Fighting Fit

It's quarter past six in the morning when the phone starts buzzing; on the other line is one fourth of Kingston, Pennsylvania's Title Fight, guitarist/vocalist Jamie Rhoden. Things aren't going to plan right now.

“Our wheel fell off our trailer, it's like falling off our trailer, but we're just in Oklahoma getting it fixed,” begins Rhoden. And were they driving fast when this happened? “Yeah, we were, it started smoking and now it's falling off. But it's okay, we're okay,” he assures with a laugh.

The band are currently finishing off the last few shows of their North American tour in support of their latest release, 2012's Floral Green. The album has been by far the bands biggest record since they formed back in 2003, and shows their maturity and growth from their earlier melodic hardcore roots to a more polished and refined sound that still mixes the elements of rock, hardcore and grunge. Floral Green was met was rave reviews from music critics from around the world and it's still something that Rhoden finds hard to fathom. “Yeah, it's really cool; it's kind of crazy that people care. It's also crazy that we get to travel the world because of it,” he says. Floral Green saw the band again enlist the help of producer and friend Will Yip, who also assisted Rival Schools frontman Walter Schreifels on 2011's Shed. Yip has also produced and engineered work from other notable luminaries such as The Wonder Years and Balance And Composure. Believing that Yip had done such a great job with Schreifels on Shed, it was an easy decision for the band to throw their trust behind him in totality. “He's a young dude that loves music and we get along well and we trust him,” Rhoden concludes.

Now, in 2013, it's ten years since Rhoden and other founding members twin brothers Ned and Ben Russin began their journey as Title Fight, and it seems pretty hard to comprehend for the soft spoken and at times shy Rhoden. “I'm happy with the 'career' or 'run' or whatever you want to call it that we've had. It's pretty unusual for any relationship that you started when you were twelve to stay this long,” Rhoden explains. His reflection on their decade together even leads him to consider how young they were when they agreed upon the name Title Fight, after a random conversation with bassist/vocalist Ned Russin taking place while they were only in the sixth grade.

Title Fight's debut full length Shed was released in 2011 and they solidified their position in the hardcore/punk scene worldwide. They then embarked on tours in support of Shed, including a run that saw them support punk heavyweights Rise Against. While the tour was an exciting prospect for the band, it wasn't exactly what they were expecting. “Yeah, it was comfortable,” the guitarist jokes, before he concedes, “but it was kind of weird playing arenas, we ended up playing 12,000 cap (capacity) rooms – it was pretty unusual.” For some bands reaching huge stadiums and fan bases can be their ultimate goal, but for Rhoden and his band mates they prefer to stay modest and remain humble. “I like the smaller, more intimate shows, as generic as that probably sounds. Realistically, I mean I don't even know if I'd like to be that popular,” Rhoden honestly reveals.

With their current US tour winding up Rhoden and Title Fight's next chapter will see them continuing their support of Floral Green. “Yeah, we're just finishing this tour… then yeah Australia, Europe, Japan, a lot of touring, a lot of cool stuff. I'm excited.”

Title Fight will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 7 March - Sun Distortion Studios, Brisbane QLD
Friday 8 March - Crowbar, Fortitude Valley QLD
Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 March - Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW
Wednesday 13 March - Capitol & Amplifier Bar, Perth WA
Thursday 14 March - YMCA HQ, Perth WA
Saturday 16 March - The Reverence Hotel, Footscray VIC
Sunday 17 March - Phoenix Youth Centre, Footscray VIC