It’s been a busy few years for rock band ROYAL TUSK. Since the release of their second full length album TUSK II back in 2018, the quartet from Edmonton, Canada have been on two tours throughout North America opening for POP Evil, released four videos from TUSK II and are now preparing to headline a Canadian tour this winter with BRKN LOVE. With all that is going on, ROYAL TUSK lead singer Daniel Carriere (D.C.) was kind enough to talk to neo-examiner.com about himself, life on the road and provide a personal insight into life in ROYAL TUSK.
NEO-EXAMINER: You are a former Juno nominee now touring in the United States. Does anyone in America know what a Juno is?
D.C.: (laughs) You know, I don’t ever mention it. I’m not into accolades so I’m not really into that sort of stuff. Music isn’t a race, it’s subjective. In axis, it’s impossible to gauge subjectivity. One person might decide what’s best while others might have a different perspective. I believe that to each their own, music is a non-competitive arena.
NEO-EXAMINER: You have a tattoo of a tiger on you arm, tell us the story about that?
D.C.: I dunno, I just felt like I wanted some power in my life. A tiger felt right to me. It’s a powerful yet calm animal. When you see something everyday, it influences you. In physics, opposite attracts negative but in this instance positive draws positive – it’s part of our mental world. So when you see something powerful everyday, you feel powerful. That’s why I chose a tiger.
NEO-EXAMINER: You have been on the road in the states for many months. Do you miss local Edmonton beer and what do you drink when you are on the road?
D.C.: Basically, we have two beers: Dad and Mom beer, in other words Bud and Bud Light. In our riders, we usually ask for two-four (case of beer) and a two-six (24 oz btl) of alcohol, promoter’s choice. We always have leftovers so we also have a mini bar with tequila and stuff but to be honest, we don’t party as much as before. Really, alcohol affects your performance and I don’t want to embarrass myself. You want to perform at your best.
NEO-EXAMINER: If you had to become a video game character instead of an international Rockstar, who would you be?
D.C.: It’s funny, but I’m not really into video games. When I was a kid, RYU from Street Fighter was the best. I didn’t have a Nintendo or anything but when I was in the arcade, I always played RYU. He wasn’t the best compared to others but he was always the most badass.
NEO-EXAMINER: What’s the best prank you pulled on one of your bandmates?
D.C.: There are so many. Once, I took Quinn’s (guitarist) guitars out of the cases and threw the cases off a loading dock. He freaked, but the cases were empty. But Sandy (bassist), he has a running gag with Chris (the sound guy). Originally, Chris took a press photo of us and changed Sandy’s Oakland Raiders shirt to the Patriots on the press photo using Photoshop. That pissed off Sandy because he really takes the NFL seriously, so what Sandy did was took a picture of Chris, and made him into a vampire and astronaut and stuff. Sandy plans to take all these photos and sell them as a calendar on the road. But mostly, we just really talk a lot of shit to one other.
NEO-EXAMINER: A good part of being on the road all the time is stopping at buffets to eat and grabbing enough food for days. Where was your biggest haul?
D.C.: We don’t steal from buffets; we are too honest. We’re doing well now; we eat at restaurants and sleep at hotels. Before, we used to share plates and get in trouble for that but we don’t really steal food. Early on, what we used to do was go to the 7-11 and make tomato soup with ketchup, water, creamers, salt and pepper. You can really make a good tomato soup for free with that recipe.
NEO-EXAMINER: Last but not least, when can we expect new Royal Tusk material?
D.C.: We are going on tour now and the U.S. in the summer, we have some demos and are going to try to get something out in the fall.
