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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