Confronting The Meltdown With STEVE TULIPANA From SEASON TO RISK

Interview by Kris Peters
Season to Risk are a noise rock band that debuted surprisingly on Columbia Records after the early 90s indie-signing frenzy. Known as relentless road dogs, constantly on tour for years. With roots in the 80s hardcore scene, Season to Risk were hailed as “the next Soundgarden” after their almost radio-friendly first album was released. But they took their major label money and went in a new direction of screeching noise, distorted bass and screaming vocals on subsequent albums. They built a recording studio and became increasingly experimental over the years, developing a rabid fan base in the process.
After a decade of live shows and four album releases, band members went off to explore other types of music in the bands Shiner, Roman Numerals, Violenteer, and many other recording projects. But Season To Risk never disbanded, and continue to play live shows when their schedules align, sometimes touring when an appealing offer comes along. Singer Steve Tulipana has a captivating stage presence in the lineage of Iggy, Nick Cave and David Yow. He stays excessively busy running several venues in Kansas City, Missouri.
For Record Store Day 2025 (April 12), Season to Risk will release 1-800-MELTDOWN on Init Records. The glow-in-the-dark album art invokes 80s horror VHS, and the record includes new songs engineered by guitarist Duane Trower at his Weights and Measures Soundlab, compiled with unreleased songs, including Undone, the music in their industrial punk scene in the film Strange Days.
HEAVY spoke with frontman Steve Tulipana to get the full story, starting by asking if 1-800-MELTDOWN is a retrospective Best Of for Season To Risk.
"It's actually a lot of material that was either was non-released or was released on seven inch," he corrected. "So that's the bulk of the album. Things that are pretty obscure and hard to find in our collection. And then there's two songs that have been… one that's brand new and one that was recorded in this century. That's a good start."
We mention that it is a bold move for the band having not released new music in 25 years.
"I think we always wanted to…," he measured. "We never really cared too much about being mainstream. We always wanted to be a little more experimental and really wanted to show people that side of what we're doing because it's informing the stuff that we're currently working on. So I think that's what we were wanting to get out. We have been reissuing our old records on vinyl and remastered here in the States over the last few years so that's kind of it's kind of a lead up to that."
In the full interview, Steve discussed 1-800-MELTDOWN in greater detail, expressing excitement about the album which includes a mix of unreleased tracks and a new song, emphasizing its focus on artistic expression rather than mainstream appeal. He shared insights into the challenges of cohesively arranging diverse songs and recounted a story about the track Undone, which was initially considered too noisy for a film soundtrack.
The conversation highlighted the inclusion of past and present band members in the album, the new song Echo Chamber addressing social media's negative impact, and the band's ongoing creative journey, including plans for reissuing previous records.


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