I make no bones about the fact that I’m a huge Travis Smith fan. His CD artwork is Art with a capital “A” and it graces the covers of many of my all-time favorite CDs. So I was thrilled when Travis said Yes to my interview inquiry e-mail. I called Travis this past week and was surprised to discover that he was gracious with his time, friendly, and somewhat self deprecating. What follows is our conversation, virtually word for word…

TS: How you doin’, Bill?

BM: Hey! How are you?

TS: Oh, not too bad, not too bad.

BM: [laughs] Good, well–

TS: Little tired.

BM: Little tired? Well, did you have a hectic day today?

TS: Yeah, I’ve been basically moving stuff all week, and cleaning up the yard, and moving, you know, breaking stuff up and throwing it in the trash and everything. And I haven’t had much sleep, so–

BM: Oh really?

TS: –it’s catching up with me.

BM: Wow. Well, I appreciate your time then, doubly today.

TS: Oh, no problem.

BM: Well, as you know, I’m a big fan of your art.

TS: Well, thank you very much.

BM: And as a matter of fact, you know, interestingly enough, the ProgPower forum just posted a question, a thread posed this week, “What’s your favorite artwork of 2006?” And wouldn’t you know, your name pops up quite often. [laughs]

TS: Oh really?

BM: Yeah.

TS: I’ll have to look at that.

BM: One of the top albums of 2006 that people are citing right now is Novembre, the Materia cover, which is phenomenal.

TS: Oh really?

BM: Yeah. They say that’s one of their favorite album covers of 2006.

TS: Wow!

BM: Yeah.

TS: That’s a big compliment.

BM: Well, it’s a great cover. I mean, I’m looking at it right now. That’s phenomenal.

TS: Oh, I see the thread right there.

BM: [laughs] See?

TS: [laughs]

BM: Yeah, you routinely come in like top–another one’s like Mattias Noren, another big artist from Europe. But, yeah, so this interview’s gonna be timely for those folks. They’re gonna love it.

TS: Nice. There’s a nice looking cover on a banner at the top of that page. Manticora?

BM: Oh yeah, yeah.

TS: It’s kinda small, but wow. It looks kinda neat.

BM: [laughs] Your cover art that I’m most familiar with right now is Mercenary’s, the one they just released, The Hours That Remain. When I was taking to Mikkel, he said it was a very quick, easy process, working with you on this one. How did this one differ from the other Mercenary cover you did, Everblack? What made this one so much easier?

TS: Actually, I don’t know. It was a lot easier. It’s hard to pinpoint any particular reason, it just seemed that I connected with them a little faster this time. And plus, you know, since I was working with them on Everblack, I was just talking to them and, you know, still getting a feel for you know, how they were and what they were looking for. And you know, I’ve talked to Jakob [Molbjerg, guitars] numerous times since then, and you know, you kind of, even though we’ve mostly talked over e-mail, you, you know, I felt like I kinda got a better feel for him, his personality, and when he asks you to do something, you kind of know his vision a little bit better.

BM: Yeah.

TS: It’s, in some ways, for the new one, I still ran into the same problem as Everblack, where I wasn’t exactly sure how to pin down their idea right away. But I just, you know, it just kind of fell into place a little faster this time. There was actually less time, I had a lot more time to do Everblack. And I think, for Everblack I think that I had a thing I was working on, and it was a moon picture, and that was something I was just kind of playing with. And they said something about a moon, and I showed them that, and they liked it, but it wasn’t right. And so we spent a lot of time. I said, “Hey, I’ve got this thing I’m working on, maybe it’ll fit.” And then, so we tried a couple different faces in the moon, and that one was more a matter of, they kind of liked it, but it was a matter of getting it right. And this time, there was a little less time and I, you know, I still, I read the lyrics, and you know, there was just so many visuals in their lyrics, it was kind of hard to pinpoint down one single thing to run with. And usually when I do that, when I can’t do that, I try to run with everything.

BM: [laughs]

TS: You know what I mean?

BM: Yeah.

TS: To try to do, and try to do multiple images. And unfortunately, the timeframe this time around wouldn’t allow for that. So I kinda tried to switch to a different frame of mind and just kind of do something that fit with the title, without really, without saying one particular thing, where it would just encompass the general scope of the whole thing. And so, what happened with that, basically, is I got a couple ideas in mind, and did some rough versions, and they, I think I did four or five rough versions, you know, rough drafts of ideas. And I think they weren’t diggin’ one or two of them, but they liked the ones that ended up in there. And that’s pretty much it.

BM: It’s a cool cover. I really like it.

TS: Well, thank you.

BM: You also worked with another band at ProgPower this year, Zero Hour. You did a couple of theirs. Their Towers of Avarice cover is considered one of the classics of all time.

TS: Yeah, that, I’m really proud of that one. And I didn’t get to work with them this time, actually. [On Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond.] But you know, I was working on that one, and it’s another case of there was some miscommunication and the deadline came up to fast when they asked me, and so I said I’d give it a shot. And they had these ideas, and you know, let me see, I’m trying to recollect here. They gave me some ideas about the title, and then there was a couple other ideas we had for some different songs inside. And it was kinda hard for me, there was a couple of things I had to do special to nail down the idea for the title of the album, so in the meantime I was working on some of the secondary ideas. And the deadline just came up too fast and I couldn’t do everything. Actually, the funny thing is, the thing they put on the cover for the new one, it’s similar to an idea I had.

BM: Oh really?

TS: Yeah. I had a personal picture, when I was, it’s kind of a leftover from the Katatonia Black Sessions. ‘Cause I was doing, there’s a couple pictures from that of a guy with a trench coat, with some photos raining down on him.

BM: [laughs]

TS: And there’s one in that, and when I was working on that idea, one of my drafts that I threw out was the same guy, but he was in a crumbly street.

BM: Oh wow. Yeah.

TS: You know, which was kind of funny. And I actually did have that idea again, and that didn’t seem–I think if I knew they were looking for something like that, I would have ran with it. But it didn’t, that kind of thing didn’t seem as epic for Zero Hour, you know, when you compare it to something like Towers. ‘Cause I was still, you know, whenever I work with Zero Hour, I have that mindset of like, you know, the epic scope like Towers is, or you know, so I wasn’t even thinking along those same lines. And then, you know, I was kinda struggling with that. And then the label had another guy try out some things, and then he did that one, and it’s really cool. But when I saw it, I went, “Oh man, I shoulda tried something like that.”

BM: [laughs]

TS: So, but no, it turned out real well. And looking at the final result, I think they made a good choice, you know?

BM: Oh yeah. It’s pretty good. So you must be pretty familiar with ProgPower USA then, aren’t you?

TS: Oh yeah, I’m familiar with it, yeah. I’ve never seen it.

BM: The way everyone loves your art, I’d think if you came to a ProgPower and set up a table or something that you could probably sell your art and make a fortune. [laughs]

TS: You think?

BM: Yeah. Yeah.

TS: I never even thought about that.

BM: You should connect with Glenn Harveston sometime. He’s the brilliant guy who puts these ProgPower USA festivals together. Maybe he’d consider that. But yeah, that thought just occurred to me. I’m thinking, wow, with all these people liking your art, this is the perfect place for you to be.

TS: Yeah, that’s really flattering. Thank you very much.

BM: [laughs] Well, my taste in art tends to run to sort of the ethereal, Dali, sort of strange, I don’t know how to describe it. But whenever I see your art on a CD cover, I almost want to buy it without even knowing what the band is, ‘cause I figure whatever’s on the inside’s gotta be cool.

TS: [laughs]

BM: Do you get people that, do you have a following like that now, where people just see your cover and think, “Yep, I gotta have that.”

TS: I don’t know, actually. I don’t know what they’re thinking when they buy it. I’ve had a couple people e-mail me with complements like that, and once in a while they’ll say something like that. I think it’s really cool. I mean, it means a lot to me to hear things like that. Actually, some days, hearing things like that actually helps me through the day sometimes, ‘cause I’m stuck on an idea and I think I’m in a rut, and I’m like, “What am I doing?” And I can’t, you know, and I’ll hear something like that. You know, it’s not often, ‘cause I don’t really talk to a lot of people all the time, but occasionally I do hear things like that, and it’s really nice to hear. I mean, it means a lot, and it’s very flattering.

BM: Well, where do your ideas for the CD art images come from? Do the bands send you their music as a demo, or the lyrics, or they just talk through ideas? How do you get from initial contact to final piece?

TS: It varies. Pretty much every project is different in that respect. Sometimes, you know, I don’t even know where to start with something like that. Let me see, I’m not very good on the phone, so I’m trying to think over my words. They, a lot of ideas are just, either I already have them, or you know, I’ve had an idea before and I’ve sketched it down, but it’s incomplete. You know, maybe I just kind of leave it there in case it comes up in the future, just a basic thought. And sometimes somebody will say something and I’ll think back on that and say, “Hey, I have this basic idea, maybe I can work it into this and make it fit, ‘cause it makes me see that.” I mean, the way I see it kinda fits with the way I’m seeing what they’re telling me. Other times, they’ll tell me what the album’s about or what the feeling is or what they’re saying. And I’ll have a completely new idea. And other times, there’s other times where they’ll already have the idea. They’ll say, “We want this, this is exactly what we want. Do this in your style or how you see it.” Or even a little more, off that, they might say, “Well, we kind of know what we want, we have this general theme, but we wanna see what you can do with it. This is what we want this to say, but how you say it is up to you.” But in all the cases, you know, I’ll try something, I’ll put the idea down, and it might not be right at first, so I’ll go back and forth with the band. And we might fix this or fix that and make this better, or you know, things like that. So, but a lot of the ideas, you know, sometimes I’ll get a really good idea, and it’ll fit a CD. There’s been a couple albums that I’ve done that are completely my idea, and at first, they weren’t related to the album. But you know, when I started working on the album, I pulled out that old idea and tailored it to that particular project and it fit real well. But you know, sometimes, once in a while, I’ll get really lucky and a good idea will come from nowhere, you know, sometimes before I need it, sometimes not soon enough. But you know, it just really depends.

BM: Well, you mentioned your style. You know, that’s an interesting phrase, because I was going to ask you about that. Everybody seems to be able to recognize your artwork when they see it. You know, like with Roger Dean or Derek Riggs, or some of these guys that are distinctive. What is it about your style, how would you describe your style? What is it about a piece of CD artwork that says, “Travis Smith”? What do you put into it that says that to somebody? Or even yourself?

TS: I’m not exactly sure. People have asked me that before, and I’m not really sure. I’m not sure what the proper answer would be or the correct answer.

BM: [laughs]

TS: Because, you know, my style is influenced by things I see, just like I’m sure anybody’s is, you know, with whatever they’re doing. And so, some things I do I don’t think are all that distinctive, and some things I do, I think they are. But it’s just, I don’t know, I think when I get an idea, I put it down the way I see it and the way I think that it would look the best. I mean, sometimes I’ll get a little abstract with it, or sketchy, or sometimes I’ll try to do something really focused and simple, you know, more photographic than sloppy, or whatever. It’s just kind of, you know, that’s one of those things I was talking about, where when I’m talking to a band, and we’re talking about the idea, I might see it one way, like “Oh, this needs to be a little abstract, heavily textured or a little bit, you know, a little off kilter, a little bit odd.” And they might agree, or they might not agree. And sometimes they don’t agree, so then I’ll try it the totally opposite way.

BM: Yeah. Well–

TS: I mean, that new Katatonia [The Great Cold Distance], I think is real different for me. I mean, I’ve seen things like that before, I don’t think it’s, as far as the solid red and the solid black, I’ve seen things like that before. But as far as Katatonia goes, I think it’s a little bit different. You know, the band and I were talking back and forth on that, and said we wanted to try something different. And that’s the first thing that popped into my head, just something like that, real stark and real, you know. Not even so much contrast, ‘cause the colors almost eat each other up.

BM: Almost like a Mondrian sort of approach, just primary colors?

TS: Yeah. More or less. And then, inside we just did some little abstract things. But that was the mood that seemed to fit that moment, so.

BM: Well, you know, I’ve read some interviews with you online, and one of them said you’re self-taught and all of your designs come from Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark Xpress, things like that. You also said that some of your designs start with photographic, your own photographic images.

TS: Yeah.

BM: What kind of camera do you have, Travis, that’s taking these kinds of photographs? [laughs] Is it, like, hooked into The Twilight Zone or something?

TS: [laughs] No, it’s just a regular camera. When I say things like that, I mean, sometimes I take a photograph of something that might become something completely different. I mean, right now I’m doing a cover–well, I mean, for example, Towers of Avarice. The basic shapes of the towers, I basically painted the shapes of the towers. And all the things that are in the towers, like to make the texture of them and the elements, they’re just like random photographs, like a metal texture. I made some portholes that I photographed things off a wheel, and just some random pipes, and then like a landscape. Yeah, I went down to the beach where there’s this really tall hotel, and you know, went up to the roof and took a picture of the city, and used that as the landscape for the little textures in the bottom. And then the sky is a mixture of watercolor and actual photographic clouds. So, sometimes I’ll use a straight photo and just treat it and texture it and to give it the right look, and sometimes I’ll just photograph a bunch of different things and cut them up and build something completely different out of that.

BM: Wow.

TS: You know, sometimes I might make a person, you know, there might be a person on the cover, but he could be, they could be made out of different parts of different people that I photographed. You know? So?

BM: [laughs] What kind of camera do you use?

TS: Right now I’m using a Sony digital, like an eight megapixel. Like an F828.

BM: Yeah. That’s pretty high-end. That’s a good camera.

TS: Yeah, it’s not bad. I got it, bought it from a friend of mine who I work with sometimes. And I still like the film thing, I still use my film one as well, but so far, the things that I stick to the digital a lot, because with this one, I finally have one that when I take the photo, the file is, you know, high enough quality that you can use. ‘Cause when I was buying my first camera, the digital cameras, they were taking, you know, very tiny pictures.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

TS: And you couldn’t print with that, ‘cause it was just too pixelated. So by the time it came ‘round, I got offered this digital camera, the quality was there and the convenience, it’s just very convenient.

BM: Yeah.

TS: I mean, you take a couple of shots and you plug it into the computer, and if I want that old film look, then I just kind of take the digital pictures and put some grain over it.

BM: [laughs] Isn’t that ironic? [laughs]

TS: Yeah. Well, I like that. That’s always been kind of one of the things I like. I really like that old, organic look of film. It looked, I don’t know. When you look at an old photo, or you look at a photo like that, it just had a certain feeling that certain projects just need. If it’s too clean, it just won’t work.

BM: Yep.

TS: And, so actually a while ago, when I got the digital camera, I took, with my film camera, I shot on slide film, I took a bunch of photos of nothing, it was just white. So I scanned that in and got the grain from the film, and I used that. You know, maybe I shot a wall that has different lights on it, so the edges are a little dark, and sometimes I lay those over the digital and it gives it a little more, you know, organic, or yeah, organic look.

BM: You know, some of these interviews, I read a couple just today, interviews with you. One in ‘99 that you did and somebody asked you if you still have a day job, and you said yes. But then the very next year, in a 2000 interview, you said no, now your full time work is making CD cover art.

TS: Yeah, yeah.

BM: In one year’s time, you jumped from yes to no.

TS: I think I quit my job in ‘99. I think that’s when I quit, ‘cause I got signed on to a comic book.

BM: Oh really?

TS: And so, basically, I just wanted to take a risk and try it out. And so the comic book was basically my day job at that point, but I didn’t have a day job anymore. But the comic book was consistent, that was my job, and the CD covers were still side work, you know. ‘Cause I’d get up in the morning, and I’d have to finish one or two pages today, you know, no question. So that was, that became my day job without having the day job that you clock into, you know?

BM: [laughs]

TS: Everything like that. So I actually quit my job for that. And that lasted about two years.

BM: What comic book was that?

TS: It was called Violent Messiahs. It was on Image.

BM: Yeah, oh yeah. Well, looking back on this thing now, you’re full time CD art covers for at least six years now. Has it been the sort of ride that you thought it would be? Or is it better or worse? How would you describe where you are right now?

TS: It’s, the ride has been a little bit better than I thought it would be. Like I said, when the comic book stopped, I got really scared, but I’m like, “Well, I don’t think I can support myself on CD covers.” You know, as far as having a mortgage and a family and stuff like that. And in a lot of ways, I was right, but in a lot of ways it was also not as bad as I feared it to be. But, I think at the point where you look at it right now, I thought I would be a little bit farther along as far as security in the whole thing. You know, I’m still, you know, it’s still, right now, “Am I going to have enough jobs for next month.” Or, a bunch of little jobs will come and I’ll take them all in just so I’m, you know, I know they’re there. But at the same time, now I have twice as much work to do in the same amount of time, you know?

BM: [laughs]

TS: So that makes it really tough as well. So it still has a lot of ups and downs. And I thought that maybe at this point it would be a little smoother.

BM: Is it, do you like second-guess yourself a lot, or do you worry about your abilities? Or is it–

TS: Oh, all the time.

BM: Really?

TS: Yeah.

BM: Why is that? I look at your stuff and I think, “Man, I would kill to be able to do that.” [laughs]

TS: [laughs] I don’t know. Because, it’s like the thing I was saying earlier, sometimes the ideas are not there.

BM: Yeah.

TS: Or they’re not working the way I thought they were, or, I mean, just anything like that. If I get these, or I might get to the point where, let’s say I committed to three jobs. You know, that have to be done in a month, month and a half, two months, whatever. So the time is pretty much filled. Well, then maybe a couple weeks after that, while I’m still working on those, somebody will come along that I’ve worked with before and want to work with me on something that I just don’t want to turn down. And so it’s like, well, I wanna do this, but I don’t have the ideas and I don’t really have all the time to do everything I want. So I have to try to figure out how to make that all fit. And when you’re, well, at least for me, when I’m working under conditions like that, it’s really hard to like, just kind of sit back and let the ideas flow. And sometimes, and like something I said earlier, sometimes the ideas just don’t come. You know, it’s like writers’ block.

BM: What do you do to get them to come then?

TS: I don’t know. That’s what I’m saying. Like some of my best ideas, you know, that I’ve had, like I don’t know, they were just there, and I just wrote them down. I didn’t even have to think. Some of the ones I’m most proud of, they just came there. And it wasn’t like I thought too hard. Sometimes, I’ve been lucky on a few projects, where I give it some thought, and work a couple problems out with it, and it’ll just click. I’ve done that a lot of times. And everything just fell into place and it was a really good feeling. But most of the time, you know, the ideas were just there. And sometimes, when I need to have something fast and I need to have it right, you know, it’s just not there. That was one of the problems with the new Zero Hour. There was something about it that just wasn’t clicking.

BM: Yeah.

TS: So I was like, “Ok, I’ll put this one back and I’ll work on some of the other ideas they were talking about.” So I was getting them going, and I was still stuck on that cover that they needed first. So that was…

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

TS: So it’s, I mean, and not to use that one as just one specific, it’s just like, that’s just an example of all the kinds of things that can happen. And when you have so many things like that going on, then it just makes it really tough. And if I can’t come up with something on time, well, no I actually rambled, and I’m trying to get back to your question. When things like that happen, that’s when I start doubting. Like, “Oh, you know, when the next thing comes up, am I gonna be able to you know, do it the way it needs to be done?” You know, so…

BM: Well, you know, my day job, what I do is Advertising and Marketing. And I’ve had that same feeling though, every time I’m faced with a new project, and I’ve got to write all the copy for it, I feel that way too. Like, “Heck, I don’t know if I can do this again. Where does it come from?” But you know, it always does.

TS: Yeah.

BM: It just seems to. But I worry about it beforehand. You know?

TS: Yeah, like I said I’ve been real lucky sometimes, where I’ll be struggling with something for a week, just like on one image and I’ll just be struggling. And then out of the blue, like in a second, everything will just click and fall into place. And it’s just, the problem is, that doesn’t always happen, and so you get, it’s not something I want to count on. You know, I don’t want to take it for granted, so to speak.

BM: Well, you mentioned the covers you’re most proud of. What would be a few of those? What’s a couple of good examples?

TS: Let me see. A lot of the Katatonia ones, and a couple of Opeth’s for sure, and the Devin Townsend Terria one.

BM: Oh, that’s a great one, yeah.

TS: Yeah, that’s really up there. I’ve done a lot that I’m really, the King Diamond one I’m really proud of that one. And you know, those couple Zero Hours, I really liked how those came out, you know. And like, those are perfect examples of things that just fell into place.

BM: Well, the Opeth covers you’ve done, judging by your output, I would say you’ve done more of those than any other band, including Iced Earth. You’re almost like a fifth Beatle with the Opeth guys. [laughs] What is it about Opeth’s music or their covers that really makes you come back again and again and want to work with them?

TS: Well, I think the main thing, the main reasons I keep working with them, is they keep, so far, they’ve asked me every time.

BM: [laughs]

TS: And they’re, on top of that, they’re one of my favorite people to work with. So you know, I’ll work with them as long as they ask me to. And they’re also one of my favorite bands. And they’re just real inspiring. The last Opeth album was a very good example of–

BM: Ghost Reveries?

TS: Yeah, that was one that it took me a little while to connect, and then I had a couple ideas that just weren’t right, and you know, during the whole process where I was coming up with the ideas, I started developing the look of what would eventually become the artwork. But the actual concepts weren’t there. You know, they weren’t right for Mike [Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitars]. I was kind of struggling with that, the deadline was creeping up, and then, I think it was just like one day, I think on a Sunday, I just had this rush of ideas for it out of the blue.

BM: That’s great, yeah.

TS: And I spent like two days just, you know, drafting up the ideas. And I sent them to Mike, and there were a couple he threw out, but there were two in there that he was like, “This is a keeper, and this might just be the cover.”

BM: Wow.

TS: So you know, we talked back and forth and I got a feel about what he liked and what he didn’t. And I just kind of ran with that, and everything kind of fell into place like real easily.

BM: Well, you’ve had probably, what, 200 covers by now in your career.

TS: Yeah, it’s something like that.

BM: What, is there one or two that you can think of that were like the hardest ones for you to do? Like when you think of them now, it’s like, “Oh god, I remember that process, it was a pain in the ass.” I mean, are there a couple covers that gave you the most trouble?

TS: Not that I can think of right off the bat. I had a little bit of a hard time coming up with the right ideas for the last Sadus thing. You know, not to imply that it was unpleasant or anything, but that was one that I wasn’t clicking with right away. I was interpreting things like totally wrong. And, you know, I was trying to think of a bunch of different, really unique ways to say one thing, ‘cause I wanted to really attack that thing with artwork. And a lot of the ideas were wrong, and they weren’t right for some of the guys in the he band. And so like, “I like this element, so why don’t we take that, and why don’t we try this.” And so that became a thing where at first, it was see what I can do, but later on it was, “well, your ideas aren’t exactly right, but they’re giving us some thoughts, so let’s combine these things.” But at first it was kind of tough.

BM: Well, the album–

TS: And I can’t think of anything right off hand. I’m sure if I thought about it a little longer, I could think of a bunch that were real difficult.

BM: How about the positive side of that? Was there one or two where they just instant, flowed immediately, it was just done?

TS: Yeah. Opeth is usually like that, and Katatonia is usually like that.

BM: Cool.

TS: The Terria one, the Devin Townsend was definitely like that. Those things just came out. And there was actually, yeah, there was a little bit of, another one that was a little bit tough was the Devin Townsend Accelerated Evolution. I was having a really hard time pinning that one down. And you know, finally Devin was like, “This has to be right, you know, and it’s not clicking yet.” And so it was getting kind of strained a bit at the end. And after he had this talk with me that kind of lit a fire under my ass–

BM: [laughs]

TS: And then, the next day, I came up with what became the cover, the rough. I was like, “Well you’re looking for something kind of like this.” ‘Cause like at first he wanted something really clean and sterile, and the things weren’t sterile enough, I guess.

BM: [laughs]

TS: And I just went to the other extreme and made things really sterile, and he’s like, “This is perfect.”

BM: [laughs]

TS: So, and even the hard ones, even the ones that are difficult, that’s kind of the way they turn out. You, it’s just like there’s a few weeks of struggle, and they might just click. And there’s a couple times, you know, it hasn’t clicked or whatever. But as far as the ones that are just real easy, like I said the Opeth, and again, Devin Townsend. The last, the new Strapping Young Lad, that was real, that fell into place immediately.

BM: Wow. Tell me about this cover that people are saying is one of their favorites of 2006, the Novembre, the Materia cover. What are the elements I’m looking at in that? Did you take a picture of that kid looking at something, and then you superimposed some background to that? What is this picture made up of?

TS: Yeah, that started out a little bit different than it ended up. That one started out a little bit tough, that’s a good example. I worked with them before, and with this one they came at me a little bit late in the game. Another one of those things, “Hey, we kinda need something fast. This other thing we tried isn’t working out, and the time is, you know, we’re getting short on time, do you want to try something?” And I love working with them as well. I love that band. And so I’m like, “Sure.” And they had a couple general ideas, and I was trying to figure out a way to take their ideas and make it work, but also very quickly. And sometimes that’s a bad combination.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

TS: So anyway, a couple of those ideas ended up inside the booklet. And there was some people that, you know, there was a couple people that had differing ideas on it. Some people really loved it and thought it fit, and there were a couple people that thought it didn’t. So nobody could, there was a couple disagreements that we sort of tried something else. And he said, “Well, the time is kind of short, what other ideas do you have?” And that was the one that ended up on the cover was like a really old personal idea. There was just something I was playing with, ‘cause you know, I did take the photo, and I really liked that photo. So I was always trying to do this with it, or maybe put something in the distance that made it a little bit ominous.

BM: Yep.

TS: And that was one of those things that even for myself, I could never really make it work, so I just kind of left it alone. And during this whole time, that factory element, that industrial factory overshadow kind of element that’s in there, that came from the original ideas that you might see inside. So I took that, and I remembered that old photo, perfect example of the first question.

BM: Is that photo one you took, is that somebody you know in the photo?

TS: Yeah, that’s my son.

BM: Is it really? [laughs] That’s great.

TS: Yeah. So I think that was when he was three, and he was on the beach and he was looking out. And I was just sitting there and I snapped him. And I just love that photo. It’s just one of those where you can take 20 photos of something, but there’s that one that just really stands out. That’s why I’ve always tried to do something with it. So I was looking through some of my old ideas in my sketchbooks, and you know, my old archives, and I found that one, and I tried the factory element in it, and I said to myself, “Well, here’s an old personal idea I have, maybe this will work for something too.” That was actually one I submitted when they were, “What kind of ideas do you already have?” You know, that I’ve done that maybe will work. And I think that was one of the ones that I sent, but I wasn’t real happy with how it looked at the time, so I did like seven or eight different versions of it with different colorings and textures and things like that. And they said, “Well this one right here really fits, you know, everybody is really happy with this for the cover.” So they just kind of went with that.

BM: Wow, that’s great. Does, you mention your family a couple of times. Are they pretty supportive? Do they enjoy your career, and they like your CD covers? What kind of support do you get from your family?

TS: It varies, you know.

BM: [laughs]

TS: [laughs] You know, my kids are like still really young, but my daughter’s old enough to be curious about it, so she’ll ask what I’m doing. And you know, she’s actually been on a couple of them too.

BM: Oh really?

TS: And you know, so it’s, yeah. It can get trying, like I said, this kind of thing can get trying, so, you know.

BM: Oh yeah.

TS: So sometimes there’s support, and sometimes there isn’t. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah, that’s probably pretty typical. You know what I found interesting? Your web site, talk about minimalist. You’ve got 32 covers on there. Did you handpick those as your best of the best? Or what does that represent on there?

TS: Are you looking at the current one?

BM: Yeah.

TS: Well, I’m putting that back together right now.

BM: Ok.

TS: And I’m doing it a little bit at a time. What happened is, I don’t know, it’s been a while since anything’s been done with it, and it’s never left my mind, but you know, I did a couple of new updates, like last year. And then the webmaster, you know, was busy with some other stuff, was out of town a lot, and I think she you know, was ill for a little bit. So I was like, ok, you know, we had the old one up and I just didn’t really like the look of it. But when she did it, I kind of like didn’t, she was going to try this, and experiment with that, so I’m like, “Hey, do whatever you want, as long as people can go up there and look at the pictures.” So I think, we took that old one down, ‘cause I wanted to try like a really simple, grayish, just like you said, real minimal, where it’s nothing but, you know, the necessary text and some artwork. And some things. So we totally erased the old site, and while we were thinking about that, you know, she got caught up in a lot of different things, and couldn’t do it fast enough. So we’re getting back on track with that. So we got the basic format down now, and since we erased the whole thing, I’ve just been going through my old files and picking out the ones I want ot put up. And those ones that are up there now are just some of the most recent things.

BM: I see, yeah.

TS: You know, they’re not brand new, but I figured, while I’m still getting the other sections back up, I’ll start out with the most recent things that weren’t added to the site before, and then build it up kind of backwards. And you know, newest to oldest. And so I’ve gotten those there, and I’ve been uploading files for like a week now, going through the older stuff, you know, as it’s not online yet, but the sections are being built. So I’m going through the old stuff, and I’m picking like my favorite. Since most of the new stuff’s there, I added some more new stuff that’s newer, that hasn’t been put there, and while I’m going through the older stuff, I’m kind of doing like a favorites. You know, I’ve got the Katatonia section, and then the Opeth section. And you know, the King Diamond stuff, and that kind of thing. So I’m building it a little bit at a time, and then when there’s enough there, we’re going to put it up all at once.

BM: Do you have, you sound like a fairly young guy. Do you remember the album covers of the ’70s and how cool they were, and elaborate? You know, fold-out, pop-up, booklet type stuff?

TS: Well, the thing is, you know, when they were brand new in the ’70s, I was too young to appreciate them, as far as what you’re talking about, the real elaborate works. Or you know, with the elaborate packaging or the artwork itself. But, you know, since I’ve started doing this, I’ve definitely looked at a lot of things like that. And I have gained an incredible appreciation for things like that. I mean, something, you know, even when I was a little kid and I was buying KISS albums and ACDC and stuff, even then, I liked the Back in Black cover, because it was black, or I liked the Dirty Deeds cover because, I didn’t even know what it meant, you know.

BM: [laughs]

TS: But I still kind of liked it. So I’ve always liked them, but as far as like an appreciation, I mean, when you’re eight or nine, you don’t look at the Tommy gatefold. You know, “Ooh, that looks kind of neat”, but you don’t have a, at least not for me, a real appreciation for everything that was involved.

BM: How old are you?

TS: 36.

BM: Yeah, see, you’re a fairly young guy. But see, what I was getting at with my question is, for me the album covers of the ’70s were everything. I loved them. And then when CD’s came in, it was gone. It was just instantly gone. But now your covers to me, make the artwork just as exciting as it used to be in the ’70s. So that’s–

TS: Well, that’s saying something. I really appreciate hearing that. Well, I kind of, that’s one thing that I kind of feel the same way. ‘Cause like you said, now I have kind of a retrospective appreciation, I mean, looking at Pink Floyd The Wall on CD, yeah, I had that on vinyl when I was a kid, and that was just amazing. You know, even like I said, but with perspective, now I appreciate it much more. But then, it was just like, “Oh cool.”

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

TS: But I mean, even now, I appreciate something like that on vinyl, you know, exactly what you’re saying, it’s much better in the vinyl format. Sometimes, when I’m doing a booklet or something, I’ll try to put, you know, if there’s time and the ideas are flowing, I really like to do multiple photos. And keep each one a little bit simple. That’s something I learned later on. A lot of my early stuff, it was you know, “How much can I throw in here to tell the story?” Where later I learned it’s not what you throw in, it’s what you leave out. You know, it’s what’ll tell the story exactly like it need to be said? You can use the other parts inside to continue it. But I feel the same was as you do, I have an appreciation for that. And with the CD, you have less to work with as far as the way it’s presented.

BM: Yeah.

TS: So I kind of, instead of a big canvas, I try to take all the pieces of the canvas and try to do something with it as one continuous thing. You know?

BM: And it works. Now, for me, I look forward to the art with CDs just as much as the music. So now, it’s come full circle, and it’s a total package now. I really appreciate that about what you’re doing.

TS: Well, thank you. Yeah, that’s one thing I try to do, and I think a lot of that, no small part is, one of the CDs I remember standing out in my mind about the same time I really started doing this for real, was that Megadeth Euthanasia one.

BM: Oh yeah.

