Popular Taichung rock band Peaks heads up to Taipei this Saturday for the first time in almost two years. Featuring Andy Goode on guitar and lead vocals, Sherriff Moustafa on bass and Tim Tucker on drums, Peaks will spend the next few months traveling around Taiwan to promote their new album Home. Kicking off in Taipei, the tour includes stops in Taichung, Miaoli, and Kaohsiung, among other locations.
Founded in 2011 as a blues-infused alt-rock four-piece, Peaks has morphed over the years into possibly the heaviest trio in Taiwan. The original lineup quickly became a crowd favorite, but it was definitely tamer than the current incarnation. When the lead guitarist left and Sherriff Moustafa replaced the original bassist, Peaks quickly became tighter and heavier. Front man Andy Goode, who had only played rhythm guitar in his former bands, forced himself to buy new pedals and expand his guitar skills in order to fill in the gaps.
Moustafa told the Taipei Times that the band he joined in 2012 was completely different to the one now.
Photo courtesy of Basil Hall
“That band was a polished, bluesy sounding outfit, whereas Peaks now is more of an intense, driving beast,” he said.
Moustafa added that after the band became a three-piece, each member had to play to their strengths, and as a result, they have an “intense, almost fierce sound that is tempered by the soulfulness of Andy.”
EEKING OUT A NICHE
Goode is well-known in local music circles as a prolific, talented songwriter, so it is a bit surprising that Peaks had waited so long to release a debut album. The DoLittles, Goode’s first band in Taiwan, put out four CDs in as many years. His acoustic folk band, The Vicious Cabaret, released a CD last year, after just over a year of playing together. But changes in band lineup and musical direction meant that Peaks didn’t get serious about recording until recently.
Goode said that it took the band more than two years to finish the songs because of arguments they had over structure.
“I think that can be a good thing though,” he added. “There are some nuances that wouldn’t have happened if we put it together lazily.”
For Moustafa, the constant rewriting and tweaking was an occasional annoyance that was ultimately rewarding.
“It’s good in that we will not settle for less than what we all agree is the limit of our collective potential,” he said.
Tim Tucker, the drummer, agreed. For him, the actual recording went smoothly but the difficult part was deciding when the songs were finished. In the end, he said that they trusted each other’s opinions about their respective instruments.
In spite of all of this, the band is optimistic about the direction they’re heading in. According to Tucker, they’ve evolved from a “kind of steady rock” to a “way more aggressive rock.”
“We found a nice niche and we’re going to continue with this and see where it takes us,” he said.
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