Kevin Tihista is a singer-songwriter and musician. He is a former bassist for the Chicago group

Triple Fast Action Triple Fast Action (sometimes stylized as tripl3fastaction) was an indie rock/alternative rock band started by Wes Kidd and Brian St. Clair, both previous members of Chicago band Rights of the Accused, in 1995. Kidd went on to manage such bands a ...

and contributed songs to the

Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...

album Resolver. Tihista's solo music is a mixture of pop and rock combining

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

vamping ''Vamping'' is a 1984 American drama film about a down-on-his-luck saxophonist who agrees to help rob the home of a rich widow, then unexpectedly falls for the woman. Shots of the movie were filmed in Buffalo, New York, including inside the old ...

, and multi-tracking. Much of his solo work has been released under the eponym, "Kevin Tihista's Red Terror," a musical collaboration between Tihista and brothers Tom and Ellis Clark of the band "Epicycle."

Early life

Kevin Tihista was born in Walnut Creek, CA in the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. He began playing guitar in the seventh grade. As a teenager in the 80's, Tihista was a self-described loner and fan of heavy metal bands like

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

until his junior year in high school when his brother gave him a tape of

Meat Is murder ''Meat Is Murder'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Smiths, released on 11 February 1985 by Rough Trade Records. It became the band's only studio album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for ...

the Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

. Tihista promptly tore down the heavy metal posters adorning his room and began listening to similar

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

bands like

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

. His parents’ divorce and frequent moves during his high school years led an increasingly alienated Tihista to drop out of high school.

Career

Tihista worked a series of odd jobs until, at 21, he moved to Chicago and eventually joined

Wes Kidd Wes Kidd was a founding member of Rights of the Accused and Triple Fast Action, the latter signing to Capitol Records and Deep Elm Records. He grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and attended Glenbard West High School Glenbard West High School ...

as bassist for the band

. According to Kidd, Tihista came up with the name "Triple Fast Action," inspired by a Gold Bond medicated powder commercial. Triple Fast Action enjoyed moderate success during the mid-1990s releasing two albums: Broadcaster (1996) and Cattleman Don't (1997). After Triple Fast Action disbanded in 1998, Tihista was recruited by

’s

Louise Post Louise Lightner Post (born December 7, 1966) is an American musician. She is best known for being a vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Veruca Salt, which she co-founded with Nina Gordon in 1993. Early life Post was born in St ...

in the wake of

Nina Gordon Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, ''American Thighs'' ( ...

’s departure from the group. Veruca Salt's fifth album, Resolver, was released in 2000. Tihista wrote or co-wrote three songs for the album with Post including "Imperfectly," "Officially Dead," and "Hellraiser" but was reportedly unhappy with the results and left the band before the album's release. His experience with Veruca Salt was, however, a catalyst for Tihista's theretofore untapped songwriting talent. Collaborations with Tom and Ellis Clark of the band

Epicycle In the Hipparchian, Ptolemaic, and Copernican systems of astronomy, the epicycle (, meaning "circle moving on another circle") was a geometric model used to explain the variations in speed and direction of the apparent motion of the Moon, Sun ...

followed in the form of a new band, "Kevin Tihista's Red Terror," with Ellis Clark producing. The group's name, "

Red Terror The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...

," was apparently inspired by a famous racing horse of the same name, an allusion underscored by the album art of the group's 2001 EP and first full-length release, "Don't Breathe A Word," in 2001. Despite its untimely release by "Division One," an imprint of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, only a week after the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, the album was hailed by

UNCUT Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

magazine as one of the top 20 albums of 2001. After Division One folded in October 2001, Tihista signed with

Parasol Records Parasol Records is an American independent record label based in Urbana, Illinois. The label was founded by Geoff Merritt as an outgrowth of the catalog Parasol Mail Order (which was started in 1991). The Parasol Records banner also includes the ...

and the group's second album, "Judo," was released in 2002. Parasol released the group's third album, "Wake Up Captain," in 2004. Tihista also recorded with Epicycle during this period performing harmony vocals on the songs "Crash" and "Big Day" for Epicycle's 2002 album, "Swirl.” In 2005, Tihista released a collection of

