Tantric Newsletter

Welcome to Tantric's debut of the fanclub quarterly newsletter FREQUENCY. This newsletter is being brought to you via the hard work of their supporters and family members. This project began in October of 1999 when Tantric debuted in Louisville, Kentucky as C14.

Tantric has the best fans a band could ask for, so in the next issue we will put one of these awesome fans in the spotlight and give them the recognition they deserve. We are looking for a fan that is active on the message board, that has made various contributions to the Tantric community, that the Tantric community wouldn’t be the same without, or anyone you want to see spotlighted. We will write a column about this fan focusing on their contributions and getting to know them thoroughly. Please send all nominations to DJWatts at djwatts@tantric-music.com.

Tantric offers fans their own e-mail address:

If you have never seen the very first band website (while the guys were cooking chicken wings along with whatever else it took) it is located here: http://www.dcsky.com/c14/

This debut issue is jam packed with interviews, photos and reviews (all by supporters, friends and family) and the contest.

The most important aspect of any fan club is YOU! the fan. For that reason we are developing our own VIF Club (Very Important Fan). The purpose of this club is to get you as close to tantric as we can. Read more about the benefits of joining here VIF Club.

One of the most often asked questions during the 2001 tour "Who is that other guitarist?" Find out who Snaxxx is here: Joey Stamper

I do want to take some time to thank all the contributors of this issue because without them this would not be possible. There is no rhyme or reason for the order it is randomly random today.

Our thanks to: GOD, The band (of course), Bones, Breeze, KC, Kauza, Janet, AndySueper, David Readlinger, Chip and Dakota Designs, Ken Watson, Diana Stamper, Danetta Stamper, Kim Napier, Kingnuthin, Pixxi, Celtic Sky, Mandy Vest, Luke Vest, Kyle Sullivan, Joey "Snaxxx" Stamper, Jeremy Welt, Toby Wright, Dan Collucci, Jason "the stud" Childress, Steve A., Metallica, Travis Meeks, DOTN, Victor and Rick, Headliners, Mark and Max Maxwell, Guy Oseary, Russ Rieger and Madonna, Mario Ciccione, Kenny D., Ken Dye, Dyenamo Distributing, HOOTERS, Machine, Our very first Tantric Tour Manager Bryan and Tehani and Stephanie deGuzman.

I have to tell everyone about the history of our current newsletter logo. It's original concept came from Janet Windsor. She captured the actual song "Mourning's frequency via winamp. The rest of the background image is compliments of Tantric's CD.

We are excited about our very first member contest! Please check it out here: Contest

Please look in the Astounded section for all the original art submissions from our supporters and family members.

How did Tantric come to be Tantric?

As recently as late 1998, Todd Whitener, bassist Jesse Vest and drummer Matt Taul were exiled from Days of the New by bandleader Travis Meeks. The trio of unemployed musicians -- dismissed from the platinum rock act under the usual "artistic differences" pretense -- returned to their homes in Louisville, Ky., forced to take menial food service jobs to survive. But having tasted the apex of rock & roll stardom, the boys' "McJobs" couldn't stifle their musical aspirations. By 1999, Whitener, Vest and Taul regrouped and cut a rough demo of new material. Vocalist Hugo Ferreira was tapped for throat duties and he moved from Detroit to join the burgeoning act -- then calling themselves Carbon 14. The band soon renamed itself Tantric, promptly inked a deal with Maverick Records and dropped their self-titled debut in February.

Todd Whitener: Especially at the time when [we split from Days of the New], we were all pretty discouraged and at that time we had been living our whole dream. Growing up trying to play all these Metallica riffs and here we were touring with Metallica -- and then it all ended. It was almost like we felt stripped, we had worked so hard and then all of the sudden here's Jesse and Matt flipping wings at Hooters and I'm in there trying to get free wings. That [was] our daily lifestyle.

Hugo Ferreira: Basically we were searching for a name for four months. We must have come up with 4,000 names. We would come up with a name for every letter of the alphabet. At this point we weren't thinking of anything really profound. What we say in the music was enough. We didn't need the name. But we were searching and, God, it's so hard to find a good name for a band. One day we were mixing the record with Toby and the whole band, and the runner -- the secretary or something -- she comes in and goes, 'Oh my God, I had some Tantric sex yesterday!' She was all hippie like that. We were like, 'Tantric, that's kind of cool.' Then me and Todd, we had a car driving us from the airport to where we were going and there was this Buddhist guy and he was telling us about the whole meaning and it was pretty cool (Ed. note: Tantric studies pertain to any of several books of esoteric Hindu doctrine concerned with methods of focusing one's life energy.) We were like, 'This could fit in with the music.' Plus we love the name -- it sounds so mystical and stuff. So we decided to go with it. It was two weeks before we had to come up with one. It was probably less than that.

