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Interview with Black Tide bassist Zachary “Zakk” Sandler

To say that success has come quickly for the band Black Tide would be an understatement.

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To say that success has come quickly for the band Black Tide would be an understatement. Formed in 2004 in Miami, Florida, the four members of the group are all twenty years old or younger and already the band has landed a major label record deal and a spot on Ozzfest. Black Tide just released their debut LP titled Lights From Above in March, 2008 and so far the record has sold very well and garnered significant interest in the band. Starting at the beginning of June, the group will embark on a month long tour of Western Europe before joining up as part of the Mayhem Tour that will crisscross its way across North America throughout the summer. Recently we were fortunate enough to catch up with Black Tide bassist Zachary “Zakk” Sandler and find out a little more about the band and what they’re all about.

At this point, everyone knows “Shockwave” so do you find it to gets the biggest response when you play it on tour? How did you come to the decision of picking that as your first single?
Zakk: I don’t know if it gets the biggest response when we play, but people are singing along to it now and that’s what really matters. We decided to pick it as our first single because we had already been using it as a promotional track and people were really digging it.

Your publicist was telling me that you guys are down with the Metal Mulisha guys and they were in your video and I know you skate from your video. Are you guys planning on doing the Warped Tour or something along those lines and exposing those crowds to your music?
Zakk: We are actually playing on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour all summer, and the Metal Mulisha guys are gonna be on the tour doing there tricks and shenanigans.

Johnny K. took care of the production on the album. He’s worked on some huge albums. Did he become like a 5th member of the band?
Zakk: He didn’t become a 5th member of the band at all, he was more like a teacher that busted our asses for 6 months straight.

I know Gabriel’s brother used to be in the band and he co-wrote some of the material on the album. What were the circumstances around his departure of the band?
Zakk: He just didn’t want to be a drummer in a metal band, it wasn’t what he loved and we didn’t expect him to be unhappy for our sake.

Your live set was quite impressive! Do you guys tend to practice a lot while you’re on tour with warm-ups, scales etc?
Zakk: Just a little vocal warm up and maybe some push ups to get the blood flowing, but we really don’t have any routine at this time. I’m sure as we continue touring and learning things we will all develop our own thing.

You can definitely hear some classic thrash influence in the guitar leads. Can you talk about some of those older influences?
Zakk: We’ve always loved Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, and just about anybody who was great. There isn’t really much that I can say abut them that hasn’t been said already.

What is the best and worst part of being out touring for months at a time?
Zakk: The best part about touring, for me, is all the people you meet and never getting bored is pretty awesome. The worst part about touring is probably the bad sleeping habits you fall into and I start to miss my toilet.

What do you think the biggest misconception people, or even, the press has about Black Tide?
Zakk: I’m not really sure, I haven’t heard anything yet that sounds bad, so I guess that’s a good thing for now.

Light from Above is a fantastic album! We wish you luck and if you have anything you would like to say to your fans in Canada , here’s your chance.
Zakk: We can’t wait to come over and party with ya’ll!

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