TS: And you know, Hugh Syme’s always been one of my favorites. And I looked at that, and I realized you know, he’s got like a, there’s a different picture for every page, or every lyric has it’s own story. I really liked the way he did that, so that’s kind of something either consciously or subconsciously that I kept in my mind. Sometimes I do really like the minimalist approach, though. Because like, you know, when CD’s first came out, like if you even look at the back of the original Abigail CD or Master of Puppets, it’s just like a flat color with the song titles.

BM: Yeah.

TS: And sometimes I actually like that. You know, I’ll do that myself sometimes now, ‘cause it just, sometimes it fits. Or like, Fates Warning Parallels.

BM: Oh, that’s great, yeah.

TS: I mean, that is one of the most minimalist layouts I’ve ever seen, but at the same time, I think it’s so elegant. I mean, I love the whole thing. Just the way he kept the textures going with the really classy photos.

BM: That’s great.

TS: And the nice lyrics, you know, all laid out. I really love that clean approach a lot, as well. ‘Cause sometimes it doesn’t feel right, trying to cram a whole bunch of artwork in, you know?

BM: Yeah.

TS: Sometimes, it’s just like, if you have a really nice cover and a back cover, that sometimes if you put too much in, it might overshadow it. So it just depends.

BM: Another artist you said you like is Dave McKean, and I can definitely see some of his style in yours, with some of the covers. He’s got a quirky way of approaching things where he uses a lot of photographs too, it appears.

TS: Yeah. Yeah, he’s one of my favorites for sure. He, it’s kinda weird with him, you know a lot of people have talked to me about that before. And they’re like, you know, “He’s obviously an influence on you. Are you trying to copy him or whatever?”

BM: No, I wouldn’t say that at all.

TS: One thing I told him, it’s like, I don’t know if I could copy him.

BM: [laughs]

TS: He’s like, he’s just too, you couldn’t try to copy that guy.

BM: No. [laughs]

TS: And have it work.

BM: Yeah, I know it.

TS: So there’s a couple things, a couple reasons that I do like his stuff so much. First of all, a lot of his stuff, when I first discovered him — I think it was on some CDs and a couple of Sandman covers — and a lot of his things look like the drawings that I used to do, like for Psychotic Waltz flyers and things like that, when I would just draw. And that’s one thing I like about the computer, is because, and photography, is ‘cause it can take some of the things I drew on paper, and you can — ‘cause I’m not really a good painter. I couldn’t paint something like that at all. I mean, it would just look terrible. I mean, I can’t channel it from my–if I have a pencil or a pen, I can do a really nice drawing. But you don’t want to put a weird pen, like ball-point pen drawing on a CD cover. So when I discovered the computer, I actually found out that I can actually, with the computer, I can channel within my mind, and have it come out. And it actually goes to my hand and comes out the way I want it to. That’s why I’m so, that’s why I click so much with the digital thing. And so there was that, but at the same time, that was about the same time I discovered Dave McKean. And that was a little bit before I actually knew what Photoshop was. And his stuff just looked so surreal and so foreign to me. I’m like, “Well, this is a photograph, but I don’t understand how he did this, because I know some photographers.” Keep in mind, I had never heard of Photoshop at this time. I didn’t even know this kind of thing was possible. And you know, I have a couple of photographer friends, and I’m like, “How are they doing this, because this part looks like a painting, you know.” I think one of the covers was Testament Low, and it’s obviously a photograph. There’s the leaves on the ground, and that’s a man, he’s with light, and he’s blurred. And I was asking my photographer friends, you know, “How is this possible?” And they were saying, “Well, we have methods to do things like that, but you can’t pull that kind of thing.” And they’re like, and they were older as well, so they weren’t familiar with Photoshop either. And so they couldn’t answer my question. So I was just like, ok, I’ll just appreciate it for what it is. And I kinda, you know, stopped thinking about it. And then, it was about a month later where I discovered Photoshop. And so I kinda learned, I played around and finally figured out what you could do with it. And I tried this one tool, and the result was, you know, I was, like I said, I had some textures going, and I has some elements here, and I was just experimenting with the tools. And I tried this one thing, and totally on accident, and the result was exactly what I was looking at with Dave McKean’s stuff. It was like the fade out, and the light, but the way this part’s clear, you know, like on that guy’s torso, this part is clear, but this part’s blurry. And then there’s these cracks in his chest. You know, I had this texture, right, that I dropped over the image. And I experimented with this tool, and it made the exact same effect. And so then, I’m like, ok, this is how he does that. And at that point, I had such an appreciation for him, that when that kind of effect came up, that’s what looked right to me. It was like, “Oh, that’s how you’re supposed to do this.”

BM: [laughs]

TS: And so at first, I’ve actually thrown away a couple of ideas in the past, because they were too much like McKean. And that’s not to say that the quality was there, but it was just like, well this looks like you were trying to get that, but you failed, you know? And so, over time I kind of learned how to take what I learned and develop it into, you know, not my own thing, just something, into something that wasn’t, you know, something a little more individual, I guess.

BM: Yeah.

TS: Where, just because it looks like that, doesn’t mean it’s right. Try to find, try to do something with it for yourself and see what you can do. I mean, now you know how to use this, so see what you can do. Don’t try to do the same thing. And then I kind of went with it from there, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since, basically. But he, yeah, on that note, he was definitely a big influence, for those reasons.

BM: Well let me ask you one more question, and then I’ll let you get back to things there. And I do appreciate this a whole lot.

TS: Oh no. It’s no problem.

BM: Tell me something. This may be a hard question to answer, and I’m not sure you can, but what is it about you, your own personality, that produces these types of art images? Because, in other words, what did you put into you to get these out? Did you, were you raised on books or comic books or horror movies, or what went in to get this out?

TS: That’s, well, I can answer that. I mean, I can, but I don’t know if I can answer it very simply. It’s a combination of all that. You know, I spent most of, a lot of my time early on reading books and listening to metal and watching movies, you know, and other people were out getting in fights and stuff, and I was sitting in my room reading comics and playing video games and stuff like that.

BM: [laughs]

TS: So it, I don’t have really, you know, compared to some people I don’t have the life experience, but I’ve always liked to draw. And I’ve always come up with, you know, reading books or movies or whatever, you kind of get these ideas about things, and you know, so you kind of come up with your own little twisted kid ideas. I was always drawing pictures like that. And as you grow older, you know, you kind of keep the same kinds of things, you know, the superficial fantasies, whether they’re scary or beautiful, they’re things that are appealing to you. And then as you grow up, they’re things that affect you more. And it’s just sometimes they combine. And maybe a lot of my ideas are just things I’d like to see, or what if they looked like this, or what if this good thing was doomed to go bad at some point, or what if there’s a feeling of no hope, but over here’s the hope, you don’t see it from here yet. So how do, I don’t know, I just try to think of all these scenarios, and then, and a way to realize them in one or two images, you know? And I just kind of take a little bit of thoughts from here and there, you know. Like I said, brutal fantasy things or horror things, or you know, emotional things, or a little symbol. And I just kind of try to tie them all together. That’s a really hard question to explain, actually. That’s kinda–

BM: No, that’s a great explanation. And a couple things you said, the emotion part I get quite well. ‘Cause a lot of these things resonate with me a lot. There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of passion in this artwork. But you know, another thing I see in it though, is almost a bleakness. I mean, if you had to look at all of them combined, maybe that’s the genre of metal. Maybe that’s what I’m seeing here visually, but you don’t seem like a bleak kind of guy, but the kind of stuff you produce is often very scary or spooky or you know, twisted in some way. So how, that’s not coming from your personality, is it?

TS: Not necessarily. Sometimes you have those moods where things like feel really bleak. You’re having a bad week, you know, how are you gonna get through the week, or there’s a problem. You know, not necessarily, it’s not necessarily indicative of anything real specific, but you just kind of have that mood sometimes. Sometimes there’s a bleakness because, I don’t know, maybe the picture has like a character. And it’s just supposed to be like nothing there, because for a couple reasons. It might take the focus off them. I might have this one point, I just want this one part to tell the story, and adding too much might take away from that, so I’ll leave it simple. Or, sometimes it’s there to maybe convey a feeling of emptiness or loneliness or you know, and with that might come independence. Like when there’s no one you can depend on, you have to find it in yourself. You have to find strength in yourself. Or maybe that’s the way this person, maybe the image you see on the cover is not exactly the way things are, but maybe this, the protagonist, that may be how they’re seeing the world. You know, there might be nothing there, or there might be ugliness, or there might be some ugliness with one little niceness. You know, one little positive thing. Or it might be the reverse, you know.

BM: Is there…? Go ahead.

TS: So you’re right, with the metal thing, there is a lot of that. I mean, it’s almost built in, because I’ve, and I think, I don’t know. That’s one of the things that makes it more appealing to me, because it’s, I think that gives it a little more feeling. And there’s always the story with it. And there’s something I can, whether I can relate to it or not, it’s something that always makes me feel something or connect. And you know, that’s really inspiring for me, for whatever reason. I don’t have a definite answer as far as that goes. But I do know that some of the times, you know, with a certain band or a certain lyric, I know exactly what they’re taking about, and I know the feeling that they have.

BM: Yeah, that’s it. Yeah, that’s a good way to put that.

TS: And a lot of times, even if it’s not supposed to be literally bleak, the bleakness gives it that intention. Or it gives that mood.

BM: Is there one of your covers that you most resonate with? Perhaps even colors. Because I’m looking at your home page right now, and I’m seeing the Triggering Myth cover [The Remedy of Abstraction], for some reason I love that. I think there’s certain colors you use, maybe these deep blues like that ship tossed about on the ocean there, that I resonate with. Something about those colors. Is there some stuff that you do that really just pleases you inside? Like you look at it and you just think, “Oh geeze, that’s me. That’s me inside.” You know what I’m trying to say?

TS: I know what you’re trying to say. I can’t think of one, there are a few that do that. I can’t think of one that does that completely. About the colors, some of those covers, ok, you mentioned two. So like, the Triggering Myth, they didn’t suggest the blue. But the way that is, is there’s a little spot of ugliness happening in the picture, and the rest was not, the rest is supposed to be the outside where it’s not so ugly. And I thought, there’s one of the lines where, in that album, where “after my house is burned down, I can see the moon.”

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

TS: Its, I thought it was brilliant. It’s a way of, when things are very wrong, it’s a way to look at them positively. It’s almost the way to see the bight, the silver lining in the cloud.

BM: Oh yeah, yeah.

TS: And I thought that was just a brilliant line. And that’s where that cover came from, because sometimes I feel like that myself. But I didn’t want, when I did that one, it was supposed to look a little bit stylized, and you can tell what’s going on, but the outside was supposed to be a little bit more serene. And so that’s where that came from. And blue just seemed to be a natural choice for that one. It wasn’t anything personal or, it just seemed to fit. And for the cold colors with the ship sinking, that was, you know, the band suggested like a dark blueish gray. You know? And so I went with that, and that one just kind of became what it was on its own. You know, that’s the way I started with that one, so that’s the way it finished. Other times I’ll try a couple different color tones. Lately, I’ve been kinda, a lot of my covers lately have been one color over a bunch of colors. And I’m trying to work on some things now that have a little bit more color in them. But when I do something like that that has a dominant color, I’ll do it a couple different ways. It’s like, I might see this photo for me, it looks better to me as a golden orange or a red or something. But that color doesn’t seem to fit the idea of the image, so I might try a yellow version, and then go over and do a grayish version or do a couple, change the tones a little bit. And then I might send more than one of those to the band and see which one they like better. Like for the new Katatonia, Anders [Nystrom, guitar] told me, “We want to do something red.” And that was the first thing he said.

BM: [laughs]

TS: And he’s like, “And I mean, a lot of red. We just want something, you know, every Katatonia album had a color. Like this is the blue album, this is the silver album. This time we wanna do red.” And that was the first thing he told me.

BM: Really?

TS: And at first, that was the only thing he told me, “We just want to do something red.” And I’ve always been real good with working with them. I’ve been able to take their thought, I mean they’re, like I said, they’re one of my favorite bands to work with. And this is one of those reasons, i just, I’m real connected with them for some reason. I mean, they’ll tell me something, and I can just run with it. And it’s always right. And even if it isn’t right, it’s almost right, and it just takes a little bit of work. And they’re just real easy to work with when something is wrong. Like, “Well, this is the only thing I see different.” And the communication is just always there. And it’s just always a great experience. And, but like I said, the Katatonia thing, that wasn’t my pick. They just said, “We want to do something red.” And I’m like, “Well, what should we do?” “We don’t know, but we don’t want it to look like the last one.”

BM: [laughs]

TS: “The last couple have looked, you know, they’ve looked similar in the way they’ve looked, and we want to do something red and stark and different and simple.” And so I kind of threw some things down on that one. You know, that’s a good example. And for the Morphis, that’s on my site, and that’s kind of a gold tone. I started, I did a couple different things for that one. I did some that were a real dark blueish gray with some orange highlights in it, like a nighttime sky. And I did some that were a real washed out kind of bluish aqua for a water feel. And I did a couple of those gold ideas, and they were real happy with that, ‘cause it looked, for them it looked a little bit old and primitive. You know, they said it looked really primitive, the gold, the scratchy gold gave it a really old and primitive look, which was exactly what they were going for. So I kind of ran with that as well. So there’s sometimes the colors are suggested by the band, either at the beginning or along the way. Or sometimes, I’ll do a couple different things that I’m feeling, and sometimes it’s feel, and sometimes it’s just arbitrary as far as what I feel makes the image look better. And I can’t always decide. I’ll be like, “I’m not sure which one I like better.” And they’ll be like, “Well I like this one.” And that, you know, narrows it down.

BM: [laughs] Well, that’s great. I appreciate your time, Travis. I really do.

TS: Oh, well I really appreciate it too. I mean, I hope it was good, because like I said, sometimes I have trouble finding everything I want to say without taking too long.

BM: No. It was perfect. It was one of my favorite interviews.

TS: Maybe you can fix that. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] It was great. I really appreciate it. And I’m looking forward to your next–what are you working on next? What do you got on the burner for you, what’s the next album?

TS: Well, right now I’m doing, I’m working with a band called Moon Sorrow on their thing. And I’m working, might be trying out some ideas for the new November’s Doom. And another Winds album, which should turn out really cool. That one and the November’s Doom, if they go with this, are going to look real nice. I’ve got a couple things, Redemption. That’s almost done.

BM: Cool.

TS: And I might be trying out some ideas for Tarja from Nightwish for her solo thing. And, which I’m real excited about.

BM: Well, yeah. I thought she dropped out of sight. I was wondering what she was going to do. So now she’s coming back to the scene, and you’re helping her do it, huh?

TS: Yeah. She’s, I just started talking to her manager a couple days ago, so I’m still seeing how that goes. I don’t think it’s set in stone yet, but that’s one of the things I’m trying some ideas for. Hopefully that’s not tooting my own horn before it happens, or counting your chickens, as they say.

BM: [laughs]

TS: Yeah, so it’s a few things like that.

BM: Very cool. Well, thank you so much, Travis. I appreciate your time. You have a good rest of the day there.

TS: Thank you very much. You do the same.

BM: Thank you. Bye bye.

TS: Bye.

Travis Smith’s official web site is www.seempieces.com. You can also see a nice display of his CD covers on the Rate Your Music web site (www.rateyourmusic.com). Just search for “Travis Smith.”

Travis told me that he sells signed artwork. Any cover that he’s done. Just ask. His price is extremely reasonable, too. (And, believe me, I’ll be turning in my order soon.) To contact Travis — for signed artwork or to commission him to work on your band’s album art — use the contact form on his official site.

Leatherwolf is a legendary band. Big in the 1980s, disappeared for a while, and now back with a vengeance. Big time. Their latest CD, World Asylum, is metal from start to finish, thanks to new members Wade Black on vocals, Eric Halpern on guitar, Pete Perez on bass and original members Geoff Gayer on guitar and Dean Roberts on drums. I recently spoke with Dean about Leatherwolf’s past, present, and future.

BM: Hello.

DR: Hey, it’s Dean.

BM: Hi, Dean. How are you?

DR: I’m good, how are you?

BM: Doing well. Doing very well. I appreciate your time this evening.

DR: My pleasure.

BM: Let’s chat a little bit about Leatherwolf and the new album, and what audiences can expect from you guys at ProgPower.

DR: What can they expect? Play old songs and new songs, and high-energy Leatherwolf.

BM: Well, tell me about the new album, first of all. It’s fantastic. How has it been received so far?

DR: It’s been positive and negative, but you know, what can you expect when you switch out some members and you switch out the singer? Some people are gonna be happy and some people are gonna be sad.

BM: [laughs]

DR: You know, I mean some people are hooked on “The Calling” and “Hideaway,” and some people are just loving “Behind the Gun” and “King of the Ward,” you know?

BM: Yep.

DR: So, it’s better than I expected.

BM: Well, tell me about the tracks on the album here. If I mention the track titles, can you tell me kinda what’s going on with that song?

DR: In what aspect?

BM: Oh, what it’s about, where the lyrics came from, who came up with the idea or what you remember?

DR: Ok.

BM: Tell me about the opening track, “I Am the Law.”

DR: Ok. “I Am the Law,” Geoff and I wrote that, like, five years ago. Vocals were just kind of thrown together, mainly by him, and then by me. You know, it went through changes over the years. But of all the songs, that one has least of a story line that we followed.

BM: [laughs]

DR: [laughs] You know, ’cause we just got sick of that song.

BM: Really?

DR: Yeah, well it’s been frickin’ five years, so it’s, not that it’s a bad song, we just kinda got over it. It almost didn’t make the cut at the end of the day, but somebody else outside of me and Geoff picked it.

BM: Oh, that’s cool.

DR: ‘Cause we recorded 13 tunes.

BM: Oh yeah. And now there’s 10 on the album, so there’s three hanging around somewhere out there?

DR: There’s actually four, yeah.

BM: Really?

DR: Yeah.

BM: Are they ever gonna see the light of day somewhere?

DR: You never know, dude. It’s all, if the record does well, then we’ve got thousands more songs that we can draw from history. And if it doesn’t, then, you know, what can you do?

BM: Yeah, I hear you. What about track two, “King of the Ward”?

DR: “King of the Ward” was mainly written by a guy named Chris Adams, who was working with that song, you know, like four or five years ago. And Geoff came up with some of the words with him, and he came up with some of the chorus. [sings: I’m not perfect, I confess, I’m no different from the rest.”] But that’s kind of, just like a guy whose kind of sick at it, looking at his life going, “What the heck? What am I doing here?” You know? And then, going back to that line, [sings: “I’m not perfect, I confess, I’m no different from the rest.”] It’s, you know, now it’s time to get out of here, basically. And that was Geoff and Chris mainly that basically did all that song. And that’s just my take on it, but talking to Geoff, I think that’s the message they were trying to convey.

BM: Cool. What about track three, “Behind the Gun”?

DR: Geoff wrote the majority of that, and that’s just about a father and a son having a conflict. And just a bunch of little elements about that. Where somebody dies and the son wonders if the father did it.

BM: [laughs] A song with a mystery, a whodunit metal song.

DR: It’s a whodunit. Who done that?

BM: [laughs] How ’bout track four, “Live or Die”?

DR: That was mainly mine and Geoff’s melody. Geoff mainly came up with the melodies. I started to try to dick around with that one, and I just couldn’t come up with nothing, really. I came up with some pieces. But then Geoff and I sat down, Geoff already had melodies for it and he already had words for it, so we mainly did that. And I had some verses for it that kinda migrated their way in there. And Wade even had a couple of words for Geoff’s melodies. So that song was just thrown together in like two hours. And that one’s kind of about like a kingdom that was gonna rebel against the king and take over power. That’s what we started talking about as we started writing those words.

BM: What about “Disconnect”?

DR: “Disconnect.” You’re gonna have to ask Geoff about that, ’cause he wrote that whole deal from beginning to end. And my take on it was it’s about kids and computer games, and there’s just something evil in the computer that they’re battling against. You know, everyone’s gonna have a different take on it.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

DR: I know talking to Geoff, that’s what he said, you know, when we just did an interview the other day, he was talking along those lines about that particular tune.

BM: Cool. What about “Dr. Wicked”?

DR: That’s another one that’s Geoff. I had a couple lines in there, but he wrote that about Kevorkian.

BM: Oh yeah, yep.

DR: And then, and I just threw in the one line at the very end, where it says, “Torn from the heart we are all super sick.” I tried to add something a little positive in there, about something that is not so negative.

BM: [laughs]

DR: You know, misery–I get sick of misery and hopelessness, you know?

BM: Well, yeah.

DR: But this song said to me, “There’s gotta be a reason. Why?” [laughs]

BM: Why. [laughs] Yeah, why.

DR: It basically goes, “I stepped away from my love and that’s why I’m in hell.”

BM: Yeah. [laughs] What about “Institutions”?

DR: That’s another one by Geoff, but that song’s been, you know, that song’s a good five, six years old too. And it was always the same up to the, you know where it turns into that [sings guitar riff], that came up at the end, right during the finishing of the other song, Geoff came up with that idea. And then he added all of his guitar stuff and he added his verses for the end. And that middle section was, me and him sat down, and he had some stuff that his dad had written down. That first line is something his father wrote about a story, which maybe Geoff would have a better idea what it was, I couldn’t get a grip on what it was. But it was something about something not being right in the world.

BM: Oh, you could write a lot of songs about that. [laughs]

DR: Well, there’s always a lot of that going on, but it is the way it is, man. So there must be something right about it.

BM: Yeah. True. [laughs] How ’bout “Derailed”?

DR: That’s one that Geoff came up with everything. He came up with the chorus, and he had different verses written for it, and then you know, Wade stepped in after everything was already done, and he came up with an idea just for the melodies. And so we thought, “Hey, you know, it could go either way. So we let him, “Hey, that’s good, you write the melodies.” And he wrote some of the words, Geoff wrote the chorus, I wrote some of the words, and we just pieced it together, you know, like on the spot.

BM: Yeah. Let’s see, “The Grail,” is it?

DR: Yeah, “The Grail.” That’s another song that’s, the melodies were already written. Jeff Martin from Rex Records sang it once. And but mainly, Geoff had wrote the first words, all the melodies, and then after that didn’t work out with Jeff Martin, we sat down and we changed some of the melodies. And Geoff wrote the first, the intro verses, and then I wrote the words for the rest of the song. And I kinda wrote it around the Holy Grail, just the story. You know, the hero’s adventure, and I was kind of trying to piece it together, just like The Fisher King with Robin Williams.

BM: Oh yeah, it’s a great movie.

DR: Yeah, so I was trying to you know, revolve it around that story in those particular timeframe, you know? And this was my first time actually writing words, trying to fit a story into a structure that’s already done.

BM: [laughs]

DR: So it was a little tricky, you know?

BM: Well, yeah.

DR: So that’s like one of my favorite songs, because I kinda like the, you know, the six minute songs that have tons of different part and have killer leads, like “Rise or Fall” or “Gypsies and Thieves.”

BM: Oh yeah.

DR: That’s one of my type of songs. I’m kinda glad that I got to, my story kinda stuck, it didn’t get canned.

BM: [laughs] How ’bout the last track, “Never Again.”

DR: There’s one again, Geoff already had the melodies written, and he wrote most if not all the words, and that was kind of like an Ozzy deal. You know, he was gonna do those short liners and put leads in between. But once again, it’s about hopeless and misery and gosh, what the heck, it can never get better, and blah, you know?

BM: [laughs] Gee, you don’t sound real happy about that.

DR: Well, it’s the state of affairs, man.

BM: Yeah.

DR: [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well tell me about this album as a whole. First of all, Leatherwolf’s been around a long time. And you’re one of the original members, correct?

DR: Well, it’s not really like we’ve been around a long time. We were a band from like ‘80 to ‘89, and then we stopped being a band ’til ‘99. And we only got together for a couple weeks, to record a record and go play a show. And since then, we haven’t really been a band. We tried to get together and make a record, but the majority of the guys have, you know, real jobs. Which, me and Geoff do, but we still said, “Hey, you know, fuck it. We’re gonna finish this record.” And so we’re the only two that actually went in and did it. So it was easy to find, you know, a bass player to play some of the songs, even though Geoff had to replay five of the tunes on the record. It was just tricky finding a singer that could sing in the range we wanted to have the song sing in. And so, you know, that’s one of the reasons that it took so long to, you know, finish it up. ‘Cause Mikey [Olivieri, vocals, guitar] was, during the process Mikey was kind of in and kind of out. But then at the end of the day, he said, “Dudes, this is out of my range and I don’t really want to sing metal.”

BM: Well, yeah, I guess it’s a different sound now. Your early ’80s stuff sounds like the ’80s. It sounds like, I hate to say the phrase “hair band” sound, but it’s got the Motley Crue, Dokken, Ratt kind thing going. Now, this new album is extremely aggressive, very metal, and heavy. So I can see how you’d need a Wade Black sort of guy rather than a Mike Olivieri.

DR: Well, you know, Wade’s more of a metal singer. Mike’s got a little more melody, Mike’s got a little more–he’s a little more, well, he played with us for years and years and years before we even started recording. So you know, he had a better grip on the songs.

BM: Oh yeah.

DR: On how they should have been sang. He didn’t quite have the range, but they were still great. And if you look at our first record, I mean, a majority of it, 90% is just like these songs that we’re. It’s just as we went to Island, we had less time writing, you know, so some of the easier stuff got accepted by the labels, and we let it slide by. You know, “Hideaway,” “The Calling,” you know, “Thunder,” “Street Ready,” stuff like that.

BM: Well, what made you guys come back now? LIke you said, you haven’t really been a band since, what, ‘89 or so? Off and on.

DR: It was more just the determination to finish this record.

BM: Ok.

DR: You know, me and Geoff had started, and we said, “Ok, no matter what, we’re gonna finish it. No matter who’s in it or where it goes, we’re gonna finish it.” So that’s what we did. And what we just didn’t really think about is playing the shows. ‘Cause it’s really hard to learn that style of music with guys that live all over the United States, and have day jobs. You know? So that’s still something me and Geoff are trying to tackle right now, you know?

BM: Well, is this something that–is this a one-off gig for you? Or is Leatherwolf back to stay for a while?

DR: Well, it all depends on the dollar.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

DR: If we can go play and it not cost money and put a couple pennies in our pockets, then we’re in. But if there is no money, ’cause there is no label, then you know, it’s a done deal.

BM: What does this feel like then, when you play gigs? You’ve played a few gigs here and there, and obviously you’re gonna be at ProgPower. Does this feel like a new chapter for you, or does this feel like, gosh, you’re playing sort of a nostalgia playlist? What does it feel like to be in the band right now.

DR: Oh, it’s a lot of fun, it’s just different getting used to playing with guys that you’ve only played with for two weeks, compared to guys that you played with for, you know, eight years. It’s a different level of playing as a unit compared to playing together for a week and then playing shows. So it’s different in that aspect, but with the new songs, the energy level is good. And Wade, Wade, he’s got a lot of energy in the way he sings and the way he, you know, plays on stage. So I mean, in a nutshell, I would say that we’re still trying to play together enough times to where we feel comfortable playing with each other.

BM: Well, I’m looking forward to seeing it live, ’cause it has an awful lot of energy on the disc. Are you finding that translates well to the stage?

DR: Well, the shows that we’ve played, the record wasn’t out, so we mainly played older tunes. And we played like two or three new tunes. So it’s–there are certain songs that are tricky because there are three guitars going on, and we don’t have that right at this particular point. But we are, we’re trying to figure out if we can financially add, get Mikey to come play, and to sing, and to have three guitars.

BM: That would be great. That was your claim to fame back then, wasn’t it? Three guitar assault?

DR: Well, I would say you were right, if I got famous.

BM: [laughs]

DR: But I never got famous, so… I guess it was our reject to fame.

BM: [laughs]

DR: You could put it that way, you could say, “Well, that’s the reason you didn’t. You know, with two guitar players you might have. Maybe if you got rid of that extra guitar tech, you might have actually been somebody.” You know, you could go on for days.

BM: [laughs] Well, how does it feel to you to be playing drums again with the band? Is it like, “Whoa, this is where I belong.” or how does it feel? What is it like?

DR: For me?

BM: Mmhm.

DR: It’s a lot funner, because I’ve been sober for a while, so now I can put 100% of my talents to playing on the record, making the record, and playing live shows. Before, I was a little bit too much of a partier, and didn’t get to be much involved in the making of the songs. You know, I just stepped in and played other people’s music. So for me, and Geoff, with me playing with Geoff and being able to write songs with him, and participate in putting it together, it’s been really exciting for me. Now the rest of the business part has been a frickin’ headache.

BM: [laughs] Oh, I can imagine.

DR: Finding a singer, fronting the shows, all that shows, that’s been kind of a headache. And that’s been the only bummer about it. But see, there’s some other good things. We’re starting to show up on the charts. On one chart, we’re number 14 for record of the year for heavy metal, for all metal, like black metal, or fucking, or frickin’ all kinds of music. In Flames got number one on that particular one. And the only two other metal bands that beat us was Beyond Fear and I forgot what the other heavy metal band was. But that’s pretty good, for, you know, we recorded this ourselves in the garage at my house.

BM: Oh really?

DR: Yeah.

BM: Well, it’s got a great sound, you did a great job. Were you also the engineer for that?

DR: I’m the–Geoff and I were both producers and engineers on this. The only thing we went out of me and him was just mixing. We flew to Denmark and mixed with Jacob Hansen.

BM: Wow. Well, what have you been doing then, between–you must have stayed pretty close to the music scene if you can–

DR: No. I haven’t played drums from ‘98 to ‘99. I didn’t ever play a drum set.

BM: Really? Just for that year, or from ‘99 until now?

DR: From ‘89 to ‘99 I never played a drum set. And from ‘99 to now, I just played drums on a couple of shows. And when me and Geoff did this, put this record together, we just sat in a room and played on a little trigger set to piece the songs together. And then when it came to recording–see, that’s the thing, it’s not like we rehearsed these songs. We just put them together and sat behind a computer, and I figured out what I wanted to play. Then I set up my drums and I recorded them. So that’s how this particular thing went through. It’s just recently I started preparing to play live shows, and frickin’ trying to polish up my drumming ability.

BM: How has it been for you? Is it like riding a bike, it just all comes back?

DR: You pick up where you left off, but you know, it’s changed a lot. You know, there’s a lot more killer drummers out there that know a lot of stuff. I bought some drum videos and just learned some of their techniques, ’cause they’re phenomenal musicians. So I’ve been just–in a way it is like starting over, because when I was younger, I didn’t really take it as seriously as I am now, trying to master my trade, you know?

BM: Had you kept up listening to music over the periods of time after Leatherwolf stopped? What did you do? Did you just quit music entirely?

DR: I just quit music entirely. ‘Cause you know, we kind of had a sour ending to Leatherwolf, and I just sat back and figured out, “What do I want to do? Do I want to play for another band, or do I just want to get a career and make some money?” And I just decided, you know, I’m more the type that likes to just play with one group of guys. And I didn’t really want to get into meeting new guys, playing in a new band as a hired gun, and having to deal with this stuff and saying, “I don’t even like these guys.”

BM: [laughs] Yeah. Wow.

DR: Kinda like that.

BM: So this album then, could be a pivot point for your career and your life, then, couldn’t it? Or is it set up to where if it doesn’t work, it’s no big deal?

DR: Yeah, if it doesn’t work, it’s no big deal. I don’t–I’m a roofer, I have a roofing company, which is aka Professional Tanning. [pause] You missed that, huh?

BM: That’s great, I love that. [laughs]

DR: [laughs] He’s a roofer, he’s a professional tanner. You know, margarita and a frickin’ lounge chair. “Hey go get that row. That row’s crooked. Straighten up there, buddy! Jesus, I’ll have to fire your ass!” So you know, it’s only that through my company where we were able to fund this. And you know, be able to make it happen. Yeah, ‘cause we got no love from the labels, we got no love from anybody. You know, everybody said we were finished and done and over the hill, you know, just live off your history. And me and Geoff said, you know, “Fuck that shit, man. There’s still miles of music left in us. And now we’re a little bit older.” And that was the weird thing for me, we got older and we wrote heavier. That’s weird, you know, I mean, no one does that.

BM: Yeah.

DR: And even people that work with us, they said, “Dude, you’re not gonna be able to top “Rise or Fall,” or frickin’ “Gypsies and Thieves” and you know, “Black Knight” and all that junk.” And they heard the record, and they go, “Dude. This is good.” [laughs] “You guys are good, you proved me wrong. You still got it.”

