“We’ve got some jazz compositions”—Tyler Carter on Issues’ Artist Of The Year win, upcoming album

Issues beat out some heavyweight contenders to win the night’s highest honors as Artist Of The Year, continuing their meteoric rise since the breakout success of their self-titled, full-length debut last year. Returning in 2015 after guest performance at last year’s show, where he covered “Gangsta’s Paradise” with Falling In Reverse and Coolio himself, vocalist Tyler Carter sang with PVRIS on “My House” at this year’s ceremony. We sat down with Tyler to talk about returning to the show, Issues’ new album and the band’s first major award.

Interview by Philip Obenschain, photo by Lindsey Byrnes

Congratulations on winning Artist Of The Year. How does it feel?
It’s cool. All we want to do is leave an impression on this industry and continue to build a legacy. It’s cool that our first ever trophy or any type of award as a band is Artist Of The Year. It’s really big for us. AP Magazine is awesome for assisting in keeping rock alive. No matter how big you get as a band, AP is always going to have a place for us bands. I mean, look at Hayley [Williams].

There were a really great mix of bands in your category. Were you expecting your win?
I didn’t really have a speech prepared or anything, because I didn’t know if we were going to win. We know our fans are really dedicated, but we didn’t know if we had the same fan power of some of the other bands. It’s awesome and reassuring and it feels great.

You performed “My House” tonight with PVRIS. What was that experience like?
That was fun. I had a good time. I was nervous because the song is completely out of my range, and I didn’t realize that when I agreed to do it until I started rehearsing it. The song is a lot higher than I thought, so I had to do my own version of it, but it pushed me to do something more original, and that’s the whole point of doing a guest feature.

This is your second year performing at the APMAs.
Yeah, last year was iconic for me. I’ll always remember that because I grew up listening to hip hop and R&B. I’m a ’90s kid, so Coolio was my shit, and he did the Kenan & Kel theme song, so I was stoked to get to perform with him last year. I’m glad I got to be a part of the show both years.

Did you have any tips for PVRIS as first-time performers?
I know Lynn was nervous because she’s never been involved with a televised event or an awards show like this, but the reason they put this crowd here for you is because they want your fans to really make your performing everything. There’s a certain connection you have with your fans when you’re performing live that gives you the energy and the adrenaline to really bring it. I think after we got going she was really feeling it, and I was really feeling it too.

How did the experience of this year’s show compare to last year?
It sounded better to me, just because it was inside. It’s trial and error. When you do this ten years from now, it’s going to be one of the biggest, best shows. I feel like it’s going to really grow.

Aside from winning the award tonight, what was your favorite part of the show?
Sum 41’s performance was pretty awesome. The whole crowd was just roaring for it.

I know you’ve been working on some new music. Can you give us an update?
We’re writing a new record, and hopefully we’ll put it out at the end of the year. It’s different. We’re putting a lot of different things into it, experimenting a lot. Michael’s singing a little bit and A.J.’s doing some different stuff. We’ve got some jazz compositions and it’s really jammy, a lot more mature.

Do you think it will surprise people?
I think it will, just as much as you were surprised about our last record. You can still tell it’s us. It’s still catchy and it’s still fun, and we’ll still bring it live.

You just announced a big fall tour with Bring Me The Horizon. Is there anything else on tap for the future?
We’re going back to Japan, just working on the record, and hopefully shooting a bunch of videos.