This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Do we choose the destination, or are we just riding down a road we can’t escape?
That’s the question driving Night Rider — and it’s one that frontman Dennis Tvrdik has been sitting with since 2022, when he took the members of his former band Affiance and built something entirely new alongside members of Ice Nine Kills. The Cleveland-bred synthwave metalcore project is heading into their biggest moment yet: “Fatebringer,” their second full-length album, drops November 20, and they’re currently on their first full US tour — two Canadian dates included — with Kingdom of Giants, Deadlands, and Holy Wars alongside them for the ride.
The timing alone is worth paying attention to. The tour kicks off a full week before the album drops, which means Night Rider fans are going to hear new songs live before they ever hit a streaming platform. That’s a specific kind of trust in your audience, and it says a lot about where this band is right now.
I caught Dennis over Zoom while he was catching up on things before leaving for the tour. He works at a concert venue when he’s not on the road, which maybe explains why he talks about music the way someone does when it’s genuinely woven into every part of their life. We talked about the origin of Night Rider, how a Kate Bush cover launched a new era, Depeche Mode, and why he thinks the 80s might have been the last decade people showed up genuinely.
Rorrie: This is your first full US tour. How are you feeling heading into it?
Dennis: Really excited! This will be our first full continental tour — we’re hitting two Canadian dates too. I’ve been trying to catch up on everything before we leave. I’m looking forward to being on stage every night and having real conversations with fans after shows. Some nights I might be exhausted and need a nap and a shower, but I’ll do my best. Those genuine five-minute conversations with people — getting to know them, feeling appreciated and seen — that’s what it’s about.
And I’m particularly excited to be back on the road with Kingdom of Giants. We have history with those guys, and I’m genuinely stoked. I have this great memory of a day off in Portland — we did a whole lap around a block downtown that was nothing but food trucks, three Thai teas, and absolute gluttony. We were sick from eating so much! Those are the experiences I’m looking forward to just as much as the shows themselves.
The tour kicks off a week before “Fatebringer” drops. What does that mean for the setlist?
The first week people are going to hear songs they’ve never heard before — and then we’ll just keep playing them. I’m particularly excited to play “Superposition” live before it’s even out. It’s a little different from what people might expect — it’s dancey and dark; it’s got this real 80s funkiness to it. I saw Depeche Mode a couple years back, and the way the singer was just dancing on stage, having the best day of his life, and not caring what anyone thinks — that’s how I want to feel. I just want to show up, feel it, and dance.
Tell me about “Fatebringer” — what is this record?
This album evolved into something I didn’t know I needed to talk about. It felt like secret therapy — unlocking feelings and memories I never knew I had. That’s why the name Fatebringer stuck with me. It aligns with my ultimate goal for this project: Night Rider is about asking questions we don’t want to ask ourselves because we’re afraid of the answers. I am the Night Rider.
This album is probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever been lyrically. There’s a little anxiety that comes with that — going deep on certain topics, childhood stuff, and trauma. But I’m really excited. The signature midnight sound hits its darkest stretch yet on this record. If you’ve ever driven alone at 2am trying to figure something out, this is the album for that.
What do you hope listeners feel when that last track ends?
I hope they hear in the lyrics that they’re not the only ones going through whatever they’re going through. But beyond just not feeling alone, I want to give people just enough of a nudge to remember that we are in charge of our own feelings, ultimately. We’re not in charge of everything that happens to us, but at some point you have to look inward and ask, "Am I going to be a prisoner to myself?" What do I control?
On our first album we had a song called “Nemesis” and the tagline is, "I am the nemesis I never wanted; I never meant to see myself in the mirror." That realization that you are your own biggest obstacle. External influences will always be there. Bad things will always happen. How we respond to them — that’s up to us. That’s the whole point of everything I write in Night Rider.
How did Night Rider start — what led to this whole project?
A couple of years went by after Affiance, and I was depressed and lost and had no idea what I wanted to do. I started writing again and the songs were different — the lyrics were different, and the vibe was different. I found myself writing a lot of them while driving around alone at night. At some point, I realized that what was going to end up being Affiance songs just didn’t make sense anymore. This is different. Different sound, different emotion.
I was trying to come up with a name, and I thought, "I'm driving around; there’s synth everywhere; it feels retro." What about Night Rider? I am the Night Rider. I’m driving around aimlessly at night to sort out my thoughts when I’m stressed or need to blow off steam. I can safely say over half of all the lyrics I’ve ever written have been while driving at night in my car.
How do you balance synthwave and metalcore without one swallowing the other?
I don’t really overthink it. In a nutshell, what I try to do is instead of writing a metalcore song and turning it into synthwave, I write a synthwave song and turn it into metalcore. The synths and the soundscape set the mood. A breakdown or a riff is actually complementing the synthwave arrangement, even though at the end of the day we’re probably more of a metalcore band just because of how people put things in boxes. Our bones are metalcore, but musically and structurally it’s more synthwave, really.
Were there specific synthwave artists you drew from when building this sound?
Early on I was listening to Gunship and The Midnight, but a lot of synthwave has a little bit of that sunset bubblegum vibe — like I’m driving the California coast at sunset and we’re having a good time. That didn’t accurately portray the emotion I wanted. I wanted a little bit more of this techno-noir, Terminator 2, and Blade Runner sound. That led me to Carpenter Brut and artists in that space — it’s a subgenre called outrun or cyberpunk. Heavier, darker. But I still wanted some of that emotional side too.
I’m more inspired by soundtracks musically. When I start writing an idea, I see a movie scene or a music video — visual ideas are always there first, and that’s what inspires me to write more.
Was there one specific visual idea that had to become a song?
I got a lot of inspiration from “Dark Matter” on Apple TV — the concept of a human being in superposition. It’s about being in a space where you feel and sense all infinite possibilities but don’t know which direction to go. That’s ultimately the trap we create for ourselves. Just take the step forward. That became “Superposition” on the album.
And “Stranger Things” was a huge motivator to tap into the whole 80s synth world. It made me realize how much I loved that era. I feel like the 80s was the last decade where people just kind of showed up genuinely — there was color, there was vibrancy. Then the 90s kind of began what I call the dark era, where everybody started to get jaded and overly sarcastic and negative, to the point where we are now. So there’s this attraction to nostalgia, and putting that together with metalcore and telling a story with it — that’s the goal.
Why “Running Up That Hill” as the song to launch Night Rider?
I’ve always loved the original. I was watching “Stranger Things” season four when it came out in June 2022, and I was like, "That's the song." Night Rider didn’t exist to the public yet, and I was trying to figure out how to announce everything. I love that song, and I’d always wanted to cover it. “Stranger Things” was such a big inspiration for the whole project that it just felt right — and it made me realize how much I loved the 80s and that whole sonic world. We recorded it in ten days and put it out July 1st.
I don’t view it as a rebrand — I view it as an entirely new band that just so happens to have the same members. A little weird to launch a project with a cover, but we already had history. It’s my favorite cover I’ve ever done.
Who would be a dream collaboration?
I’d love to sing with Courtney from Spiritbox. Rory from Dayseeker. I’ve known the Dayseeker guys for a long time through the industry — we’ve shared the stage with them, and they’re very kind people with a great team. So maybe eventually.
Final Thoughts
“Fatebringer” drops November 20 — and if you’re in a city on this tour before that, you’re going to hear it before the rest of the world does. Night Rider — Dennis Tvrdik (vocals), Patrick Galante (drums), Dominic Dickinson (guitar), and Brett Wondrak (bass) — are on the road now with Kingdom of Giants, Deadlands, and Holy Wars.
He is the Night Rider. That’s never been more true than right now.