BM: So how does this feel to have accomplished this? Is this like a big thing for you, or is it just one thing along a string of a whole bunch of them? Do you have a great feeling from this album?

DR: I’m fully satisfied with the song writing, I’m fully satisfied with the performances on the record. I’m still concerned that we can’t rehearse as much as I’d like and get this thing nailed down to where we come to the shows, and we, you know, just kill it. If this thing takes off, we’re going to be able to get into our top performance and be able to smoke.

BM: So, between now and ProgPower in September, are you guys getting together a lot to rehearse?

DR: Yeah, me and Geoff and the bass player are. The guitar player right now lives in Texas and Wade lives in Florida, and we got three shows the weekend before ProgPower. Or I guess two weekends before ProgPower, we’re gonna you know, play together as a band. And then when we come to ProgPower, we’re gonna sit in the studio for a full day and make sure that we can deliver. Work out any problems that we have reproducing what we’re doing.

BM: Well, of the albums, of the groups that are out there right now, do you listen to any of them? Are any of them like inspiration to you, or do you pretty much keep focused on Leatherwolf and don’t listen to other things?

DR: I don’t really listen to that much other kind of music. Geoff does, he’s got his finger on certain bands, like Children of Bodom. He likes the guys that are just phenomenal guitar players, and that write melodies, that are actually good musicians.

BM: Oh yeah.

DR: And that was one, that was up on the top. And there were a couple more that he was saying he really liked. I’m not sure what Wade listens to and what Eric does.

BM: How does–

DR: But even writing these songs, it wasn’t like we were trying to be somebody else or trying to copy some other style. We just sat down and you know, Geoff would come up with a melody, or he would sit in his room for a few days and come up with some melodies, and we would piece them together, I mean a rhythm. And he would sit back and come up with the melodies.

BM: I was gonna ask you something about your earlier albums. At one point on your web site you had them remastered, rereleased, first three CDs. Are those still around anymore? or are they out of print?

DR: No, I got ‘em.

BM: You still have them for sale?

DR: Mmhm.

BM: Do you really? Wow?

DR: Yeah.

BM: How could someone get a hold of them, like myself? How do I get them from, do you have like a web site where you sell them?

DR: You just go to Leatherwolf music [www.leatherwolfmusic.com], and then you e-mail the web master, and then you place the order, and you pay for it, and we send them out to you. We get some random ones. It’s not like a big demand. There’s more of a demand in Europe.

BM: Cool. Well, I’ll do that then. I like the downloads here and there, the couple of tracks you feature from each one. It sounds great. I love that sound, by the way. I love the old Leatherwolf sound a lot. I like the new one too, but there’s something about that sound from the ’80s for example, maybe I’m just stuck there, but I love that guitar sound. There’s a tone and a style back then that I really enjoy. So it’d be great–

DR: Well, yeah. Those all, Mike and Carey [Howe, guitarist] got together, it’s just some chemistry, you know? I mean, it’s rare you get guys that have known each other for frickin’, I mean that stay together for the length that they did and you know, write music. I’m sure they got, it’s like a friendship, you’ve got something special.

BM: Do you still keep in touch with the guys?

DR: Yeah. I talk to Mikey all the time, we’re in the middle of trying to make a greatest hits Leatherwolf record, and update the recordings, and just re-record our like, 14 favorite songs. And rerelease a record.

BM: This is looking pretty good then. I like what I’m hearing. It sounds like it could be a turning point musically. If this think keeps going the way it’s going with reviews and sales and everything. How are sales going, by the way?

DR: I’m not sure. It’s only been out for a month so we don’t really know. I see tons of reviews, and there’s tons of good ones and tons of bad ones.

BM: [laughs]

DR: Everyone’s comparing it to the old Leatherwolf. So some of the ones that are stuck in “Hideaway” and “The Calling” days, that was their favorite Leatherwolf song, so they’re kinda not liking the new stuff.

BM: Well, for somebody like me who only heard a little bit of Leatherwolf in the ’80s, I’m hearing this brand new, I’m liking what I’m hearing just for what it is now. I have nothing to compare it to. It sounds as good as or better than anything out there, so if anything ought to make it, it ought to be this.

DR: Well, are there any other records out this year you like, metal wise?

BM: A lot of bands that are going to be at ProgPower have some great albums out. Mercenary’s got a great sound.

DR: Yeah.

BM: Great band.

DR: So where would you put this record compared to their record?

BM: It’s got a different tonality to it. Mikkel Sandager has a great voice. More melodic than Wade’s perhaps. He can do the growly thing or the screaming thing, but he’s got a really nice melodic voice as well. And their guitar tone is considered one of the best in metal.
DR: Yeah.

BM: They have some good arrangements. They’ve been around longer as a band than this incarnation of Leatherwolf, so they’ve got a leg up on ya.

DR: Yeah. Well, see that’s the thing, is Geoff and I wrote and played most everything on that record, except for the singing. And that was all written mainly by Geoff. So it’s not like somebody new came in and wrote stuff. So that’s one of the good things about it. It stayed more close to Leatherwolf’s style. It wasn’t an outside writer coming in adding their flavor. Which might have been better or it might have been worse.

BM: [laughs] Tell me about the cover of this album. I’ll just ask you another question, then I’ll let you get back to life there. But how involved were you with choosing the artwork for the cover?

DR: Geoff and I were both involved, and we just went to a–we had on the internet, we had a couple of guys sending us some stuff. And it was ok. But at the end of the day, we talked to Joe Floyd, the warrior dude who’s our friend who helped mix one of the songs and record some of the vocals. And he turned us on to this guy named Richard. And Richard, we went and sat with him, and we told him what we wanted. We wanted something about good and evil, and it started off with having someone walking a tightrope, and you know, with good on one side and evil on the other side. And then we thought, “Well, “King of the Ward” might be the name of the album.” So someone in an insane asylum, who, he’s gone beyond his own knowledge of how miserable his life is, and he’s actually, he’s the king. And so, we just told him that, and then we came back a week later, and that was the drawing right there. And then you look at his face, and it’s like he’s saying, “I am the king.”

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

DR: [laughs] “I am the king.”

BM: Yeah.

DR: And we go, “Dude, that’s killer. It’s simple, you know, it relates to the record.” So that was the cover. We put the grail on the back, to be, you know, the hopeful side of it.

BM: [laughs] Well it is, it’s a striking cover. It’s a little creepy. It reminds me of the Iron Maiden cover, what was it, The X Factor. Something like that. It is an interesting cover.

DR: Well, yeah. I mean, he’s, it’s like you start looking at it and you can’t stop looking at it, you know? It draws you in, and you’re like, “Holy Jesus, I can’t sleep in the same room with that record.”

BM: [laughs]

DR: “I’ve gotta put in somewhere that’s safe or it’s gonna come get me.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

DR: You know what I mean?

BM: Yeah.

DR: You’re just going, “Wow, that’s weird.” It’s weird and it’s rare to get a drawing that just, you’re just like, just sucks you right in.

BM: [laughs] Well, do you guys have some more music in you right now? What, whether or not you do another album, are you like energized and creating something right now? Do you have ideas for something else?

DR: We haven’t been sitting down, thinking about the next record. We’re just trying to keep this thing together in case it does take off, so we can actually go out and you know, perform it as it should be performed. And Geoff, he’s a phenomenal songwriter, so he’s got tons of stuff in his bag, you know? So we’re not really worried about coming up with other stuff.

BM: Good.

DR: So we’ve got tons of stuff, if things do work out.

BM: Well let’s hope it does, then. I’d like to see the next album from you guys.

DR: Yeah.

BM: [laughs] And you would too, I bet, huh?

DR: Well, it would be nice to, you know, make money playing music instead of tanning, you know?

BM: [laughs]

DR: ‘Cause there’s always the risk of cancer, you know?

BM: Yeah, well, that’s true.

DR: Yeah. Especially with this weather.

BM: Yeah, wasn’t it hotter than hell out there right now, is that the deal?

DR: Oh, it’s way too hot. I did a job in LA, and it was just frickin’ brutal. You had to keep moving or your feet would burn.

BM: Geeze!

DR: It was just that hot on the roof.

BM: Well, yeah, I don’t envy that. The tanning part would be cool, but, you know, dying in the heat, I’m not into that. [laughs]

DR: Who is? But I got bills to pay.

BM: Yeah, that’s true, that’s true. Well, Dean, I appreciate your time this evening. I’ll transcribe it and put it up on the Notes From the Other Side web site, and let the ProgPower people know on their forum. But…

DR: Hey, did you grab one of the pictures from that web site?

BM: Yeah, I think so. I’ve got them here, I’ve got them in my e-mails right here. I’m going to post them up on the Notes site, if that’s all right with you.

DR: Which picture did you pick?

BM: Well, let me see. I’ve got them right here, let me take a look. There was one you sent me of you guys out looking at a vast audience, a shot from behind you looking out. Where was that taken?

DR: That was Bang Your Head.

BM: Wow, what was it like to play that?

DR: It was just fun, you know. Once again, I wasn’t really thinking about that, I was more concerned about just nailing the songs, you know, playing them good.

BM: [laughs]

DR: ‘Cause it was the first time that band’s ever played in front of a crowd like that. We’d only played two other shows prior, you know? And you know, we rehearsed for a week, played two shows and went to Europe to play that show. So I just was concerned that we played it well, you know?

BM: Well, let me look through those pictures again, I’ll let you know which one looks cool and I’ll put it up.

DR: Yeah, call me, and I’ll give you more. If you need like a 300 dpi, let me know, and I’ll show you where to get them.

BM: That would be great. That’d be really cool, to get some. I’d like to post as many as you have to give me, I’ll put them up on the site.

DR: Well here, let me forward something to you.

BM: Ok. Dean, I appreciate your time.

DR: Yeah, thank you.

BM: Thank you. Bye bye.

DR: Bye.

You can find Leatherwolf CDs by visiting their official web site, which is www.leatherwolfmusic.com, or by visiting Amazon. And, of course, for the real deal, be sure to be at the ProgPowerUSA Pre-Party show put together by the one and only Shane Dubose. Leatherwolf is hungry and ready to kick some major booty!

Well, the guys in Zero Hour outdid themselves. Again.

Obviously battling hard to unseat Shane DuBose as The Nicest Man in Metal, brothers Jasun and Troy Tipton and Chris Salinas (3/4 of California’s mighty Zero Hour) spent the past few days typing up a track-by-track analysis of their soon-to-be-released CD Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond. Last night, Jasun sent me the last installment via e-mail.

For all of you eager to experience Zero Hour’s blistering set at ProgPower USA VII, I think you’ll be twice as stoked once you see what Troy, Jasun, and Chris have to say about their CD (the name of the person who wrote each analysis is in parenthesis). Here’s what’s what, straight from the fingertips of the guys who created it:

Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond is about Specific events, memories caught in time by a photo. Visualizing the dynamic changes you’ve experienced in time. As you get older your memory fades and so do the pictures.

Track List:

1. Face The Fear

2. The Falcon’s Cry

3. Embrace

4. Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond

5. Zero Hour

6. I Am Here

7. Evidence of the Unseen

“Face the Fear”

“Face the Fear” is a song on which Troy and I got together and collaborated. This song is basically about facing your fears in life, however difficult they may be. Everybody runs into a roadblock in his/her life eventually. This song is about that. It’s about the difficulty of overcoming this fear. In two days it was dialed and ready to record. This song will always remind me of picking Troy up at the airport in San Antonio and the cool time we had working on this song. Metal. (Chris Salinas)

“The Falcon’s Cry”

While I was in Oregon, Shawn Ames and I drove to the top of these beautiful green mountains. We had to drive up this steep and narrow trail to get to the top. Once we did, we got out of the truck and looked over the edge. The view was breathtaking. It made us feel small and we were scared to get to close to the edge. After the long drive back down the mountain we went back to Shawn’s house and started working on the lyrics. We actually started working on the clean part of the song first. I started singing “At last I can breathe, At last I can see.” From there the song took shape. The story begins with an old man’s hike up to the top of the mountain. Along the way he battles predators and becomes more and more tired and cold from hiking throughout the night. Eventually he makes it to the top of the mountain and falls down to his knees in awe from the beautiful view surrounding him. He closes his eyes and raises his hands to touch the sky. As the water runs below, the falcon cries.

My buddy Manuel’s father has been dealing with Parkinson’s disease for years. The shaking got worse and worse and before all of this he use to love riding his motorcycle up to the mountains. One day he decided to buy a motorcycle so he can take a ride up the hill again. He wanted to prove to himself that he could still do it. He took the ride and when he made it to the top he started to cry. He was so happy that he was able to make that ride one more time. (Troy Tipton)

“Embrace”

“Embrace” is an exotic instrumental that includes a great mix of many structures to create its sound. The acoustic guitar chord structure gives you a Middle Eastern-vibe and is layered with a Chinese scale, harmonized with a Pentatonic that extends into an octave inversion of these scale formats. For me using these different styles into one song creates a beautiful melody that goes deep into my ears and all my attention is directed to the music. Chris brings another element later into the song with his chanting. With a song that already had so much movement, Chris brings another wave with his voice to circulate the highest point. I’m very proud of how this came together. (Jasun Tipton)

“Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond”

This song was actually the first to capture my imagination. Specs of Pictures is meant to be “parts of memories.” Burnt Beyond means “lost and forgotten, or maybe too unbearable to remember,or the mind blocks them out.” I went through a very difficult time in my marriage right before I joined Zero Hour. I almost lost it. That is where the inspiration for this song came about. I love the power this song puts out both musically and vocally. (Chris Salinas)

“Zero Hour”

“Zero Hour” is something Troy, Mike and I jammed out in the studio and it really wrote itself. Troy and I start out with an exotic pattern and halfway through the segment Troy bounces out to follow the drums. The 2nd to the last part Mikey follows the double muting segment that Troy and myself provide with an amazing twist of patterns that are very articulate, separated and in sync. In the very last segment the guitars provide an awkward harmony while Troy rolls out two-octave arpeggios on the bass, tapping the sixth and seventh intervals. (Jasun Tipton)

“I Am Here”

Growing up in my late teens, I discovered I had a condition. It was anxiety. I had my first attack when I was nineteen and, let me tell you, it’s no fun. You feel like the world is ending, it’s so terrible. I have struggled with this since then and dealt with it. But it was a fight. When Jasun and Troy said, “This is your song Bud, have fun wit it” this is what I came up with. Such a beautiful guitar tone and simple melody, it brought out these smooth simple vocal melodies. So I write about it and here it is. A battle I will not lose. (Chris Salinas)

“Evidence of The Unseen”

The lyrics to “Evidence of the Unseen” were written by Shawn Ames. I would say the lyrics are based on his commitment to his wife and two boys, with a spiritual connection tied into the lyrics (Shawn is very much into his religious beliefs). The impossible dream of giving the ones you love and care about most the World. To let these feelings inside drive you every day of your life by just believing. (Jasun Tipton)

Thanks again for your time and generosity Jasun, Troy, and Chris. I simply can’t wait to see these songs performed live!

Zero Hour was quickly added to this year’s ProgPowerUSA lineup when the visas for Greek band Wastefall didn’t materialize and the band had to cancel. A bittersweet moment for Zero Hour and their fans, to be sure. But the band stepped up to the plate with typical good-naturedness, class, and exuberance.

Talking to Jasun is like having a conversation with The Simpsons’ Otto the bus driver as he channels motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Lots of energy. Lots of “Dude” and “Awesome” and “Bro.” Yes, Jasun’s enthusiasm can’t be denied. Neither can his talent. The man is a certified guitar monster and he – along with his twin brother Troy on bass, drummer Mike Guy and new vocalist Chris Salinas – are ready to storm the stage at ProgPowerUSA VII.

In this interview, I was fortunate to be able to speak to both Jasun and Troy, who picked up the phone near the end of my interview with Jasun.

JT: Hello?

BM: Is this Jason?

JT: Yeah, hey. This must be Bill.

BM: This is Bill, yes indeed.

JT: Hey, how you doin’, man?

BM: Good, doing well. How are you?

JT: I’m doin’ good, man, doin’ real good. Just staying busy, you know what I mean, [laughs], is all I’m doin’. How ’bout you on your part? That’s–I mean, I guess you’re taking care of all the interviews for ProgPower, huh?

BM: Yeah, and I didn’t even intend to, actually. I approached Glenn probably back in February or March and told him, “I’d like to do something for ProgPowerUSA this year.” He said, “Why don’t you do a behind-the-scenes report of some kind.” I gave that some thought, got with my web designer, and created the Notes From The Other Side web site. I thought a laid-back interview style would give people a chance to get to know the people behind the music. And behind the festival itself. It wasn’t until later that Glenn and Deron decided to use my interviews for the official PPUSA program. But Glenn pretty much gave me carte blanche.

JT: Oh wow! That’s fantastic. Yeah.

BM: I really like Glenn’s style and music savvy. So when he says my interviews are some of the best he’s read, I take that as a huge compliment.

JT: Yeah, absolutely, man. Absolutely. Well, really cool, man. Nice, nice, nice. Did you want me to call you, man? Is this gonna charge you a call or anything, ’cause I have free phone–

BM: It’s not going to matter either way. I appreciate that, ’cause all I have is a cell phone. We got rid of our landline when we got cable internet access. So it doesn’t really–

JT: Ok. Right on, dude. I am on, not on this line, but the other line that i could call you, and I got all this, you know I could call anywhere. It doesn’t cost me one extra cent, it’s all for the same price.

BM: If you’d like to, if you have a different phone you’d like to use, go ahead.

JT: Oh no, this one will work fine. I just don’t want you to get charged for the phone call or anything like that.

BM: Oh, that’s ok. It’s fine. Actually, I’ve got one of these cell phone plans with the rollover minutes, and I think between me and my wife, we’ve accumulated 4000 rollover minutes. We’ll never be able to use them all. [laughs]

JT: [laughs]

BM: We’ve got enough rollover minutes, we could talk to everybody in the world for a week.

JT: Yeah, exactly. I have the same plan. So, I mean, on this phone I must have just a ton of rollover minutes. So this number, what I do is I give it to my guitar students and then my fiancée has it, because she was the one who got me the phone, so there you go. [laughs] That’s how it works.

BM: Yeah, I hear ya.

JT: There you go, man. So–

BM: Well, I appreciate your time. This is real short notice, so I’m glad you worked me into your schedule.

JT: Oh, no problem, man, no problem.

BM: Tell me about your new album, specs of pictures burnt beyond. I don’t have a promo copy of your CD so I don’t know what the track listing is or anything. I know what the artwork is. I’m looking at it on your site right now.

JT: Yeah.

BM: You’ve got Chris Salinas as the singer now. I’ve heard a clip. Holy cow. The guy sounds like Geoff Tate in his younger days. Chris is a great vocalist.

JT: Yeah, he’s REALLY good, man. We’re really happy to have Chris. And I mean it’s just nice, ’cause he’s a breath of fresh air for us. In the past, we’ve always had kind of–and maybe it’s just a lack of focus with maybe the vocalist we’ve had–where, you know, Erik [Rosvold], we had, he was a great singer and just a great writer as well, and I got along great with Erik. But the problem is, unfortunately, he just–his mom passed away from Leukemia, and he just dived himself into a pretty dark time for himself. And, when we were talking to him, saying, “Hey,” you know, after a year went by and saying, “Hey, we need to get this album going.” “Yeah, this would be good for me to get out of the rut I’m in right now and just start getting things going for myself. This would be good.” And we had the music done like two years before he, you know, even had half of the album tracked. And it just got to the point where, it just felt like he was never gonna finish it. And he just was through a dark period. So we had to move on with another singer.

BM: Is that–are you talking about A Fragile Mind and picking up Fred Marshall [vocalist] for that?

JT: Yeah. And that was a whole different thing right there. You know, that one, that one, wow. I can just say that was an unpleasant experience, is all I’m gonna say to that one.

BM: [laughs]

JT: I’m gonna be as professional as I can be on that one, you know what I’m saying? [laughs]

BM: Well, there’s some good questions along these lines I was gonna ask you about, your first album–well, just the self-title in 1999, that was pretty well received. And I know it was later repackaged by Ken [Golden, Sensory] and re-mastered and re-released it as Metamorphosis.

JT: Yeah.

BM: The Towers of Avarice seems to have blown everyone away. That’s like the benchmark album. Really cool.

JT: I know. I know, yeah.

BM: Reading some reviews of A Fragile Mind, it’s like, “Huh?” You know, somehow some fans didn’t get it. Or didn’t like it. What about that album do you think didn’t click with fans?

JT: Well, I think everybody loved Erik’s vocals, for one. And Erik did bring a lot to the table on that. So Towers and Metamorphosis were definitely very focused albums. And you know, to me, A Fragile Mind has great riffing and great music about it, and I mean, I don’t–how do you–I guess the problem is, when you have something going on for that long, the focus…that was a big blur, that time period for us. I mean, because we had our tracks done for that album, gosh, I wanna say in late 2002. And then you’re waiting for your vocalist to get things going, and it’s just not happening. I mean, the CD ends up coming out in 2005, you know, [laughs] so that’s a lot of time to be just down on something. And you know, there’s a lot of great music on that thing.

BM: Oh yeah, I agree with you.

JT: And I mean, yeah. I mean, if everybody, hey, if they buy it and they don’t like it, they have the right to say whatever they want about it. Because they purchased with their money, so I don’t have anything against them in that way. And people, you know, and when they’re respectful, you know, people have just not liked Zero Hour from the beginning, and they’ve all looked to bash at us, and there’s just nothing you can do about that. You can be like, “Well this guy’s never gonna like us, and I’m surprised he’s still picking up our albums.” [laughs] But you know, and just, that’s the best was I can say it. Maybe the focus, when it’s drawn out for that long, we were in a bit of a blur. It wasn’t that–I thought we had really strong music, I know when we laid that down. And I’ve also heard many different versions of these songs, which is crazy. I mean of course you’ve got like, Erik’s version, and then there were some written versions that we were trying to put together that didn’t even go through. And then you add Fred, and it just gets to the point, you’re like, “Wow”, you wanted to get the album done, at the same time you get that sort of half done for yourself. But I can’t say that we rushed it, because we really did put a lot of hard work into that album. It just happened through so many years. And things change, you know, people were waiting for another album from us, and Fragile Mind was not an easy album, you know what I mean?

BM: In the interim period between Towers and Fragile Mind, [the band] Death Machine emerged. Was that something to fill a gap? Or was that running concurrently with Zero Hour anyway?

JT: Well, it was to fill a gap in the sense to play live. We never looked to get signed with Death Machine. It was really just an accident how that all came about. This guy just said, “Hey”, you know. He was a good friend of mine, just a funny guy, and it was just great to see. He always had a really great attitude. You know, which was something that was very refreshing compared to what we had. You know what I mean? Because, this guy was naive, but just such a cool cat. I mean, he’d go, “Let’s just go out and just barrel everyone and play live and just enjoy it.” And we’re like, we were sidelined anyway due to Erik, so we’re like, “This will keep our chops up, but also allow for us to play live.” And it was a good thing for us, ‘cause it kinda kept us sane. You know, we were waiting for Erik, and nothing happening, so you try to fill that void. And we started playing out, and people were saying, “Man, you guys should really do a demo.” And we’re like, “Yeah, I guess so, we’ll do a demo.” And then, all of a sudden, you know, people–it was being played on all the local radio shows here, it was doing really well. And also, that kind of, the music style was kind of coming, that was kind of in at the time, you know when we were doing that. And we were just out having fun. We never took it like, “Hey, you know, this is our band.” Because Zero Hour has always been our baby. You know, we’ve always love that. But at the same time, you need to have all the members feeling the same way, where you just go, you know. I’d loved Erik’s voice for so–I loved his voice, is basically what happened. And we waited as long as we could, you know? But at some point, you know, you have to go on. So I guess that’s the best way to answer that.

BM: That’s a great answer. How did you hook up with Chris Salinas? How did you guys get together?

JT: I just remember when I saw Chris Salinas at ProgPower in Chicago, the very first one. And we talked to him, and he was THE nicest guy. And then I heard him sing. I mean, you hear him sing live, and he hits everything. You’re like, “Ok, this guy is amazing.” You can tell he’s pretty smooth in the studio. He records quick because he knows what he’s doin’. You know what I mean? And he really uses, he’s really serious about his instrument, in vocals. I mean, that guy, when he recorded for us, it was the fastest of anyone we’ve ever had go in there, and he just knocked it out so easy. I was like, “Wow.” It was pretty impressive. And when we heard him sing live, we said, “Man, you know, that’s a guy we would love to have.” You know what I mean? Of course, we loved Erik, but when you saw what he did that night, and how cool he was, and how he really loved, just, he was really into doing the music, and I just was like, “Wow, this guy’s the real deal. He would be someone–” But he’s always been in Power of Omens. So when we approached him, we were going through a little, you know, we were working with other people trying to find the right vocalist. And we always said, I remember Mike said, “We should get Chris.” And I said, “Yeah, but he’s in Power of Omens. You know, what I’ll do is call Chris and ask if he can do live shows with us.” So I made the call to Chris–and you’re the first one to get all this info–but you know, I called Chris. And I said, “Chris, you know, I know you’re in Power of Omens, man, and I’m not”–And I can be really honest about this, we didn’t go in with the intention of taking Chris out of Power of Omens. We did not, you know what I mean? We just said, “Man, we have some East Coast dates that we can do, and we’ve been asked to do this festival. We need someone to live, man.” ‘Cause we already knew Fred was just not gonna work out. And so, at that time he said, “Yeah, man, I would love to do it. Send me the material.” And at the time we were working with Shawn Ames. And we sent over some tracks to Chris that he did, — it was “Falcon’s Cry” and “Evidence of the Unseen” — and I tell ya, man. You know, Shawn Aimes is a very good writer, but he couldn’t sing those songs anywhere–no one could sing those songs anywhere close to where Chris was. Chris knew how to put together the timing, his voice sounded just fluid, he added things where his voice was going higher. And it’s just nice, because he has that low end, he has a middle voice, and high. Usually singers, when you’re dealing with them in the studio, there is that problem area. It’s not for Chris. Chris can actually hit all these things. And when talking with Chris, Chris was all, “Look, man, Power of Omens is not happening. You’re like one of my favorite bands, I want to do this with you guys.”

BM: Really?

JT: And I was like–yeah, it just came out like this. He’s just all, “Dude, I’ve loved you guys. I’ve been waiting for this call for like over a year.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JT: I started laughing, I’m like, “Really?” And I was shocked. So I didn’t know how to go about this. I went and talked to the guys. I’m like, “You know, it’s really strange, but Chris said, you know, ‘Hey, we should do this together.’” And all the guys go, “Well, let’s do it, because he’s the guy.” And so, because we knew we’d make a great album with this guy, and he would listen to what we–you know, that’s the problem. A lot of singers, now Erik was cool about this for sure, but you can kind of add things up from here on out. He listened to what we talking about, and then we said, “Hey man, try this.” He didn’t get it, like, “You’re not hearing it the way I’m hearing it.” You know, someone tells you, “I’m here for you guys”, and you’ll hear, pretty much just selling everything, saying, “Hey, it’s gonna have all these harmonies, it’s gonna have all this.” And we’re saying, “No, you should be doing it like this.” And he’s saying, “No, you’re not hearing it the way I’m hearing it.” And we’re like, “Wait a second, you said you’re here for us.”

BM: Yeah.

JT: “What’s going on all of a sudden, you know? I think we know.” You know what I mean? And Chris was just like, “Anything you guys want. You just let me know, because I want this”–you know, it felt like a band. It wasn’t like–I want us to put together the best Zero Hour there is, and I just love his attitude, and he’s just with us, he’s like, “let’s go do everything we can.” Before, we could never do that. We were like sidelined, you know, we’re asked to do certain tours and stuff like that, and we’re sidelined because Erik said, “Oh no, can’t do it.” Or something like that. Now, we’re all full-force and we can go do things.

BM: Holy cow, that’s amazing.

JT: Yeah, it’s really an amazing story, and redemption for us, man. ‘Cause I tell ya, this new album, you know, I’m just really excited about it. I love it, and I can honestly listen to it and say, “Oh, this is–” And you know, you can listen to certain songs and you keep rewinding them and rewinding them, like, “I didn’t get enough of that one, I didn’t get enough of that one.” And it’s, this album is truly special, and I feel it’s like, it’s got that power sort of–I’m not gonna say it’s like–it does have, everything’s gonna sound like Zero Hour at some point. Even, like, you know Fragile Mind, it sounds like Zero Hour, you know what I mean? But the thing is, it does have that vibe where you’re like, “Ok, there’s something in the air, something there, it’s just grabbing me, it’s grabbing me and it’s making me hold on and just keep listening.” And Towers was that way, and this album is definitely that way too.

BM: Cool. So it sounds like you guys have a rebirth of sorts. I mean, everything feels alive and fresh again for you?

JT: That’s a great analogy. It’s the perfect way of saying it. We are reborn, and we feel, I mean, we’re just ready to go everything again. We’re just so pumped about this album, and we’re ready to do–you know, it’s so, you know, we’re not getting any younger–[laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JT: –and we, you know, the time is now for us. And we love doing this, and we just love doing music, you know? So if we can take as many opportunities as we can, this is what we’re going to do. I love music, and obviously, this is not a genre where you’re gonna make a lot of money or anything of that nature, it’s obviously, we do it for the love of music. And we love our fans, and we love to play out. And hell, you know, I’ve been doing it for this long, and I can’t see–it would definitely be a piece of me taken away if I didn’t do Zero Hour.

BM: Oh yeah.

JT: Yeah. Hopefully you’ll fix this up. I know I’m kinda going–there’s so much you wanna say, ’cause there’s so much that’s happened over the years for Zero Hour. You know what I’m saying? So… [laughs]

BM: You can say anything you want, ’cause I can transcribe this. I don’t know if you’ve looked at my Notes from the Other Side site or not, but my interviews are basically word-for-word. Whatever you say, people are gonna read, so you can say anything you want, man.

JT: Yeah, yeah.

BM: [laughs] It’s your time to shine here.

JT: Well, if you see anything where I really need to gather my words up, if you can make me sound a little better, [laughs], I’d appreciate that. What I liked about your interviews is they flowed real nice.

BM: Oh yeah. But I don’t like to edit too much because that takes away from the personality of the person I’m interviewing. It makes every interview ready like it’s me talking. I like to keep things as pure as possible.

JT: There’s so much I wanna say, maybe I might cut into something else, that I’m saying it over again. Maybe there’s some way you can fix it.

BM: No, some of the things you’re saying are kind of preceding my questions, so we’re thinking on the same track here. That’s great, I like that.

JT: Ok. Cool, nice nice nice.

BM: Tell me about let’s say the three main albums of your career, not counting the first one or Metamorphosis, but Towers, Fragile Mind and Pictures–what comes to mind when you think of each of those points in your life? What’s the first thing that comes to mind?

JT: Well, Towers was a dark, cold time for us, because we had so many promises from labels that were gonna put out the first album, and we were selling the first album on our own, and we were doing really well off it. And they said, you know, “You need to stop selling these CDs, and we’re gonna sign you guys.” And we’re like, “Send us a contract.” You know what I mean? And then they would send us contracts, and all of a sudden it’s like, ok, we’re doing the negotiations, and we get everything negotiated verbally. But as soon as they set something in writing, it was like, it’s the same contract, maybe one thing was different, you know what I mean? And it was like, “Man, who do you trust? It’s like, are we talking to the same people who verbally were talking with us about the contract and people who are writing it? Is it two different people? ‘Cause it sure seems like it with the conversations we had. So, we were thinking, man, so at that time we really dived into our music, and it was a cold period for us, ’cause we were frustrated. Now, A Fragile Mind, to me, all I can say is that’s a real blur of a time, ’cause there was a lot of things going on with the band. And you know, my brother struggling with tendonitis, and he had to go to many doctors to try to get things taken care of for himself. He almost had to quit playing bass, and that was real difficult for me, because, well, “You’re my best friend, and I just can’t see playing music with anybody else.” I mean, Zero Hour started with him, Mikey and I. You know what I mean? And they’re the rhythm section, and with me in there, we’ve been doing this for over 12 years. You know what I mean, so it was a very difficult time. Also with Erik, and then things that went on with A Fragile Mind with Fred. It was a [laughs], it was a bit of a blur, man. And you know, I have to say this in a good way, we did that album, and I feel it was a good album, and I’m glad it’s done. Because it also makes you, it was just a chapter we had to get done so we could get this album done. You know, the way it is, and the way it’s presented, you know, I guess the best way to say it is, if everybody loves your albums 100% of the time, you just wouldn’t care anymore. You’d just say, “I can throw out anything, and this is, everybody’s just going to rush to the lines and buy it.” But and with Pictures, we have all the excitement back. You know, you do feel like–

BM: It almost feels like more, though. I mean, you have more with this album than you had with any other one before, don’t you? Now you’ve got a contract, you’ve got fans, you’ve got a killer vocalist. You’re in a different, I would say almost a better place now than you ever were before. Is that a true assessment?

