the bill. It was Jamey’s last show. Jason and Erik asked if I was interested in jamming with them again. The answer was obviously hell yeah!
Eric Conn: First met Curt back in ’99 I think? Dixie Witch. Good gosh what a rippin’ band. Dude slayed the bass, plays barefoot and can sure sing too! Easily one of the best musicians I’ve ever known much less had the good fortune to play with. Truth be told, if we weren’t such good friends with Dixie Witch back in the day, Jason and I would have snatched him up immediately. His other current band Crimson Devils are also really killer. Underrated local power trio in my opinion, everyone just rips. We’re all friends, I originally met Jake (Unruh gtr/vocs) through skateboarding. I dunno, it’s a family affair!
Are there any bands you particularly like and know that they were influenced by your music? Also, is there any less known (local) bands that you would like to mention to our readers?
Jason Morales: Well I think that band Joy said they use to listen to a lot of Tia, and Ian from The Well has said he really likes my guitar playing. Beyond that I can’t say, although recently Tia played the Monolith on the Mesa fest in Taos and the band True Widow was there. Really cool people. Anyway turns out that Dan, the guitar player/singer in that band was on tour with the Reverend Horton Heat playing pedal steel, that was the BHS, Toadies, Reverend Horton Heat, Starfish tour. He said that he was blown away by Starfish, the boy/girl harmonized vocals and heavy tunes, then said that Starfish was a big influence in starting True Widow!! I thought that was pretty cool and I would have never guessed. I had a great time partying with those guys in Taos.
As far as Local Bands, there are so many cool things happening in Austin right now. Having a recording studio is great because I get first listen to all kinds of new material from cool bands that come in.
Some notable ones as of late have been the band Auntie, not sure how to describe them except that it’s kind of progressive synth sounding stuff but super catchy, just 2 dudes, a drummer and a dude who has like a table with a laptop and some sort of a key pad thing that makes noise. He has pre recorded tracks on the laptop and plays along live on the key pad thing which controls the bass synth sound. Weird but it’s super cool and not what you’d expect. GoodEye is another one, super heavy slow tunes but not Doom, more dreamy. The Bass player is Dillon who Makes the Worshipper cabinets that a lot of the heavy bands are using now. Acid Roulette is a psych noise band that I just recorded. Singer from Scorpion Child but nothing like Scorpion Child, way heavier way more noisy. Austin pioneer punk Steven Marsh on guitar, played in the late 70’s punk band Terminal Mind.
Curt Christenson: I’m really bad about going out to shows these days. There are some great local bands though. Suckling, We Are The Asteroid, Ungrieved, Amplified Heat…so much talent in this town.
Erik Conn: I dunno, it feels weird to say but I’ve heard a few bands that were obviously influenced by what we do over the years. Kind of a compliment without actually being complimented.
Locally there’s a ton of killer bands in the genre. So many of which are doing great things like Duel, The Well, Greenbeard. Some other local favorites of mine are Amplified Heat, Voidstrider, Bridge Farmers, Destroyer of Light, Exhalants…Trail of Dead has a new record that’s really good. Really though there’s just too many to list!
What are some future plans?
Jason Morales: Well I’m on the last few months of my 49th year so all I can say is keep playing, keep skating and try to live a happy life.
The immediate plan before the entire world went on Lockdown because of the Corona Virus was to play some European festivals and do a legit European tour in Sept 2020.
I really hope that still happens. I guess we”ll have to see how this all plays out. I mean I know it’ll happen at some point but I’m hoping sooner rather than later. As far as more albums from Tia I’m sure they’ll come, we just have to see how the Jams unfold.
Erik Conn: Just Keep Livin’!!!
We’d still like to tour both Europe and the states, Australia and Japan. The world has to recover though first regarding this virus bullshit so we’ll see.
In the meantime let’s all just stay healthy and take care, that includes everyone! The record still comes out this summer, folks can pre-order it now through the Small Stone site.
Regardless, I hope we still keep on keeping on, bein’ Tia Carrera, playing the way we do.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
Jason Morales: I think one of my all time favorite albums is from the Fucking Champs, the first one C4AM95, I love that record, also from Tim Greene’s The Fucking Am, Gold.
I’ve also really been digging Yawning Man, Macedonian Lines.
Erik Conn: Something to recommend to readers? Western Grace Brandy. The bands I listed above. Live clips of John Fahey in Germany, Ozzyman Reviews, tons if TIA footage, and if you’re curious, type in my name and drums for a peep into some of the other bands I’ve played with over years, ALL ON YOUTUBE. Check out the new Shiner record? Dream the dreams you want to see come to fruition and not the ones you don’t. Buy our merch and don’t forget to vote!
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Jason Morales: Thanks so much for the questions. I really hope we can get out soon, play some shows and party with everybody. We’re looking forward to it. Cheers!
Erik Conn: Thank you! Thanks for the interview Klemen, and asking good questions. Thanks to everyone who has given us the time, a listen, and any interest in what we’re up to. Thanks to our peers! If you see us live, please don’t ever hesitate to say hello. Take care everybody! Hopefully we’ll see you on down the road!!!
– Klemen Breznikar
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