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Urgency (The)
Interview with Tyler Gurwicz on Apr 21, 2009 by
By: Mike Passaretti
Before they were even signed to Island Records, The Urgency, a progressive rock back from Burlington, VA had to prove itself worthy of a deal through effortless touring, hard work and a little help from MySpace. After sending a letter of admiration to David Bendeth, who produced Paramore's "Riot", the band was invited to record in his studio the next day.
Punkbands.com sat down with lead singer Tyler Gurwicz and got his take on the band's upcoming mini-tour with 311 and its self-titled debut that comes out on April 21.
Can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Tyler Gurwicz: I'm Tyler and I'm the singer for The Urgency.
Can you take us through the formation and the early days of The Urgency?
TG: Alright, well Ian and Kevin, our main guitarist and bass player, grew up in Vermont playing music together. When they went to college they met Guerin our drummer. They've been playing in and out of school for a whole lot of years now. They were actually looking for a singer around the end of 2005 to start a new project and they heard about my old high school band because I'm actually from Vermont as well. We just started jamming out. I was going to school in New York and they were living in Brooklyn and we just started playing music together. As it got more serious I deferred from school and I moved into this really crappy one-room studio apartment. We all had these bunks that we built with shotty boxes and played music all day every day, worked on the side, and as things got more and more serious, we just kind of took every opportunity we could.
What were you studying in college before you made the move to music full-time?
TG: I went to Wagner on Staten Island for theater, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to end up doing. As I started doing a lot more theater classes I realized I wanted to focus on original music rather than just performing other people's work. I was actually only there for one semester and that's when I joined The Urgency.
What bands were you performing in before The Urgency?
TG: Just some local Vermont bands. When I was 15 I was in a band called The Graves (http://www.myspace.com/thegraves), and later on a band called Virga.
When did you personally get started playing music?
TG: I've always been interested in playing music. It was the beginning of high school that I came into my own and began performing with friends at little coffee houses and stuff with school and later on I did some shows in school and started playing music.
Was there a single moment that made it clear to you that you were meant for music?
TG: I kind of always knew that I wanted to pursue music. It was around the time of high school graduation that I really knew that I couldn't go to school and not pursue music, but I decided to give it the old "college try" and after the semester I realized it wasn't for me.
What other bands did you grow up listening to or that you look up to?
TG: Oh wow, so many. Two big influences are Glassjaw and At The Drive In. I grew up listening to a lot of local punk and hardcore bands. I was really influenced by a whole lot of different artists from Radiohead to Bjork to Converge to the Blood Brothers; really anything I could get my hands on.
Was there any single band that really did it for you when you were younger?
TG: I went through a lot of different phases, and there are so many different artists that I look up to. I think At The Drive In was the huge influence. As soon as The Mars Volta formed that really changed my perception of what was possible and part of the reason why I didn't pursue music like my former bands Graves or Virga after and went more experimental with The Urgency.
You have a short tour with 311 coming up. Are you excited or nervous to tour with a band of such caliber?
TG: They were kind of a little before my time growing up. The rest of the guys were really into them. I didn't get into them too much until I met them. Ryan, one of our guitarists, has known them for years now. He's worked on projects with Chad Sexton the drummer who actually mixed one of our early EPs with Mike Cosgrove of Alien Ant Farm. We played a couple shows with 311, they're really nice guys and we're looking forward to playing with them again.
If you could create your own dream tour with The Urgency and 3 other bands or artists, current or past, who would they be?
TG: Oh wow. There's a couple of New England bands that I'm really into at the moment. My friend's band Romans (http://www.myspace.com/romansnoise): this really crazy experimental hardcore band. They're really awesome. Another band is Kidnap Kid:Nap:Kin (http://www.myspace.com/kidnapkin) out of Boston: really beautiful voice and crazy guitar work. It's like Jeff Buckley meets the Fall of Troy. Another band that's really inspirational is Circa Survive. We had the chance to play with them at the end of last year and they're really amazing musicians and really positive people. It would be really cool to tour with them.
What do you want your fans to get out of your self-titled debut that releases on April 21?
TG: This is our first full length and the music has always been about finding a place to get our own emotions out and be a form of catharsis I guess. I hope the people get a sense of excitement from listening to it and being inspired to create their own music. That's what I look for in music.
You have a tour to the UK coming up. Have you ever been to the UK?
TG: Yeah, we were there back in January for about a month with a band called We Are The Ocean.
What are you looking to get out of this overseas trip coming up?
TG: Being able to play for people that otherwise wouldn't have heard of us. The UK was amazing the last time we went, it really exceeded any of our expectations. We're looking forward to playing for more kids that are excited to hear music.
Is there still a plan for your hometown CD release in Burlington, VT?
TG: Yeah. A lot of things are really booked up, but we're setting up a show for June. We're coming back to Higher Ground.
Do you have any plans for Warped Tour this summer?
TG: I wish. That tour is becoming increasingly harder and harder to get on to. But I'll probably check it out at least if we're not playing dates.
What are your plans for the summer as of now and beyond?
TG: We've been submitted for a lot of tours, but in the meantime we're just reaching out to bands that inspire us and trying to get more shows.
Can you describe your songwriting process?
TG: Usually it starts out with Ian or Ryan coming up with guitar parts, like a little loop, then Ian and I writing lyrics and melodies to that, expanding upon that and sharing it with the rest of the band. Everybody is responsible for their own part. We each try and come together and jam it out until we're really excited to record it.
If an up and coming band looked to you for advice, what would you tell them?
TG: I would tell them to keep at it and play for anyone who will listen. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Just play music.
Thanks so much for your time, Tyler.
TG: Thanks Mike and PunkBands.com.
