TIGERTAILZ BIOGRAPHY 　　 　　Kim Hooker - Lead vocals, guitars 　　Jay Pepper - Guitars 　　Pepsi Tate - Bass 　　Matt Blakout - Drums 　　 　　Bullet For My Valentine, Funeral For A Friend, Goldie Lookin Chain, Lostprophets, People In Planes. What do these five acts have in common? 1) All are currently hot property around the globe. 2) All started out on independent labels. 3) All are WELSH. 　　 　　For the uninitiated, Wales is that little section of land just to the Southwest of England, right above the Bristol Channel. There are several celebrities that call Wales their homeland, among them Griff Rhys Jones, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Shirley Bassey, Spencer Davis, Charlotte Church and the legendary Tom Jones. Oh ... and Tigertailz. 　　Yes, Tigertailz. 　　 　　Tigertailz was formed by guitarist Jay Pepper and bassist Pepsi Tate while still in high school in the mid 80's. Working their way through a number of singers and drummers the band managed to sell out venue after venue and secure a record with the UK's leading independent record label, Music for Nations. While their debut album sold a respectable number of units it was 1990's 'Bezerk' that blew the doors wide open for the glam rockers hitting the UK Top 40 like a bolt of lightning. "When Bezerk exploded it was like a big finger pointed at us from the sky and said "It's your turn," recalls frontman Kim Hooker, "And we made the most of every second from then on." The album was so successful for the band that it garnered them three hit singles (including their as of yet lone Top 40 hit, "Heaven") and their very own "calling card" in the form of a bubblegum, over the top mega anthem by the name of "Love Bomb Baby." A song so ridiculously popular that it was impossible to escape it's seduction. Co-founder Pepsi Tate says "That was like our statement of intent: completely over the top, catchy as hell and with a mega portion of 'Tailz style topping. 100% pure Tigertailz as someone once said". It also brought them two Top 5 home videos in the form of 'Bezerk Live: 1990' and 'Video Frenzy' as well as a slew of MTV and press attention. 　　 　　The next year saw the band sign to Sony Records in Japan where they released 'Banzai', a collection of b-sides and independent singles. Two versions of the album 'Wazbones' followed (released through Mercury Records), as well as a live album, entitled 'You Looking At Me?' which proved to be Tigertailz' final musical output for a while. Jay Pepper - "Being in Tigertailz had sucked every last drop of blood from me, I had given her my all and there was nothing left to give. I had to get away from her for a while to try and rejuvenate myself. That 'while' turned into 　　10+ years but now I feel re-born and am in a far better position to control her than I ever was before and our relationship is much stronger for it. Having said that, being in this band is still totally crazy and recording 'Bezerk 2.0' was like going right back to 1990, nobody had changed a bit - it's just like being in the BANANA SPLITS!" 　　 　　Now, with 2006 upon them the Mad Welshmen have returned with their most powerful output to date. 'Bezerk 2.0' wastes no time in picking up where 'Bezerk' left off. "It's really just a natural progression from the original album, " says Hooker. "It just feels right." Songs such as "Do It Up", "One Beat Of Your Heart" and "Sugar Fever" hit you in the face immediately with their tradition 'Tailz huge choruses and over the top riffing. With "TVOD" Pepper relates, "We called this record 'Bezerk 2.0' because it is a musical continuation of the original album and most of these songs would be at home on that album as well. 'TVOD' is one of those songs, it stays in line with what people expect from us." "Falling Down", new drummer Matt Blakout says "has a bit of a tribalistic feel to it and people have started to latch on to it a bit. This is the kind of thing that we should be doing, very contemporary and a little left of center for this band." With "I Believe" the band has reached what may possibly be their creative pinnacle, "We just took everything we had and threw it in, it's got a bit of a gospel feel to it, which again is a bit different for us." 　　 　　The band now has complete control of their destiny and are at will to do things on their own terms. “We’re just back in this because it’s fun, “says Jay Pepper. “We’re not under a ton of pressure to do silly promotional stunts like being photographed arm wrestling with speed metal bands and going shopping in markets and things like that anymore. It’s simple, really. While it remains fun, we’ll keep doing it. When it stops being fun we’ll stop.”