JT: I would say that. I mean, when we, with Towers, I went to Ken Golden, and I said, “Look, Ken. I’m giving you first crack at this album, Towers.” And he said, “Ok.” “But if you don’t sign it, we’re gonna shop it.” And he said, “No, no, no, I will do this.” I said, “Look, you’ve gotta have the contract dialed to where everybody’s happy in two weeks, as well.” And Ken did come through, man. And that’s when everything started. And Towers sold very well, sold very well, and you know, that was, it turned into a good period for us, and we were excited to put on another album, but you know, how long it took to get that album out, that’s just that period, that just sucks the energy, man. We are in a better place than we ever have been, because it’s not like worrying about, “What’s this member gonna do?” Or, “Are we gonna be able to go play out? Are we gonna be able to jump on our opportunities?” Because this is what we’ve always wanted to do. You know what I mean, but sometimes, I remember there was a time period where Symphony X and Pain of Salvation was gonna go out, and the promoter made a call like, “Hey, we wanna get Zero Hour to open.” I mean, this tour never happened, because Pain of Salvation, something happened there, and but I also was talking to Erik. And I said, “Erik, we gotta go do this.” And Erik’s all, “Do you guys think we’re gonna do well off of this tour?” And I’m like, “Dude, we gotta go out and tour. We gotta go out and make this happen.” You know what I mean? He’s all, “I don’t know, I think the Europe thing would have been, I don’t know, I only have two weeks off from work that I can do.” And I mean, I understand that and all, and that’s great, but we went into it as a band and there’s expectations that we were gonna play shows and we were gonna go do things. And that, it was cool at the time, but as soon as it comes up, you know, “Oh, I don’t know.” And that’s just a terrible position to be in. And so, I mean, it really is, ’cause I’m like, man, we’re just trying to build the name, and someone’s holding you back. And that’s what ended up happening there.

BM: Tell me about the new Pictures album, then. First of all, have you published any track listing anywhere yet?

JT: I don’t know if we have or not, but probably not, so I’ll give it to you. It’s gonna, I’m sorry, I’m not the best with remembering titles even off our own album, so, [laughs].

BM: Well, you know what, you could e-mail that to me.

JT: Oh sure, that would be great.

BM: That way I’ll spell it correctly too. [laughs]

JT: No problem. I will definitely send it out to you, that’s not a problem.

[He did. And here it is:

Thank you for the great interview Bill and look forward to seeing you at ProgPower.

Here’s the song titles to “Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond”:

1. Face The Fear

2. The Falcon’s Cry

3. Embrace

4. Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond

5. Zero Hour

6. I Am Here

7. Evidence of the Unseen]

BM: Describe Pictures for me then. What is it about this that just blows you away, blows everybody away who’s heard little pieces of it? How does this differ from anything else you’ve done before? Explain the music, explain the songs, what’s going on there?

JT: OK. Right on. Well, the songs just feel really deep for me. The music, it’s really, as in like, take “Evidence” at the end, you have that song, it’s very powerful with the riffs, and everyone’s just totally in sync. The vocals, everything is very much in sync. And you get the emotion and current of dynamics in the vocals that you get from Chris, where you’re using whispers. Almost kind of a sense where you think you have keyboards on it, but its the vocals doing it? It almost gives you that kind of a sound, where it’s like, he’s doing a lot of layering in places to create so many moods. And when you listen to the album, it is kind of like Towers, the more you listen to these songs, you will hear something new. It’s gonna be a fresh listen many times over. Of course, you listen to it for two weeks, and you say, “I’ve had enough of that CD.”

BM: [laughs]

JT: I don’t think anybody’s gonna do that. Because I think it’s gonna be like Towers, because you keep listening to it and you find something new about it. “The Falcon’s Cry” is an awesome song, because, I read how it’s uplifting in the sense that you have this guy who’s hiking, it’s this old man hiking, and he’s trying to get to the top of this, you know, mountain. And once he does, he sees this beautiful view, and he just drops to his knees in awe, and looks up to, you know, if you say the sky, and just says, “I’m so happy I made this, I conquered this, even at my age, I conquered this so I could see something so beautiful. And I understand now.” You know what I mean? He understands what his life is all about, and it all kind of reflects bank. And that’s definitely more to all these stories in the songs. It’s just a real deep album. It’s a deep album for everyone, and we made sure that every single thing was strong on this album, so it’s like start to finish. You know, you always want to say, “Start to finish, man, I can listen to this, it flows, and I love it.” And that’s what I have with this. I mean, there’s just, there so much of it I could go into, because the playing is fantastic on it, and I think Mikey did an amazing job on this album. Troy always sounds great. The rhythm section is just fantastic on this one. And there’s a lot of deep, semi-strange stuff going on, but very focused. Yeah, it’s not like, “Yeah, this guy’s just grabbing his seven string just to play a seven string.” It’s really kind of dissecting and doing as many things as you can using that low B. But also not neglecting your other strings, where that guy can just be hanging on that low B all day. You know what I mean, this was using a lot more. Sometimes you using some fusion chords in some weird places, and the drums are kind of doing a power rhythm under you, and the bass is doing something totally opposite from the drums, but it’s flowing. It doesn’t sound like it’s all–it’s, if you were to really dissect it, it’s truly very technical. But the thing is, we try to make it where it’s easier for the listener, and it sounds like we play it so easy. That’s the thing. And some people, when they play technical music, they play it to force it, where you hear every jerky, like you’re on the most jerkiest roller coaster ever, you know what I mean? We try to smooth out that ride, is what we do.

BM: [laughs] THat’s cool.

JT: I guess that’s the best way I can say it, yeah.

BM: So this is, would you say this is your smoothest album, then, in terms of what a technical band could produce?

JT: Yeah, it’s pretty smooth, man. Yeah.

BM: [laughs]

JT: I would say so. [laughs] It’s pretty smooth. You know, I mean it all flows together very nicely. Yeah, yeah. So it’s very exciting.

BM: Well, yeah, send me the track list when you can. How many minutes does this top out at?

JT: I think it’s at 44 minutes, is what it is.

BM: That’s great.

JT: Yeah, we, unfortunately for us we don’t get the biggest budgets in the world. [laughs] But the recordings sound amazing, sonically, because we put a lot of–it’s either, you can have 70 minutes worth of music, and the sound will suffer on all ends–you won’t get like the best drum tones, you won’t get the best guitar tones, or things like that–or you can do 45 minutes worth of material and just give the best in all areas. And for us, it’s always about the sound. And we go in and just dissect everything, making sure everything has tons of separation where you hear the drums, everything’s separated from the toms, bass drums, snare–you can feel it in your system. On any system for that matter, you could take it on any system and you’ll get a nice even play. The guitars are separated, the bass is separated and the vocals, with the harmonies and everything have the right effects. It’s, Dino Alden is the man.

BM: Well, you know it’s not about minutes anymore, really. Because I remember some albums in the ’70s that were like 30 minutes long that were absolutely killer, you know?

JT: [laughs] Exactly, you know, that’s what I remember too. You know, I mean, there was some great material. And I’ve always been a fan of when I hear something, and you know, the guys poured all their energy into that 29 minutes rather than just drawing 80 minutes for the sake of having 80 minutes. It does show through, where you can say, “That one wasn’t necessarily needed to be on the CD.” And I like it when they put all their energy into 29 minutes, and you can tell. You’re like, “Yeah, that was well thought-out. That was 29 good minutes right there.”

BM: I don’t know if you recall the KISS albums like, Dressed to Kill or something was like 29, 28 minutes. That was a great album and it still holds up. [laughs]

JT: Yeah. Isn’t that crazy? It’s just amazing.

BM: And they released two albums a year. Remember when bands did that?

JT: Exactly. [laughs] I mean, every six months it was like, “Another album? I didn’t even know about this.” I mean, but yet there were some great albums. And on a totally different note, you know, I mean, I cracked up when it becomes a minute thing, because they say, “Oh, everybody, everybody wants 60 minutes or this or that.”

BM: No, they don’t.

JT: And then you come out–and not that I’m a fan or anything like that, but I respect them–and you know, you’ve got Linkin Park out there, their album was 36 minutes and it sold more than anything out there. [laughs] It was crazy, I was like, “Wow.” I couldn’t believe when I saw, it was like 36:33 or something like that? I’m like, “Wow, and this thing has sold how many copies?” And I haven’t heard anybody say, “I think it’s too short.” That’s why I’m all about The Dillinger Escape Plan. They put out EPs, and you can tell when they put out EP’s, they throw everything into, if it’s 8 minutes or it’s 22 minutes, they throw everything they have into it, and it’s amazing.

BM: [laughs]

JT: Yeah.

BM: Tell me about ProgPower USA. My wife and I were there for ProgPower III. We saw you guys play.

JT: Oh, right on.

BM: How many times have you played there before?

JT: Well we played there, we played ProgPower I and ProgPower III, and we also did the European edition, but just trying for USA, you know. I miss being on stage. And this is our, we feel like it’s our home, really, because we were at the first one when this thing was being built. You know what I mean, and we went to ProgPower III where it went to the big stage, you know? Glenn was trying to put together the big festival, and the second year it didn’t sell out. The third year, it did sell out, you know what I mean. And if that show didn’t sell out, I’m sure you wouldn’t be seeing it at this magnitude, how big it is now, you know what I mean? So, I just feel that in some way, we feel a special part of ProgPower, and that’s why this festival means so much to us in the first place. You know, all our friends and fans, there’s a lot of people we love out there that attend those events, and it’s great. And I’m stoked that it’s working out well for Glenn now.

BM: Since the new CD won’t really be out by the time you play (or is Ken gonna bring some CDs along and sell there?) will you be playing a lot of material from you new CD if it’s not released yet?

JT: Oh yeah, yeah. We will be. It will be available at ProgPower. That I know for sure. That’s the exclusive place it’s gonna be available at. And, yeah, we’re gonna do–most of our material that we’re gonna do at ProgPower is gonna be the new album.

BM: Cool, cool.

JT: Yeah. It’s awesome.

BM: What surprises will you guys bring to the table from you other albums? Do you know what you might bring from Towers or Fragile Mind or something?

JT: You know, I, it’s gonna be, we’re gonna do a couple songs, definitely a song off of Metamorphosis, and a song off of Towers.

BM: Cool.

JT: And we’ll just see what happens. We’re kind of at the point where, unfortunately, we only get 40 minutes, but that’s all right. It’s totally fine, but, so we can’t–we really want to try out this new stuff, and show the new lineup. We have Chris in the band, and once we get him, you know, ’cause this is gonna be one of our first shows, too. We’re playing a couple of other gigs, but this is like, this is a big thing, and we want to come out with the big guns. And I feel the new album honestly has the big guns. Yeah, I really do. So it’s going to, I think people are going to see, the first three songs we do, it’s gonna be all off the new album, and it’s just nothing but pure energy with these songs. And it’s, and we love rocking these things out, too. We’re just gonna bring it this year. I mean, this is the year, we feel good as a band, and we’re reborn, and you know, you kind of find like, where are your opportunities. This is an opportunity for us, and we’re definitely going to make the best of it.

BM: Oh man, that’s great, I can’t wait.

JT: Yeah, it’s gonna be awesome. We’re really excited. I mean, this is good for us, because, like I said with my brother and the tendeonitis, and things that went on with Erik, and gosh, the period we had, man. It was a tough period, and I wasn’t sure Zero Hour was gonna continue. And that would have been terrible, because now, we’re gonna be doing, you know, people are gonna be seeing us for a while. And we’re gonna keep writing albums and we’re gonna keep performing live. So this is what it’s all about now.

BM: Oh man. Let me ask you a couple more things, if you have time.

JT: Sure, absolutely, man.

BM: By the way, I’m really enjoying chatting with you. Your enthusiasm’s infectious. I can tell you’re excited about where Zero Hour is at this time. It’s great.

JT: [laughs] Thank you so much. Right now, we’re, when I think about this album, I have nothing but happy vibes, dude. So that’s why you hear it out of my voice. So I’m very stoked about it. [laughs]

BM: Let me ask you, you’re an extremely technical guitarist. You’ve got these instructional videos out and I saw a clip of it on your MySpace page. Your fingers are a blur.

JT: [laughs]

BM: And when I was talking in my interview with IA, the Freak Kitchen guitarist–

JT: Oh gosh! What a fantastic player that cat is! Woo! That cat smokes!

BM: [laughs]

JT: He’s a good guy.

BM: What’s interesting, I found out, what i asked him was, his web site’s all full of these real technical, you know scales he likes to play and all these questions he gets from fans about all the tricky stuff. Do you get a lot of that where people come up to you and ask, “Now what scale and mode are you playing here? What’s this lick right here?” Do you get guys asking you, or gals, I suppose–real technical things about how you do things? Is that par for the course for you?

JT: All the time.

BM: Really?

JT: And I think you have to expect that in the genre we’re in. I mean, you have to expect that people are going to ask these questions. “What mode are you playing on? What scales? What modes are you playing? Is that string skip pattern? You know, what arpeggio are you doing, major or minor?” You know, all the questions come up. The big thing is, how do you come up with your rhythms, and how you do the time signatures, and how you interact with the drums and bass? And I would crack up. People would say, “Here’s a polyrhythm”, and they would do it for me. And I’d be like, “That’s not a polyrhythm.” You know what I mean? It’s a lot different from what you’re thinking. You can’t just take your right hand and start doing a beat here and trying to off the beat with your left. There’s a lot more to it. And you know, to me, the best advice I could give anybody in music is, just go with your vibe, what you feel. You know what you’re comin’ up with. And always try progressing yourself. You can’t just go by the number system. Like, everybody plays in 4/4. If you can count, you can do odd time signatures. I know it’s tough, and it’s not, it doesn’t feel natural, but that’s the thing, you have to overcome it, you have to do it for years to make it feel natural. And then when it starts feeling natural to you, you’re on to something. You know what I mean? And that’s just one little thing. There’s so much about being a guitar player, or any instrument that you take on for that matter. There’s so many years, and so much to bring out your own sound. Of course, take something from the players you love, but find something that is your niche, that you say, “This is my thing. I am this, I can feel it just pouring out of my fingers. This is what I’m going to show to people.” You know, making your own identity.

BM: Let me follow up on that a second before I ask you another question. Are these people who ask yo those kinds of questions, are they–how do I phrase this–are they missing the big picture? Are they focusing on too many little details? How do I phrase this? I mean, when someone listens to a Zero Hour CD, and they’re digging it, but then they come to you and say, “What are you playing at this precise moment right here? What are you doing?” kind of thing. Does that detract at all from the big picture of what the whole band is doing? Are you irritated? Maybe that’s not even the word either. But do you ever want to look at these guys and say, “Dude, just step back and let the music wash over you, don’t keep trying to analyze it.” Do you see what I’m saying?

JT: [laughs] Yeah. And I, you know, there are a lot of people, I think it is about just listen to the music. I think it’s good, if you’re trying to better yourself as a player that you ask these questions, and that you’re really actually going to apply them, as opposed to just asking. I’m sure there’s some people who ask, and they just figure, they just want to know, but then they don’t do anything about it. They’re like, “Well, that sounds a little complicated, I just don’t want to apply that.” You know what I mean? But I was a person that, when I went to some of my friends’ houses–there’s many, many amazing guitar players out there. And the thing is, you always want to gain some knowledge from them, and you take that knowledge and make it your own. That’s the best thing you can do, is that if you are going to ask these questions, then don’t do exactly what they were doing, make it your own. Because that’s what’s going to make you the player. And also, it is about the music. Listen to it and feel it, and if you’re in a band, and you want to do something like that, don’t just keep listening to all these other albums and saying, “This is exactly what we’re gonna do.” ‘Cause it doesn’t really work that way. We go in and we don’t have parts written out. We actually jam it out in the studio. I’m like, “What do we got, guys?” ‘Cause that really makes it as organic as possible, ‘cause we thought about that before when we were writing riffs and stuff like that. We were like, “Wow, we have a riff here, and do the drums have to follow this way, or does the bass have to follow this way, but let’s just go in.” And my brother might throw down, and all of a sudden he hears a sick bass riff he’s got, and then Mikey starts kind of following, and I’ve always been really good where I can layer something on top of that. You know, and it can be three totally different parts. And it’s just an organic process. And I think that’s where you get a really exciting album, and also you get a little of the voice from every single member, not making yourself the only voice in there. You know what I’m saying?

BM: [laughs] Yeah. There’s a follow up to that. I’ve got a couple questions I’ll ask you, man, I could talk to you all night long. But I don’t want to take up your time.

JT: Oh, no problem.

BM: Here’s the followup to this. What do you find more challenging, as a guitarist of your caliber, creating the next cool, speedy, clever riff? Or creating something that’s slow and soulful that just comes from the heart? What is more difficult for you at this point?

JT: Wow, that’s crazy. I mean, right now, I’m just not going through any writer’s block, so you know, [laughs] I don’t have any problems right now. But I have had that in the past. I think when, I think you go by the feeling of what you’re feeling. You know, it’s good to have excitement, and that, when you have the excitement, you want to build something great. You know what I mean? ‘Cause it does take a ton of energy to do an album. So you wanna keep that positive vibes going. And there are days where you’re gonna feel, where you’re down, and it’s kind of funny, when you do feel down and things, you can come up with some really nice melodic, clean passage, or something that you put together into a song. And I guess how we just kind of go about it, I mean, luckily we found solace in each other. Now, we have had periods where it’s harder to do. I guess we don’t know, because we never know what to expect or what’s coming next. There are time periods where you come to a part, and you’re like, “All right, we don’t have the right thing.” And I think it’s for both. At times, it’s really easy to come up with the ideas, because you’re all bouncing off of each other. But when you’re stumped, you’re all stumped. And it can be on a slow part, it can be on a really technical, fast riff. It could be on so many things. So I think all of those have their challenges at times, where you have to keep working on everything you do, whether it’s technical, whether it’s melodic or something very slow, has a groove to it where everybody’s in sync, because technically, a groove is when the band’s in sync anyway. So I mean, I always hear people say, “Oh, that’s a groove, man.” And I’m all, “Well, a groove is when everybody’s in sync.” That’s what it is. It isn’t about a loose thing and everybody’s–there are so many technical ways to go about it, I guess. But it can be anything. I think it’s good that when you come to those parts, and then you find something that does work, that makes it the best, because you weren’t settling. Because we don’t settle. that’s the thing we will not do. My brother and I are completely honest with each other and have many fights over it in the studio [laughs], where Mikey thinks he’s gonna have to break something up. But that’s the beauty about Troy’s and my relationship, we can be 100% honest to each other, and we’re better players for it.

BM: Oh yeah.

JT: Yeah.

BM: Do you guys have–not you guys–do you have a favorite song off Specs? Is there one that just absolutely blows you away?

JT: Wow. You know, [sighs] they’re all pretty darn good, man. You know, “Face the Fear,” the first song. That’s a rad song, you know. “Falcon’s Cry,” you know, that one grabs me all the time. There’s so many emotions where I get the chills from that song. And that’s a song that people will have to listen to a few times, because there is so much going on. You might not–

BM: Is that the one with the guy climbing the mountain?

JT: Yeah, exactly. And then “Evidence of the Unseen”–what was that? [talking to someone in the room with him]
BM: I was gonna say, where did that song come from? Where did you come up with the idea for the lyrics?

JT: Bill, actually, you know, my brother would be the best one to ask on that. You know, you want me to give the phone to him real quick? [talking to his brother] Troy! You know, about “Falcon’s Cry.” Why don’t you tell him about “Evidence” and things too. Hold on, Bill. Here’s my brother, Troy.

BM: Cool, thanks.

[Troy Tiptun gets on the phone]

TT: Hey, what’s goin’ on, man? [laughs]

BM: How you doin’?

TT: Doing good, man. How you been, man?

BM: Doing well.

TT: Awesome.

BM: You know, I was just asking Jasun about, he’s really grooving on the songs on the new album, and I was asking him, where did they come from? Where did “Falcon’s Cry” come from? Where did you get that idea?

TT: Yeah. “The Falcon’s Cry”…what happened is actually, it’s a kind of a–well, I’ll try to keep it kind of a short story, in a way. I was out in Oregon, writing with Shawn Ames on this song, actually. And we were like looking for something to get inspired, and what we did is, in Oregon, they’ve got so many, obviously the mountains are beautiful.

BM: Oh yeah.

TT: So what we decided to do was drive up this, you know, huge mountain that had no path to it, and it’s where a lot of trucks go, where they chop down you know, huge trees and strap them in and bring them down. Well we decided to go up there, only it took a while to get to the top. And finally, when we got to the top of it, we got out of the car, and we’re going to the edge, and we’re really afraid to get to close, because obviously, it was a long drop down. It was so weird, but it makes you feel, but you’re just in awe of the view you see. And you hear the water running and stuff, and it was just gorgeous. And then so what we did is we started proceeding back down the mountain. We went to this place, and then we decided to work actually on the second half of the song, which is where it has this clean section with this bass line that’s all in sevens. And I started singing, “At last I can see, at last I can breathe,” and we started from there. So we actually wrote the end of the song first, and then went back to the front. And how the song basically is, I think Jay mentioned earlier, an old man basically, he’s getting up there in life, and this is something he used to do all the time. And he wants to just prove to himself, even at this age, that he can still do this. ‘Cause this might be the last time he can do this. So he, at night, he hikes up this huge mountain. And basically, you know, there’s so many predators out there and he has to like battle through that to stay alive, and it’s cold, and he’s tired, and then he makes it all the way to the top at the end. And it’s daylight finally. And he just drops to his knees and raises his hands to the sky in awe of what he sees. And below him, the water runs, the falcon cries. And that’s actually, yeah, that’s one of the lyrics from it.

BM: You know what’s interesting about that, Troy? Is that depth of emotion doesn’t often go with a technical metal song, does it?

TT: [laughs] Yeah.

BM: That’s brilliant. That’s great.

TT: Right on, man. Right on. Yeah, it was really a cool experience, cool writing experience. And it gave things a new twist, you know, and I really dug that a lot. Basically, when you can take a real experience, but then make a story out of that, you know, putting a fictional character and a different twist to it, obviously with an old man. You know, just his time’s running out, and he wants to do this one thing, experience this one thing again. And it kind of reminds me, honestly, my buddy, he had his dad, you know, has Parkinson’s. And he used to ride motorcycles all the time, and he was really shakin’ bad, and he decided to buy a motorcycle again. And he drove it up this huge, you know, he used to make this huge round through the mountains and stuff. And he did that, and he just wanted to prove to himself that he could do it one last time. And the same thing. When he did it, after he got to the top and he made it up there, he just cried.

BM: Oh man.

TT: He just poured down tears, and he said he was just happy he could do it one more time, you know?

BM: Oh god, that’s intense.

TT: [laughs] It’s pretty crazy, man. And that song, that song when you listen to it, you will definitely feel it. You will definitely feel it, so it’s really cool, man.

BM: I’m looking forward to it.

TT: Yeah, man.

BM: Let me ask you one more question, then I’ll let you guys go. Which band–you’re familiar with the lineup this year at ProgPower, right? Do you know who’s gonna be there?

TT: I know some of the bands. Epica we played with out in Europe before, but this was when they were called Sahara Dust at the time.

BM: [laughs] Yeah. Well, it’s Evergrey, Jorn, Mercenary, Epica, Freak Kitchen…

TT: Yeah.

BM: Is there a band you guys are most looking forward to seeing play there at ProgPower?

TT: Hmm, I always, you know, Evergrey’s a great band. So they’re always cool to see. Freak Kitchen’s a cool band, you know, he’s just a great guitar player. It will be interesting to see Epica, because when we saw them, you know, they had not released an album yet, and so now it would be interesting to see how far they’ve come at this point, ’cause they sounded really cool when we first hear them. We were like, “Oh man, this could be really cool.” [laughs] You know what i mean?

BM: [laughs]

TT: Yeah, Pyramaze, we’re really interested in seeing Pyramaze. Lance King sounds great, so yeah, that’s one we’re really looking forward to hearing. And Mercenary. When I first saw them at ProgPower IV, I happened to go to that, and Mercenary was really cool. I was like, I thought they were one of the strongest acts on that bill. So there’s a lot to be excited about. I’m just saying, it’s kind of funny,it’s going to be a good ProgPower, I think.

BM: Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you guys. I mentioned to Jay earlier that my wife and I were there at ProgPower III. So we got to see you then, and it was great.

TT: Oh! Right on, man!

BM: With this new album, and Chris Salinus, we’re stoked. I’m telling you, we just can’t wait.

TT: Yeah, we’re–

BM: I don’t think Jasun could be any more excited, could he?

TT: Oh no, man. [laughs] We’re all like doing back flips, you know? We are really stoked. It feels like we’re bringing basically, I’ve described it where it’s like Metamorphosis, Towers of Avarice and [Power of Omens’] Eyes of the Oracle all together, you know what i mean? It’s just like with Tower moments and stuff, it’s really cool. But definitely with something new, because there is a new energy and a new life in the band. So we’re really excited. And we’re really gonna, you know, bring our best to the table when we perform. I feel we’re a stronger lineup than we’ve ever been, so it’s gonna be really cool.

BM: Well, this is great. Man, I appreciate you guys’ time tonight. I know I kept you on the phone a long time–

TT: No, man.

BM: –but I appreciate it.

TT: You conduct a great interview, man. It feels like it just goes by like that, you know? So [laughs]

BM: If I have any followup questions for you guys, can I send you an e-mail and ask for some more time?

TT: Yeah! Absolutely, man! Send it our way. So yeah, you know our e-mail address. So, totally!

BM: Cool. I appreciate it, Troy. Thank you so much. Tell Jasun thanks for his time.

TT: I will. Well cool, man. We will definitely see you at the festival, man! We’ll come up and see what’s up and hang out and have a beer or something, you know?

BM: That’d be great. We’ll be backstage taking some shots and talking to people, so we’ll be able to see you at some point along the way.

TT: Sure, sure man. Looking forward to it, man.

BM: You’re a great bass player, by the way.

TT: Thank you.

BM: Fantastic.

TT: [laughs] Thank you so much, brother.

BM: Take care.

TT: You take it easy, bro. Later.

BM: You too. Bye bye.

Jasun and Troy. A double shot of unbridled enthusiasm. I was on cloud nine for hours after that interview.

Zero Hour’s official web site is www.zerohourweb.com. Their MySpace page is www.MySpace.com/zerohourband. The official release date for Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond is October 10th, 2006 — although the word is Ken Golden will have copies on hand at ProgPowerUSA VII.

In the meantime, Ken Golden’s fine LaserCD.com site is the perfect place to stock up on CDs by Zero Hour.

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.

Mark and I kept in touch occasionally. But once he got Epica up and running, his days of chatting with a college professor were pretty much over.

I always wanted to see Mark play live, though, and was totally thrilled when Epica was announced as one of the bands playing in this year’s ProgPowerUSA lineup.

Here’s how my interview with Mark went…

MJ: Hi, this is Mark.

BM: Hi, Mark. How are you? This is Bill.

MJ: Hey Bill. [laughs]

BM: How you doin’? Are you home now?

MJ: Yes, yes, yes, I’m home. [laughs]

BM: Good, good.

MJ: How are you doing?

BM: Oh, good, doing great.

MJ: Perfect.

BM: Well, it’s been a long time. I haven’t talked to you since February of 2002.

MJ: Yes, yes, that’s a long time. That was still the After Forever period, right?

BM: Yep. That’s it. [laughs]

MJ: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: Well, you know what, you guys [in Epica] are amazing because you’ve been touring all over the world. I mean, you’ve been in Israel, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Mexico, Tunisia–how has the response been to Epica all over the world?

MJ: Yes, it’s amazing. Yeah, but with metal music, I think the big advantage is that it’s not–it’s kind of underground, so everywhere, all over the world there are metal fans, and because there are not that many metal bands that travel all over the world, you get everywhere a kind of big crowd. And that’s the big advantage when you play, for example rock music, there are many rock bands, so it’s very difficult to get the audience abroad. But for us, it’s perfect.

BM: Oh yeah. Yeah, that’s great. Well, how have the audiences been different in all these countries? Are they different, or how are they different?

MJ: Yeah, yeah, they are different in every country. It’s really weird. When you play for example in Brazil, the audience is very wild, screaming, yelling, jumping. And when you play the next day in Argentina, the crowd is calm, kind of, not cold, but reserved.

BM: Really?

MJ: Yeah, that’s exactly how–like the crowd in the Netherlands. So maybe it’s a little colder in Argentina in comparison to Brazil, so maybe that’s the reason. [laughs] But we played, [laughs], it’s really weird. We played in Brazil, there the crowd was really nuts, and we played in Argentina and the crowd was quiet, but they gave us a good hand and the atmosphere was really good. But the crowd was totally different. And the other week we played in Sao Paulo, and it of course was again really hot and like in Brazil.

BM: Really? Wow.

MJ: Yeah. But I think it also depends on the weather of a country. When the weather is really hot, the people are hot as well, in a way.

BM: Really. [laughs]

MJ: [laughs] Yeah. And also, we played in Israel, the crowd was like in Brazil, also we had a really good crowd in Israel, and they were very energetic as well.

BM: Is there a pretty good metal audience in Israel?

MJ: Yeah, yeah, we were very surprised, because the metal is very small in Israel. It’s really underground, so we expected maybe 200 or 300 people, but the whole venue was sold out.

BM: Wow.

MJ: So everybody was surprised.

BM: Wow, that’s amazing.

MJ: Yeah, yeah, we were watching when the other band was playing, and we were really amazed. With the whole venue full of people screaming, “Epica, Epica.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well, you’ve been pretty experienced now, touring all over the world. Do you have a favorite road story that you’d like to share? Anything that was really funny or really strange or…? What’s your favorite road story?

MJ: Yeah, with every tour there’s always something that happens that sticks in your mind. For example, when we did our South American tour, people when we were driving in the bus and they noticed it was Epica coming, they were running behind the car or grasping the car and they didn’t let go. So when the car was driving, they were hanging at the car.

BM: Really? [laughs]

MJ: Yes. [laughs] It was dangerous in a way, and we said, “Please, release yourself.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

MJ: So it’s really dangerous, but they didn’t let go, so they were screaming, also throwing packages into the window with photographs, photos and presents. Yeah, I will never forget that.

BM: Wow, it’s almost like you guys are the Beatles all of a sudden.

MJ: Yeah, we also said to each other that this must be how Robbie Williams feels all over the world. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

MJ: But we didn’t know how–yeah, we didn’t know that experience. We–it never happened to us before, so it was really, really weird experience. [laughs]

BM: Wow. That’s great. That is really cool.

MJ: Yeah, yeah. But I’m happy in a way that it doesn’t happen everywhere. Because when it happens everywhere, then–I can imagine now how a guy like Robbie Williams feels, never is he alone, never he can be the guy who he is. Every time he has to be, yeah, you know, careful because people are watching him every day.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: Yeah, it seems difficult to me.

BM: [laughs]

MJ: No privacy, no privacy.

BM: No, not at all. Well, you’d mentioned After Forever. When I talked to you last, it was, you were in the band, and everything was going great. Then all of a sudden you weren’t in the band. What happened with that?

MJ: Well, there was a kind of, a struggle between Sander [Gommans, guitarist] and me, the person that founded the band. And we both had different opinion about how to develop the music.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: And that was one part of the story. And the other side was also personally we couldn’t get along anymore. We had a problem, and so one of us had to leave. And unfortunately it was me.

BM: Well, you know things work out though. Look where you are now.

MJ: Yeah, so now After Forever is doing well, Epica is doing well, at the end it’s a good solution. But right after the departure, I can tell you I felt pretty miserable.

BM: Oh yeah, yeah, I can imagine. That must have been–

MJ: Yeah, I worked seven years for achieve, what we achieved in 2002, big tour with Nightwish. And then right before the tour, I had to leave. So that was not that–

BM: It was devastating to you, wasn’t it?