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

and studio tracks without the "Red Terror" appellation entitled "Home Demons" with the UK label, Broken Horse. The Broken Horse issue contained 20 tracks (or 21 including the hidden acoustic version of "Can I Count On You?"). The U.S. version on Parasol contained just 14 tracks (including the exclusive "Do You Know What We Should Do Now?"). Tihista's work with Tom and Ellis Clark has primarily been in the studio arranging and producing his songs: the three rarely perform live as a band. Instead, on occasion, Tihista has engaged other musicians to perform on the road with him including Randy Diderrich of "Sunday Runners" and brothers Steve and Gary Vermilion of "Pheasant." This incarnation of the band can be heard in one of its rare studio appearances on the song "Jim Henson's Blues/You're Not Bad" from the album "Home Demons." Tihista's solo success has been undercut by harrowing bouts of

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

. Although he often performed live in front of audiences as the bassist for Triple Fast Action, Tihista appears uncomfortable performing the role of a "

front man The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

" and, consequently, his stage fright has sometimes limited his ability to tour in support of his albums. In many music reviews Tihista's music is frequently compared to the work of singer-songwriter

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

. When interviewed, however, Tihista often seems to resist the comparison and claims he is largely unfamiliar with Smith's work.Fufkin, David: "A Few Questions for Kevin Tihista."
"Fufkin.com," June 2005. Influences Tihista has acknowledged in interviews include

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, among others. He has consistently named Tears for Fears' "

The Hurting ''The Hurting'' is the debut studio album by British new wave band Tears for Fears, released on 7 March 1983. The album peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in its second week of release, and was certified Gold by the BPI within three weeks o ...

" as his favorite album. On May 26, 2007, Tihista's MySpace blog announced that he was finishing work on his forthcoming album, "Modern Standard" with long-time collaborators Tom and Ellis Clark. On July 29, 2009, a message from Kevin Tihista through his UK label Broken Horse appeared on the Drowned in Sound message boards. Kevin reported that he hasn't released anything in a while due to a lack of an American record label, however Broken Horse recently purchased him home recording gear. He has over 100 new songs plus hundreds of stock piled songs with the plan to preview some on YouTube soon. He plans to release a lot of material in 2010. On August 24, 2009, Tihista's MySpace blog announced that he was finishing work on a new album with the running title, "On This Dark Street." The recording is apparently the fulfillment of the song collection previously intended for release as "Modern Standard," an album title which Tihista now refers to as "cursed." Tihista describes the new album as home recorded and stripped down in comparison with his previous releases. The new recording, it appears, will be released on Broken Horse. On December 3, 2009, Broken Horse listed on its blog the titles of over 30 new Kevin Tihista songs that had been recorded. In 2012, Tihista released an album "On This Dark Street", produced with Ellis Clark. In 2013, Tihista released "Modern Standard", again produced with Ellis Clark. "Modern Standard" was released on July 29, 2013, by Broken Horse records and is also available with a limited edition 4 track EP on a CD-R with hand-stamped artwork.

References

Discography

Kevin Tihista's Red Terror – Kevin Tihista's Red Terror (EP) (August 2001) ''Rough Trade Records''
Don't Breathe A Word – Kevin Tihista's Red Terror (September 2001) ''Division One/Parasol''
Judo – Kevin Tihista's Red Terror (2002) ''Parasol''
Wake Up Captain – Kevin Tihista's Red Terror (2004) ''Parasol''
Home Demons, Vol. 1 – Kevin Tihista (2005) ''Parasol/Broken Horse''
On This Dark Street – Kevin Tihista (2012) ''Broken Horse''
Modern Standard – Kevin Tihista (2013) ''Broken Horse''

External links

Broken Horse Records

Parasol Records

MySpace Page

Kevin Tihista Interview ''(2002)''

Ellis Clark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tihista, Kevin Living people 1968 births American singer-songwriters