The First Ever Tantric Fan Interview

by Andy English (transcribed by djwatts and Mrs. djwatts)

Andy- Jessie, what's your overview of the tour so far? How's it going? And what do they think about the whole deal?

Jessie- Well, I think it's been going great. We've been on the road for about 3 months now. Well, over that now, and it's cool to see the transition of having 7 people show up to a show and then 3 months later have a lot, ya know, selling shows out and having everybody know the words to all the songs. And it's just very cool. It makes it all worthwhile, ya know.

Andy- What are you listening to right now? What's in your CD player right now?

Jessie- Honestly, John Denver. John Denver is in my CD player as we speak. Uh, but I listen to everything, ya know. The new stuff, the new stuff that I like is stuff like Incubus, and uh, stuff like that. But I listen to mostly old stuff. Everything from, ya know, Tessla, and the Eagles, and all that stuff. Boston, I love Boston.

Andy- Well, you just did a show with Tessla the other night. Tell us a little bit about that. How'd that go?

Jessie- They are the absolute gods of rock and roll and Pabst Blue Ribbon. They, they are like one of the last great American rock bands in my opinion. They played like so many songs that day. They were just phenomenal. It'd bring a tear to your eye. Joey's wiping the tears away right now. (Ha, ha)

Andy- Okay, talk a little bit about your rig. What do you got for a bass amp.? And what do you plan on buying next for you gear?

Jessie- I play Specter basses, and everything else is pretty much crap, ya know. I'm just trying to find more Specters. I need more. If anybody's got some for sale, please tell me. Yeah, the rig that I use is just the standard Ampeg SVT4Pro with a classic A10 cabinet, ya know. And I don't use any effects. It's just a big fat low-end sound. That Specter sounds so good, ya know, you really don't even need any effects.

Andy- What part do you have in the song writing process? How does a song come about with Tantric?

Jessie- How does a song come about with Tantric? (various comments from other members) Yeah, totally, that's pretty much it. We just kinda jam around. Somebody'll have an idea and it'll turn into a song.

Andy- I guess you guys sign and stuff, fill in all the blanks, man, dealing with the fans. Let's have a word with Matt Taul, the drummer from Tantric. Matt, I know you're tired. You've been rockin' your cockin' off. What's, who are your 3 favorite drummers?

Matt- Um, let's see, John Bonno, Danny Kerry, uh, Carter Boford or Bufford, however you say it, from Dave Matthews. I guess those are the 3 that come to mind. I don't know if they are my faves, but they're 3 awesome drummers.

Andy- Are you self-taught, how'd you get…

Matt- Yeah, my father was a drummer and he taught me a little, and I learned the rest on my own. I started when I was about 7 and started on his drum kit.

Andy- About 12 years ago, right? (laughter) What's your, uh, what do you use for sticks? What weight and what size?

Matt- I use 5A and I'm waiting on a deal with Louisville Slugger. I'm the only one using those sticks right now, the prototypes, but that's what I am looking at right now. As it stands I'm a ProMark endorser, but I'm looking at these Louisville Sluggers and the 5A as the size.

Andy- You use the same weight in each hand, or do you switch? Matt- No, it's the same sticks all the way through the whole show, wood tip.

Andy- Wood tip? That was my next question. What's your dream kit? You got it now from your company?

Matt- Actually, it's being built. I get it the 15th. I'm a Sonar endorser. I just got that endorsement about 4 months ago. So, yeah, it's being built right now. So it should be coming. Before we start the next tour I'm coming out with all new gear next tour. Same companies, all new gear though.

Andy- What's your part in writing songs when something comes out? It's like someone throws out a riff and you start jammin' along, or someone have a tape with the whole song?

Matt- Well, we do some arrangements sometimes. Me and Jessie will do arrangements. Todd is really, really, really good with the floaty, harmony, trippy, ya know, Robin Trower type sounds. And he's good with heavy riff sounds, too. But me and Jessie can maybe help arrange, cause he doesn't listen to much heavy music. So we kinda put that little edge on it, I guess if you will. So to answer your question is we arrange a little bit, but other than that I just put the beats on it. But I'll go through 20 or 30 different ones and pick out the one I best feel. It's never like "hey use this" or anything. We all do what we want to do on our own individual.

Andy- When you were growing up practicing, did you like put headphones on and play to albums? What'd you do?

