Herin, Chris (Tiles) (June 2004)

Laying New Tiles With Chris Herin

It had been five years since the release of Presents Of Mind, and I'm sure many folks wondered what had happened to Tiles, this American progressive rock band, who had, by 1999 released three albums: the self-titled debut in 1994, Fencing The Clear in 1997 and the previously mentioned Presents?. Fans can wonder no more. Window Dressing is their latest release, and with the help of InsideOut's Eric Corbin, we had the chance to interview Tiles' guitarist Chris Herin (though due to a mix up with times, Joshua Turner had just come back from a 5 mile run when Chris called).

Joshua Turner: Hey Chris, I thought you were going to call yesterday. That's why I wasn?t around when you called. [I'm breathing heavy at this point as a result of the run]

Chris Herin: Oh!

JT: I think the time got mixed up.

CH: Yeah, my little sheet that I got from Eric said Sunday at noon.

JT: Yeah. That?s okay. I have a little time right now. I actually have a rib-eating contest at 1 here. [Chris laughs] We are an hour behind, so that gives us a little time.

CH: Okay. We can reschedule if that is a problem.

JT: No. That's fine. I have some questions if you would like to get going on them.

CH: Sure.

JT: First of all, I hear you guys have a brand-new album.

CH: Yup!

JT: I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, because it is so new.

CH: Oh no.

JT: How is that release going?

CH: It comes out Tuesday [this would be May 25, 2004]. It has been out for three weeks I think in Europe now. Things seem to be going okay.

JT: What is the album about? What can the fans here expect?

CH: Well I guess it is a little different for us. We really wanted to stretch our abilities and continue to work towards finding a sound of our own. Within that kind of general framework we tried to bring in some new influences. We tried some longer song structures and things like that. I think one of the songs, "Window Dressing" is about 17 minutes. Some of the other songs are close to 10. That really happened as a natural progression from the songwriting, not because we sat down and said well we need longer format songs, but because it is just how the music and the lyrical content was directing us.

JT: Are you on tour now or doing any concerts to support the album?

CH: We've got a show coming up June 17th in Detroit, but as of yet there are no tours planned. We hope to, but I guess it is a little early.

JT: How did the last tour go?

CH: Really the only tour portion of it was the 6 weeks with Dream Theater in Europe. That was definitely a good experience, certainly new to us and a little nerve-wracking early on, because of foreign countries and big audiences with lots of Dream Theater loyalty. It went great. By the end of the tour we had really settled in and started to win a few of the people over.

JT: I'm seeing music festivals are starting to get big in the progressive rock genre. Do you have any plans in doing a music festival? Would you like to?

CH: We would certainly like to play NEARfest [Hint! Hint!]. What's the one in Georgia? ProgPower.

JT: Have you had a chance to attend any of them?

CH: Well I haven't. None of us have. We played ProgDay in 2000. Whatever that one used to be called in Baltimore. It was more of a metal-type event. I don't think it was for us. Here in Detroit we are starting to talk about doing one of our own Motor City prog show, which we've done from time to time. I think that will be a definite for this summer.

JT: Earlier you talked about some of your influences. I have heard in some of the early albums somewhat of a Rush influence. Who do you think of as your influences? What are some of the new influences you have put into this new album?

CH: Certainly Rush is an influence, especially for myself and Pat [DeLeon] the drummer. Like everyone else, we have influences from all over the map. The progressive rock heyday of the seventies with Jethro Tull and Kansas and Genesis, the typical influences. We didn't just pick a few new people to copy or anything. We have always been played a little bit by the Rush copy type of criticism. I think I am kind of responsible 'cause I play the guitar or learned how to play the guitar, learning how to play all the Rush tunes from their early days. It just kind of stuck with me. Anyway, we didn't set out to pick a few new people to throw into the mix. By changing influences, I meant we wanted to approach the songwriting in a little different way to make sure we were getting a connection between the melodies and the music and that the music wasn't just coming along artistically but was kind of in today's marketplace. We thought, you know, we are not going to have [a child is heard in the background] hit singles no matter how good the songs are. It's just impossible. So we said why not just indulge ourselves even more. That's where we branched off and tried to make Window Dressing kind of a concept album from start to finish and also an album you could listen to from start to finish. It's got a lot of peaks and valleys and changes in texture and dynamics.

JT: It appears that you write most of the lyrics and a lot of the music. Can you explain to me how as a band you put the music together and explain the songwriting process?