MJ: Yeah, really, really, really. I was really down for a couple of months. But then I said to myself, “continue”, and there was too many more music still to write. So I decided to go on, form a new band, and I took of course a lot of steps backward, but, yeah, because of that experience, it was more easy to do it, and to avoid mistakes. ‘Cause in the beginning of After Forever, you trip in a lot of traps, is that how you say that?

BM: Yeah.

MJ: And every time, everything is new, and now nothing is new anymore, and we could develop quite quickly, quite fast. So that was a big advantage.

BM: Well yeah, ’cause you went from, let’s say 2002 in After Forever, and then you guys put out an album as Epica in 2003, so things did come together really quickly.

MJ: Yeah. We had the luck that the record company, Transmission Records was behind us, and they said, “When you record a demo first, and it sounds good, you can be sure we will sign you. We will sign the new band.” And then, that’s what we did. We recorded a demo CD for Transmission and they said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” And so we didn’t have to search for a record company, which, normally takes a lot of time. So it was very easy to keep them going, and release the CD quite fast.

BM: Oh, that’s great.

MJ: But still, I think there’s a sense of agony because of all this shit, what happened, I had a lot of inspiration for music, so–

BM: Oh yeah.

MJ: –that was the advantage of the disadvantage. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well, I remember talking to you–what is it now–four years ago. You were considering going after your Ph.D.. Are you still thinking about that?

MJ: About what?

BM: Continuing your education to get a Ph.D., a doctorate.

MJ: Oh! Yes, yes. I finished the studies.

BM: Really?

MJ: Yes, so I’m now, I have a degree in–

BM: You’re Dr. Jansen?

MJ: Yeah, I have now a degree in psychology. [laughs]

BM: Dr. Jansen. Wow.
MJ: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: That’s great.

MJ: Thank you very much.

BM: Yeah, that’s great. Do you plan to use that at some time? Let’s say if Epica ever ends, are you going to teach at the university or something? Or what will you do?

MJ: Oh, I really don’t know yet, but I’m sure it is insurance to have a degree, because only, Bill, if–it’s something that people take me serious.

BM: Oh yeah.

MJ: So that’s already a big advantage. When you do, and if you for example are in a foreign country, and they don’t know a lot about you, but one day find out you have a degree, in one way, they take you more serious. I don’t know why, but…

BM: Well, you know what, I was gonna say there’s a lot of band members in Epica that have advanced degrees. There’s quite a few Master’s degrees, one of the guys teaches mathematics.

MJ: Yeah, yeah.

BM: Do you–what does that advanced education–how does that manifest itself in your music? Does having those advanced degrees and education help in some ways with the music, or are they just totally separate from it?

MJ: Yeah, I think most things are separate, but we are all working very hard to achieve something, and that is in a way the comparison, because we want to finish something we start with, and that’s for the study, and also for Epica. So when we started with Epica, we all wanted to achieve something, and travel around the world. And that’s exactly what we are doing nowadays, so I think that’s the main comparison.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: But yeah. And also, I use some psychology in my lyrics, but not really in the music. That’s really different.

BM: When you were starting to work on Epica, how long did it take you to find Simone [Simons, vocalist]? ‘Cause she’s a great singer.

MJ: Yeah. That’s a funny story, because she was right in front of my nose, but she was very young when I met her and she was a singer. And I knew her talent, but her techniques were quite poor in the beginning, so we decided it was best for her to take singing lessons and develop herself. And we were looking for a singer, so we were looking and looking and doing a lot of auditions, but none of them were really fitting to the band. And after three quarter of a year of searching, Simone became better and better in the meantime. So that’s why, when we said, “Well, let’s take Simone, she’s in front of our nose.”

BM: [laughs]

MJ: [laughs] Yeah. She has all the things we are looking for.

BM: Wow, that is great.

MJ: But still, she was quite inexperienced. But we took the risk, and yeah, sometimes it’s very good to take risks.

BM: Oh yeah. When you were–

MJ: It can work out great, and it can be a failure. But I believe that if you don’t risk anything, you don’t achieve anything.

BM: Oh yeah. When you were starting to put Epica together, did you intentionally want a band that sounded like After Forever, or sounded nothing like After Forever?

MJ: Yeah, it’s–the music I like, it’s more vocals, operatic stuff, a combination with film music and metal music. That’s also my thought that I put into After Forever. I wanted to continue that kind of music, so that’s what I used also in Epica. So you have some things that are in common with After Forever, but there are also some new elements, because we always take the band members and always have their influence in the music. But of course there are some similarities, and I think that’s no, not a problem.

BM: Oh no, not at all.

MJ: [laughs]

BM: One of the things you told me about After Forever’s music, you described it as symphonic fantasy metal, ’cause it sounded like sort of a musical score to a movie.

MJ: Yeah.

BM: And then, just a few years later, three years, you release The Score, which is exactly that. [laughs]

MJ: [laughs]

BM: How did that come about? Was that like a fulfillment of a dream to you? Tell me about The Score.

MJ: Yeah, that’s also a long story. I’ll try to tell it short. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

MJ: Yeah, there was already a contact between me and a film company, which originated from 2001 when I was in the studio recording. They called me, and that was the first contact. And they had some vague plans about making a movie, and they wanted to have some kind of music like After Forever. And we stayed in contact, even when I was out of After Forever, and when they had the finances, they started with the movie. And they still want me to do the music, so that’s what happened. And when I finished the music there was also interest on Transmission Records to release it as an album. But the songs were not, there were not enough songs for one CD, so together with Yves [Huts, bassist], I wrote some more songs. And that’s why we recorded for The Score. Yeah, it was for me kind of a dream come true, because that was something I always wanted to do, but I would never think of that any record company would have been interested in doing something like this. But Transmission Records took the risk, because to record an album like The Score, it doesn’t cost a lot. It’s quite cheap in comparison to a normal CD, so they earn more money on The Score than on a normal CD. So in the end, they were very happy. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] A lot of Epica fans almost kind of misunderstood The Score, didn’t they? They were expecting some heavy metal and typical Epica sounds, and this took them by surprise.

MJ: Yeah.

BM: Did that–

MJ: Yeah. That’s why I told everytime in the interview, please listen before you buy, because it’s really different from what you expect from Epica. It’s only just film music type from Epica. So it’s really an album for people that like this kind of music. And there are a lot of Epica fans who really like this stuff, and a lot of fans who like the heavy side of Epica and they didn’t like The Score. So, but for me it’s no problem. It’s only for the people that like this kind of music. And there are even some people that don’t like Epica normally, but they like The Score kind of music, and they also, yeah, liked this album. So it’s a very weird type there, in a way. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] There’s a little bit of controversy lately, I see from reading your band forum, about MySpace, and some Epica sites that were taken down by Transmission. What was the reason for that, do you know?

MJ: Yeah, I’m not that into what Transmission did about MySpace, but there are some people who put a site with Epica music, or what happened exactly?

BM: Well, there was a couple of, like two or three fan sites devoted to Epica on MySpace, and one person even put up one, one gal said she wanted to have like an official Epica so she put it up there. And then everybody got upset, because I guess Transmission emailed MySpace and asked that they be taken down. So they were all, a bunch of fans on your forum that are upset about that.

MJ: Yeah. That’s always the fight between the band and Transmission. Of course, we only support this fans, this MySpace fans, because it’s very important for a band like Epica, especially in the metal scene. But, Transmission has a different view.

BM: [laughs]

MJ: [laughs] Which makes me kind of angry. But, yeah, it’s still their policy and they have the right to do it, so I would never try to stop them in their policy because we have not the right to do it and they do really good job for us.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: Yeah. So I sometimes disagree, but that’s what happened.

BM: Yeah. You guys are going to be touring this fall with Kamelot in the United States.

MJ: Yeah.

BM: Will that be your first time in the States?

MJ: It will be our first time in the States, and this is also a story, like I don’t really know what to expect. I really don’t know how many people in the United States know about Epica, or maybe not a lot, maybe more than I expect. But it’s a blank tape, and let’s see what’s going to happen? [laughs]

BM: I think you’re going to be surprised, Mark. I think you’re gonna find an awful lot of fans there for both bands. I think you’re gonna be surprised by the turnout.

MJ: Yeah, I really don’t know. What I expect is that in some venues, I will be really surprised indeed, and some venues can also be almost nobody present.

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

MJ: So I expect really big differences. [laughs]

BM: Well, you’re going to be in Michigan, my state at Harpos, in Detroit, after ProgPower. I’ll see you in ProgPower, and then my wife and I are both going to be at ProgPower and we’re going to see you at Harpos in Detroit for the Kamelot show.

MJ: Cool.

BM: So that’s gonna be nice.

MJ: Yeah, yeah, and I can only hope there are more people that go to two shows. [laughs]

BM: Oh, I’m pretty sure they will. If they don’t know it already, after I post this interview it’ll let people know for sure to go see you guys in Detroit as well.

MJ: Yeah, yeah. I will be very excited when there are a lot of people. [laughs] But we are always excited. If there are only 50 people and they are really energetic, we are happy as well. So it doesn’t matter how many people there are present, but the most important is how their reactions will be.

BM: Oh yeah.

MJ: And the United States, it’s so big, it’s like Europe. Also with Europe, you have in one, in some countries there are a lot of people that like metal, and in some countries the metal scene is very small. And I expect this to be in the United States as well.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: In the different states.

BM: Tell me about recording Epica albums. Which one has been the most difficult so far, the first one, or the most recent one?

MJ: The most hard to record?

BM: Yeah, the most difficult for you. Was it the first one, or was it Consign to Oblivion? Which would you say is the–

MJ: The first one happened in, yeah, everything went smoothly, everything was easy because it was so new for five of the six band members. I was the only one who recorded an album before, so it, yeah, it was like first album with After Forever, things happened so easy. And with the second album, you know what happens, you know the difficult part which are to come, so the second album, I think it’s always a little more difficult than the first one.

BM: Oh yeah. Do you have plans yet for another studio album anytime soon?

MJ: Yes, yes. Today I even worked with Simone on some new songs.

BM: Oh great.

MJ: And most of the songs are actually already finished, so there will be 13 songs on the new album.

BM: How many songs?

MJ: 13.

BM: 13, ok. I thought you said 30 for a second. I was gonna say, wow that’s a big one. [laughs]

MJ: Oh! [laughs] No, it’s 13, and there’s a reason for this, because 13 is the unlucky number, and of course it’s our lucky number.

BM: Is it really? Why is it a lucky number for you guys?

MJ: Well, because the only reason why it’s called an unlucky number is because there were 13 people at the table of Jesus, the last supper. And for us, that’s no reason to be an unlucky number.

BM: [laughs]

MJ: [laughs] I think 13 is a beautiful number, so that’s the reason why we have on purpose, 13 songs on the next album. [laughs]

BM: That’s great. Do you have a working title for that album yet?

MJ: Yeah, we have a title, but I unfortunately can’t tell that one yet. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s fine. Tell me about, let me ask you something. I had a question I was going to ask you a little bit later on, but since you mentioned the new album, I noticed something about the lyrics on the two studio albums you have. On the first one, The Phantom Agony, you wrote seven songs, and Simone wrote two. But on Consign to Oblivion, you wrote five and she wrote six.

MJ: Yeah.

BM: It looks like her talents and abilities are amazing. She’s grown really fast.

MJ: Yeah, I always tell the band members, “It’s not that I want to write everything, it’s just I wait for good stuff.” So for example, when somebody writes eight good songs, then we use eight good songs of this person.

BM: Oh sure.

MJ: And that’s what happened on Consign to Oblivion, she wrote a lot of good lyrics, so we used them. And I don’t want to use my stuff because it’s my stuff. I only want to use the good stuff, and it doesn’t matter who wrote it. [laughs]

BM: That’s great. Does she write a lot of them on the new album?

MJ: Yes, yes. We even write most of the songs, the lyrics together.

BM: That’s great.

MJ: Next time, it will be really a mix between, in every song a mix between her lyrics and my lyrics.

BM: Wow.

MJ: And even Yves wrote some little parts of a lyric.

BM: That’s great. So it’s becoming quite a collaboration with you two.

MJ: Yeah, exactly. And we are all very often working together on the same night now, ’cause it’s the last part which has to be finished, and that’s also most of the time the most difficult part, because the singing line, that’s the part of the song that most people keep in their mind that make or break the song. So we are now, we still have a couple of months left for this finishing touch. And that’s the biggest advantage in comparison to Consign to Oblivion, where we didn’t have that much time anymore. So I hope that this time, we have, because of this time, we can make the almost perfect album. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah. That would be great. A perfect album.

MJ: [laughs] That’s what we always try, but you always try to reach the perfection, but I think it’s almost impossible or impossible to reach really perfection.

BM: Oh yeah. Well, you’re playing ProgPower USA this fall, I think that’s your first appearance in the States. What are your thoughts on that?

MJ: I know about ProgPower already a lot of years, and it was always a wish for me to play in this festival. So when Glenn of ProgPower got in contact with me and showed his interest, I was as happy as a little child. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s great.

MJ: Because also, when for example, when you play as a European band in the United States, in Europe the people say, “Oh, then you must be a good band.” Really weird. You can be the same band, but when you have not played in the United States, there is something missing.

BM: [laughs] So that kind of adds a little something to you, when you can now say, “Hey, we’ve played the States”, people will now take you even more seriously?

MJ: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s what happens in Europe when you play the States. And after you play, they take you more seriously.

BM: Oh, that’s great.

MJ: [laughs] That’s what happens. You can play everywhere, in Japan and Israel, everywhere in South America, when you play the States, it’s something different.

BM: Oh, that’s wonderful news. Well, what can audiences expect from you guys? What do you have planned for them at ProgPower?

MJ: We always give ourselves, we dedicated 100% to the show, so we always try to give the people the best we can give. And that’s something they can expect. And they can expect an energetic band that plays a lot of heavy songs.

BM: That’s good.

MJ: But we always, when we play live, we prefer the heavy songs above the quiet songs, because they have more power, more, yeah, more life for the people who attend the show.

BM: Yeah. Speaking of playing your songs. What is your favorite Epica song to play live?

MJ: That’s absolutely “Consign to Oblivion,” the song “Consigned to Oblivion.”

BM: Oh really?

MJ: Yeah, yeah.

BM: Why is that?

MJ: The song contains everything that Epica is about. It contains metal, it contains soul? music, it contains grunge, it contains chrisitna? vocals. Everything. And it’s something like ten minutes. Also, we had a poll on our home page, where we asked people, “What’s your favorite live song.” And if you see that topic, a lot of people say “Consign to Oblivion.”

BM: Wow. That’s good.

MJ: By far the most of them.

BM: Tell me about the grunts and screams thing. I remember mentioning it to you before when we were talking about After Forever. I was saying that maybe that’s the one thing that’s difficult for American audiences to get into, but it’s something that you guys feature as part of Epica. Do you ever consider not doing that, or is that always part of Epica’s sound?

MJ: Yeah, of course we consider it, but it’s a part which we can’t get rid of because we like it too much. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s great.

MJ: [laughs] Because it’s a part where we can put all the aggressive elements in, ’cause there are always in the lyrics, there are the hope parts with sweet elements, the parts with the smooth things, and there are also in the lyrics the heavy, the sharp things. And yeah, that needs to be sung by grunts, ’cause that’s by far more, how you say, I don’t know how to say that in English, but let me think.

BM: Are you referring to the smooth parts or the grunt parts?

MJ: The grunt parts, yeah.

BM: Well–

MJ: You sing a lyric with a sweetness, then you have the very heavy part in a lyric, the angry part, and it doesn’t come over, or how do you say that?

BM: Well, what it makes is a counterpoint or a juxtaposition, it’s a balance.

MJ: Yeah, yeah. It’s a balance we seek for, and not only seek for, but it just exists in the lyric. So we, when we are placing the lyrics in the music, they are always hard, but we say to each other, “Yeah, this needs to be done by grunts, because the music and the lyric asks for it.”

BM: Yep.

MJ: So we never think about using the grunts, it just happens.

BM: [laughs] Tell me about “Consign to Oblivion.” Is that a concept album, or are they unrelated songs?

MJ: It’s not a concept album, but there are some songs that are related to the Mayan culture.

BM: Yep.

MJ: But I can tell already the next album will be fully concept album.

BM: Is it really?

MJ: Yes.

BM: What’s the concept, Mark? Are you gonna share that with me?

MJ: [laughs] Yeah, the main idea behind the concept is that in the end, the main character discovers that all religions existing on the earth are refer to the the same God. So that all the people that believe in different religions, at the end, mean the same. And all–he discovers if you take all the possible forms out of all religions, do you find the perfect religion.

BM: Wow.

MJ: Or the perfect balance to live.

BM: That sounds like a very philosophical, where did that theme come from, how did you come up with that?

MJ: Because, I think because of the travels I made. I’ve seen so many things happening in every country. I’ve seen also the fights that happen because of religion. And I always think, “Why is this happening?” And when I ask the people, “Why do you hate these people?” And they say, “I don’t know, in fact, I don’t hate them. There is just a difference in opinion and my father and grandfather and they told me about it. And nobody knows exactly why there is a problem.” It always has to do something with religion.

BM: Right.

MJ: And, but in fact, they always know people from the other side, and they are friends with them, some of them. In fact, there is no problem, but still there is. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

MJ: So there’s always something going on with religion. While it’s possible to, yeah, in the end it’s possible to get rid of all these problems, but it’s very difficult.

BM: Are you optimistic then? That would be a very optimistic view of the future. Do you see yourself as an optimist and do you see sort of a bright future ahead, or what do you think’s gonna happen?

MJ: I don’t have that optimistic view on the future. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

MJ: To tell the truth, my opinion of the future is that the technology evolvement gets so fast that mankind always loses. Because the balance with nature really gets distorted more and more. So in a way, it must stop in the end. It’s not possible to go on like this. It’s also not possible to stop anymore, it’s going to fast that you can’t stop it anymore. It’s not possible. So I think there will be more disasters, like tornadoes, like water, like wind, will happen in the future. And I think we will get some heavy troubles to overcome.

BM: Oh yeah, those are even natural ones. How ’bout not natural ones, like what happened to 9/11? Do you see more of that kind of stuff happening?

MJ: I think this kind of stuff will happen as well, yeah.

BM: Yeah?

MJ: Yeah.

BM: Gee, this is kind of depressing, Mark. [laughs]

MJ: Yeah, it is, but it is just daily life.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: Yeah. That’s the way it is. And we also have this kind of–not that worse as 9/11 of course, but it happened in London, and also most of the rest of Europe here.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: Yeah, I think this kind of, how do you say, fundamentalistic wars will go on.

BM: Yeah, unfortunately, you’re probably right.

MJ: Yeah, unfortunately, I also say, really unfortunately, I really would like to see it different, but I’m not that optimistic. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well, it sounds like your next album is an optimistic one, though. Or is it idealistic? Would you like to see–

MJ: Yeah, idealistic. That’s for sure. But I always try to see the positive things and get the positive out of the negative. But it’s really hard, especially the part of technology, the design? It really happened so fast, and we used the sources of the earth. Where it is not possible, it goes really too fast. And there’s a lot of, yeah, I don’t know the English word, but we use a lot of resources and the sun, the heat of the earth gets greatest quickly, and the rate is that quickly that the poles are melting, and yeah, it goes so fast, that what will happen between 10 and 20 years, I think that we have a big disaster.

BM: [laughs] So we’ve got 10 to 20 years left, and that’s it?

MJ: Yeah, I think so.

BM: Yeah?

MJ: I really believe that we will get a big disaster, yeah. And then some things start to happen also in the United States, the thing with the big tornado the previous year.

BM: Oh yeah, the hurricane in New Orleans.

MJ: Yeah, exactly. The hurricane in New Orleans. I think this is only a small example about what’s gonna happen in about 10, 20 years. Also the sea wave that happened before, the big sea wave which cost a lot of people their lives? That’s also an example what will happen, I think, in a much bigger way.

BM: How are things in your own country? Are things pretty stable and pretty nice there, or are there any difficulties at home for you?

MJ: I also experience here more rain in more periods. Every summer there are some days there is so much rain that a lot of houses are full of water. And that happens more frequently. The summers are more rain, and the winters are less cold. So in the beginning everybody was saying, “Oh, that’s the way it happens always. It’s always going like this through the history.” But now they are convinced it is something to do with the heat of the earth.

BM: Yeah, the global warming.

MJ: Yeah, exactly. Now they take it seriously, finally.

BM: [laughs] Well, what has it been like working–you had Roy Khan, guest vocal on Consign to Oblivion. What was it like working with Roy?

MJ: Yeah, that was really great, because Roy’s voice, we like it already for a long time, and we never thought it would be possible to get him on an album, especially because he normally never does guest appearances, because he don’t like to do guest appearances and because he wants to be involved in the writing process from the beginning.

BM: Right.

MJ: So yeah, but we just gave it a try, because we really wanted to have him on the album. In the beginning, he was not that interested yet. But when we kept on trying and really said to him, “It will be done by you, or nobody else.” Yeah, something happened. And then he said, “Yeah, I want to do it.” And also Simone on the cover of the album, so in the end it was perfect solution.

BM: That’s great.

MJ: Yeah.

BM: Of the two studio albums–or actually, all the albums–what is your favorite Epica album so far?

MJ: I can’t choose between them. That’s impossible. [laughs] Both of them have their charms and both of them are special to me. But I will say it’s like if you have children, I think it’s also not possible to choose which one is your favorite.

BM: That’s true. Yeah, I can understand that.

MJ: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: How, in the last, let’s say four or five years, you’ve–how would you say you’ve progressed as a musician? What has gotten better, your lyrics, your guitar playing, your concepting, what? How have you grown as a musician since the After Forever days? What’s gotten better for you or easier?

MJ: That’s a difficult question. I think what part I really improved is arrangement. When I was in After Forever, the arrangements often needed to be done by different person, who was outside the band, who helped us with arrangement. And nowadays I can make the arrangements myself. And that’s a big step forward.

BM: Oh, that’s great.

MJ: ‘Cause I also now, I also now record all my demo stuff myself, and because I have a little home studio now. And in the past, I also didn’t have all these facilities. So that’s the main improvement, I think.

BM: That’s great. Well, I think I’ve probably taken up enough of your time. I do appreciate it, it’s great to chat with you again. I’m so looking forward to seeing you guys and meeting you. I’ve wanted to see you play live for four or five years now. So this will be great.

MJ: Yeah, yeah, finally.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: Yeah, finally it’s going to happen. So we are very excited as well. In two weeks I will have my interview for getting a visa, and ’cause it’s a lot of work to get into the United States.

BM: Yeah.

MJ: But all of this will be worth it.

BM: Yeah, that’s one thing that has kept out a few bands. Let’s say, I don’t know if you’re familiar with the band UFO, but they couldn’t tour in the US.

MJ: Oh yeah, definitely.

BM: So please, make sure you get your visa ducks in a row there, so you can come over here.

MJ: Yeah. Exactly. That’s why we are working on it now already, ’cause we don’t want to be to late with it. And yeah, it’s gonna be some work. And everybody of the band has to go separately to have a own interview. But we are busy with it, and my interview is in about two weeks. So I think I will have my visa in plenty of time.

BM: What is the process, what is the interview like? What do you have to do?

MJ: At first, you have to make a phone call to make an appointment for the interview. And then you have to pay $15 for this phone call. Then when you have this appointment, they will check if you have, they will check your papers, they will check if you have some penalties, they will check if you have been in prison, they will check about possibly fundamentalistic stuff, and when all this is good, then you have to give some information. You have to give fingerprints, and then you get the visa.

BM: Man, that’s a lot.

MJ:[laughs] Yeah.

BM: Is that process the same with other countries, or just trying to get into the US?

MJ: No, it’s only with the US, yeah.

BM: Ok.

MJ: ‘Cause it’s even more easy to get into Israel than into the US.

BM: Is it really? [laughs]

MJ: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: Wow.

MJ: Yes, it’s a big, how do you say, port, the US, but not easy to get in. [laughs]

BM: Yeah, I guess with all the things going on in the world, the need for security is pretty high.

MJ: YEah, yeah, I know. Because I was two weeks before 9/11, I was, we came back from Mexico, After Forever, back to Europe, we made a stop in the US. I was at the airport, I don’t know what city anymore, Houston or something, and I got out of the airport so easily because we had to wait for two hours. I got out of the airport to see something of the city and got back into it very easily. But after 9/11, everything changed so quickly.

BM: Yeah, yeah. I think everybody’s become a little more paranoid and worried about things nowadays.

MJ: Yeah, exactly, exactly.

BM: Well–

MJ: Unfortunately it happened like this, but you can’t do anything about it. Some people, they are paranoid indeed, and that’s not good. But yeah, you have to be secure, that’s one thing for sure.

BM: Yeah, you know, I can’t blame people and countries for wanting to be secure. It’s getting harder to do that these days. But it’s such a pleasure to talk to you. I like your outlook on life. You do seem optimistic, even though the future look pessimistic. You seem like you take things in stride. Like, you take things as they come.

MJ: Yeah, exactly. If you are negative, then for sure nothing will change. If you keep optimistic and try to solve things and give them a little hand, I’m sure my contribution it’s almost nothing. I’m realistic about that. But every small contribution is a contribution, so even if the contribution is minor, then it’s still a contribution. So all the little contributions together make maybe a step. And that’s what I hope for.

BM: That’s great. That’s really cool.

MJ: [laughs]

BM: Well, Mark, keep in touch. If there are any photographs or anything that you’d like to send to me as jpgs or anything, send them to me, and I’ll post them on the Notes From the Other Side web site to help promote Epica and for the ProgPower show.

MJ: Ok.

BM: Send me anything you have.

MJ: I will send to you.

BM: Yeah. That’s great. Do you have my e-mail address?

MJ: Yeah.

BM: Yeah, you do, ’cause you sent me e-mails. [Duh!]
MJ: Yes, yeah.

BM: Well please keep in touch, and I’m looking forward to seeing you guys. It’s gonna be an honor for me. It’s gonna be a pleasure.

MJ: Cool. Thank you for the interview. And it was a pleasure for me also to speak to you after all these years.

BM: Oh yeah. Thank you so much, Mark. Take care and I’ll see you this fall.

MJ: See you. See you later, man. [laughs]

BM: Bye bye, Mark.

MJ: Bye bye.

I love that line “I was happy as a little child.” One of the things I enjoy most about interviewing all of these bands from Europe is how they phrase sentences. Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, they use words in more precise ways that we do in the States. And they tend to speak more from the heart, perhaps.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to seeing Epica on stage. I think they’re going to blow the doors off!

Epica’s CDs can be found most anywhere. As always, I got mine from Ken Golden at LaserCD.com.

Epica’s official web site is www.epica.nl.

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. Most dearly love it. So I won’t waste anyone’s time with a warm-up, other than to say I called Tom the day or two after his house had been hit by lightning. So he was on his cell phone and probably not in as fine a mood as he might have been had his house been spared the zap from the heavens.

TE: Hello?

BM: Hello, is this Tom?

TE: It is.

BM: Tom, this is Bill Murphy.

TE: Hi, Bill. How you doin’?

BM: Good. How are you doin’?

TE: Pretty good, man. Pretty good.

BM: Aside from having your house hit by lightning?

TE: Sorry, yeah. Except for that, everything is peachy. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Did anything happen other than it blew out your electrical? Any damage?

TE: Well, the computer went to hell, but other than that, everything is fine. [laughs] So yeah, that’s why. And I have this sort of broadband telephone service, so I can’t use my phone anymore until I get the fucking computer fixed. So, that’s why we’re doing this on this.

BM: Oh, that’s all right. You know what, this doesn’t seem to be your month here. What happened to your web site?

TE: Well, that’s a long story. [laughs] I just had my drummer call asking about it also. But it seems some people [Tom tells me what happened, but I thought it best not to stir up the waters again by reprinting it.] So it’s a, well, never mind.

BM: Good grief, see all these things you musicians have to deal with in addition to playing music.

TE: Exactly.

BM: Ridiculous.

TE: Yeah.

BM: It’s a pleasure to talk to you, ’cause Evergrey’s my favorite band. You guys are amazing. I saw you in Grand Rapids when you were here on the In Flames tour.

TE: Oh yeah.

BM: How did that tour go for you guys?

TE: Really well. Like any other tour, actually. I mean, it was a bit of an off market, more like a secondary market, which was cool for us to do since we had never done that before. And you know, to be able to go to different places is really why we’re doing this. You know, we get to play for people who we never played to before. And it’s a great complement that we get to go to the major cities later this year as well. Then we have covered sort of the whole of America.

BM: That’s great. Do you guys, do you personally feel that Evergrey has kind of made it now? Are you successful in your opinion?

TE: Yeah, we are sort of successful to a certain degree, of course. I mean, we’re not millionaires or anything, but we all live from this now, which is a major accomplishment I think. As far as my hopes and wishes goes.

BM: Oh, that’s great.

TE: You know, we’ve been living on this for a couple of years now. So yeah, it’s a great thing.

BM: Would you say that Evergrey is where you thought it would be, or better than you thought it would be when you started the band long ago?

TE: Worse. [laughs]

BM: Worse? Really? [laughs]

TE: Of course. You know, when you get your first drink into you, [laughs], you expect to, you know, that your life is made and you will sell fifty million albums in the coming weeks. And of course, things doesn’t work that way. But you know, when you’re young and naive, you believe all these things.

BM: Wow. [laughs]

TE: But I mean, there are, we are happy to a certain degree, but of course we want to get bigger and better and sell more albums and meet more people and whatever.

BM: That’s great. Well, you know you guys, congratulations on getting into Guitar World for the latest issue. How did that happen? How did–

TE: Is that out now?

BM: Yeah, it’s out. I bought it on the stand. It’s a great clip of you and Henrick [Danhage] shredding on your guitars.

TE: Ok, that’s cool. Yeah, that’s right, it’s the Bet You Can’t Play This thing.

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

TE: Yeah, that was cool. Actually they just asked us if we wanted to do it, and I mean, of course that’s an honor. That’s also a thing that we have–and especially Henrick — has been wishing for for his whole life. So it’s the greatest guitar magazine in the world, and the biggest one, and to be able to do that is of course also an accomplishment of greater measure, I would say. So yeah, I just hope that we get to do it again. And we were really nervous when we made it.

BM: Really? It didn’t look like it, ’cause you guys were just playing your asses off. It looked really good.

TE: Yeah, they had, usually they have people there that do like 51 takes or whatever. But we felt like in order to be honest towards everybody, we would like to put it down in one take. And that’s actually what we did.

BM: Oh, that’s cool.

TE: I mean, it’s not perfect. [laughs] It’s got its glitches here and there, but other than that, you know, it was fun.

BM: Yeah. Well, tell me about the band itself. You’re considered by many people, especially the ProgPower crowd, as being one of the best bands in the prog/power metal world. They love your combination of light and dark and different sounds and everything. Who or what were your influences when you started Evergrey? How did you get this great sound that you have?

TE: We, of course, we at that time we were in the time where Dream Theater had just broke. And that’s what we wanted to do as well. I mean, we wanted to sound like Dream Theater, but we sorta discovered that we weren’t at all able to play like them, so you know, we figured we better do something by our own. And since we came from you know, death metal background, we wanted to bring, sort of bring the darkness but use melody to it as well, and have somewhat ordinary vocals.

BM: [laughs]

TE: So, our other influences, aside from that, everything from Iron Maiden to King Diamond and to Queensryche and everything in between.

BM: Yeah. That’s really good. You’re first couple albums, you went through some big personnel changes for a while. Did that have an effect on you as a musician? Or did you just take it all in stride and make your third album?

TE: I mean, of course it has an effect on us. We, usually the people you have in the band are people you enjoy being with, but it comes to a point also where things get more serious and people find out that they are not made to do this. And not suited for the job. Then I mean, I think it’s like a football team or a hockey team, you know, where we have to get better players or players that suit us better in order to continue. Now we have a stable lineup for the last, whatever, four years, whatever it is now. So everything’s great.

BM: Oh yeah. Let’s talk about Monday Morning Apocalypse. I liked it the first time I heard it. But some of the fans were put off by something about it. I’ve read reviews of you where you essentially say, “That’s bullshit, this is the best we’ve ever sounded.” What about this new album do you think changed that put off some of your longtime fans?

