During a time where the music scene in New Jersey was ever changing, City of Tyrants set out with one core goal in mind and that was to create music that they liked and could be proud of.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band. 

Charles Horning-vocals

Ed Tyler-guitar

Josh Palmer-bass

Chingkhei Akoijam-guitar

Kevin Michael-drums/vocals

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

City Of Tyrants has been our name since we formed in 2015. It actually came from the lyrics to an older demo song that we released a while back. I believe the lyrics were referring to Salem, MA as a “city of tyrants" during the witch trials.

Who writes your songs?

What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time? 

Everything is a group effort so we try to write together as much as possible. Most of the time it starts with a guitar riff. Ed or Ching will come up with a melody or progression that usually lays the groundwork for the song. Sometimes I (Kevin) mess around on piano and come up with ideas. Once that’s complete, we each add our own input.  We like to write things that we find catchy and go with it. Lyrically though, Revelations is a concept album and each song ties into the next. So, we definitely stuck to very particular themes while writing which is tough!

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making? 

It's so hard to pinpoint our influences!  We worked with Lukas Magyar who sings for Veil Of Maya and he was a huge inspiration. Our guitarists are huge fans of guys like John Petrucci, Frederik Thordendal, Misha Mansoor etc. Some of us listen to hip hop, jazz, fusion. We have a lot of different influences which helps to keep things interesting.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?  

All of us had that childhood moment where we heard a band, said “this is it!!!” and forced our parents to buy us an instrument. For me, it was Metallica's Master Of Puppets.

What do you do to prepare for a show?

Any flexing, exercises, etc … Our vocalist Charlie loves to make weird faces/noises to prepare his vocal chords for destruction. The guys usually run through a scale or two but for the most part, we practice pretty heavily before a show. By the time we get to the venue, I like to do a few stretches and warm up on a practice pad.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why? 

Meshuggah is always our first answer here haha! We would just love to get in the minds of those guys. Not to mention their live show is spectacular!

Is there anything else you would like to add?  

We hope everyone who supports us enjoys our new album and we can't wait to see what the future has in store for us! ‘Revelations’ will be available everywhere on 11/16/18.