Monday, February 24, 2014 7:34am ET by  
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Issues' Tyler Carter talks to Pressparty about music, fame and sexuality

US metalcore act Issues have just released their self-titled debut record and their mix of rock and melody has impressed fans across the globe. Pressparty caught up with singer Tyler Carter - who has achieved YouTube success in his own right through mainstream covers - to find out more about the band's music, sexuality and the limitations of fame.

'Issues' seems like a pretty interesting album, with a lot of genres and styles. Was that something you consciously tried to do?

Yeah, we wanted to integrate different types of music and styles and see where we could take the record. There's a lot of cookie-cutter bands in the industry, so we wanted to make different styles of music and not be married to one specific genre. We really wanted to integrate everything we love and listen to. I think we did a pretty good job.

What influences have you brought to the table yourself?

Me and Scout personally have brought jazz fusion, hip-hop and R&B to the table. We write pop songs, but incorporate a little bit of nu-metal, hip-hop, fusion in everything. I'd like to think I'd bring a little bit of flair to the top, and Scout would throw some glitter on it with his production. 

Is it fair to say that you're bringing metal to the mainstream with this album?

If we're bringing metal to the mainstream, then that's something to be proud of. I don't want to say that we're trying to go mainstream or anything, because that's a kind of a sell-out statement. But it's a cool accomplishment.

Was the album's closing track 'Disappear [Remember When]' (written by Carter about his friend and music partner Rachel Reece, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2008) hard to record?

A lot of people know the story behind it and they know that when I was in the studio, there were a lot of ups and downs writing that song. I'd be in the booth trying to record it and I would literally just lose my sh*t. And then I would come back the next day and I would listen to what I had done, and I immediately thought that some parts weren't good enough, or the chorus wasn't catchy enough and that I'd have to rewrite it. It'd have to be perfect, because if you're writing a song about somebody who has changed your life or someone that has passed before you, you can't just be mediocre. It has to be 100%. That one was really hard for me.

Do you think Rachel would be proud of your career so far?

I would hope so. I've accomplished more than me and her ever dreamed of. I think she'd be really proud to know that I've gone a step further in her honour and her memory. [Since then] I've actually connected with her family and connected with her parents again. It's been a crazy, emotional couple of months. We haven't spoken in years and my mom helped me find them again and track them down and now they're coming to shows. I feel like I've brought a fire back to their lives.

You've done a few hugely successful YouTube covers of poppier songs. What's the reasoning behind that - are you just tapping into your own influences?

Yeah. I've always been into kids that do YouTube covers and spin-offs and imagination of songs. I've obviously got a Twitter and Facebook fanbase, but something I really wanted to do was have my solo career on YouTube and Soundcloud by doing these little pop songs and YouTube covers and branch my fanbase out into a different scene. There's the cover of Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors', which is one of my favourite songs of the last year...I've always been a fan of Justin, I think he's brilliant. A lot of people liked that.

Are there any other covers in the pipeline?

Not at the moment. There's talk of doing a Linkin Park cover, or maybe a Weekend cover, actually with the whole band to kind of branch my own YouTube career with the band. But we're still trying to figure out if that's something we want to do. It's kind of tricky, because sometimes you get caught up in that world and then people expect you to do cover after cover. And we definitely don't want to be a YouTube cover band.

Have you done much songwriting for other people?

I've written a few songs. When I'm out in LA I usually write. I've pitched a few songs, but I can't really talk about it because they've not fully been placed yet. One song I will tell you about though which I co-wrote is 'Chasing Hearts' on the Breathe Carolina album 'Savages'. It should be coming out soon. I ended up singing on that song. It's probably one of their favourites from what I hear, but it's a different style.

 

 

 

Your audience seems relatively quite young. Do you feel like a role model to them in a way?

If I had to pick one of the hardest things about being industry I'm in, I'd have to say that it's the demographic. The young fans can be a problem sometimes. Sometimes I have to filter things and have to use my discretion because of their age group. Sometimes I feel like if I want to branch out and play club gigs or host DJ sets, then that typically falls around an 18+ or 21+ audience, and I won't be able to promote and draw that much of a crowd. You know, when I started setting up my solo career, I tried to be mature about it because I'm grown up now. I wanted to appeal to an older audience so I have both sides of the spectrum. I don't wanna have to feel like I'm limited or filtered for the rest of my career.

I think I can relate to Justin Bieber in a sense. Other than the fact that everybody in the whole world knows the name Justin Bieber, I feel bad that he's set up for such a young demographic and he's had to filter himself for so long. We all love his new album 'Journals' because it's really mature. Some of his fans have grown up since he's grown up, but at the same time I feel like he's had to filter himself for so much longer and I can relate to that.

Do you think he's gone off the rails a bit then because he's pressured by his fan base?

I feel like he's always been pressured. He's at an age where a normal kid would be in college experimenting with marijuana or drinking and going to clubs and strip clubs and having a good time. That's just what people do. I feel if he was playing rock and roll music, nobody would give a f*ck.

Referring again to your young audience, do you think coming out last year as bisexual not only helped you, but a lot of your fans as well?

I know for a fact that it has helped so many people. I'll be honest, in the last few years, it wasn't like I was ever in the closet or hiding my sexuality - I was just being more private. My life is my life. I don't talk about my relationships on Twitter or post pictures of whoever I'm dating on Instagram - that's not me. I've always wanted to keep my private life separate from my career. Think of it like an actor. I'm playing a different role when I'm acting, but I've got a life when I'm not acting. I'm not saying that my music career is like acting - it's real, everything I write about is real - but I want to keep my personal life separate from bands and all the scrutiny.

I've just never talked about it because it was nobody's business. But I felt like it was a good time. I was really influenced by Macklemore. He had that track 'Same Love', and that song honestly changed my life. When I realised that here's a rapper at the top of the mountain right now - all eyes on Macklemore, he's killing it - and he's got a song about gay rights. I'm thinking, in this day an age, if he can do it - what am I ashamed of? I have nothing to lose. So that's when I came out to my parents, and I thought if my parents accept me and love me and are okay with it, then that's all that really matters. I couldn't care less if a critic doesn't think it's right or a religious group doesn't think it's right, or if my fans don't like me for it. I couldn't give a f*ck about all that because my family matter the most. They accept me.

Are you from a religious background?

I didn't grow up in the church per se, but there was a big period of my life where I was really involved with it. I played music in a youth praise band. There's where I got my start - I played drums for a Christian rock act. Then I eventually started singing for them. I just felt I wanted to impact more fans and grow in my music career, and I thought I had a different plan for myself. Also, people in church didn't really agree with my sexuality or anything like that. I felt like I was better on my own. My faith with God is in a better place now than it was a couple of years ago, but I'm not a religious person and I don't think that it's vital to my life or my career.

The metal scene is often quite macho - what's been the reaction to your sexuality in the scene? Do you think you can become the Macklemore of metal so to speak?

I actually think the scene itself is way more open to different sexualities and different types of people. You just look around and you see there's bands that wear make-up, bands that dress crazy, bands that have transgender people in their act. The scene is full of weirdos and we're all individuals and that's what kind of makes up the cool concoction of rock, pop rock and metal.