BLACK TIDE Bassist Says Touring With Some Of His Favorite Bands Is 'Kind Of Overwhelming'

James R. Chesna of Clarkston, Michigan's WJRT recently conducted an interview with bassist Zachary "Zakk" Sandler of Miami metallers BLACK TIDE. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

WJRT: What's it been like for a younger band like yourselves to be out on major tours like this, especially side by side with the bigger acts?

Zakk Sandler: I remember three or four years ago, being in ninth grade, and being, like, "Dude, I hear that new SLIPKNOT record is coming out. I've got to get it." And now I'm on tour with them (blinks and does a double take). It's kind of overwhelming. I mean, we went out with AVENGED SEVENFOLD, and they were, like, in my top five favorite new bands. And never in a million years did I think I would be on tour with those guys. I was always, like, "Man, I can't wait to go see 'em again, blah, blah, blah, it was such a good show," and before I knew it, I was hanging out with them. They were trying to get me drunk for my birthday (laughs).

WJRT: How is the new album doing, and how has this tour been helping you promote it?

Zakk Sandler: This tour is doing great. It's really just getting us out there a little more. We've gone around the country a couple times. Now we're starting to see the fans start to come back, and we're definitely seeing ... The setup for the album is really showing now. We're really seeing sales go up, we're really seeing merch(andise) go up, and it's pretty awesome.

WJRT: You guys seem to have gone back to go forward as far as influences go. Was any of that a conscious decision or is it just what comes out of you?

Zakk Sandler: It wasn't like ... We didn't wake up and go, "Man, how cool would it be if we sounded like this," because I know there's a lot of bands that do that. When we first started, we sounded a little more like AC/DC and GUNS N' ROSES-ish. And we started learning about some of the other bands (like them) and started following and listening to them, and we were just, like, "Yeah, this is what we're into." We didn't care to go out and listen to, y'know, nu metal or anything like that, even though it was on the radio. I don't list GODSMACK as one of my influences — not yet.

WJRT: What kind of plans do you have after Rockstar Energy Mayhem?

Zakk Sandler: We've got tons lined up (laughs). We're going over for Reading and Leeds (festivals),like the day after this tour ends. Then (we) come back back for a month-long tour with BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and BLEEDING THROUGH. Then, I think we're doing some stuff in California, some headlining shows up there at the end of September. Then October we have, like, a full week and a half off, which I'm really looking forward to. ... There's definitely those days (on the road) where you wake up and you're, like, "(Sigh),I want to go back to bed, skip today."

Read the entire interview at this location.

BLACK TIDE with METALLICA's James Hetfield at last night's Kerrang! Awards, which was held in London, England: