With only one day left on a relentless touring schedule that saw them open for Saliva the previous two months, Hugo called me while driving through the mountainous regions of Montana, where cell phone reception was shaky at best and he'd been having trouble most of that afternoon just getting in touch with anyone. With an itinerary that included three different telephone interviews, an appearance at a local radio station for an acoustic performance and a “meet and greet” with winners from the same station just around dinner, it's no wonder that Hugo sounded tired. All that in a three-hour span and already running thirty minutes behind schedule—just another long day in the life of a rocker. Hugo was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to chat with me and luckily enough, our phone connection went uninterrupted.

TINA PEEK: The band is starting a break in a couple of days and I wondered how the tour with Saliva has been going. Are you guys having a good time?

HUGO FERREIRA: Always! It's fun to tour with old friends, and we're looking forward to having this break coming up because we've been going non-stop for a long, long time now so all of us are ready for a big break.

TP: How long is your break going to be?

HF: Probably about two months.

TP: Wow, that's a substantial break.

HF: Yeah, we definitely need it. I'm going to start working on doing some writing and so are the other guys and just get off the road for a little bit.

TP: It gets weary being out for so long doesn't it?

HF: Yeah it definitely does.

TP: It's been four years since Tantric released an album, but it seems that you've gone through a lifetime of living and changes since then. A new label, new bandmates, new songs, and a new album, what made you bring back the Tantric name with such renewed commitment?

HF: Well in the end, music is definitely the path I chose in my life and the name Tantric is one that I had already worked on for a long, long time. To achieve just that level of band recognition is really difficult, so I knew if I could just hold onto that, to kind of reincarnate it in a certain way, and I guess that's what ended up happening, why I chose the name, ya' know? It was my baby before and it still is to me right now.

TP: Prior to recording The End Begins, the original members of Tantric had written and recorded what was actually your third album and then all hell broke loose with your old label Maverick and band members leaving etc., did you ever think of giving up during that period?

HF: Yeah I did. It went through my head but through that frustration of feeling that way, I guess that's where a lot of inspiration came from for this record. It was a horrible period of time but ultimately a necessary one.

TP: You learn and grow from every experience.

HF: Absolutely you do.

TP: Has there been any discussion on what might happen with that as yet unreleased album?

HF: I haven't really decided what I want to do with that, but right now my focus is really just on this record. Some of the songs have leaked out, you know, on the Internet and stuff, but I feel in the future I wouldn't mind seeing it as kind of like, something special and kind of weird in between Tantric records. But right now I think our focus is just on this record and taking it as far as we can go with it.

TP: How were the new members brought into the fold? How did you all meet?

HF: Some I already knew for a long time. My violin player I knew, my guitar player I knew from a mutual friend, my bass player I've only known for about a few years, and my drummer even less than that, but we've become close and we've gone through a lot together, and I think we're a pretty close-knit band, which is a good thing.

TP: And the chemistry is good?

HF: The chemistry is really, really good. Yeah.

TP: You're using a classical violinist in place of another guitarist, what made you decide to use a violinist and how did you know it would work as well as it has?

HF: Actually, I didn't know if it would work. [laughs] None of us knew if it was really going to work. We all agreed that we liked it. But when we started writing this record, before even the whole band was together—me and the violin player lived in the same town, so he would come over and I would have get-together's at my house. We would screw around with the idea of having violin and stuff, and as we got more involved, we started using it in with electric guitar amps and just making it part of the whole new sounds of Tantric, you know?

TP: It's brilliant.

HF: Well, thank you.

TP: How is Tantric different now than when you started it?

HF: Well, we're significantly older. [laughs] I just think we're more mature and more experienced and a seasoned band all the way around.

TP: I interviewed Kevin Martin a couple of weeks ago, he says, “Hi” by the way. [Hugo laughs] I had asked him about a song he dueted with you called "The One" and what that experience was like for him, so now I'm going to ask you the same question and how it came that you got Kevin to sing on it with you?

HF: When that song was written, I had always imagined two singers and getting one of my rock star buddies to sing on it with me. It just so worked out that Kevin, I mean obviously I was a big fan, but I was also lucky enough that he's on my label and he just happened to be up the street from the studio, and everything just kind of fell into place really quick. We just went in there and in a couple of hours we just knocked it out. He's a really super talented guy ya' know? So it was pretty easy.

TP: He said he enjoyed the experience.

HF: Yeah it was definitely cool.

TP: That song with both your voices on it sounds really great, It's a great song.

HF: Thank you.

TP: Any favourite song off the new album—one that means more to you than the others?

HF: I would say that the whole album collectively, the songs really being cohesive and I couldn't really name one off the top that would be more special to me than another.

TP: Do you have a favourite to play live?

HF: I definitely love playing "Down And Out" live. It's very fun to play. I mean all of our songs are really fun to play live, so I couldn't really name just one—well, "Regret" is a really fun song to play live, but they're all good ya' know? They're all fun.

TP: And what's the fan reaction been like on tour for Tantric?

HF: I think ninety-five percent of the reaction has been very positive and good and five percent, you know, has not been awesome. [laughs]

TP: You can't please everyone.

HF: You can't please the whole world.

TP: Exactly. If you're pleasing ninety-five percent, I think those odds are pretty good!

HF: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

TP: After the two-month break, what's next for Tantric?

HF: Well actually, it's not quite two months, more like a month and a half. Yeah, everybody is just gonna go home and decompress and just relax and enjoy their families and homes and whatever. I'm going to try and do some writing, and I'm sure everybody else will try to also, and then we'll reconvene on the first and kind of figure out what the next tour is going to be like and what we're going to do next.

TP: Any idea who you might hook up with next?

HF: No. I don't have any plans yet.

TP: So when you say you're going to be writing, are you writing for the next album?

HF: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

TP: I know you're strapped for time, Hugo...

HF: Yeah, I definitely am.

TP: I saw your itinerary for today and I know you're running behind on everything, but did you want to add anything before we end the interview, any messages to your fans out there?

HF: All I would say is I'd like to encourage everyone to check out our MySpace and join up and be part of the MySpace family.

TP: I'll be sure to mention it.

HF: Thanks very much for your interview.

TP: Thanks very much for your time,