Tigercub On New Album, 10th Anniversary Of Their Debut, And Looking Forward

---

---

Ahead of the release of their new album ‘Nets To Catch The Wind,’ out on 10th April, we chat to Brighton trio Tigercub

Tigercub, Brighton’s premier band when it comes to a howling blend of colossal rock music, hit with the force of a ten tonne truck. The trio, comprising of guitarist/vocalist Jamie Hall, drummer James Allix and bassist Jimi Wheelwright, have been charting a path across multiple releases, pushing their own stamp of authority on a combination of alternative rock, post-grunge, punk to glowing praise.

We caught the trio before the release of their new album ‘Nets to Catch the Wind’, a seismic project that sees them take the next step forward in a journey that has been propelling forwards since 2016’s debut ‘Abstract Figures in The Dark’.

---

It’s now pushing 10 years since you burst onto the scene with your debut album ‘Abstract Figures In The Dark’, do you look back on anything particular that you have achieved in this time period?

That’s right, this year is the 10th anniversary of our debut. Our upcoming show at KOKO really is a manifestation for us. We’ve always talked about doing it and now, thanks to the lore of our albums and the cult following we’ve built, we’re able to step into that size room and hopefully beyond.

Throughout the creation of the album, you seem to have been assisted by a star-studded list of names including producer Tom Dalgety and especially the guiding force of Stone Gossard. I’m curious how you got in touch? And what did you learn from working alongside them?

It’s all quite organic. In 2013 we put out our first single and Matt Bigland from Dinosaur Pile-Up heard it, liked it and asked us to support his band on tour. On that tour we were playing a tune called ‘Blue Blood‘ which Matt liked and he offered to co-produce that song as a single with Tom Dalgety. Through Tom we’ve met so many people and it all just grew from that. Stone heard our music almost randomly and got in touch. It’s all quite wild.

I think ultimately working with insanely talented people just raises your game and you end up rising to the standards of the people around you.

---

---

You’ve toured with groups such as Royal Blood, Chevelle, Highly Suspect, Porno For Pyros, Badflower, Clutch, and EyeHateGod – do you feel a sense of camaraderie between your group and these bands?

Yeah I’m still really close with Mike and Ben. Highly Suspect are our bros, as are Badflower. Sam’s wife from Chevelle sent me some baby gifts, as did Alex and Symma from Badflower. It’s so cute.

I mean with everyone there’s a sense that people are trying to elevate each other and everyone wants the best for each other. It’s really nice. Same goes for crew members.

I’m always interested in asking groups what sort of albums they were listening to while the album was taking shape. Has anything in particular shaped the final sound of the upcoming project?

I really rediscovered rock bands of the late 90s and early 00s. A bit scattered but I was revisiting Ash, Muse, Audioslave, ‘The Bends‘ era Radiohead. When I listened closely, I noticed the arrangements were really bare bones, band in a room approach, but recorded in a fucking amazing studio by amazing engineers.

Make something honest and revealing and raw, but record it supremely well so it’s undeniable.

---

---

There’s been 10 years between your debut album and ‘Nets To Catch The Wind’. How has the band developed in your eyes?

I imagine we’re very different people to who we were when we first started Tigercub. We’ve had new experiences as a band, toured America a lot and seen rock music played on an enormous scale. I think our ambition has gotten wider and we’re shaking off the shackles of our influences and distilling our sound into something that is unmistakably us.

You are the first band I’ve heard about whose fans are so enthusiastic they hacked into the servers and kicked off early vinyl orders. What was your first reaction to this news?

Elation and excitement, followed by fear, because we thought we might have a few days’ buffer to tie up the loose ends. But fans were so keen they ended up getting in before we’d had a chance to properly sort everything out.

---

---

One of my highlights from the whole listening experience was ‘Cut The Eyes Out Of The Photographs’. I really love that left-field vocal interlude – how did this track take form, and who is behind the vocals?

The man behind the vocal is Nick Fallon from Clutch, who kindly agreed to cut that spoken word part for us. He fucking nailed it.

The album’s more gentle moment is the instrumental track ‘Golden Sands’. Did you feel like such a thunderous-sounding album needed a small moment of respite?

That was originally the intro to ‘Magic Sleep‘ but it got refined and cut out of the song. We used the same piano that Oasis tracked ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger‘ on and I think we just wanted an excuse to have that on the record.

I think it ended up working nicely though because the album is fucking relentless.

With the album release set for 10th April, what are Tigercub most looking forward to in 2026?

We’re taking steps into a larger world as a band. Rather than doing a 14-date UK tour we might do five shows in much larger venues.

There are also many things yet unannounced that I can’t wait to share with our fans.

---

New album ‘Nets to Catch the Wind’ is out on 10th April via Loosegroove Records.

Listen to the singles here:

---