Top Tier, a pop punk band out of Miami have been building a real connection with their fans and growing their following. BareBones Ent got the chance to sit down with the band and discuss their recent release, covid, and so much more. Take a look below and see what we got in to with Chris Tamez and Felix Maldonado of the band.
BBE: For listeners that are checking you out for the first time, how would you best describe your music?
Tamez: A sprinkle of Blink, a dash of Green Day, and A HEAVY scoop of ADTR. Add Fall Out Boy as needed, a little Yellowcard, and cook at 305 degrees till crispy.
BBE: These past almost 2 years have been pretty tough for everybody. How did you keep your band name out there during this time?
Felix: We’re very lucky to have a tight knit scene within our little community, so we are always in contact with friends and fans from around here! Besides that I personally learned a TON of songs over the last two years so I’d post online periodically, from IG to Reddit!
BBE: How do you feel the lockdowns helped or hurt you creatively?
Tamez: The lockdown gave us nothing but free time to work on our craft and keep fleshing out ideas. It’s been a blast revisiting old demos from our earlier days as a band and touching them up with our current sound. Nico and Felix both have home studios so tracking wasn’t much trouble and allowed us to take our song ideas straight from our bedroom and right into our rehearsal spot.
BBE: Did you pick up any new hobbies in this time?
Tamez: I rediscovered my love for retro gaming. I dusted off some old games from my N64 collection and put in some long hours replaying some classics like Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Banjo-Kazooie. I’m actually in the process of trying to complete the entire North American N64 collection!
BBE: You recently released a song and video for “Leaving This Behind”. Were these done during the lockdowns?
Tamez: Yeah! We had been sitting on “Leaving This Behind” for a while because we knew we wanted to film a killer music video for it. Covid kind of threw a wrench in the plans at first, but after tons of logistical planning by our label, Apocalypse Records and production company, Retro Nomad Productions, we were able to film with a full crew under the conditions that everyone involved was vaxed or tested negative with a recent Covid test. The entire music industry is learning how to safely navigate this pandemic as it plays out and we as a band knew there was a moral obligation on our end to make sure things ran safe and smoothly.
BBE: The video has such a cool concept. How did that come together?
Felix: Well the song itself is about leaving behind things that aren’t beneficial to you and starting over, what better way to represent that with a party that was outta control! The social media aspect of it was a product of our director Jose Trujillo! That guy is so talented with a camera and video concepts it’s amazing.
BBE: What were the best and most difficult times of filming or putting the video together?
Felix: The best parts were filming the band performance scenes, it really felt like we were playing a private show. As for difficulty, It was a long day of filming. But that’s kinda expected when doing music videos so it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
BBE: Have you been able to play any shows yet? What do you feel it will be like walking back on stage for the first time in so long?
Felix: We were supposed to play in September until I caught COVID :(. We had to back out in an effort to maintain an abundance of safety. We are playing at our local youth fair in December though! Playing shows is easily the most enjoyable and fun part of being a band. I know for a fact I’m going to be absolutely buzzing from excitement.
BBE: What is next for your band?
Tamez: Now that venues are starting to open back up, I see us touring soon to a city near you! We plan our content a few releases ahead of time and now it’s time to execute the plan and deliver some hot hot tunes to all our fans!
BBE: What is the best way for fans to connect with you?
Tamez: We all collectively run our socials so we’re just a DM away! We’re most active on IG (TopTierFL) but we’re also on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok under the same handle.
Felix: We also have a discord server where we have a constantly running Q&A session, early teasers, video game nights, and anything else we can think of!
BBE: Anything else you would like to add?
Tamez: I can’t begin to stress how thankful I am for everyone who is supporting us along the way. Every song we’ve put out so far has been met with a little more love and support with each release than the last. We started this band out of fun, and we’re humbled by each and every last one of our fan’s kind words. Seeing everyone love the content we’re having just as much fun writing together just validates it even more. Our friends and fans drive us to become better musicians and fuel the fire that ignites our inspiration.
Felix: None of this would be possible without fans of not just our music but for places like BareBones. There’s no amount of thanks I or the band can offer that’ll fully show how grateful we are that we have your love and support. Our friends and fans are just as Top Tier as we are ;).
