TANTRIC FUELED BY RETOOLED LINEUP

Tantric is returning with a new album, The End Begins, and it features only one original member and the former drummer for Fuel.

Tantric is back with a new album The End Begins, April 22, and it features the song “Down And Out,” which is currently climbing the rock and active rock charts. The band originally started by the backing band of Days Of The New, who parted ways with singer Travis Meeks. They then chose vocalist Hugo to front their new band they called Tantric. Now Hugo is the only original member left of that band.

He talks about the decision to keep the name alive with a totally rebuilt band.

“I think for me, considering I was the only original member, my mindset was like a do or die type of thing. I was like, ‘I know I have to do this. I don’t exactly know how, but I kind of had an idea.’ Marcus [Ratzenboeck] and I had been jamming together for a minute, and shortly after that Joe [Pessia] was introduced to us, and he became a part of it. And Kevin, who is our drummer, he’s an old friend of mine. We used to throw down together when he was the drummer for Fuel, and he happened to know a bass player, so it all came together pretty well.”

As for the original members thoughts on him carrying the name forward?

“I haven’t been in touch with them because the last conversation that I had with Todd [Whitener] was when he said he didn’t want to do it anymore and he’s just done with the thing. I think that he’s possibly doing some other thing, and he was getting married and he was getting ready for a new chapter in his life. To me, I love those guys. I think it was an awesome time that I had with them. I definitely respect everything we did together, loved everything we did together. It was good times, but some people decide to exit early and I decided to stay on the highway and see where this takes me. I’m just definitely not one of those people who’s going to give up on something I’ve worked on my whole life. I think everybody on this project feels the same way, you know?”

The band features former Fuel drummer Kevin Miller, and he talked about how he and Hugo hooked up.

[Kevin] “Hugo and I met many, many, many moons ago when I was with Fuel, and he had the original Tantric line-up, and we were supporting Kid Rock. So we hung out. And I got a call one day and they were like, ‘We’re on the way to Connecticut do do this gig for [the side project] State Of The Art,’ I’m like, ‘Oh that’s cool, man. That’s a little far away, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.’ They were like, ‘No, no, no, we were wondering whether you could play with us because our drummer had a meltdown.'” [Hugo] “I was like, ‘Guess what? State Of The Art isn’t here anymore…wanna play in Tantric?'” [Kevin] “Obviously I had another band that I was with and I suggested bringing the bass player from Foster Child along, and that was it. We just kind of jumped in the studio, did some pre production and made a great record.”

Tantric’s self-titled debut was certified platinum, and it featured the Number One song “Breakdown.”