MEB Interview: Tilian Pearson

After the alleged Saosin demo leak featuring his vocals, ex-Tides Of Man singer Tilian Pearson spoke with Mind Equals Blown about the track and his recent stint subbing in for Jonny Craig in Emarosa.

Jack Appleby: How did you get hooked up with Emarosa?

Tilian Pearson: Tides Of Man (my former band) did a tour with Emarosa about a year and a half ago. They didn’t really give me much information on what was happening. Someone from RISE called me and asked me if I could help out for a week singing. I didn’t see why not. We got along really well on the dates and I had a great time.

JA: How did you prepare to sing these tracks?

TP: I had a very short notice. I listened to the songs on the plane ride, over and over. I practiced singing them when we got to the first venue in Pittsburgh. After a pretty shaky sound check, I went into a green room upstairs and got more comfortable with the material. By the third show, I was completely confident with it. Actually the last three shows were the most confident I have ever felt on stage.

JA: How comfortable were you performing Jonny Craig’s material? Did Emarosa make any changes to better suit you as a vocalist, such as changing the set list?

TP: He’s is a lot to try to live up to. He is amazingly talented and a great singer. I didn’t attempt to be Jonny or Jonny 2.0 when doing the set. I also have a higher vocal range, so I had to change some melodies a bit. The mid range stuff had to be soft, and the higher stuff was naturally “cleaner” because I don’t have the true grit Jonny has. As far as the songs, I really enjoyed singing the material. I think Jonny is a very original vocalist and writer, but people don’t give him credit because he has the reputation of being lazy. His talent just makes it so easy. [Regarding the set list,] there were a couple songs I wasn’t comfortable with that we didn’t play.

JA: How long will the Tilian/Emarosa relationship last?

TP: I have no idea. We didn’t talk about it much.

JA: What are you up to musically? When can we expect to hear your voice, either through touring or recordings?

TP: I have a couple of things I am working on. You will probably hear something soon. Within the next couple of months hopefully.

JA: A demo of you with Saosin leaked onto YouTube recently. What can you tell us about the song? What’s the latest with your pursuit of Saosin’s open slot?

TP: It was something that Chris (Saosin bassist) had sent me and that I had tracked a couple ideas on in my sister’s apartment on her Mac. It is incomplete and pretty low quality. Nothing is official either way with me and Saosin.