TE: I think what changed initially was the music. And all of a sudden we were having outside producers on this album, and we did that on purpose. We did that to stir up some shit, and you know, we knew that even the 14 year old kids would freak when they saw the other names he worked with, such as Britney Spears and whatever. So of course, that is something that also made up their minds already, from the beginning. Without hearing the album at all, they already decided they would think the album was shit. So you know, and we don’t bother too much about that. We have gained much more fans already than the 10 or 12 or 15 highest on the top of the line. That’s one thing to say that you don’t like it, but it’s another thing trying to sort of provoke other people to think the same. And that is mainly what bothered us. But the main thing that bothered us was of course that people complained about it before it was out, which proved that they downloaded it. It’s not really experience, you judge the product on downloading, especially if they don’t really know if it’s the official product or if it’s a promo version unmastered, or whatever. But I mean, usually, I don’t have a goddamn clue what they don’t like. And if you would listen to our first album and our third album, you would of course hear the difference, and it’s the same thing with the third album to the fifth album, there’s a major difference. And I mean, the thing that happened when we recorded this album was that, I mean we recorded a live album before that and we toured a lot, so it was two years between the song writing for the The Inner Circle album and the Monday Morning Apocalypse album. So I mean, of course that affects us. And also our music. So that’s the main sort of explanation I have for the album. Some may not like it.

BM: Well, I think it sounds great. And I really enjoyed it from the first time I played it. I couldn’t hear what other people would see was wrong with it. [laughs]

TE: Exactly.

BM: Well, you’ve got a lot of albums under your belt now. Which is your favorite Evergrey album?

TE: Oh, that’s so hard, actually. I mean, I like, I love all albums for different reasons. I mean, it’s also a collection of memories for me and the time I was in the process of recording each and every album. So it’s an impossible question to answer, but if you ask in ten years, you could ask me which of the first six albums I love the most and I might have an answer.

BM: [laughs] Do you have one album then, that when you were talking about the memories, do you have one that you remember most fondly putting together?

TE: Most definitely the first one. Since everything and recording an album was an experience, a big thing for us when we were 20 years old or whatever. So yeah, that is the album that I have the most memories of, being the most impact on me as a person. But I also remember Recreation Day being one of the toughest albums and one of the toughest album and one of the most tough periods of my life when it comes to recording music. That album was not enjoyable at all to record, it was a hell of a lot of work in it since we did most of it ourselves. So that’s why we decided for The Inner Circle album that we would do everything ourselves and also you know, have control over the time we spent recording it. We spent like five and a half months recording it, which was great it some ways and also not the perfect scenario in other ways. But I think we found the perfect working situation for us now with the latest album, and it’s nice to just be able to concentrate on the actual recording of the music, instead of having to fiddle around with the fucking computers or whatever.

BM: [laughs]

TE: That’s fucking awful, you know?

BM: You know, I asked Lance King of Pyramaze a question about his favorite, and he had the same response about ProTools. He said the first Pyramaze album was a nightmare because he didn’t know ProTools, so it was a lot harder than it should have been.

TE: Mmhm, yeah, exactly.

BM: Well, do your albums get easier then? I mean, is it harder to produce a–I don’t want to say the word “hit album”–but you’ve got a lot of good albums out now. So does it get easier for you to do an album? Or is each one harder than the previous one?

TE: Well, it depends. I mean, as I said, the In Search of Truth album we recorded and wrote in like two or three months. And the same with this last one. You know, it’s a, it’s totally different. I can’t really answer that in a good way, either. It depends on the working situation we have. And the pressure you have. And now we have our own studio, we can pretty much do whatever we want. We really decided we wanted to put money on the producer team, because we want to offer our fans the best we think is possible. And that’s a decision we made for that album. And we might not do it for the next album or we might do some other producers. So whatever. Or we might produce it ourselves. So you know, we’ll see.

BM: We’ll see. What’s your favorite track to play off Monday Morning Apocalypse? What’s your favorite one to play live? Is there one that really grooves for you?

TE: I mean, we’ve only rehearsed three of them so far.

BM: Ok.

TE: And we’ve only, actually we did in Grand Rapids as well, we have only played three of them live. So we haven’t had that much time to rehearse them all. But of those three, which are “Monday Morning Apocalypse,” “Obedience,” and “Still in The Water,” I would say, well, that’s hard as well. All depends on the crowd. [laughs]

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

TE: You know? I mean, “Obedience” is an extremely hard-hitting song, but at the same time “Still in The Water” is an extremely atmospheric, cool song to play live. There are such dynamics to that song that really comes through live as well.

BM: Oh yeah.

TE: So, and “Monday Morning” is more of a hit song. So you know, it’s hard. I can answer that when we’ve rehearsed all the songs and play them live.

BM: Well, you’ve played ProgPower, this will be your fourth time. You were at the first one, the second one, the fourth one. What is it like for you to play ProgPower USA? Why do you like coming back so many times?

TE: It’s a great gathering of great people and it’s a great opportunity for everybody to portray ourselves in the best possible way, really. And I mean, we did somewhat co-headline the last time with Kamelot playing after us, which I didn’t think they thought was that funny. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

TE: ‘Cause everybody left. But I mean, [laughs] it’s called The Evergrey Effect now I’m told.

BM: [laughs]

TE: So this time Glenn has us playing at the ultimate last spot. But I mean, it’s a cool thing. It’s a cool thing for–I mean, Glenn was also one of the three persons that has been with us since the beginning. I mean, we had [name unknown] and Glenn, and [name unknown] as well, and it’s sort of a tribute to them as well. Of course, they are the ones who started this sort of underground thing for us in America and you know, brought us over there and paid our tickets and whatnot. And you know, so fucking hats off to them, man.

BM: [laughs] What can audiences expect from your show? I understand you’re bringing the string section and choir with you. Are you going to recreate sort of the feel of your live album [A Night to Remember]?

TE: Yeah, of course, I mean that’s what Glenn wanted. He wanted A Night to Remember Atlanta version. So yeah, I mean, that’s of course what we are trying to do. But we will also, I mean, the string quartet we are using are from Atlanta. We of course have to include the new songs, but I really tried to set it up as good as possible with choir and string arrangements to it, so you know, we might do it in two sets. On the first half maybe the new songs, second half with all the DVD material. Well, not all of it, but most of it. So yeah, it was a cool thing, and it will be a cool thing to bring it to America too. Since I know that people over there are extremely jealous of what we are serving people in Europe. But it’s all a money issue of course, so Glenn made it possible for us to come there, so it’s all good.

BM: You did a lot of touring around the world. How are audiences different in other countries? Is the audience in America different from Sweden let’s say? Or is it the same?

TE: I would say that is also impossible to answer, since they are really different and every audience is different. I mean, I guess we could play two venues in the same city and we would have two different crowds. But I mean, people in America are very idolizing, and people on the Europe tour are not, I wouldn’t say most of Europe but Sweden and Germany are more spoiled with having great metal shows, so they are not that impressed each and every time. So I mean, things are starting to happen in America now, there’s a lot of tours going on and it’s a great thing. I think metal is bigger now than ever.

BM: Oh yeah, oh yeah. Do you have a road story? Like of all the places you’ve played, is there one that sticks out, or is there a great experience, or a funny experience, or a tragic experience? What’s your favorite road story to share?

TE: Actually, we actually woke up in a tour bus one morning and by the bus going back and forth, and sounded like it was slamming things. So we all woke up and went up to the front of the bus and we saw our driver being taken away with the, what are they called, Atlanta police, Georgia State Trooper, yeah.

BM:[laughs]

TE: So we just discovered that some guy in a Jeep tried, didn’t let our bus driver into one of the lanes, so our bus driver got really mad and tried to, you know, drive him off the road.

BM: Oh!

TE: And of course, he called the police, and the police took him away, and told us that we would have to move the bus. “Well, it’s pretty hard to move the fucking bus when you have our driver in your back seat, you know.”

BM: [laughs]

TE: “Well, you’re gonna get a ticket.” “Well, can I move it?” “Do you have a driver’s license?” “No.” “So you’re gonna get a ticket.” “Well, that’s the status quo.” [laughs] So yeah, that’s pretty funny.

BM: Where did the ideas come for your albums? They seem to have an overall kind of dark and moody tone to them from time to time. You don’t necessarily sound like a dark and moody guy on the phone. Where do these ideas of yours come from on the album?

TE: I mean, they do come from experiences that we have had, all of us. I mean, they’re primarily the stories come from things that either happened to me or somebody close to me, or things that have affected us in some way. Yeah, it’s all pretty dark. Even if they are based on true happenings, we always try to add some fiction to it in order to make it not that real, or more interesting or whatever.

BM: Well, how would you say you’re progressing as a musician? You’re a great guitarist and you’re noted for being a great singer with your band as well. Would you say you’re a better singer? Or a better guitarist with Evergrey?

TE: I would say I’m a better guitar player.

BM: Oh really?

TE: Yeah. That’s my personal view. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] I noticed that your wife sings with the band. What’s it like to record with your wife? Does she tour with you as well?

TE: No, she did this DVD with us, and now she’s coming to Atlanta with us of course as well. For special occasions she does show up. Other than that, she doesn’t. I mean, she doesn’t want to tour. If she would have liked that, she would have started her own band, you know? And besides that, we have a daughter, and someone’s got to be responsible.

BM: [laughs]

TE: [laughs]

BM: Yeah, that’s true. How about the album cover for Monday Morning Apocalypse, I guess some people were critical of that, ’cause it looked, the felt it was not quite as representative of the style of music. Who came up with the artwork for the new cover?

TE: Me and Henrick and our producer actually sat around speaking about it. And we felt that we were done doing all these triangles and demons and monster picture for the time being anyway. And we felt we wanted to do, once again, do something that would stir up some shit. We knew that people would notice that album along with 200 other album covers. That was the purpose. And we also, we have never, ever had any questions about our covers in any of the one million interviews we have done for any of the albums, and for this album, everyone is asking about the cover. So I mean, that’s really what we set out to do, and Evergrey, the rest of the world, one, nil.

BM: [laughs] What is it, in your opinion, what is the state of the music industry these days? Is this a great time to be a musician on the road, or is it a bad time?

TE: Musician on the road is a great time. ‘Cause more and more people are coming to the shows. But I mean, sales wise, [laughs], of course now the downloading problem affects the album sales. But I mean, at the same time, this is the way the world works these days, and this is something that you have to accept and work in other ways if you want to get your music out and get the money you want to deserve.

BM: Yeah. Your web site, I notice there’s an Evergrey chat channel, you guys can stop by and chat with fans. Is it important to you guys to stay connected to your fans?

TE: Absolutely. When we have the chance to and when we have the time, you know, we love to do that.

BM: Will those pages, will that MySpace and your web site be up again fairly soon?

TE: Oh yeah. Tomorrow, I would say.

BM: Oh really? That’s great. Very good. Well, I don’t want to take up any more of your time, Tom. I really appreciate it.

TE: No problem, man. Thank you.

BM: Thank you. Take care.

TE: Ok man, take care. Bye bye.

Don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled to be able to see Evergrey more or less recreate their A Night to Remember album at ProgPowerUSA. Thank you, Glenn, for making that happen!

Oh. One more thing. I spoke to Tom before the recent news of the departure of his bass player. I tried to get a follow up interview with Tom after the news broke but, so far, have been unsuccessful.

Evergrey’s CDs can be found all over the place. You name the CD store, they’re likely to have them in stock. Me? I get my CDs from Ken Golden at LaserCD.com.

Evergrey’s official web site is www.evergrey.net.

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.

For my interview with Savage Circus, I originally had spoken with Thomen Stauch, former drummer for Blind Guardian now leading SG. However, I discovered – to my utter dismay – that my interview with Thomen was defective. Nothing but hiss. The .wav file had been corrupted, or never recorded properly in the first place. Efforts to restore the file failed, a tremendous loss.
I am most grateful to Piet for hooking up with me on short notice and being so gracious on the phone. I don’t think we hung up until it was nearly midnight where he lives.
Here’s how our conversation went…

BM: Hey hey.

PS: Hey, this is Piet of Savage Circus. Am I talking to Bill?

BM: Yes you are, Piet. Thank you for calling.

PS: Hey, Bill. No problem.

BM: Good, good, good.

PS: So, how you doin’?

BM: I’m doing really well. It must be pretty late there for you. What is it, 11 o’clock, or so for you?

PS: Oh, it’s ok. It’s 11 o’clock in the evening. It’s all right for heavy metal person. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] It’s the perfect hour for heavy metal. [laughs]

PS: [laughs]

BM: That’s great. Well, I’m really glad you called. I’d love to chat with you about Savage Circus and Iron Savior. But tell me, how’s Thomen doing? What’s the latest with him?

PS: Well, I mean, I’m quite sure that you read our statement and also his statement. It’s actually nothing more that I can add. I mean, all I know is that of course I talk to him every two or three days, and–

BM: He’s doing ok?

PS: Yeah. He is ok in a way, I mean, it depends what you call ok or not ok. I mean, it’s not like he want to die right away, but if you look through the statement, he’s not in an easy point of his life, to put it like this, you know.

BM: Right.

PS: It’s several problems that sort of like add up and you know, for him it’s a matter of getting his feet back to the ground and getting a perspective for him, you know, that works. A brighter view of the future. Of course, he was with the rest of the band, and we tried to put him in succeeding doing this as much as possible, you know.

BM: Oh yeah. Well…

PS: And I can understand. Of course, I know what kind of problems he’s facing, and I mean, all I can say is that they’re not easy, you know, they’re massive. And so it is the best thing for him to rest for the rest of the year and do nothing and just focus on, you know–there are times in your life when you tend to lose your balance, you know.

BM: Oh yeah.

PS: And Thomen, you know, he is out of balance. And he needs to get, he has to find his pace, you know?

BM: Oh sure. Well, then everybody’s wishing him well. I don’t know if you read like the ProgPower forums and all that, but people are hoping the best for him–

PS: Yeah, I do.

BM: Yeah.

PS: That’s, I mean, that’s really good. Also, as we wrote in the statement, that is definitely something he needs some of at the moment. I mean, he really goes for it, for Savage Circus. I mean he really–even though it is supposed that he is not playing in order to get better, and of course, at the moment, it drives him even more crazy that he can’t play. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s called a Catch-22, huh?

PS: It, actually, it is, you know. It definitely is. And you know, but I think in the long term range, looking at it in the situation for the next six or 12 months, I’m quite sure that this is the wise decision. Even though it’s hard at the moment.

BM: Yeah. Well that’s good that you guys are taking a long term approach to this then, ’cause that will make a lot of difference in his life.

PS: Yeah, I mean we want him back on the grounds for the second, for the following album, and we want him in good shape and after that, we definitely want to go on tour with him. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah. Well, you know, you picked Thomas Nack, the longtime drummer for Iron Savior, former drummer for Gamma Ray, to fill Thomen’s shoes. What was it about Thomas’ style that made you think, “Yeah, I want this guy for the job.”

PS: Well, I mean, Thomas, as you just mentioned, plays with Iron Savior for many years by now, so I mean, he’s my buddy. I know him really well.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

PS: I know also his capabilities as a drummer pretty well, and this man is lightening fast if it comes to, just to learn something. You know, unless we had to also call him pretty–well, let’s say without no warning, you know? It was pretty much, “Hey, do you want the job?” And there he, and he had days to prepare for the rehearsals, and wow, it was just, I mean. So Thomas is a world-class drummer. And therefore, even though he’s the drummer for Iron Savior, I’m aware of this mix-up, and maybe confusing the situation. You know, in the end, it’s a matter of people. I know Thomas, he’s a great guy, and he’s a great drummer, and that qualifies him for getting a call, “Hey, you wanna have this job?” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah. Well tell me about the formation of Savage Circus. I know you’ve known Thomen for quite awhile, he was on the first Iron Savior album with you guys. And you must have kept in contact with him over the years.

PS: Yeah.

BM: What was it like to get the call from him one day, where he was like, “Hey, guess what? I’m putting together this band. I want you to be in it.” Is that kind of how it went, or had you known about his plans all along?

PS: Well, it went a little bit different. Actually, yeah, I mean, right. He was the drummer of the first Iron Savior album, and yeah, we stayed in regular contact throughout all the years, and we even though I was not recording the latest Blind Guardian stuff anymore, but anyhow, we kept in contact. Well, I mean, it came that we met in Spain where I took vacation, and he was living in Spain at that time. And I brought some stuff with me, and just played it to him, and he said, “Wow, that’s cool. I really love this, this guy sounds cool. And listen to this.” And he played some raw material, you know, that he’d just been recording, to me. And I said, “Yeah, wow, cool. Sounds great.” But nothing happened. Then four weeks later, he called me and asked me, “Give me the phone number of this Swedish dudes you just played to me four weeks ago.” So I established contact, and yeah, they got together, talked about it, and they loved the idea right away. And a couple of weeks later, Thomen called me and asked me if I also want to join the boats. And I said, “Yes”. [laughs] So that’s how it went.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

PS: There we were, with Savage Circus.

BM: Well, did this thing kind of–did you guys put it together as we see it today, or did Thomen come to you with the idea fully formed and say, “Here’s the band.”

PS: Well, I mean, the general idea to, especially the general direction where Savage Circus sort of moved to, that was made by Thomen. I mean, he was the, actually, at that time he was still with Blind Guardian, and he was planning, well, on doing Savage Circus and doing something like well, old Blind Guardian stuff. You know, the stuff that Blind Guardian’s just not doing anymore. And because just like himself, there are many fans around the globe who really like this old style of Blind Guardian. And therefore he thought it’s a great idea to, well, like this band, the fans could have had both, Savage Circus and Blind Guardian. Of course, when he left Blind Guardian, there was a slight change of plan then. Savage Circus became his main band, but musically, I think he’s very happy with what Savage Circus stands for, because it’s exactly what he wanted to do.

BM: Yeah. Well, I like it. It sounds great. It’s a good album.

PS: Yeah, thanks.

BM: Did you–

PS: We worked hard. [laughs]

BM: Yeah. [laughs] Did you–where did the band’s name come from? Did Thomen pick that himself, or did you guys come up with that together?

PS: No, that was something like a–I mean, after the, all the general thing was like set, you know, and we all agreed, ok, this is the direction we want to move into. I must say that Savage Circus really is a team work. It’s not that one person gives direction and the rest is following, it’s teamwork. But the good thing about this team is that we’re all thinking in naturally the same direction. So there’s no hassle, I mean, there’s no, “Hmm, I want to do grunge rock” or “I need a new metal part in here.” We’re all thinking into the same direction and therefore, there’s no arguing anymore. It’s just, “Yeah, I like it. Yeah, cool.” And you know, it’s very, a great way of working. And same thing was with the name. We had some brainstorming going on, sending back and forth names like crazy, and all of a sudden said, “Yeah, this sounds cool. This is something we can find ourselves with this.”

BM: That’s great. How about the artwork for the album cover? How involved were you with sort of picking the direction of that? Was that another teamwork effort?

PS: No, I think the artwork is not that cool, I must agree. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

PS: The artwork reminds me a little bit of like, it’s, the problem with the artwork was that time was running short again for strange reason, because we were really, really fast with everything. But, you know, as things are coming, I don’t know, all of a sudden time was running fast and we had to finish up this artwork. We had the idea of this moat and stuff. If you ask me, it sucks. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Does it really? What’s wrong with the artwork?

PS: [laughs] Ah, I don’t know. The artwork, it looks pathetic. I really hate this artwork. It’s a little bit like the second Iron Savior album, Unification…I wanted to, you know, we wanted it to look really impressive, you know? With a big manor house, just like in the movies or–and it’s just not looking like this.

BM: Oh. Well…

PS: It’s just not…[sighs]

BM: [laughs] But your next one, you won’t be–

PS: But anyhow. Anyhow, I mean, the artwork, of course it’s important for T-shirts, but in the end, the music, I think the music on the album speaks for itself and the music is good enough to compensate for this. [laughs]

BM: Right. Definitely. You know, a lot of the fans like Savage Circus because they say it sounds a lot like Blind Guardian. Was that intentional on you guys’ part? You’re credited with recording, mixing, mastering–you produced this sucker. Are you the one responsible for having it reminiscent in sound to Blind Guardian, or was that just a coincidence?

PS: Well, I mean I must also add another duty, I also played guitar and bass.

BM: Oh yeah, you had your hands all over this one. [laughs]

PS: [laughs] That’s true. And yeah, I mean, I–it would be a lie to say, “Oh wow, I never thought of Blind Guardian doing this.”

BM: [laughs]

PS: Of course, I mean, of course the intention was to sound it, to make it sound or to at least catch the atmosphere of those former Blind Guardian albums. Of course, if you listen to the sound, I think you hear that there are 10 or 15 years between those recordings. [laughs] That I think the sound is…I really like the sound. Even though I must say, even thought it’s now a year after the recording, or more than a year, I still like the sound. It’s cool. It’s a modern sound with, well, with traditional Blind Guardian old style stuff, if you, sort of like this. And yeah, it’s exactly what I wanted to do.

BM: [laughs] Well, you succeeded, then. Congratulations. [laughs]

PS: [laughs]

BM: That’s great.

PS: And I think also, it’s ok, too. I think with Iron Savior I also did this overdubbing stuff and shit. In a way, it is a way of working or producing that I also, invented maybe is the wrong word, but I participated quite a lot in these recording techniques, you know, so there not only Blind Guardian’s baby, they’re also my baby, so it’s ok if I use it for my own stuff. I guess. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Let’s see. The vocalists. I know two of the guys came from a different band, Persuader.

PS: Yep.

BM: But Jens, how did you get–he sounds a lot like Hansi in some places. How did you find this guy? I mean, was he just–to me, it sounds so amazing that even the vocalist in Savage Circus sounds like Hansi. How did you get him to sound like Hansi?

PS: Well, I mean that was a total coincidence. I was–

BM: That’s amazing.

PS: Yeah, I was recording the second album, [Evolution] Purgatory, I think it was in 2003, if I’m not mistaken.

BM: Yeah.

PS: And the guy came to the studio, started singing, I said, “What the fuck is this?! If I close my eyes, I see Hansi. It’s incredible.” So yeah, this of course, was the start. And so I record this album, and well, nothing, you know? Nothing happened. And then a year later, I met Thomen, and I gave him this album. And the rest of the story is known, because. The plan was to, well, to make a band which supposed to play old style Blind Guardian stuff. So he was the perfect dude for this, of course.

BM: [laughs] Yes, you’re right.

PS: [laughs]

BM: What is it about old style Blind Guardian that’s different from new style? Is it the, let’s say Night at the Opera or something like that. Are there just too many overdubs on it? Is that why?

PS: You just named it. You just named it. I mean, the, it’s not necessarily the way of song writing, of course, that also saw some evolution during the past years. But it definitely is that if you consider the old stuff, you won’t find overdubs and lead vocals going across of each other. There’s lots of stuff going on, but most of the time, it’s question and answer. You know? That is, for me, that is the key. That is the key for the whole thing, you know? Night at the Opera, I must say, I can’t listen to this. It’s too heavy. It’s the always, there are two or three melodies layering on top of each other over the entire album, I do have the feeling. And it’s overloading, you know? It’s, I cannot follow.

BM: You know? I agree with you on that. When I listen to Night At the Opera, it wears me out. It tires me. [laughs] You know, there’s so much going on, I get worn down just listening to it.

PS: Yeah. It’s great that they have so much, so many ideas and so many, but the Night at the Opera, it could easily be divided into three records. They could have made three records out of it, you know?

BM: Yeah.

PS: Because, like it is like I’m saying, there are three different melodies fighting against each other.

BM: [laughs]

PS: And then there is an orchestra also, playing something else, and then there’s Hansi, and there’s backing vocals and choir vocals like crazy. And of course, in Savage Circus and in old Blind Guardian stuff also there’s a lot of information going on, like musical wise, but it’s in the way, it’s simpler arranged, and therefore more catchy for my tastes.

BM: Oh yeah. I agree with that. Yeah. What do you remember most about putting together this Savage Circus album? What’s your most vivid memory of this entire thing?

PS: Oh, definitely the way we put it together, which was super cool. I mean, since we came from, we’re all from different countries. At that time Thomen, as I just said, was based in Spain. I was in Hamburg, Germany, and Jens [Carlsson] and Emil [Norberg] were from Sweden. And so we used the Internet quite a lot, sending back and forth mp3 files and that’s the way the songs actually were put together. Somebody had an idea, he’d record a short mp3, send it to the rest of the guys, poof, the guys picked up the idea, put another part to this mp3, send it back, and so that was just amazing. It was a super cool way of long-distance team working.

BM: [laughs]

PS: But even though we were like thousands of miles apart from each other, we were constantly working together at all times on the songs. And that was just possible through the Internet and DSL connections.

BM: Well yeah, very fast connections. Did that make it harder though, or just cooler? I mean, wouldn’t it have been easier sitting around in the room together? Didn’t this make it a lot harder?

PS: No, of course that would have been–I don’t know, actually. I don’t know. And sitting in a room also gives the possibility to argue, you know.

BM: [laughs]

PS: Somebody has an idea, and you, “No, it’s not good, it’s not fitting my idea too well.” But if you just get this mp3 and listen to it, and at first you say, “Oh fuck, what’s this, it’s a stupid idea”, and then you listen to it, “Oh, hmm, ok. Oh, ok.” Then you get used to this mp3, and there’s no arguing, you know? So you’re more free. You’re more open.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

PS: And also, another thing is, maybe like if you listen, you have an mp3 like maybe it’s a minute long or so, and maybe two or three parts. Maybe three parts are correct, btu there’s one great part in it. And you can pick that out without arguing. You just do it. And then present the idea to the rest of the guys and they also, without arguing, they can listen to it, and say, “Hey, yeah. It’s cool, I like it.”

BM: Well, maybe you guys stumbled on the secret that should be done by every band, then. That’ll eliminate the arguing. [laughs]

PS: I mean, of course, we definitely gotta do it again on the next album. This worked fine for us. Of course, every once in a while we met like, we met here in the studio to finalize some things, which really needed to be talked about, you know?

BM: Sure.

PS: And listened to the songs, and say, “Ok, this is the final version, this is how we want to do it.” You know, but the daily work was just as I described it.

BM: Wow.

PS: Really cool.

BM: How ‘bout when you listen to the thing now, as a whole? What’s your favorite song off Dreamland Manor?

PS: I must really say, it’s still hard for me to pick my favorite song. It just came, just when I returned from the rehearsal room, plain life, I really like “Tomorrowland.” This song, it’s just cool to play live. Also, “Waltz of the Demon” as well, because it’s so heavy. And if we play it live, it even gets more intense. So I really got, today at the rehearsal room, I really got goose pimps when we played it. It was so cool.

BM: Oh really?

PS: Yeah. And it’s really hard to say. “Evil Eyes” also super cool, it just has so much energy. Also, “Ghost Story” is cool. It’s, you know? Don’t make me, I still can’t say it. I still can’t say that I have a favorite song on this album?

BM: Really? Is there–

PS: I like them all.

BM: Well, they all sound really good. Is there an overall theme to this album? Is it a concept album of sorts, or are they all unrelated songs?

PS: In a way they are–yes and no. I mean, it’s not that these songs add up and tell a story. That is not the case. But in a way, if you look at the lyrics, you will find that all lyrics are like, not dealing with real things. They are all dealing with imaginary things, and that is the general connection all these songs have.

BM: Yep, I can tell that.

PS: And that’s why we called the album Dreamland Manor, because like every story of every lyric could happen in a fairy tale world, or in an evil world. But nothing is happening in our world, you know?

BM: [laughs] Thankfully, yeah. Is there a song on here at least that you had the most difficult time working on?

PS: Trick question, hm?

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

PS: [laughs]

BM: Like all of them?

PS: Yeah, actually, yes. There was a song that really was a bastard, that took quite a while. And I think, yeah, it was “When Hell Awakes.” This saw quite a lot of changes.

BM: Really?

PS: Yeah. And I don’t know, because I had–this was pretty much my baby, because with the riffing in the beginning, it’s a little bit Iron Savior style. If you’re familiar with my song writing style, you can sense it here and there. So I don’t know. Anyhow, this saw a lot of changes, and had, it was fighting back hard, you know? [laughs]

BM: It wanted to live, huh?

PS: No, it didn’t want to get finished.

BM: [laughs] Oh yeah. Is this–are you guys planning another album in the near future? Is Savage Circus going to continue as far as you can see?

PS: Yeah. I mean, for sure we’re gonna continue. Near future, I think we will have, we have a live engagement that we will have to fulfill, it’s also besides ProgPower there are some other shows and festivals we’re gonna play, finish them off. And after this is done, I think we will go back to start recording maybe in springtime next year. So I think the next album should be expected for, yeah, for summer 2007.

BM: Oh good.

PS: I also have another band, Iron Savior also needs to be recorded.

BM: Oh yeah, I was just–my next page of notes here was titled “Iron Savior,” and I was gonna say, “You haven’t done an album since 2004. Where’s the next album?”

PS: [laughs] Yeah, right. I mean that album is almost written. It’s almost there, and after the main summer, after the main shows in summer that have to do with Savage Circus, I will start recording this baby, and hopefully have the album in stores by like February or March next year.

BM: Really, that’s pretty good. Tell me about Iron Savior. What is your favorite album? You’ve gotta have one, you’ve had four or five of them now. Looks like five, what’s your favorite one of those?

PS: It’s also really hard to say. If you ask me my favorite album, I think my favorite album still is the Condition Red album. I really loved it a lot. Yeah. I think it really rules big time. There are lots of cool–

BM: There’s definitely some really great riffs on that album, that’s for sure.

PS: And, but also, and it’s the same–I can–Ok, to be another way around. There is one album which I don’t like so much anymore, which is the Dark Assault album. This is not my favorite anymore. Its production sucks in a way. I don’t know now, maybe I was drunk or, no. I mean, I know why it is the way it is. I mean–[laughs]

BM: And why is that?

PS: I was in a difficult situation personal at that time, so the songs are dark and not really… It’s ok that the album is the way it is, and yeah, it has been a part of my life. It was personal development, but nah, today I cannot say that it’s my favorite Iron Savior album.

BM: It’s hard to go back there now, huh, and listen to that?

PS: They’re all, actually, besides this they are all cool. I mean the first album has this energy of a first album which is, even though it sounds low budget, you know, but it’s there, it’s cool. I love the first album. I just listened to it, because we’re gonna, with Savage Circus, when we play headlining shows, we need to fill up with some other songs. [laughs]

BM: Well, the first album, it’s a great lineup. You have Kai [Hansen], Thomen and you. That’s a nice lineup of people for a first album.

PS: Yeah. And I mean, there’s really kind of some cool heavy metal shit on it. I mean, there’s “Riding on Fire,” there’s “Brave New World,” and then really a lot of neck-breakers on it.

BM: Yeah.

PS: And then, if you look at the Unification album, which also is a great album, I also like this shit. Because Unification, it’s different than the first album. It has this great balance between progressive shit and classic stuff, you know? It’s just balanced out so well, and I love it.

BM: How does that–that was a big transition though, wasn’t it, Piet? I mean, you lost all the members except for yourself between the first and second album. How did that affect your playing?

PS: Well, actually, Kai we lost later. [laughs]

BM: Ok. [laughs]

PS: Kai was here on board with Unification and also with the Dark Assault. Actually, it was only Thomen we lost after the first album.

BM: Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Yep.

PS: Anyhow, yeah, I’m–you know, it’s, what can I say. Looking at the future, looking at the past, I don’t know. It’s, we just did it the way we did it without thinking very much about it. Because it was not, some fans of course think, “Oh, they just teamed up” or “Piet just got all these people to make himself interesting and to sell records.” They could think this. I’m aware of this. Actually, this was never the case. Thomen, you know, I had this Iron Savior record almost done, and it was Thomen who said, and we were driving to Sweden where I was doing front of house for Blind Guardian, and I played this shit in the bus, and Thomen said, “I want to play drums on this.” And of course, I said, “Yeah, do it.” But it was not that I kneeled down and asked Thomen, “Please play drums on my record so I will sell something,” you know?

BM: [laughs]

PS: It was the same thing with Kai, I mean, it was of course I needed a second guitarist, so of course I’m asking my buddy, my buddy Kai, if he wants to play some solo guitar on it, which he did. You know, and there we were, with “The new German supergroup” you know?

BM: That’s what they said?

PS: If I had known this, I probably would not have done it, because of course it gave a lot of promotion to the band, but of course it was also clear to me that this will not continue forever. And on a long term, the way it helped Iron Savior to become popular, in the same way, it also locked Iron Savior to really grow, because it’s always this stupid image of “The second band of Kai” or “The second band of Thomen,” which Iron Savior is not anymore, for many years now. But it’s in the people’s heads, you know.

BM: So when you formed Iron Savior, it wasn’t supposed to be a one-off supergroup band, you had a long-term plan in mind. Is that right?

PS: Actually, I must say I had no plan–

BM: Oh really? [laughs]

PS: –I just did this album, I had no idea if anybody would, if any record company would be interested in buying this album. I had no idea if this album would ever be put out, and I had no idea if any fan would buy this shit.

BM: [laughs]

PS: So there was no plan. And that’s why I agreed with having Thomen. I said, “Yeah, great, yeah. You’re a good drummer. Of course, do it, great.” And Kai, “Yeah, you play well guitar, yeah, right.” So we do it. And then of course, after getting a deal, saw like instantly after the album was mixed, I said, “Wait a minute, what is this?” And also, people requested to see the band live and of course, then I was in the situation, “What am I do? What am I doing?” And of course then I decided, “Ok, I think I have something going here, I need to get my people ready to continue.” [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah. And then, but then the line up changed off and on. It’s been–has Iron Savior been a smooth ride for you the whole time, or has this been a bumpy path as well?

PS: Well, I mean, it has been quite bumpy for Iron Savior. I mean, the good–it never affected Iron Savior that much, because I mean, that also is known, Iron Savior is based mostly on my song writing. So as long as I am in the band, I can guarantee that if it says Iron Savior, Iron Savior is what you’re gonna get.

BM: [laughs]

PS: [laughs]

BM: Yeah.

PS: But yeah, I mean those lineup changes, they are, lineup change is always something bad. But on the other hand, I mean, with Thomen at that time, he got an order from his mates at Blind Guardian. They said, “ Oh no, we don’t want you to do this. Uncool. We want you to focus on Blind Guardian.” And well, so I had to let him go. I mean, what can I do? [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

PS: And the other thing, the other problem was with Kai. I mean, Kai, and his duties with Gamma Ray, they became more and more massive, and so it was just no room for Iron Savior anymore. There was no room to act, you know, because everything was ruled by Gamma Ray. And so, I also had to make this cut, you know, to split up with Kai to give Iron Savior some room to breathe, because Iron Savior was about to die because of all this Gamma Ray shit. We couldn’t do nothing, you know?

BM: Yeah.

PS: And therefore, even though it is of course not the way that we would actually, initially thought Iron Savior would work out, I’m quite happy at the moment with what Iron Savior is. I mean, we’re not the kings of heavy metal, but we’re still there, and next year we have our 10-year anniversary.

BM: Yeah.

PS: And well, the band is still there, we’re still putting out albums, and there are still people who like this shit. So yeah.

BM: [laughs]

PS: Even though the number of fans decreased a little bit after Kai left Iron Savior, it’s not that Iron Savior is dead. There are many fans out there who still think Iron Savior also works fine without Kai.

BM: Sure, yeah. I mean, it sounds fine to me. Are you and Kai still on pretty good speaking terms, or did that part–

PS: Oh yeah, absolutely. That was a decision that had nothing to do with our friendship. That was a professional decision, just within the business. ‘Cause we just saw, “Hey, it’s not working, and we have to change something.”

BM: Is your lineup for the next one the same as it was on Battering Ram? Or do you have–

PS: Yeah.

BM: Good, that’s great.

PS: I think by now, I’m really quite positive that we’ve found a great lineup that will stay together for many, many albums. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Are–how ‘bout the song writing? Obviously you’re the kind of songwriter and producer who–and maybe like all of them–what you are going through at the moment is reflected in the outcome. Like you said the Dark Assault you can’t listen to anymore. How ‘bout the next Iron Savior album? Are you in a great place now to where the songs are going to be upbeat and happy and you know, [laughs], the power metal kind of thing again?

PS: Well, I mean, I actually am in quite a good mood.

BM: Good. Yeah.

PS: [laughs] So yes, I think some positive music can be expected on the next album. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That’s great. Well, tell me about your personal career. You’ve become known as almost as good a producer as you are a guitarist/songwriter. You’re doing a lot of producing. Is that a direction you like to go in? Would you like to continue producing a lot of bands, or does that take you away from your song writing? Tell me about that, your life as a producer.

PS: Well, I mean my life as a producer, that is, well, I must start different. As a teenager, I was looking at myself as a musician, and future rock star, of course you know.

BM: [laughs]

PS: That changed a little bit when I turned 18, or got a little older, facing reality a little bit. [laughs] And so I decided, “Hmm, maybe rock star, it’s ok, but maybe working in a studio and producing is more realistic.” So I started doing this and did that for quite a while, and well, with Iron Savior I just got back, and being a musician. But ever since, of course, I also do production besides that. But now with Savage Circus, having two bands going, I just find myself in the situation that I need the studio time for myself. There’s just no way really to do many things besides those two bands. I just did a production, even though it’s only six weeks, but it’s six weeks I don’t have, actually. So this was giving me, well, it was cool, it was a great production. Nice people, great musicians, but ow. I really missed those six weeks. They are gone. And so, I think for the future, of course I won’t stop doing productions for other people, because I also really like that. But since Iron Savior and Savage Circus stuff really take some time, I’m afraid that I will need the time for this in the future. Which is ok for me, because I really like both bands.

BM: Well do you–are you running the risk at all of being in the same position that Kai or Thomen was in on the first album? Is it hard to be in two bands at the same time? Is there any–what does that–

PS: No, not too much. Not too much for me, because both bands have the same priority. There’s no band that has a higher priority, and I have ways, of course, to balance this out. It’s also a matter of release. If I have both bands released in the same, summer or something, then of course I will have problems, because both bands will attend the same festivals, both bands will have to go around at the same time, and this will of course cause problems. But now for example, look at 2007. If Iron Savior will be released in January, February or March or something, Savage Circus comes out in late summer, then that’s ok. Then we have enough time to finish up all the Iron Savior shit and then we can start with Savage Circus stuff.

BM: [laughs] Yeah. You’ve done a lot in your career so far. You don’t seem like you’re very old, even, and you’ve accomplished quite a bit. When you look back at the stuff you’ve done, what are you most proud of?

PS: [sighs] Whoa. Tough question. But I must say, I think it was the first Iron Savior album, because I really realized making this album with nothing. You know, I just had nothing. I had a 16 track ProTools recording system, and that was it. And it was very inventive on this album, you know, production and technical-wise. And also, you know, yeah, I think it’s the first Iron Savior album that really means a lot to me. It was, yeah, yeah, it was the first album. I’m really proud on this first album.

BM: Yeah. That’s cool. Do you have a–you’ve been touring a lot over the years as well. Do you have a favorite road story? What’s the most, the weirdest thing or the scariest thing or the happiest thing? What’s your favorite road story from all your tours?

PS: My favorite road story, it was on the first Iron Savior tour, and we had–on drums we had, we were doing this tour with Dan Zimmermann on drums. Because Thomen was already not in the boat anymore. So Dan was doing, actually, there were many funny stories from this tour. But Dan Zimmermann was doing the drums. And he opened the show with like, spitting fire. You probably have seen that, he also does it with Gamma Ray every once in a while. So he was spitting fire, you know, he was doing his fire spitting business, and therefore, and this fluids he was using, it was spilling oil across the stage, so the stage was very slippery. And we all realized this, and so we entered stage not easy, you know. But as I just said, not all of us was realized the stage was in this slippery condition. Basically, Dan didn’t realize that, so he ran on stage and fell down massively on the first. I didn’t realize, I didn’t see that, because of course I was on the front monitor and doing my vocal stuff. And then when I looked to the side, to make eye contact with Dan, I couldn’t see him. So I turn around even more, and I see, oh wow, what’s going on with Dan? Has he smoked something or whatever, he’s freaking out like crazy. He’s throwing himself on the floor on the first song. And then I realized that he was not throwing himself on the floor, he was thrown on the floor by this slippery, and he was in pain because he fell on his ass so bad, that he couldn’t walk for a couple of days after that.

BM: Oh man. [laughs]

PS: And another funny thing from this tour, a couple days later we played another gig. And Dan also was again doing his fire spitting thing, and there was a big tube from the air condition system running right across over the stage. And on this tube there was, I don’t know, it must have been dust of time, exactly, but the dust of time caught fire, it was burning. And during the “Atlantis Falling” song, all this burning fallout from this shit burning down, and I mean, Kai was I don’t know, he was almost burnt by this shit.

BM: Oh man.

PS: And it wouldn’t stop, you know? The tube was going into the direction of the front of house, and this fire, you know, it was just proceeding on this tube. And so, we were playing, but nobody else was actually looking at the audience, because we were all looking at this fire on the tube.

BM: [laughs]

PS: And it kept burning and burning–[phone connection cuts out…we quickly reconnect]

BM: Hello. [laughs]

PS: Hey, we got interrupted. [laughs]

BM: Somehow we lost the connection. Couple of cell phones talking to each other.

PS: Yeah.

BM: Well that’s crazy. I’m glad you guys were all right after that.

PS: Yeah, yeah. I mean, after a while, we discontinued watching the fire, because it was far away by that, and it was burning somewhere was not affecting us anymore. But it was a really–because we couldn’t do anything. I mean, usually, you would go off stage, but of course, we want to continue playing, so we were, you know, playing and looking up and avoiding to have this fallout. [laughs]

BM: That’s called being between a rock and a hard place, there. [laughs]

PS: Yeah, absolutely.

BM: Well, let me just ask you a couple things and I’ll let you get back to life there. Tell me, what can audiences expect from Savage Circus when you guys play ProgPower this fall? Are you going to play any Iron Savior, any Blind Guardian? What can they expect from you guys?

PS: I don’t know actually how long we gotta play. Do we have any idea? Do you know?

BM: You probably got about a 30-45 minute set, give or take, I would imagine.

PS: Yeah, that’s what I figured. If we have a 45 minute set, I don’t think that we–45 minutes, we have enough Savage Circus stuff, so I don’t think that we need to fill up with other stuff. It seems we are doing the show without home and I don’t think that it’s a good idea to bring up any Blind Guardian stuff, so.

BM: [laughs]

PS: It’s basically gonna be the set we played in Japan. This also, it was a good 45-minute set, and it worked just fine. It was basically the album, of course we left out the ballad. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

PS: It was basically the album, we left out the ballads and we left out “Between the Devil and the Seas,” and we left out “Born Again [By the Night]” and the rest of the stuff. And it adds to a nice Savage Circus impact. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Yeah, total Savage Circus impact. Are you familiar with the other bands that will be appearing at ProgPower this fall? Are there any of them that you are particularly looking forward to seeing?

PS: Well, I mean, I think it’s Circle II Circle that’s playing? One day I also read Jorn is gonna be there?

BM: Yeah. Everygrey will be there, Epica.

PS: Epica also is cool. Leatherwolf, I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them. Maybe there’s something I wanna do. And Evergrey, yeah, Evergrey is a cool band. I really like them.

BM: Oh yeah.

PS: Yeah, they are a really great live band.

BM: Oh yeah. They were here in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently. They swung through on that tour with Nevermore and the other bands. They were great. They’re really good.

PS: Yeah.

BM: Do you–this is the last question and I’ll let you get back to things. I really appreciate your time tonight, Piet. Is there, are you the kind of guy who mingles with the audience, like after you guys play your set, are you gonna go and hang out with anybody, chat with the fans? Or–

PS: Oh yeah, sure. Yeah, sure, we’re gonna do that. I don’t think that, I don’t know which position we’re gonna play, but I think that there will be a time afterwards to hang a little bit and to do some chatting. Yeah, definitely I’m the kind of guy who goes out afterward. It’s not, yeah. Especially being in the States the first time, I wanna make contact with the fans, of course.

BM: Oh yeah. You guys are playing, I’ll tell you where you’re playing. You’re up second on Friday night, it looks like. Pyramaze, Savage Circus, Freak Kitchen, Mercenary and Everygrey, that’s the lineup.

PS: Yeah, cool. There should be enough time afterwards, though.

BM: Yeah. Well, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you, Piet. I really appreciate your time. I’m looking forward to seeing you. I love the Savage Circus album, it’s really great. And I also love Iron Savior. So I’m really sad you’re not gonna play any songs from there. [laughs]

PS: [laughs]

BM: Well, anyway, it’s been a pleasure, and I’ll look forward to seeing you this fall.

PS: Yeah, cool. Alrighty then, Bill. Thank you for the phone call.

BM: Sleep well, have a good evening.

PS: Yeah, and you have a good day though. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Thanks. Bye bye.

PS: Ok, bye bye.

Piet Sielck can be found on the Savage Circus web site (www.savagecircus.com) as well as the Iron Savior web site (www.iron-savior.com). CDs from both bands can be found on Amazon or at LaserCD.com.

Jorn Lande needs no introduction. The man is a legend, with a voice on par with some of rock’s most highly-regarded singers. His latest CD – The Duke – is nothing short of stunning.

It’s worth nothing that while I interviewed Jorn, our respective cell phones cut out no less than three times. Yet, he never seemed to get upset. He took it in stride and we just picked up every time where we left off.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jorn Lande…

JL: Hey, man.

BM: Hi, is this Jorn?

JL: It is Jorn. [laughs]

BM: This is Bill Murphy, how are you?

JL: I’m fine thank you.

BM: Good.

JL: Before you called, I’ve been out for a while. So I’ve been busy with a couple things here, we got some boats around here, and we’ve been out in the sea.

BM: Really?

JL: Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

BM: I was gonna ask you what you do in your spare time if you ever have any.

JL: [laughs] Right now, I’m just walking on an old wooden bridge here. I’m looking across the sea right over nice boats and stuff.

BM: Oh, wow.

JL: Yeah, you can compare it to Canada, really, Norway. Yeah. The whole vegetation and everything is similar.

BM: What kind of weather do you have? What’s the temperature there?

JL: Right now it’s nice. It’s like around, I don’t know how you, how many Fahrenheit, but yeah, I guess 70 or something like that, 75, 70.

BM: Wow.

JL: So it’s ok. It’s not, you know, the warmest weather, but it’s warm enough to dress well.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know? You can wear a T-shirt and you’ll be fine.

BM: Well, first of all, happy belated birthday.

JL: Oh, thanks, man. [laughs]

BM: Yeah. Did you do anything special for your birthday, go anywhere, do anything?

JL: No, no, not really. It’s like when you get older, you know, you don’t party that much anymore. I mean, you party all the time, so it’s not anything special anymore.

BM: Yeah.

JL: So I’ve just been out today, actually. I’ve just been, you know, I never have that much time to see friends and go out and do stuff, so today actually I’m going down to downtown here where I live and you know, have a couple of beers just sitting outside and watching all the boats passing by and everything. So it’s by the sea and it’s nice and it’s a typical holiday thing. It’s like what you have in the States, I don’t know where you go, but you have all this nice places where you go to whatever, fish and watch the boat life and more maritime type of atmosphere where I live. So it’s nice. It’s the southern part of Norway, really. And most parts of Norway are really cold in winter and have a lot of snow, but where I live is more southern and warm and the climate is really good.

BM: Wow, sounds beautiful.

JL: Yeah, it’s cool.

BM: Well, I appreciate your time today. I just want to ask you some questions about your career and your latest album and leading up to ProgPower.

JL: Yeah.

BM: First of all, let me tell you The Duke is fantastic. Wow.

JL: [laughs] Thank you very much.

BM: Wow.

JL: Well, thanks man. It’s, I guess, I just dealt with some of my past. I was thinking about my past and I was thinking how I’ve always experimented a lot and always tried to go beyond, you know, my forefathers or whatever you want to call it, my inspirations from the past. And I think now I’m kind of done with that way of thinking. I felt it’s time to look at the reasons for beginning to take interest in the music business in the first place, the reasons for starting out as a singer or as an artist. I think it was because of great performers like, whatever you want to name them. I mean, there’s so many of them: Ronnie Dio, David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, and also in America, you had Steve Walsh from Kansas.

BM: Oh, yeah.

JL: Yeah, many great singers and bands I enjoyed. And I think what happened in the ’90s was quite frustrating period for me, because everything changed. I grew up with all these great artists and suddenly when I was old enough to create my own career, everything changed. [laughs] And the only decent classic or progressive music I discovered were Guns ‘N’ Roses or Metallica. You know? The rest was all, it all changed with Nirvana, and the Seattle wave, and what happened in Europe with the British, or the Brit pop or whatever, everything changed. And then came the extreme metal from Scandinavia, and black metal, speed metal, and then you already have it from America, death metal. So I was kind of drowning in that kind of flood, and I wanted desperately to have a career at the time. And I really worked hard and I couldn’t really find the right platform for where I came from, and it was difficult in the ’90s. I guess that’s why I went more into the progressive thing, experimenting more with music. I know people over there are, so many people are fascinated by Burn the Sun, with Ark.

BM: Oh, I think it’s a brilliant album.

JL: Thanks. But you know, many people felt that way about that record, especially in the States. And yeah, it’s, I guess it was one of those things where everyone compared you to you know the ’70s or the ’80s, and I felt it was time to stick to those elements in music and those, you know, classic roots, but still try to go beyond a little bit, at least in expression. So that’s why you find the diversity in albums like Burn the Sun. Because I felt also, I mean, I really follow my influences. I guess they also had the chance to do more than what they did, but they didn’t, because they achieved a certain success at a younger age. They saw the strength in keeping their style or their identity. I guess that’s why you have all these artists like Deep Purple or Rainbow, whatever, in the past that did the same recipe all the time. But I’m sure they had the potential to do more if they wanted to be more experimental, but they chose to stick to their guns, you know?

BM: Yeah.

JL: But I just, you know, felt what I could is I could try and be more divers and still keep some of those classic references in a difficult time when music was really hybrid, in my opinion.

BM: Well, a lot of the bands you mentioned, what music became, like the speed metal and death metal, like that. The singing stopped, really. There were no great singers of that kind of music.

JL: Yeah, melody suddenly disappeared.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I think every good guitar player and singer became unemployed, you know?

BM: [laughs]

JL: At a certain point, especially in the mid ’90s, I mean it was like a taboo field. Nobody wanted technical players or good performers anymore. Things like everything was more based about, based around, yeah, just reflecting something very simple. Something you didn’t have to struggle to be able to perform yourself. So if you were a young kid growing up, and you come out of school, you know, I guess what happened was nobody needed to struggle anymore to become a successful artist, because quality was, the quality level was low. And I think less qualified musicians, and I think what happened, I believe, I still believe in the heroes, you know, the hero factor in music. I think it’s healthy for kids that grow up to really, just to see somebody as something they have to strive and work for. You know, if they want to get to the same level, they have to really work hard, and they have to rehearse, they have to dig into the material, not just musically, but also mentally and understand that this is a long road you have to walk down. And I think that’s what’s been missing in the music scene, because the speculation and the market has made everything manipulative in that sense, and this means that all the business people and the major record companies, they can create something just by spending money.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: And you know, they discovered they can sell anything to the younger generations for a while to make short term based profit. And I think that’s what destroyed the music industry for many years, and I think it’s slightly changing. I mean, major forces are still there to dominate. But I think because of all these smaller, independent labels coming out of the ’90s, I mean, they are massive now, or at least bigger than they were. You know, they are getting noticed and also the major scene gets affected by this. So I think it’s actually a positive development today, because even in black metal, death metal, whatever, new metal category you have out there, it’s, I mean, they’re all coming back to their roots a little more, looking at the finding good metal groups, not just opening a dictionary, finding a nice words that sound cool just to be original or just desperately trying to be original.

BM: Sure. Well, you know, everything you’re saying I completely agree with. I’ve interviewed a lot of bands over the years that have said that kind of thing. But you know what’s different, is when you say that at a certain point, any band could be playing because the level of quality was lower.

JL: Yes.

BM: Well gee whiz, not many people have your caliber of voice. That’s part of the problem. There’s only one Jorn Lande, you know?

JL: [laughs] Well, thank you. I don’t know, maybe, I never saw myself as something special or unique, I just took in everything that was good for me when I was a kid, all these great performers, so it was just, if you feel something when you are innocent, and in lack of experience, it’s just a feeling, I think that feeling is very important for you for the structure of your whole life and your career. So if it’s the wrong timing for a guy like me or if it’s the right timing, it’s not really important. What’s important is to find the heart, you know, in what you do, and find a reason and a purpose. And my purpose was really just to bring some of that legacy further and to move on. I believe all these great performers of my past, you know, they’re the ones that taught me to do everything, and as long as I can have the feeling, if I feel that strength then something is there. And it’s important. I was never, I don’t think I will ever be speculative as a person when it comes to music. I don’t think I will ever change with the trends or that kind of cynical aspect of the music industry. You know, you live once, and life is short, and if I can really do something with identity and something people can relate to and feel something, you know, then I will stick to doing what I do.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: That said, of course, I get older too.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And the urge or the need of experimenting is not as big anymore as it was when I was younger, because you know, when you get older you start to see where the important aspects lie or it’s like, it’s not important anymore to be singing, to show the world how high you can sing, how dramatic you can be or how diverse you can be, or how many musical landscapes you can explore. And that’s not the important, the most important thing is now to do what I can do with control.

BM: Well, The Duke, sounds fantastic. I think you sound better on that than any album before that. Is it because you’re more relaxed with who and what you are right now?

JL: I think its–yeah, yeah. Thank you for saying that. Because I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years. And I’ve been thinking I always strive to get somewhere, and to get noticed for what I did, and I just felt that by leaving those ambitions behind and looking at the origin of everything, why did I start with music in the first place? And I guess that’s where the ok factor lies, because I just, I like Classic Rock, I like those classic performers more and some of the more progressive stuff that came out of the ’70s I really enjoy still, and I just felt I took this kind of business meeting with myself, you know?

BM: [laughs]

JL: Saying that, “Ok, why” you know, I asked the question, reevaluating everything, what happened was I just felt that why, asked myself why I can’t just do those simple, natural melodies and the structure of the song writing which I really liked and what really came natural to me. And I guess The Duke is the result of that really. It’s more–

BM: It’s got, even the guitars sound fantastic. Everything about it is just absolutely killer. It’s a great, great album.

JL: Thank you. Thank you. Well I, of course I was considering not just my vocals, I was considering everything. And I’m lucky or blessed to be together with such great musicians. But of course I wanted to work with these people and I’m glad they wanted to work with me on this, ’cause I guess we all pulled in several directions in other projects or bands or whatever you want to call it. It’s just, I think we all knew that together we had something that was a strong unit or stronger unit than some of the other stuff we’ve been involved with. Even though we have all been involved with great musicians, great productions, great releases throughout the years. It’s just, sometimes there’s this one unit that makes everything stronger. And it can be simple. Simplicity. It’s that old saying, less is more.

BM:[laughs] Yeah.

JL: And I think just together this band is somehow something unique and very strong and powerful. And we don’t have to show the whole world how fast we can play or how extreme we can go, it’s just more about coming to the point, playing good hard rock music, and yeah, I guess that’s what it’s all about. And everybody has the same vision, or are adapting to the same vision. [laughs]

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I think that’s what this is all about. And it proves to us with this record that something is working and something is really strong and this is some kind of recipe we should stick to. And I guess it’s of course, I can’t deny I never looked at my forefathers. Of course, I have noticed all these elements in some of my influences. It’s like, if you look back, you see what has been strong. I mean, even today, if you look at all these, many people compare me to or talk about whatever, Rainbow or Whitesnake, Ronnie Dio kind of, Black Sabbath or whatever.

BM: Yeah.

JL: People have some kind of reference, they always come back to this or these kinds of bands.

BM: Is that flattering to you, or does that bother you at all?

JL: No, it’s great. I mean, I like it. That’s where I came from and that’s how I got my influence, and I don’t see it as a bad thing or a negative thing. I think it’s a really positive thing. I mean, how many in the world do this in that category? Not many. And I think you’ll find more AOR singers in the world than the Ronnie Dios or David Coverdales or Paul Rodgers or whatever, Robert Plants or whatever.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: You know, so if you go and cut it to the bone, I think it’s a complement that people compare me to these guys. And you know, I think people are sometimes a little bit narrow or they’re thinking small. Because after all, it’s a limit to what man can do, you know? And that people think otherwise. People think it’s the whole, what’s important is to find the new recipe for something and to be unique, but actually no, when you get older you discover that this is not possible, because there’s actually a limit to what you can do.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And you know, when Pink Floyd created the great music, I mean if the world didn’t take or wouldn’t take inspiration from what they did, you know, then you’ll be left with the B quality, maybe C quality product. So this means that if I would not show my influence to anyone in the world and if I would just like exclude all the great stuff that came out of the past and just think that I would create something new and original myself, then I would be second to the artists forever, and I will always be delivering a B or C quality product. That’s how I feel, ’cause some people really put a lot of energy and a lot of resource, gave a lot from themselves to do something. And it’s like I always say when people ask me, why shouldn’t I paint my house blue. I mean, if the neighbor’s house is blue, why not? I mean, if my house looks great blue, I mean, should I not do it because the neighbor’s house is blue?

BM: Yeah, yeah. [laughs]

JL: Should I then choose a B color? [laughs] A color that’s not as great as the blue but it’s cool because, just because I don’t want to copy my neighbor?

BM: Yeah.

JL: I guess this is something that, that’s why you have something called the music police in the world. And the music police is always the people that spend time on the internet writing bullshit–

BM: [laughs]

JL: –or, you know, you have like, if you have 1000 people in a crowd, there will be, like, these 10 guys in the back. Usually, they are near the mixer, you know? And the desk, and they will be standing there with their hands crossed, and they will just, you know, as the concert goes on they would be like always talking to each other, “Blah blah blah, oh, he’s not really as great as he was, right?” “Oh yeah, yes, really.”

BM: [laughs]

JL: And these guys, they are the minority, you know, if you look at the whole picture. And the rest of them, 990 people, they are really happy with the concert and they think they saw something great. But these 10 guys? They are the guys you will notice, you know? And these are the guys that will go home, and they would sit down and they would write a lot of stuff about what, about this. But they’re actually a minority.

BM: [laughs] Yeah, they definitely are.

JL: And I think this is also something you discover as the years go by. You know, when you’re younger, you get affected by it, you really get hurt when you read the reviews or if you hear the sound guy or the woman behind the merch desk or somebody telling you after the show that something wasn’t good, you know. Then you got provoked by it. But today, it’s different, it’s like you learn when you get older, you discover that wow, this is the world. This is how it is. And so, I think most people find it positive that we grew out of the seventies era and brought some of that music further.

BM: You know what, one of the things I like about your album The Duke is that you cover a ’70s song, “Are You Ready” by Thin Lizzy.

JL: Yeah.

BM: That’s a great cover. How did you pick that one?

JL: Well, I mean, I think, you know, I heard so many versions of that song throughout the years and I never really heard one officially released on any album. I think it was in a live context or something I heard it, and there was some hidden demos or you know, secret previously unreleased tracks that came out you know, many years later after Phil Lynott’s death.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I just felt that song was a really good song and that even the band was experimenting on that song, and they really, that they never really found the right chemistry for that song. ‘Cause I mean, the riff for that song is always different. Every version has different lyrics. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well you know what’s good about your version, is you–Thin Lizzy is always considered like the archetypal band, the band for the ’70s. But your version of that song actually blows theirs away. [laughs]

JL: Oh wow, that’s good. [laughs] Well thank you, that’s a great complement. I think I never thought about that, I was just you know, singing the song as a more old fashioned, classic hard rock song, which I felt played with today’s more metal expression. It would become more defined and more solid as a heavy metal or hard rock song. And also has that, the statement, “Are you ready to rock?” It’s very childish and simple. There’s nothing deep with that, I mean, it’s really if anything is rock and roll, that’s rock and roll. [laughs]

BM: That’s true.

JL: And then, I just felt that’s really something that if you do that with the authority and the power, then it could be really cool. And I also changed the lyrics slightly.

BM: Are you going to play that live? Yeah.

JL: I discovered like seven or eight versions of the same song. And going back even, as I said some old, hidden recordings with Thin Lizzy. And I mean, there was one version where they didn’t even mention the word rock.

BM: [laughs]

JL: So I mean, “Are you ready to rock”, I mean, it wasn’t even there. So I was thinking, “Ok, this seems like something that might have a lot –” I mean, I never knew any of the guys and I never, I just heard all these different versions. And the one that, and one song was like, or one version was, “Are you ready to dance?” It was repeated all the time. And I said, “That’s not really heavy, or that’s not really rock and roll, is it? Are you ready to dance? That’s like…” And that’s like, that was the opening of the song, “Are you ready to dance”, and I was like, “Wow.” So what I did was like, I felt that if I repeated are you ready to rock and made it a strong theme in the song, very simple like that, then it could be a much stronger heavy metal and rock and roll approach. And that’s what I did, I just picked out the best phrases from each version I heard, and I put together my own lyric. It still is a Thin Lizzy song, you know, it’s just I’m not taking credit for completing the song. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JL: I’m just, I just feel like, you know, got some of the pieces together and put some of the lost bits together in a way and made it more powerful and stronger than the original version. ‘Cause the original version has a little touch of jam session quality to it, and great played and great performed. But seems like it was a kind of experimental song that they never really decided, you know, on what is the final version of this song. You know? [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well–

JL: So to me, I’m not taking credit for the song, but I just felt that these elements put together would create a great version of that song. And maybe a final and complete and more powerful version. Yeah.

BM: Well, when you said that you never thought that you were very special, you know, singing-wise, do you read a lot of the reviews that say, “This guy’s got one of the best voices in metal”?

JL: Oh. I mean, yeah, of course. And I’m always grateful when people want to give me complements and stuff. And I’m happy with that. It’s just, I grew up in the countryside, and I’m really pretty much down to earth in every way, and you know, I’m not, I mean, I make a good living from the music, but I’m not, you know, I never had the million selling albums in the world.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know, I never sold this seven billion records of one album. And I never bought myself a big mansion with the swimming pools and Lolitas hanging from the pool, you know?

BM:[laughs]

JL: So that kind of–

BM: You know, I saw Paul McCartney on a talk show once, and the host asked him a question, and he said something jokingly about his fame. He said something like, “Yeah, sometimes I wake up and I say, ‘Wow, I’m Paul McCartney’” [laughs]

JL: [laughs]

BM: So, do you ever wake up and say, “Wow, I’m Jorn Lande”? [laughs]

JL: [laughs] Stop making me– [laughs] Maybe, I mean, I have, my life is good. I’m not complaining. I just see it in a different way. I see it as, these are new times, you know, there are different markets, many different categories in music and files and the internet created something that’s really messy and it’s opened up something for everybody, you know. And it’s not unique anymore to make a record in the same sense as it was 20 or 30 years ago. So I just, you know, I notice that I stick out from the masses with some of the stuff I’ve been doing, but at the same time I’m just, you know, I don’t see myself as anything, I just see myself as this guy from Norway that grew up with some strong Viking collection and you know, and was fascinated by it. Yeah. And I guess the climate and the culture, everything contributed to my development somehow. And I think that’s why you have the power there, and you have some of that strong aspect. I never, I was never a mentally weak person, I was always, I mean I could always have my frustrations as normal people, but when it came to really giving something and really, you know, if I have the chance to really perform, then I would always give everything. I was never scared to do it, and I would never be scared of my own voice or how I sound. I would never, I would always be wanting to be as powerful, strong and dramatic and I tried to express as much feeling and heart as possible in the music. And that was always some kind of drive I had. And this is also because, in the ’90s when everything changed and everything became more cold and cynical and sterile. Music became sterile in a sense, because people started using computers as instruments.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And that’s something I never liked, you know, because now everyone can make an album, you know?

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: Everybody makes records, and you can be, sit at home and create your own album. You move the things here and there, and you know, you have simulators here and there and if it’s not powerful enough you just switch on the massive compression that you can discover somewhere in the whatever, your system. And then, I think people, that created a wave of sterile, soulless, recordings that came out with artists that saw the potential in doing something that they really didn’t know, you know?

BM: Uh huh.

JL: They just still did it, but they didn’t have the real skills, as a true artist, they just used computers, you know, ProTools, QBase, whatever, to, they used this as an instrument instead of using it as a tool.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And–

BM: You know you mentioned–go ahead, I’m sorry.

JL: No problem. [laughs] I’m just, I’m a talker, I sometimes speak too much. [laughs]

BM: No, I appreciate it. I’m glad you are. It’s great. I was just gonna say, you mentioned the internet and those people who write bullshit now and then.

JL: Yeah.

BM: Some of the things I see on forums or chat rooms or whatever now, they say, like when you recently left Masterplan or the fact that you’ve only been in a couple of albums for each band and then you leave, or the problem with Yngwie just a while ago…

JL: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: They say, “Jorn must be difficult to work with.”

