Notes From The Other Side

I just got off the phone with Mikkel Sandager, vocalist and songwriter for Mercenary.

What a cool guy. Great sense of humor. Eloquent. He said Mercenary is wrapping up work on their new album due out in August — and album on which Mikkel sang all the vocal parts and for which he wrote all the lyrics.

Watch for my interview with Mikkel to post soon!

May is going to be a busy month! Here’s my interview schedule:

1. Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary), May 13th at 9 a.m. my time. DONE!
2. Olaf Thorsen (Vision Divine), May 13th at 11 a.m. my time. DONE!
3. Tom S. Englund (Evergrey), May 13th at the In Flames/Throwdown/Nevermore/Evergrey gig in Grand Rapids. (Photos only — see Photos page. Interview to come after tour winds down.)

4. Jorn, Postponed until our mutual schedules can coincide.

5. Titus (Thunderstone), May 21 at 1 p.m. my time. DONE!
6. Thomen (Savage Circus), May 20 at 12 noon my time. DONE!
7. Matt Smith (Theocracy) May 29 at 3 p.m. my time.
8. Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus), May 28 at 1 p.m. my time.

I’m working on scheduling interviews with Epica, Circle II Circle, Leatherwolf, Freak Kitchen, and Wastefall. As of this writing (May 23rd) it appears my interview with IA of Freak Kitchen will occur the first week of June.

These are all great bands and I’m having a blast talking to members from each one! NOTE: The interviews will begin to post in June and July and will likely continue throughout the summer leading up to PPUSA VII.
Bill

In addition to being one of metal’s best vocalists, Lance King is also one heck of a great guy.

Lance has a great sense of humor, laughing often during our interview. Also, he was surprisingly gracious with his time. We spoke for about 90 minutes over two separate occasions. I asked him about Nightmare Records (his own label), Pyramaze, Avian, Shining Star, the road to ProgPower USA VII, the music industry in general, and which band he’s most looking forward to seeing at ProgPower this fall. (Oh, I also chatted with him about coaching his son’s chess tournament.)

Watch for my interview with Lance King to post later this month.

I know Evergrey’s latest CD, Monday Morning Apocalypse, has polarized long-time fans, but I’ve listened to it a lot lately and I think it’s superb.

More comments to come…

Including, hopefully, comments from Tom S. Englund himself on the recording whys and wherefors of Monday Morning Apocalypse. I have a photo pass to this Saturday’s In Flames/Throwdown/ Nevermore/Evergrey gig in Grand Rapids. So even if Tom doesn’t have time to chat before or after the concert, I’ll at least have a photo or two to post to my Notes site.

By all accounts, Shane Dubose is a busy guy.

He’s in at least two bands at any given moment. Plus, he’s the man who worked tirelessly to assemble what very well could be the best Pre-Show Party this year that ProgPower USA has ever seen.

I’m surprised he found time to do an interview with me.

But he did.

And it’ll be posted later this month.

So where did the title of this web site come from?

Two places: (1) One of my favorite Blind Guardian albums, Imaginations From the Other Side. I love that phrase and initially thought of calling my site Imaginations From the Other Side. But although it makes a mighty fine title for an album, it makes an unwieldy URL for a web site. So I scrapped it; (2) I wanted to keep the “other side” concept because that’s what this web site represents — the “other side” of the stage. Behind the scenes. Besides, I think something coming from the “other side” is inherently intriguing.

So what to call the site? I eventually put the idea of writing (”notes”) together with “other side” and — voila! — Notes From the Other Side was born. It was only after I put the two concepts together did I realize that it also had a third meaning: musical notes.

Oh, by the way, if your fingers get tired of walking the keyboard to type NotesFromTheOtherSide.com, you can access the site simply by typing NFTOS.com. (Hey, can’t say I didn’t think of my readers when I birthed this site.)

What will you find in NFTOS?

Exclusive interviews with bands appearing at ProgPowerUSA VII, with those who produce America’s Premiere Metal Fest, a few fans here and there along the way, photos from PPUSA VII, and my own thoughts on the genre of music I fell in love with so many years ago. My interviews are recorded and transcribed as close to verbatim as possible. And the questions I ask are designed to allow readers to get to know the person behind the music as much as possible within an hour’s time.

End result? Hopefully something you’ll find interesting to read. Granted, there’s not much here now. But I have interviews with Shane Dubose and Lance King in the can, awaiting transcription. They’ll be posted soon. I also have interviews lined up with Jorn, Evergrey, Circus Maximus, Theocracy, Vision Divine and more. So I estimate it’ll be an interesting summer.

Have fun browsing Notes From the Other Side.

Tell your friends to check it out.

And feel free to comment or contact me with ideas for more content. What would you like to ask these musicians? what would you like to know about the inner-workings of PPUSA VII? You can reach me via the Contact page on this site, or by sending an e-mail to bill(at)notesfromtheotherside.com.

See you at the show!

Bill