Matt- No, I would just listen to it and then go in and play it. Then get done playing it and to back in and listen to it again and see where I messed up. And go back out and play it. I never just put on the headphones-confused me.

Andy- Okay, well after the years of being on the road, it seems like you guys have constantly been on the road between the former band and this band. Is there a tip for a drummer you'd give a drummer like the one thing you need to do is?

Matt- Don't drink too much and don't party too much. It'll mess your tempo up.

Andy- What? Did you find it makes you speed up or maybe slow down?

Matt- Both and everything in between. (laughter)

Andy- What are you listening to right now? What's in your CD player?

Matt- Uh, probably Pantera, Reinventing the Steel, or maybe old Tesla record, maybe, in the CD player.

Andy- Yeah, you guys had a good show with Tessla, I heard. I heard that rocked your world.

Matt- Oh, yeah! It was fun, man. They rocked, man! They're great. Great guys. We loved them. And we was just ridin' down the road and wanted some old stuff to listen to and that's what we chose. So and then me, not realizing we was doin' a show with them. So I listened to the CD for about 2 months out here runnin' around in the bus. And then I show up and I'm like "Who are we playing with?" And they're like, uh, "Tessla!" So, all right! It's pretty cool.

Andy- Other than home cookin' and your family, what do you miss the most when you're out on the road?

Matt- Oh, my car and my sanity.

Andy- What do you got for a car? Matt- I just bought a Lincoln LS, 2001. I got a little special edition deal. They only made like 20 of them. So that's what I'm drivin' now, black on black. Oh, I'm sorry, gray leather, black. It's got 18s on it. So it looks pretty good. It's pretty nice.

Andy- Where do you see Tantric a year from now? What's your goals?

Matt- Um, just to keep rockin', man. Build a bigger fan base, and hopefully just stay in arena-style venues, and uh, keep our loyal fans that we have now. That's where I hope to be. Other than that maybe building a house or something cool like that.

Andy- Where would you build that, down south?

Matt- Yeah, definitely in Kentucky, somewhere out in the country. Ya know, buy about 20, 30 acres, nothin' real huge. Enough to ride some dirt bikes on and go fishin' or something.

Andy- You want to build your own home studio?

Matt- Uh, yes sir. That's definitely gonna get done. When I learn more about it. I am pretty stupid when it comes to gear, so uh.

Andy- You got a lot of song ideas that come to ya, and do you present those, or how's that work?

Matt- Yeah, yeah, um, we'll just talk about it. I have to do it in my own language. So it takes a little process. But, uh, yeah, yeah, we definitely do that kind of stuff all the time.

Andy- You do it…

Matt- We're writing 2 or 3 new ones since we've been out here this last month. So uh…

Andy- Where do you find time to get in the studio?

Matt- Well, we don't do it like that. He just writes it on the acoustic and I'll tell him what I'm gonna do and then I just keep listening to him, figurin' out his parts. Then I can say, "hey, can you go to here, there, or can you go here, or try that, and this is the beat I've got so far, that oh, when you go here I can do this here". Ya know, like I said we've gotta use our own language because we don't sit down and write music or do anything like that. So it's hard for me to explain.

Andy- Uh huh.

Matt- But, uh, that's about how it goes.

Andy- When you were in the studio doing the Tantric CD, was everything pretty much worked out, or did stuff happen spontaneously when you're there?

Matt- There was a few spontaneous things. I mean, uh, most of the songs are written, but there was a few parts that we'd end up changin'. There's some spontaneous stuff goin' on.

Andy- Like Todd's solos? Were those spontaneous?

Matt- Oh, yeah definitely. He, uh, knows exactly what he's gonna do sometimes, and sometimes he doesn't even know if, if, he wants to put the song on the record, or whatever, and, and, he'll just go in there and bust up one of the best solos I've ever heard out. So, yeah, some spontaneous stuff definitely comes out on all of our parts, I believe.

Andy- Do you sing at all?

Matt- Hell no! I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. (laughter) Voices behind say "not in a bucket"

Andy- Anything you wanna say to the fans on the Tantric website? Tantriczen is picking up. You've got chapters startin' in every state in the union. What can the fans do out there to help you guys out?

Matt- Just stick with us and realize we're lazy. We're sorry we're not answerin' your question right now. Um, we will be more involved soon. Stick with it and, um, meanwhile, uh, we'll get as much information as we can. And uh, thank you! We love you guys! Andy- All right. Matt- All right, thank you.

Andy- Matt Taul, T- A- U- L, although he is quite tall.

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