JL: Yeah, no.

BM: What do you say to that?

JL: I’m not. I don’t think I’m difficult to work with. I mean, in Masterplan we are good friends and that’s a good thing for people to notice that you know, there’s no soap opera stories coming out of Masterplan because we are good friends, and there’s no problems really. It’s just we had different musical opinions, and then we just started talking about the third record, and I just felt I was, you know, moving slightly away from the more typical power metal style. And I felt I contributed in Masterplan to make Masterplan different. Because I was performing different than the typical power metal singer would, and I gave something different to the band. And when the rest of the band asked me to move more to the typical power metal direction, then I said, “This is not how I work. You know, I’m older, and I don’t want to repeat the first Masterplan album again.” Because they asked me to do this and they said we should consider the first Masterplan record, because it sold a lot and it was a good, yeah, it was a good record and all that. And the second record didn’t sell as much as the first record, and the third record is very important for our career, and blah blah blah. So, and which is, yeah, I can understand that thinking and frustration, but I’m just this guy that, if I’m five years older, then I am five years older, and I’m not repeating something I did in the past. And I feel I’m, you know, I’m moving towards something more natural, and I want to be less diverse in the future. I want to be somebody that people can identify with, and somebody that people can say, “Wow.” I want people to know who Jorn is, you know? And I want them to also expect a certain thing, you know, a certain quality and a certain delivery. And I think, yeah, by experimenting a lot, we don’t really gain that identity and you don’t really establish that trademark. Because I think, and if you go back to doing something that you did when you were younger that really didn’t feel natural, then something will be wrong.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I mean, the quality will be less. Everything will be less. And my goal was always to become better as an artist. And I really want to learn from my forefathers, you know, I respect them for what they did and what they still, some of them are still doing. And if I’m gonna be around when I’m 50 years old or 60, then I think it’s important to really take notice and you know, take care about all these details in the music.

BM: Are you saying then that The Duke is kind of how you more want to sound? In other words, the Masterplan thing sounds a certain way, but are you saying The Duke sounds more like the way you’d like to sound from now on?

JL: Yeah, well, I never, I don’t know what will be the future, but definitely The Duke is more natural thing for me to do. Hold on one second, I just got to do something here, hold on one second. [talking in Norwegian to someone] Yes, here we are. Yeah, just a friend of mine, yeah, coming by here. And he had to give me something here.

BM: Ok.

JL: So yeah, but you know, it’s, I guess The Duke sets the standard for the future. I can never foresee what will happened, but I just know that what I’m doing on that record is something I really have control over.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: It’s something that if I go out there to perform, I know that regardless the state I’m in, if I’m sick or feeling bad, or [laughs], you know, I could always go on stage performing those songs. And they would sound good, you know, or at least I would pull it off.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know? [laughs] And they are still strong in delivery, they have the power, the energy and everything. I think that’s gonna be an important factor in the future. And I think that’s also why some of the older artists that I grew up with still do it. You know, some don’t because they can’t do what they did when they were young, because they never considered, you know, what would happen in 20 years or something.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: I guess that’s why we always come back to these classic types. I mean, I just saw Deep Purple in Oslo’s Spectrum, couple of months ago. And it was good, I mean, they played great. Obviously– [phone cuts out and I had to call him back]

JL: There you are again.

BM: Jorn, hi. I don’t know what happened.

JL: I know, there’s something, maybe it’s a bad connection or something. I just tried to call you back, and I got cut off again.

BM: Sorry about that. I’ll only ask you a couple more things. I know you’re busy and want to get back to watching boats.

JL: Oh no, no problem.

BM: What I was gonna ask you about is ProgPower, this upcoming festival.

JL: Yeah.

BM: What can audiences expect from your show at ProgPower?

JL: Well, I guess, I mean, some people know some of my previous work and some people know my recent work. I think it will definitely be a Jorn concert, but I will do some of the stuff, or some songs from the past, ’cause I think that’s what people will expect me to do. I guess, if people expect me to do my whole career, that’s not gonna happen. [laughs] But I mean, I have so many albums to choose from, so many songs there. It’s difficult to find the magic set, you know, to keep everyone happy, you know, that’s very difficult. I mean, and also because of my diversity throughout the years, many–I mean, if people expect me to do the clean, AORish oriented songs, then they will be disappointed, because I am really much more over to the Classic Hard Rock side as an artist, I guess. But some of those songs that I could throw in there, like an Ark song or [unknown] song, you know, and there will definitely be a song from those records.

BM: Even Masterplan?

JL: Yeah, we will do something. At least I will do one song, you know. But I think if we have so many records out or starting to get many albums out, then it’s wrong to perform tons of Masterplan songs or tons of Ark songs, or you know, it’s just not right to do, because that’s something totally different. So I think just by trying to pick out the one or two good songs from each record, I mean, there are many good songs, so it’s difficult for me to have every one, you know. [laughs]

BM:[laughs] Yeah.

JL: But I guess what I’m trying to do here is I guess I now have a–I mean, there’s hardly no keyboards in the new Jorn lineup, which means that some songs will be slightly rearranged. And I will still do a couple of songs that used to be more keyboard oriented, you know? But I will do them and the guitar players will do the keyboard parts and arrange it for guitar, you know. So what will happen is you will discover some slightly different versions of some older songs, which will be good versions, and they will be really strong, and actually, I think you will find them even stronger…

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: …then some of the original versions, because you know, time goes by and if you look at the powerful aspect…then I think you will discover that some of those old songs will sound even more powerful than on the original records. So that’s how I see it. And yeah, I think it’s important to adapt those songs to the Jorn concept and also to the lineup I have now. So I’m focused around two guitars, so some of the stuff that was played with keyboard will be done with the, you know, guitars. And also second harmony stuff.

BM: Right.

JL: That will be done, and we have plans to do “Soulburn.”

BM: Oh really?

JL: And you know, we have that intro part, which is a keyboard thing. And you know that thing, can you picture how it will sound with guitars? We haven’t even tried it yet, but that’s something we’re going to try. And I think that keyboard signature will be really strong, original with guitars, I think. And much more balls to accomplish. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That would be a great song to see live. “Soulburn” is wonderful.

JL: Yeah, it’s a cool one, I like it. And yeah, so definitely will be some good songs. But of course, I will perform the majority of songs from The Duke, and I will drop by a couple of other Jorn records in the past, just to do one or two songs. But then I know Glenn asked me to do some covers, and I usually don’t do that many covers. But since I am about to release a cover album.

BM: Oh really?

JL: Yeah, it’s actually some new recorded covers, but some of them are older songs I did, which I’ve remixed and you know, done some changes here and there. And it will be released in, I don’t know if it will be out before we play in Atlanta, but…

BM: What covers are on it?

JL: Oh, we have, I mean Glenn asked me to do [info withheld at Glenn’s request] or not necessarily that song, but something by [info withheld]. I am thinking, ok, ’cause I have one song on that covers album which is that song, and then you know, I will probably do something like that. It’s gonna be a medley of covers or it’s just gonna be one cover, I can’t tell. I mean, it’s easy really to play some of those cover songs, because it’s in the blood, you know.

BM: [laughs]

JL: It’s like mother’s milk.

BM: [laughs]

JL: They are great songs, so I find them inspiring to play, and just something that it never dies, you know, those songs. They are just always all right there, and yeah, of course they were important and everything when I started out, and yeah, but I don’t know how many we will play, but we will definitely play a longer set in Atlanta than normal length.

BM: Are you looking forward to that special, sort of exclusive concert where you come out with members of a bunch of other bands as well?

JL: Yeah, we were talking about doing [info withheld at Glenns’ request], and this is something that Glenn suggested.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And it’s good. I don’t know if he has made it official or not.

BM: Oh yeah. He did, he posted a notice on the web site, ProgPowerUSA Forum, that says exclusive news, special concert with Jorn plus members of these other bands. Yeah, it’s an official gig now.

JL: Ok, so that means he did not write which song it is? Because then that’s supposed to be secret, right?

BM: Right.

JL: But yeah, we will do that. We know many cover songs, the easiest thing to do is to play covers. Let’s see how long the set is.

BM: What, when you look back on your career, you’ve released an awful lot of wonderful albums. Which ones are your favorite, Jorn?

JL: Very difficult. Yeah. I usually like songs, you know. Very difficult to find one, I think The Duke is, I mean, it’s like a typical thing all artists do, say that their latest album is their favorite, you know. But in this case, I think The Duke is my favorite album, not because it’s the latest, but because I think it’s the most solid and to the point album I have done so far. It really, it tells people what to expect and who I am and where I come from and right. I think it’s a really solid platform, to, it’s I think, the thing is, it shows the people really what to expect, and I think it’s my favorite album to date. If you look at the more experimental factor, and I would say that of course the most difficult album to make and the most, what demanded the most from me as a singer was definitely Burn the Sun. And also when I did Beyond Twilight, The Devil’s Hall of Fame.

BM: Yeah.

JL: I really put a lot of power behind it, but I mean I always try to give the best on every record, and I mean if you look at, I mentioned the Burn the Sun album, it’s very hybrid. The whole album, it’s really difficult to place in any category, which is cool also. But I mean, it depends on what you’re looking for, really, since I did so many diverse records. Then I mean, I’ve done everything from dramatic, powerful, opera-oriented metal to AORish, kind of instrumental music, and it’s difficult to locate what quality you’re after. I think they all have a good quality and they all stand for a certain, yeah, whatever, authority or whatever you want to call it. I think it’s difficult to define one. I really liked, I mean I guess it’s because I’m moving more to the classic hard rock direction right now. I’m really more into that kind of thing, because I grew up with this kind of ’70s element, and I always come back to this more, maybe it sounds more American and more British roots, you know, or influence. The roots. And I still enjoy some of the American bands. I mean, I just bought the DVD with Kansas, which was like showing some old video clips and yeah, old stuff that was really great to see. And it inspires me. And you can definitely hear some of those influences in some of the songs that I’ve done in my life. It’s just difficult to, and every year is different, and I feel it’s not possible to choose one record of the past, because that’s more–except for The Duke, because that’s just where I am now, and I just feel to take that kind of crown you know, and kind of front that title, it has to be a more European kind of…

BM: Sure.

JL: And I think, and I believe, I mean, I’ve been through it all, sex and drugs and rock and roll thing for many years. And I feel also all aspects have been sobering up with my life, you know? [laughs] And I think The Duke is something I’ve done with a very very strong and clear mind. A strong clear focus on everything, on the song writing, on what’s good, what’s not good, and my criticism on everything. If I think it’s good or not or if I think it’s too out there in the atmosphere, not properly defined. I think that’s why I like The Duke, because it sets the standard so personally, and I believe you will recognize the recipe for The Duke in the next, or my future recordings. So yeah, i believe in the name of Jorn and that concept.

BM: Yeah. How ’bout the other bands that– [phone cuts off…I call him back]

JL: Here we go again.

BM: Jorn, boy, sorry.

JL: Yeah, I know. Something is shutting off. It’s the long distance, probably.

BM: Yeah. That’s true. But I won’t take up any more of your time. The last thing I really wanted to ask you, I have many things I could ask you, but I’ve futzed with your time long enough. [laughs]

JL: No, don’t worry about it. Just ask away. [laughs]

BM: Question for you, you know a lot of these other bands that are going to be at ProgPower with you. Are you looking forward to seeing any of them?

JL: Yeah, of course. I mean, I don’t know all the bands that may be there, ’cause I haven’t seen all the schedules yet, but you know, they are quite diverse compared to maybe some of the stuff I’m doing now. And no, I mean, I don’t even remember now all the bands there. I think Zak will be there, yeah?

BM: Zak Stevens?

JL: Yeah, I know him from the band.

BM: Oh yeah. He’s in Circle II Circle. He’s playing there.

JL: Yeah, which day?

BM: He’s in the Pre-Party show, the Thursday night thing.

JL: We toured with Circle II Circle in Europe with Masterplan. And they are great guys. And I look forward to hear the band again and to talk to the guys and meet them. We had a good time on that tour. BUt I don’t really know that much about the other bands. Evergrey I know, of course, but yeah, I’m gonna be there, and I’m not gonna be, you know, hiding somewhere.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I’m gonna be, you know, enjoying the festival and take part in in, and just try to focus on the gig on Saturday to make sure I’m gonna deliver a good show. But besides that, I’m definitely going to be a part of the whole weekend, and check out some of the bands.

BM: Let me ask you this last question and then I’ll let you go. Your career is long, you’ve had a lot of albums. You’ve released an average of one a year for the last ten years. You released four of them in 2001.

JL: [laughs]

BM: How do you stay fresh? How do you maintain your energy and keep fresh with a schedule that grueling?

JL: I don‘t know. I think again, it’s back to that, you know, it was like a big pit of great music coming out of the ’70s and I think I never categorized myself, I always liked music like country music, classical music, metal, progressive music. Performers and great artist, it doesn’t matter what kind of style. And that’s where I took my inspiration and my kind of glow, which ‘cause I always have listened to a lot of music to dive into really, and pick up elements here and there. I don’t know. Of course the fact that I never, you know, the fact that I didn’t sell ten million albums of my debut [laughs] has something to do with it. I think when you’ve gone through it, you record, you learn and you develop. You know, I never had the most successful producers or the biggest major companies backing me up, but I always developed myself and I had to learn everything, and that’s been a really important force and the drive that always kept me going. Every time I learned something, I saw the result of what I did. If I had a low budget, when I was younger to make a record, when I was younger I tried always to get the best out of it and to get the best possible result, based on my experience and my thoughts, you know?

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I guess the audience was convinced, and exploring my ideas, then after the finished result I was always discovering all the mistakes and the weaknesses and then I will work for the next level always. Taking that, “Ok, next time I will do this, but I will do that” , you know. I think that’s a natural development, because of my long and winding road. I try to maintain some of that creative drive and inspiration and I think that’s very important. And I definitely think if I had achieved a certain success when I was younger I don’t think I would have had that. I think you would have seen much more, I call it, you know, we have something called [Norwegian phrase] which means, blood poor. And it means, you know, people that don’t have enough blood are weak. So it’s like, I think you would have experienced a lot of blood poor and powerless. [laughs]

BM: Do you think, with all your success, are you saying that the best is yet to come? Oor have you arrived?

JL: I don’t know. I don’t know. You can’t predict the future really. And I think some things in life are just pure luck, and I mean, some people can work their whole lives through, and you get recognized for what you did after you are dead, you know.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I never really, I’m not hoping really for anything more in life. I just look at what is, and what I have, and I just always look at the realistic progress I can have as an artist. And I’ve seen progress. Every year I’ve seen development. I’ve enjoyed the music, it increases amounts of people around the world really fall in love with everything. And you know, I’m really sick about it, and then I see if I really just try to do this and try to improve my albums and try to keep that kind of spirit, then when I’m getting to be an old man, maybe I can have a good retirement and play good gigs. Hopefully get paid, you know. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JL: It’s development, really. I think, I never try to shoot you know, the gold bird somewhere, you know? I never, I see it like this, if somebody in the future wants to get in touch with me and asks me to do something that would create a big storm around me as an artist, then that would be great. I would take that as a bonus to everything. I mean, if a legendary band or somebody would ask me to join or, you never know. It could be anything. Look at what happened to any artist in the world. I mean, see what happened to Ozzy? There was this guy who came out of this British metal band called Black Sabbath, but suddenly was a soap opera TV show event.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: The whole–yeah. I remember, nobody really called in to ask him anything really candid. So I mean, I don’t think I would want insurance when it comes to that point. [laughs]

BM: You don’t want your own soap opera TV show?

JL: I don’t think so. Definitely not. But I mean, if you look at how things change in life, that’s a good example of somebody really worked hard and I mean, to be an icon somehow in the music, which he is of course. But you know, I guess where he made his memory wasn’t really from his records in the past or the Sabbath records, it was because of Sharon, wasn’t it?

BM: Yeah.

JL: Or because of their MTV show. I mean, if you’re really gonna talk money, that’s where the money came. And it had nothing to do with heavy metal concerts or anything. Nothing to do with singing or writing songs, nothing. It’s just primarily this guy on vacation [laughs]..

BM: [laughs]

JL: …that did great records in the past and suddenly had to make money from soap opera or TV show. Which is positive for him and his family and everything, but you know, it just shows that success can be diverse too, you know?

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

JL: [laughs]

BM: Well, Jorn, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much for chatting with me.

JL: Yeah, yeah. It’s just no problem, it’s what I’m doing. I’m just happy to get you on the phone.

BM: I really appreciate it. I love the new album, I can’t wait to see you at ProgPower this fall. I’ll stop backstage to meet you and say Hi.
JL: Yeah, and you will. I hope he sells enough tickets for his festival. [laughs]

BM: Yeah, it’s almost sold out.

JL: Is it? Yeah, good. It’s important that he is happy too with this. I mean, it’s, I heard about some bands pulling out, and it’s…I’m happy if everything is going well for the festival. I mean, it’s important for me too. I mean, the United States isn’t really the biggest market for hard rock or progressive metal. I mean, it’s increasing and it’s getting better, but it’s a long walk.

BM: [laughs] That’s true.

JL: It’s a good development, and I hope the festival goes well, and that people can find the value in me coming over and doing stuff. You know, I would love to play there more in the future as well.

BM: Believe me, people are looking forward to your concert quite a bit. So you’re going to have a huge success here.

JL: Oh, I can’t wait to get there, man. It’s gonna be cool. But I mean, I never play the states. I was there with the Malmsteen tour and we did some stuff with Millenium in the old days. And I recorded some stuff to song write, and stuff, but I never really play that much in the states. I’ve been all over the world, I’ve played up and down everywhere, it’s just really the States have always been kind of a difficult place to get–

BM: Well, the last time you were here was with Malmsteen, wasn’t it?

JL: Touring and playing it was. I’ve been there since, but it was more writing and song writing and working in the studio. But I never came there to do concerts after Malmsteen.

BM: Well hopefully, this will be more of a positive experience.

JL: Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Definitely it will be. So, do you know anything about the–I know they’re recording stuff, but when I was there with Ark once, and used a recording facility there at ProgPower?

BM: Yeah, yeah. Are you thinking of having Glenn record your show?

JL: No, I just wondered. No, I think if I would do it, I would probably bring some of my own, you know?

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: But we’ll do a lot of gigs, or more gigs in Europe before the ProgPower, and then probably a European tour as well. So I just thought that it would be cool to record the show in Atlanta, because it’s, I think if I never came to the US to do that much, it would be cool if I brought, I mean, I’ve been asked by the record company to do a live DVD, I was like thinking about it, and I was thinking, should I wait until next year or should I do it this year?

BM: You want my opinion, Jorn?

JL: Yeah.

BM: I think the audience at ProgPower would go nuts. It would probably be the most enthusiastic crowd you’ve had in a while.

JL: Yeah, really?

BM: Yeah, they would go nuts. I think that would be a great place to record.

JL: Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, so I will definitely consider that. Yeah, it’s the right size too, ’cause it’s not too big and it’s not too small and it’s just perfect for everything, good sound. Yeah.

BM: Yeah. Well, do it.

JL: Yeah.

BM: That’s great news. That would be great. I hope you do that.

JL: Yeah, well, if I do it I will let Glenn know.

BM: That’s great. Well, have a good rest of the night there, Jorn. Have a wonderful time.

JL: Thanks, yeah. I have a day off. We have this like, holy days here in Norway, so today I’m gonna have a couple beers, ’cause I already had a few.

BM: [laughs]

JL: [laughs] You know, it’s not often I can just hang and drink. So today I’m gonna definitely have a few beers and get a bus. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well, that’s great. I’m glad you spent time with me today. Have a fun evening.

JL: Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you there.

BM: Take care, Jorn, I’ll see you there. bye-bye.

JL: Ok, take care man. Bye.

BM: Bye.

One of my favorite interviews. I only hope I wasn’t too sycophantic with the guy. All I can say is that Jorn Lande is one of my all-time favorite vocalists so this interview was a thrill for me — despite the technical difficulties.

Jorn Lande’s CDs can be found on Amazon or, where I get all my music, from Ken Golden at www.lasercd.com.

Jorn’s official web site is www.jornlande.com.

As soon as I got a promo copy of Mercenary’s new album — The Hours That Remain — I requested a brief follow-up interview with vocalist Mikkel Sandager. The album blew me away. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 9. Easily. The songs are aggressive, yet melodic, introspective yet accessible. It’s easy to see why Mikkel told me, “I haven’t felt this strong about anything in my whole life, in regards to music.”

Mikkel called me a couple of days ago. This is what we talked about.

MS: Hello, Bill. This is Mikkel of Mercenary.

BM: Mikkel, how are you?

MS: I’m great, and you?

BM: Oh, doing well. Thank you very much.

MS: Ok.

BM: Well it’s good to connect with you again. I appreciate that.

MS: Yeah, you’re welcome, man. Anytime.

BM: This new CD of yours is quite amazing.

MS: Oh, you think so? Thanks a lot.

BM: Yeah. Well, have you run into anybody who doesn’t think so?

MS: Well, I haven’t really talked to that many people yet, but the majority seems to like it.

BM: Yeah, it’s really good. Tell me about it, start from the beginning here a second. Tell me about the title, where did that come from?

MS: The title of it?

BM: Yeah.

MS: Well actually, that was Jakob [Mølbjerg, guitarist] that came up with the title. I’m not exactly sure which book it was that he had been reading, but it was some sort of like a sci-fi thing. And they had like a Latin quote that meant “The hours that remain,” and we just really liked the title of it and really liked the mood that it sort of set. And also because it can be used from two different angles, like a positive side and a negative side, depending on how you look at it, really.

BM: Yeah. And how do you look at it? [laughs]

MS: Well, [laughs], it depends on which mood I’m in, Bill.

BM: [laughs] Yeah, I can understand that. Tell me about the album artwork. It’s Travis Smith art, right?

MS: Yeah it is, yeah.

BM: What is it like working with Travis Smith?

MS: He just, you know, we sent all the lyrics to him, and he got the title, of course. Then, he just pretty much came up with a couple of really cool ideas that we really liked and sort of worked with for maybe a month or so. And then he just came up with this amazing artwork. I really think it says a lot.

BM: Oh, it definitely does.

MS: Well, you know, he’s a really easy guy to work with. He’s really interested in making us happy, and that’s like his main priority. And there’s really nothing that you can’t get him to do, you know. Like on the Everblack album we did, it took like two and a half months or something to come up with the final artwork. We really kept on saying, “Yeah, this is a really cool idea, but if you try to make the watch just a little bit smaller or make the moon, the face in the moon, can you please change the face in the moon?” [laughs] And we sort of kept on going like that for almost two months, and he just kept on going, you know, without a glitch. [laughs] But he’s really, really easy to work with.

BM: [laughs] But this one came together a lot more easily?

MS: Yeah, it went really fast, actually. This was like done, from start to finish, like maximum three weeks.

BM: Wow. Wow.

MS: Yeah, that’s amazing.

BM: Is there a concept or theme to this album?

MS: Well, no, not like a concept, no. But I think the general theme and the lyrics on this album is pretty much, it’s more like invert, it’s more a description of feelings that the previous lyrics was. I think that Kral’s lyrics were more like descriptive of certain atmospheres that he had and my lyrics have always been like surrounding my own personal, yeah, like feelings in the present that I write the lyrics, in the time that I write them.

BM: Right.

MS: And because of the fact that I wrote all the lyrics right around the time that Kral decided to leave the band, of course the lyrics sort of reflect that sort of, you know, I really had to find myself and find out who I was from a lyrical point of view.

BM: Is it–you know, a couple people have asked since our interview was posted, did you guys ever say why did Kral leave?

MS: Did we ever say why he left?

BM: Yeah. People have asked why Kral left. I forgot to ask you last time we talked.

MS: Yeah. Well, I can’t blame him, you know? We really wanted him to do like an official statement, but things didn’t really go his way for a pretty long time, actually. But all I can say is basically that the main reason or the reasons why he left are, you know, he was, he’s been in the band for 15 years, and he’s really like driven, so on overdrive for 15 years. And then he really got tired, basically got tired of touring actually.

BM: Oh yeah.

MS: You know, the touring was left up to him, and we did like two tours last year. And on the second tour, the Nevermore tour, he really didn’t have a lot of fun, because he really just wanted to go home, actually.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

MS: You know, it can be pretty hard being away from family and the economy in heavy metal sort of sucks.

BM: Yeah.

MS: And all those things combined sort of just got to him, and he came to a point in his life where he said, “Well now I have to do some other priorities in my life. I have to get a job. I have to take care of my family.” And that’s basically why. So there’s nothing mysterious about it, it was simply that.

BM: Well, I guess you can’t blame him. That’s an understandable reason.

MS: Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure.

BM: Tell me about the–overall, the album seem even more aggressive actually than 11 Dreams, at least to my ears. And it seems like–

MS: Yes, exactly, yeah.

BM: –there are fewer keyboards this time, actually. Maybe not from your ears, but when I listen to it, I don’t hear quite as many keyboards. Or maybe they’re used in a different way. Were those conscious decisions you guys made, fewer keyboards and a lot more guitars?

MS: Well, actually there is, I think there actually is maybe a bit more keyboard on this one, but I think we produced it, we just produced it in a little bit of a different way, because we really saw with 11 Dreams that there was as many big sounds–and yeah, I would agree with you that there’s a lot of keyboards in the mix in 11 Dreams–and we wanted maybe this time around, we wanted to have a little bit more, like a crunchy sound, little bit more modern? But also a little bit more basic sound. We didn’t want to do another album with too many layers on it. 11 Dreams has like a crazy amount of layers on it sometimes, and we really, really wanted to do something a little more basic, and just, you know simple, little bit more simple rock and roll, you know?

BM: Yeah. And that’s maybe what I hear. It does sound simpler, there aren’t as many layers. Maybe there are as many keyboards, like you said, but they’re arranged in a different way.

MS: Yeah, it’s arranged in a lot different way, and we really worked with the keyboard sound as well. It’s layered pretty close to the guitar sound sometimes, so maybe that’s why. It used to be more like an instrument, this time around as well. Instead of just choosing every single track up with a lot of atmospheric stuff, [laughs], we wanted to use it a little bit more like a solo instrument as well.

BM: On The Hours That Remain, you do all of the vocals. All of the “clean” vocals and all of the “growly” vocals that Kral used to do. Was that hard on your voice? And what effect will that have on tour when you have to do so much very heavy screaming during your concerts?

MS: Well on 11 Dreams I did all of the screaming vocals as well as the clean ones so that part is no issue. But, yeah, the growly vocals were killing me. I actually pushed it through to the very end of the vocal session ‘cause I didn’t know what it would do to my voice afterwards. Pretty lucky ‘cause I did all my clean vox in seven days all screaming for the entire album in one day and that didn’t do much harm. The two days I did the growling vocals killed my voice for 10 days. Completely gone for at least a week. But it’s no problem on the road ‘cause we have Rene [bass player] to do the growling and the screaming is no problem.

BM: Tell me about, if you don’t mind, can you go kind of track by track and tell me what the songs are about?

MS: Yeah, well, I’m not too happy about discussing lyrics, though.

BM: Oh?

MS: It’s nothing to do with my personal feelings or anything, it’s simply because when I listen to an album myself, especially the lyrics, I really like how I can put my own meaning into the lyrics. So, as I said, a couple of the songs on the album deals with, you know, my personal sort of frustrations surrounding Kral’s departure from the band and you know, being forced to sort of do everything myself when before I really didn’t do that much. I really didn’t do much, I actually did one song on 11 Dreams, and suddenly being faced with being forced to write ten songs in three months, and so that was pretty frustrating and a really, really big challenge for me personally. And a lot of the songs deal with that, actually, and of course with my personal feelings towards Kral at the given time. Because no matter how you view it, and no matter how friendly we still are, of course, he was a part of the family. And when a guy chooses to leave the band, it’s like a divorce, you know?

BM: Yeah.

MS: It’s really painful, because we go through so many things together on the road and endure so much crap, you know, and all you have to hang on to is ourselves and the band internally. And when somebody decides to leave the band, it’s pretty painful, and yeah, I think a lot of the songs are about that. I wrote a song also about Iraq, “My World Is Ending”?

BM: Yeah.

MS: Yeah, I thought I would write a song that deals with like all the crisis in Iraq. From the perspective of like an innocent Iraqi boy or girl, you know, just seeing their world be torn apart by somebody they don’t know and you know, an outside world that wants to push something into their own country without them being able to understand what’s going on. Much of that song is about basically, and, which, “Obscure Indiscretion” is, that’s mainly, the notes it’s like Dietrich’s song, and some of the lyrics, it just really deals with being a musician and being on the road, yeah, and yeah, that’s pretty much what it’s all about.

BM: Is the–

MS: The problem the songs deal with, yeah, just the notions and frustrations and me trying to redefine myself, you know?

BM: Right. Do you have a song on this particular album that is–I don’t want to say favorite necessarily–but one that is closest to your heart?

MS: Actually, I like, well every song on this album, but something that stands out for me personally right now–’cause I think it changes for me like gradually, as I listen more and more to the album, it varies from time to time–but right now, it’s “Redefine Me” that makes me feel the most, just gets to me the most right now, and then “Lost Reality” as well has been my favorite all, from the time we wrote it actually, because it’s such a diverse song. It’s sort of like the fire song, something like that. It’s a song that has a lot of elements in it and a lot of different local styles and a lot of cool really cool atmospheric parts. Yeah, I really like that song.

BM: When you look at this album now, do you feel really proud of yourself for accomplishing this, given the circumstances?

MS: Extremely proud, yeah. I haven’t felt this strong about anything in my whole life, in regards to music. Yeah, I think everybody in the band feels the same way.

BM: Good.

MS: Because, yeah, it was really a lot of hard work and frustrating work and along the way we really didn’t know how it would turn out. We only knew that we were so unbelievably determined to make this band happen no matter what. Yes, I’m really looking forward to it.

BM: Now that it’s out, will you be able to play a lot of these songs at ProgPower this fall?

MS: Yeah, for sure, yeah. We just actually, we just started rehearsing for ProgPower today.

BM: Oh good.

MS: So we want to, yeah, just do a month and a half of really intense rehearsing and then we’ll go and start working the parts over there. I think we’ll be playing, without saying to much, we’ll be playing at least four or five songs from the new album. Also, hopefully we’ll have time to play at least five songs from 11 Dreams also.

BM: That’s great.

MS: And I think we’ll push something a little bit older in there as well.

BM: Oh really?

MS: And some surprises as well.

BM: So there’s surprises on top of wonderful songs. You’re giving us way too much. We don’t deserve this, Mikkel.

MS: Oh, you don’t? [laughs]

BM: [laughs] No, I appreciate your time today. I know you’re a busy guy. Thanks for the call. I’ll let people know what you said about the album.

MS: Yeah cool, cool.

BM: I can’t wait–

MS: I’m looking forward to, I’m looking at your like your web site on a regular basis, it’s really cool.

BM: Thank you. I appreciate that. It’s sad news about Wastefall dropping out. But your visas are all set, you can get over here?

MS: Yeah, no problem.

BM: Good, good. Excellent. Well, I can’t wait to meet you, and I can’t wait to see the band this fall, Mikkel. I appreciate the call.

MS: Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Yeah, you’re welcome, man. Thank you. Take care, ok?

BM: Take care. Bye bye.

MS: Bye bye.

Mercenary’s official web site is www.mercenary.dk. Their new CD (The Hours That Remain) will be released on August 22nd.

This was just posted on the ProgPowerUSA web site:

Due to unforeseen visa complications, Wastefall will not be able to perform at the festival this year. I sincerely apologize to those that were looking forward to their performance. Everyone including the band, their management, the record label, and myself attempted to resolve the situation without success. This is a rare situation for the festival and I am still stunned by the sudden turn of events. The band will issue a formal statement soon. I wish Wastefall the best and hope to work with them in the future.

So it is with that bittersweet news that I can announce that Zero Hour have been tabbed as their replacement. I have been informed by Sensory Records that their new album (featuring Chris Salinas, ex-Power of Omens) will be available exclusively at the festival prior to it’s official release date of October 10th. I would like to thank Zero Hour for stepping up to the plate and helping me out on such short notice. I look forward to seeing them tear the stage apart in Atlanta.

You can hear a small sample of their new album at their My Space website: http://www.myspace.com/zerohourband

Glenn Harveston

I will secure an interview with Zero Hour’s guitarist Jasun Tipton and post it ASAP.