CH: We had lots and lots of stuff put away for the next CD, because our goal was to finish off everything that wasn't finished. A lot of this came from Jeff [Whittle]'s idea tapes and then just jams with the three of us. I suppose a lot of that ended up just happening because I felt a closer connection with the music I had come up with as far as getting the melody lines to work with the music. Generally I just, even when someone contributes and idea, I tend to take that idea and do with it what I want as far as writing songs. The guys just listen to an old crappy cassette tape with me playing guitar and then actually playing the melody on guitar in a two-track thing. That gives, especially Pat, a chance to work his drums parts, because we didn't have any lyrics. We learn most of the music before writing the lyrics.

JT: You mentioned the next CD. Would you actually have material this early on for another CD? Would you already be thinking of one?

CH: Oh yeah! Window Dressing has technically been done since, I don't know, late January. Although we are busy with all the other stuff that goes with releasing a CD such as promotion. We had a pretty long song that was not used for Window Dressing. We expect to resurrect it. There were definitely nine or ten partially finished songs. Rather than forcing parts into them here and there, I just kind of let this stuff sit until all of a sudden something falls into place. We are hoping it is not another five years before the next CD.

JT: Going a few years back with the album Presents Of Mind , I mean that's a great album. I'm wondering what is the story behind that album? It seems like there is a fluid concept throughout the album. Am I picking up on that correctly? If so, what is the concept behind that?

CH: The whole Presents Of Mind concept, I don't know I sort of lost touch with my explanations from five years ago. It was generally a concept about self-motivation or being able to use your brain actively in life I suppose, which seems like a boring topic. Some of the songs like "Static" or "Safe Procedures" deal with getting trapped in daily routines or ruts and finding it hard to break away. It came together pretty good because we didn't have that concept from the beginning like Window Dressing. I knew exactly what; we had the title Window Dressing from the beginning. Presents Of Mind was more a happy coincidence, that there was this thread running through all the lyrics that we could tie into a title like Presents Of Mind.

JT: How did you meet your band mates?

CH: The band actually started with the original drummer Mark Evans and I in about 1992 and we had played in bands together. Another attempt at another band and we ended up writing songs ourselves. We started recording the first CD, he and I.

JT: I'd be interested in knowing how you came up with the name Tiles?

CH: Again there is no really cool or interesting story. Everybody would sit around or come to the next practice with papers filled with words phrases, things, and that. We had come to the conclusion that we wanted a one-word name for simplicity, not to reference a particular musical style.

JT: How did you learn your instrument?

CH: I started out like everyone else, learning songs off of records. It wasn't until after I dabbled in rock guitar that I went back and started taking some classical guitar lessons. I had first started with trumpet in junior high. I did not play the guitar until I went to visit my cousin one summer. He was playing.

JT: I see on these albums that you are playing both acoustic and electric guitars. Do you have a preference?

CH: No.

JT: Just like to mix it up.

CH: Pretty much.

JT: How did you discover mandolin and banjo and decide to put some of that into your music?

CH: I am a big Jethro Tull fan. They had them in the late seventies albums Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses.

JT: I see that you play a lot of keyboards. How did you decide that you wanted to play guitars and keyboards? That's a pretty broad range.

CH: As far as just me individually or introducing those into the band?

JT: How you would want to pursue both. That sounds like a lot of work and practice to keep up on two instruments that are relatively different.

CH: I guess the reason I can do that is because I am no good at either one. [We laugh]

JT: I wouldn't say that.

CH: I don't have to worry about keeping my Yngwie Malmsteen guitar chops happening while I go dabble in some Rick Wakeman keyboards. I don't know. I just wanted to play different kinds of music that originate, you know, in keyboards or guitars.

JT: Do you contribute any vocals?

CH: Oh no! Nobody wants me singing. [We laugh]

JT: Just to ask some questions that relate more to yourself and your interests, what is the last CD that you purchased?

CH: I've gone through a drought.

JT: Is there anything that has been stuck in your player?

CH: Well the record company sent me the Proto~Kaw promo with Kerry Livgren that I've listened to a lot and I owe it to him to go buy one. That is a great CD. I just got Matthew Parmenter's new CD from Discipline. He gave it to me, so I don't know if I can count it. Really I just keep listening to stuff that I've gotten for Christmas presents: the John Coltrane box set and the Thelonious Monk box set. I have a tendency to spend less time listening to rock, because it is either on the radio or I hear so much just with what I do.

