Interview with The Urgency

band: The Urgency :: interviewer: Brian Robillard

Punk76: May you please introduce yourself and your function in the band, please
Tyler: My name is Tyler Gurwicz, and I sing for The Urgency.

Punk76: The Urgency is a band, that I have never heard of, although I am really deep into the scene. May you please explain how THE URGENCY became a band and where did you released your very first material before you got signed to Mercury/DefJam/Island?
Tyler: The Urgency formed in Brooklyn, New York in the Fall of 2005. Ian, Kevin and Guerin had just graduated College, and were looking for a lead singer to front a new project they were trying to put together. The guys had heard my old high school bands (The Graves and Virga), found out I was going to college in the city, and came to a show. We started playing music and the rest is history. In the three years before we got signed we self-released a few different EPs, which we sold at shows, leaked on the internet and gave away on the street.

Punk76: I checked out your songs on Myspace. These tracks – especially the singers voice - reminds me a lot to these two bands: Fair To Midland and Moments In Grace. So may you please tell me, what your influences are?
Tyler: Our influences are too eclectic and numerous to name...When we first started playing together we found a shared love of bands like At the Drive-In and Glassjaw. But really we listen to everything from Converge to Lil Wayne. From Daughters to The Police. From Fugazi and Sunny Day Real Estate to Immortal Technique. As a singer I've always looked up to artists like Bjork, and Cedric Bixler Zavala of The Mars Volta/ATDI. Lately I've been really inspired by bands like Circa Survive, The Cambiata, Kid:Nap:Kin and Romans. Definitely check all those artists out.

Punk76: The Urgency is a nice band name but to me it sounds like a name for a Street-Punk band. Why did you choosed this name and what shall it express to us?
Tyler: The Urgency is about overcoming all odds; it's the frantic, violent, beautiful need to survive in a world that no one understands. It's the pleasure of realizing all your desires and the pain of knowing all that you're not. Each song is a pattern of sound woven by the chaos of modern life.

Punk76: The songs that I heard on Myspace are full of energy and the recording qualtity is just awesome. Which song do you like best and why?
Tyler: Thanks! My favorite song on our Myspace would have to be "Fingertips" on the surface it's this risque, sexy song, and yet for a single it has a lot of darkness and depth. Lyrically it's about realizing that you can't truly put your faith in any one person until you truly have faith in your self.

Punk76: What are your lyrics about in general?
Tyler: Each song is very different, but the album as a whole is about growing up, and dealing with the consequences. I was 17 when I joined The Urgency, and all the songs on the album were written between then and when I recorded the album at 20. The lyrics are very reflective of what I was going through then.

Punk76: You recorded with David Bendeth. May you describe why you choosed him out and may you please tell us something about the recording process and about the songs in general. Why did you choosed exactly these songs to be on your record?
Tyler: He chose us! Our guitarist Ian wrote David through myspace complimenting his production on Paramore's Riot! album. He actually wrote from his personal myspace and didn't even mention our band, so it was quite the surprise when the next day we got a message in the band account from David telling us to contact him "immediately." After visiting him in the studio he decided to take us in, where we wrote and recorded at the House of Loud in New Jersey for the next 6 months. during our time there we must have demoed 50 songs or so, and from there we went through them all with Dave and chose the best ones.

Punk76: On your official Island Records profile I found the fallowing quote: "At first, the music world had other plans. Having moved to Brooklyn, the group noticed few similarities between themselves and their neighboring indie/noise peers. "We did well when we toured, but there was no real 'scene' for us," admits Coffrin." Please tell us, what you mean exactly with that interesting quote.
Tyler: To be honest there isn't any real scene for us anywhere yet. People find it hard to categorize what we do, and they may not get it. We're slowly building our own scene though, day by day, show by show, and we've found those who get it, really get it.

Punk76: A question for Tyler Gurwicz : In the beginning you was ignoring the bands invitation to join the band. Why?
Tyler: I was going to college after doing the whole band thing for a couple years and needed a break. I heard the band's previous work and wasn't really in to it. After playing together a few times however I realized just how knowledgeable and versatile they really were. They weren't only really talented, they were open-minded, which is really important, and so I decided to join.

Punk76: How did Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken (SRP management, who discovered Rihanna) found out about you and why did they decided to help out your band?
Tyler: SRP was interested in taking on a rock project, and after getting a hold of our early demos decided to sign us to their production company.

Punk76: Ryan Siegel, frontman/guitarist for a Long Island band, The Rivalry, joined the band to add some additional guitar heft. How did that devolope came? Is he a full-time-member now?
Tyler: Ryan has been a long-time friend of the band and really instrumental to our success even before joining. We all met through playing shows in the city, and became good friends with The Rivalry. In that time he hooked us up with Mike Cosgrove of Alien Ant Farm and Chad Sexton of 311 who produced and mixed our last EP, "The Hive Sessions" those tracks are what got the attention of David Bendeth which is what eventually led to our signing with Mercury/Island/Def Jam. So really Ryan has been a huge supporter of the band for a while. As we finished the record The Rivalry dissolved and it became apparent we would need a second guitarist live to do our new sound justice. Ryan was the perfect choice. He's a seasoned guitarist and singer, with a lot of touring experience, having not only played with The Rivalry but also Tripside, Red Skeleton, Alien Ant Farm as well as members of 311. You better believe we made him a full-time member.

Punk76: Who influenced you to become a professional musician? Tyler: There was never really any one person who influenced me to become a professional singer...I just knew that it was what made me happiest, and I could never imagine doing anything else. Definitely every artist out there doing what they love and staying true to their art is what keeps me inspired.

Punk76: I would like to leave the band stuff questions behind now. Can you tell us something about the private-persons in the band?
Tyler: It wouldn't be very private if I told you!

Punk76: Can you stand it always to give interviews and to play shows and to meet fans allover the country? Is it exhausting or the biggest fun? Tyler: There's nothing better than playing shows and meeting new fans. There's something euphoric about performing to a live audience and to be able to share that euphoria with people is incredible. Our music is very physically demanding however, and it's very important to keep healthy.

Punk76: The Urgency is consisting of five stylish boys. I wonder if you are also political persons. Do you care for the new president votings?
Tyler: That's a tough question because of course we care about the future of our nation and the world, but I wouldn't consider myself a political person. I can't speak for the band, but personally I feel that as long as there is a bipartisan system politics will never truly be honest. It's a numbers game fueled by money and manipulating a population that remains largely uninformed.

Punk76: What´s on your iPod right now? And what is your all time favourite band? Tyler: Right now I'm listening to United Nations. shit is brutal. Favorite all time band??? hmmm....I don't think I have one all time favorite band, but if there's one band who's discography I've followed completely it'd have to be Thursday. I'm into any type of music that pushes the limits, musically as well as physically.

Punk76: What do you think about the fact, that a Punkrock Magazine from Germany is doing an interview with you?
Tyler: I think that's pretty punk rock. and German.

Punk76: Last words to European fans?
Tyler: Those of you out there who are following us, we admire you. You're the real music lovers who go out of your way to explore and find new, unheard artists. We don't see enough of that in the states. Sometimes it feels like most Americans wait for corporate america to forcefeed them the new trend, so the fact that people in Germany are taking the time to get to know us when we haven't even been there is amazing and deeply encouraging. Thank you. We cannot wait to tour Europe and share such a huge part of our lives with you.

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