Notes From The Other Side

I first spoke with Mark Jansen when he was in the Dutch “Beauty and Beast” band After Forever, some four years ago shortly after the release of After Forever’s Decipher (one of my favorite albums of all time). At the time, I was teaching a class in Advertising at a nearby university and I contacted Mark (and vocalist Floor Jansen) as a class project. I wanted my class to see if it was possible to “market” After Forever in the States and, shooting for the moon, see what it would take to bring them over here to play a gig in West Michigan.

So I ordered a dozen copies of Decipher from LaserCD.com and passed them out to anyone in the class who wanted to be part of the After Forever Group.

The class was psyched. We were all set to hook up the group’s leaders with Mark to do an interview when — out of the blue — he and After Forever parted ways. It shocked everyone (not least of all Mark) and ended our project.

Read the rest of this entry »

Evergrey. That’s really all I need to say. And that in a reverential, almost hushed tone.

Just Evergrey.

Anyone reading this already knows who the Swedish power/prog metal band is. Read the rest of this entry »

Piet Sielck is surely on the of the hardest-working guys in the business, often switching roles between producer and player – and sometimes switching between bands Iron Savior and Savage Circus. He’s also a fun chap to talk to, a guy who laughs often, isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and has a zillion anecdotes to share.

Read the rest of this entry »