JT: What's the last concert you attended?

CH: I don't know. I took my daughter to the symphony. I guess that's not a, well it's a concert, but it is not what you are driving at. What's the last thing I saw? It might be Queensryche and Dream Theater. No, Peter Gabriel was after that.

JT: Even more specific, what's your favorite movie?

CH: I'm not a movie buff. I like movies, but don't see many.

JT: What's your favorite book?

CH: I have read quite a few jazz biographies: Miles Davis, Bill Evans. I read a whole lot of I guess New York Times Bestseller type of books. It tends to be more biographies.

JT: Do you have a favorite album?

CH: I have a few of those. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [by Elton John] is one of my favorites. Joe Walsh, the one with "Rocky Mountain Way" and the airplane on it. What's that called? [The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get]. Hemispheres and Permanent Waves [obviously Rush]. They are all fabulous. I guess single albums are harder to piece out. Lots from artists like Jethro Tull.

JT: I think I know what you are going to say, but who is your favorite band?

CH: I don't know. I might actually rank Jethro Tull higher than Rush. I curse the day that I figure out all those Rush songs note for note like Farewell To Kings through Moving Pictures. To me it is just a way of playing guitar. It's not that we've been so battered with Rush. Yeah, Jethro Tull. Um, Kansas is still one of my favorites.

JT: Can you recall any Spinal Tap moments with your band? Any stage antics or something that went wrong.

CH: Not really. There were some interesting things that happened on the European tour in Amsterdam. Jeff and a couple of the crew guys stayed out late. They had candy laid on a table on the bus because they had the munchies or something. It was funny. Somebody videotaped it for some reason. They were sitting around asking themselves if they had enough. This was a mountain of candy. That's the kind of Spinal Tap moment that came out of it at Jeff's expense.

JT: I have a question that I like to ask, which I'm sure nobody else does. Do you have any pets?

CH: No. Once a kid or two started showing up with pets, we let the pets die out and didn't replace them. That's generally not because I disliked like the pets. We've had a goldfish here and there crop up. It is just that our attention has got to go for the kids. The pets still need to go to the vet and that kind of stuff.

JT: You did mention your daughter and I think I heard her in the background earlier. Are you planning on getting her into music?

CH: She takes piano lessons. So, yes! I'm not going to force her or anything like that, but she has been taking piano lessons now for almost three years and does pretty well at it.

JT: That's all the questions I have. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

CH: Well, we are glad that they exist and we are glad that they are still around.

JT: I have that rib-eating contest this afternoon. And I plan to win it. I actually have to get going and moving onto it. I appreciate your time talking to me and I hope to have this posted online real soon.

CH: Okay, well thank you and sorry there was a mix up in the schedule.

JT: That's okay. It still worked out.

CH: Good luck stuffing yourself. Are they pork ribs?

JT: That's a good question. I think so.

CH: Are ribs always pork?

JT: I think there are variations of them, but I think that's what these are.

CH: Good luck and don't get sick.

JT: Okay. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Good luck on future tours and albums and just good luck in general.

CH: Thanks. You, too.

I had the fastest overall time throughout the entire rib-eating contest, but was disqualified because I supposedly chewed and swallowed after I raised my hand. That's quite unfortunate considering I had a great time with lots of buffer. I would have qualified for the finals if not for this slight error in judgment. There was even a wild card entry. There was a rib-back (or back-rib round depending on who you ask) round. There was no question I was going to get further along. They even haggled over possibly adding a penalty to my time and still letting me advance due to the fact my time was so good. The individual who advanced in my heat had a time that was over a minute longer than mine. I guess I got overzealous. Then again, ribs are my favorite food and I blazed right through my rack. There were three prizes. My chances of winning of something were great. The grand prize was a limo ride for four friends to a Packers' game. My friends were really upset. In the end, the winner had two sons he was going to take to the game, so I felt pretty good about the final outcome. As they say, there is always next year.
Discography:
Tiles (1994)
Fencing The Clear (1997)
Presents Of Mind (1999)
Presence In Europe 1999 (2000)
Tiles - Special Edition (2004)
Fencing The Clear - Special Edition (2004)
Presents Of Mind - Special Edition (2004)
Window Dressing (2004)
Fly Paper (2008)
Off The Floor 01 (2012)
Off The Floor 02 (2014)