Living In A Perfect World With STEVE TULIPANA From SEASON TO RISK

In 1994, Season to Risk had been on tour for the past four years, playing as a young opening band on legendary shows with Killdozer, Unsane, Neurosis, Prong and Killing Joke. Their first album had sold well, with songs charting on radio and getting music video airtime on MTV and Canada's Much Music. There was an opportunity to take advantage of the popular wave of alt rock and nu metal dominating the air waves and being signed unexpectedly to major label Columbia Records put them in the position that they had amazing support as artists, but also someone to answer to and the machine must be fed.
The band decided instead to work with Martin Bisi (producer of Sonic Youth, Foetus, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop) and use their major label money to deliver a punishing post hardcore masterpiece of crushing noise rock, In A Perfect World. The album has become a cult classic and over the course of the past 30 years, some of the songs off In A Perfect World became mainstays in live shows.
And now, Season To Risk have decided the time is right to revisit that timeless album, having In A Perfect World remastered by Duane Trower (Weights & Measures Soundlab), creating a reissue that gains new clarity without losing its raw urgency. Released on Record Store Day in the United States, In A Perfect World has been rejigged to embrace the modern sound, with Season To Risk using the experience to harness their focus and energy into live shows and a new record.
Singer Steve Tulipana joined HEAVY to take us behind the scenes. We start by asking if the nerves are any different, releasing the same album three decades later.
"I mean, it's weird," he smiled, "It's 30 years old, which is kind of a trip obviously for us. To think about how much time has passed… It doesn't feel like 30 years ago by any means, which is over half my life. I'm more nervous because we have some US dates we're going to start. It's a pretty gruelling little run of shows we're doing, and we haven't done that in many, many years. So that's got me nervous, more than the record coming out".
Going into In A Perfect World back in 1994, Season To Risk had just finished four years on the road and were understandably more than a little jaded. We ask Steve if this had any effect on the finished product.
"Yes, I do think we were (jaded)," he nodded. "So a lot of the material from the first record - and it's a cleaner record for sure - we were young, and it was our first material that you take a bunch of years to write. Then you get signed, and then it was delayed forever. We were always trying to challenge ourselves, and we were wanting to be more… it's not like it was incredibly conscious. I mean, we didn't want to sell out, but we were trying to find this heavy thing. We had some road on us, and we had some life experience on us at that point so it was darker and things were a little more fucked up. To be candid, I was a little more fucked up in my head, but that's the experience you go through, right?"
In the full interview, Steve focused on the reissue of In A Perfect World, reflecting on the surreal nature of the album's 30-year anniversary. The remastering process was highlighted, with improvements made by guitarist Duane Trower being explained, although digital rights for a remastered version have not been granted by Sony, leaving fans without a digital option for now.
The conversation also explored the band's artistic evolution, with Steve discussing their maturation and the incorporation of new elements like synthesizers in their upcoming material. The importance of clarity in lyrics while maintaining a unique sound was emphasized. We spoke about the release of a new album, with the aim for completion by the first quarter of the next year.
Steve discussed the natural evolution of Season To Risk and how it has impacted their music and more.

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