Tomorrow, alt icons Season To Risk will rerelease their 1994 album ‘In a Perfect World’ for Record Store Day November tomorrow. Originally released via Columbia Records and released in all of its enhanced glory with extras tomorrow via Spartan Records, ‘In a Perfect World’ retains its relevance and reserves the right to gain an all new fanbase with their accompanying tour, which also starts tomorrow in Kansas City, Missouri with sisters.
‘In a Perfect World’ has a bit of personal history with me. You will hear about it in the zoom interview above, as I talk with Duane Trower and Steve Tulipana, the original members and torch bearers of all things Season To Risk.
In this interview, we talk with Steve and Duane about the longevity and work involved in keeping Season To Risk both strong and relevant as well as the contrasts between the industry then and now as well as the release and the tour (dates and ticket info below).
Now remastered by Duane Trower (Weights & Measures Soundlab), the 2025 reissue of ‘In a Perfect World’ gains new clarity without losing its raw urgency. The package includes:
- 12” x 12” handwritten lyric insert
- New line drawings by Derek Hess
- Remastered audio and reworked artwork
Limited edition of 1,500 copies is set for a Record Store Day November 2025. Get more information on Spartan Records HERE.
About Season To Risk
In 1994, Season to Risk had been on tour for the past four years, playing as a young opening band on legendary shows with Killdozer, Unsane, Neurosis, Prong and Killing Joke. Their first album had sold well with songs charting on radio and getting music video airtime on MTV and Canada’s Much Music. There was an opportunity to take advantage of the popular wave of alt rock and nu metal dominating the airwaves. Being signed unexpectedly to major label Columbia Records put them in the position that they had amazing support as artists, but also someone to answer to and the machine must be fed.
Season to Risk decided instead to work with Martin Bisi (producer of Sonic Youth, Foetus, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop) and use their major label money to deliver a punishing post hardcore masterpiece of crushing noise rock. Coming from the first wave post-hardcore bands, Season To Risk have only gotten weirder over the years. Season To Risk decided instead to work with Martin Bisi (producer of Sonic Youth, Foetus, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop) and use their major label money to deliver a punishing post hardcore masterpiece of crushing noise rock. “The experience of living with Martin Bisi for an entire Summer while making this record was an opportunity of a lifetime” – reflects Season To Risk singer Steve Tulipana. Over the course of the past 30 years, some of the songs off ‘In A Perfect World’ became mainstays in live shows.
“We’re hoping to bring back a few gems that we haven’t done in quite some time, maybe ‘Terrain Vague’, ‘Absolution’, or ‘Vertical Drive’. Bisi, not only a true musical mastermind but also a prolific noise rock historian, brought knowledge to the band putting together what would become one of the 90’s cult classics.
This is the first appearance of the Paul Malinowski and Jason Gerken rhythm section, who both went on to join Shiner, also from Kansas City. Exploring a darker and more mysterious realm, singer Steve Tulipana mood swings between distorted screams and whispered dreams. Guitarist Duane Trower plays melodies with harmonics and feedback as much as standard guitar, usually favoring more dissonant almost-jazz chords. Discussing the recording process, Duane notices: “Bisi’s studio, which was previously a civil war munitions warehouse back in the day, was a welcome cacophonic room that helped shaped the sound. As was the wool clad ghost that we saw, helping us put the finishing touches and mood of this record.”
Martin Bisi’s gigantic subterranean studio allowed their more-industrial-than-metal vision to be realized. The band lived in New York City for the Summer of 1994 creating this record, before Gerken had to return to the midwest for Molly McGuire. Artist Derek Hess was hired for the iconic dystopian artwork, a longtime friend who had booked and made posters for many shows in Cleveland. The band recruited a new full-time drummer David Silver and began touring the music of “In A Perfect World” for the last months of 1994.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/SeasonToRisk/
https://www.instagram.com/seasontorisk/
https://robotswin.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/SeasonToRisk
https://open.spotify.com/artist/78B864EG41ixMzgvDgVNTA