Loudside.com managed to sit down with the fast rising Florida rockers Black Tide several months ago during the band's first real Metal tour alongside their more extreme metal peers in Light This City, Chimaira and All That Remains. Here's what Black Tide had to say about being a part of their first full on Metal tour, as well as what it was like for them to go from being a local band to showcasing for Record Labels, signing with Interscope, opening the main stage at Ozzfest 2007, and what fans can look forward from the band in the year to come...

Loudside.com: So how you guys doing??

Black Tide (All Around): Pretty good dude....Good man.....yeah....Chillin.....Like a Villain.

Loudside.com: Ok, so this if your official first day on this tour, which is decidedly different from the previous tours you guys have done, as this tour has more of an Extreme line up. How do you guys feel about being a part of this tour?

Gabriel: It's pretty scary, to tell you the truth. (laughs)

Zakk: We know we're gonna get some shit, but, you know we don't care. We're just playing the shows, and we wanna play music.

Alex: Kinda make some of their fans....give in. (laughs)

Steven: I'm just glad that we're out with All That Remains cause I Love them!

Alex: This tour's gonna be a lot of fun anyway.

Loudside.com: Alright. Speaking of previous tours, your first major tour was last year's Ozzfest, which almost didn't happen because of the whole Jagermeister thing. But that ultimately led to you guys opening up the main stage. How did it feel to be a part of such a huge tour?

Black Tide (all around): Amazing!...Sick!!...Awesome!!...Insane!

Alex: Fuckin Ozzy, Zakk Wylde, fuckin Lamb of God...

Steven: Static X....

Zakk: Yeah, we got to be a part of one of the greatest touring festivals ever!

Loudside.com: Now I know that a lot of the bands don't ever get to meet Ozzy. Did you guys get to meet him?

Steven: No

Gabriel: We saw him, but from a distance.

Zakk: Close Distance....(laughing)

Loudside.com: Cool. Now not long after that, you guys hit the road with Avenged Sevenfold. With the knowledge and experience you guys had gained from Ozzfest, how much easier was it for you to go out there and try to win the crowds over for that tour?

Steven: I think with each tour we do, we get a little bit more professional, so we kind of knew how things went. So I don't know. I thought it was a lot easier.

Zakk: Yeah, definitely.

Alex: Yeah. And their fans are more......open. Like...look at the differences in all their albums. (laughing)

Loudside.com: (laughing) Yeah for sure. And I mean, as far as being nerve racking...has that gotten easier to deal with?

Alex: Oh yeah, it's gotten a lot easier I guess.

Zakk: The first show is always like, "Ok, how are these guys gonna like us?" But, it goes away really quick.

Loudside.com: Ok, now getting into the band a bit more, you guys used to be called "Radio". At what point did you decide to change the name to Black Tide, and where did that name come from?

Gabriel: Only like a year and a half ago, we changed it. When we were doing the album.

Zakk: We actually had to change it.

Alex: We'd been wanting to change it for a long time, but just never got around to it until about a year ago. (laughing)

Loudside.com: Copyright issue or just because you wanted to change it?

Alex: Well no, well sorta.....well, a little bit of both I guess.

Zakk: We just didn't like it.....

Alex: We just wanted to get rid of it.....

Zakk: And apparently you can't hold a trademark on the word "Radio".

Loudside.com: Ok. Now in regards to influences, you guys all agree on a few bands, but you also have your own individual influences that are pretty far removed from each other. When you guys are writing, how do you guys manage to pull it all together?

Steve: Well, Gabriel writes most of the songs, or at least most of the songs on this record....

Gabriel: Yeah, like me and Jason Suecof wrote some shit, and I don't know. We just write cool stuff, or tried to write cool stuff, ya know (laughing).

Steve: Whatever we like ya know....

Gabriel: The influence is just there I guess. You don't really think about who you wanna sound like, cause you wanna be yourself. But it's always there just because you love that music. So it definitely comes into it, but I wouldn't be able to tell you who it is exactly......

Alex: There's a shitload of bands....

Loudside.com: Well yeah, that's why I'm saying.....you guys all like different bands, different stuff. I've read your bios, and the myspace page and all that. And it's pretty different for each one of you....to just pull it all together. Basically what I'm asking it, are there ever any real disagreements or differences of opinion, to a larger degree rather than a smaller one?

Zakk: Not really too much.

Alex: Yeah, we all still like like the same 5 metal bands that everyone loves ya kow.

Loudside.com: Ok. Now I haven't had a chance to hear the entire album yet, but the songs I have heard were enough for me to know that you guys are all really well versed in your respective intruments. Now did any of you guys have any formal training, or is it all based on personal practice?

Alex: Personal Practice!

Gabriel: For me, like my cousin taught me how to play guitar, and then I just kept practicing on my own from there.

Steven: Personal.....

Zakk: (nods head in agreement with the rest)

Loudside.com: Now also in regards to the record, is it all comprised of brand new material, or are any of the songs taken from old material you guys already had?

Gabriel: Yeah, a lot of songs are old material. Like 2 years or 4 years.....

Zakk: Yeah, some of them are from like when the band started....

Gabriel: Yeah, some of the songs, like 2 of them....like "Enterprise" and "Light From Above" we actually wrote in the studio.

Loudside.com: Are you guys tired of playing any of that material yet?

Zakk: Not yet....(laughing)

Loudside.com: (laughing) Ok....Now going back a little bit, you guys played at the 2006 Florida Music Festival, which is essentially what helped you guys get noticed. How did it feel when you guys started getting phone calls from all sorts of Record Labels?

Gabriel: That was bizzare!

Zakk: It was pretty cool!

Steven: We showcased for like what, 6 record labels in New York over like 4 days.

Zakk: Yeah, all of them were just like, "You need to come see us. We'll take you out to dinner" or somethin. Free meals. (laughing)

Loudside.com: (laughing) And what made you guys go with Interscope over any of the others?

Zakk: They were just the quickest. Everyone else was just taking months and months to get back to us, and Interscope was like, they went to see us and we were out in California a week later playing the fucking Viper room.

Steven: Right, and there were contracts and no drama..

Zakk: Right, they were serious. And like two months after that we were set.

Alex: They knew what they wanted. All the other labels were like trying to pussyfoot around "Oh we'll call you in a week", or we'll do this or that. They were the only label that was like "Ok I want you in California next week." Fuckin showcased and the day after, Contracts were signed.

Zakk: Next thing you know we're in the studio recording our debut album.

Loudside.com: Ok....now back to touring. You guys are on the remainder of this tour, which is a couple of weeks, and then you guys do a few dates on South By Southwest. And you guys are also gonig to be taking part in this summer's first annual Rockstar Mayhem. Are there any other tours you guys have lined up at this point?

Zakk: I think we're doing some of our own stuff....

Alex: Yeah, we're doing a headline tour.....

Zakk: Yeah, just a couple of dates here and there, in between this one and South By Southwest, and some more after that for like a few weeks....

Loudside.com: To take you right into Rockstar?

Zakk: Yeah....

Loudside.com: And how did you guys feel about being added to that?

Steven: Oh, it's Intense dude....

Zakk: It's awesome dude....it's gonna be a lot of fun!

Loudside.com: Alright. And what can the fans look forward to from Black Tide for the rest of 2008?

Steve: A lot of fuckin shows...

Zakk: A lot of fuckin touring...

Alex: We'll be in your town sometime...

Gabriel: Hopefully a new cover. I'm not gonna say anything, but we're gonna do a little cover.

Steve: Yeah, we'll come out with a new tune pretty soon.

Gabriel: And it's not the one on the record, just so you know. It's a different one.

Loudside.com: And finally, if you guys had it your way, what band that's still active would you want to tour with more than any other?

Zakk: Maiden!

Alex: Maiden would be sick!

Gabriel: We just saw them the other night, and it was crazy.

Steve: Yeah, we got to see them the other night, it was cool.

Alex: We missed the opener though, so we don't know how the crowd reacted, but I'm sure it was still sick......

(Photos from the show can be seen at this location)