Loading…

Interview: Marc Okubo

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Veil of Maya dropped their latest single “Viscera” earlier this year, and the band is on the way to releasing a new album. I had the chance to speak with guitarist Marc Okubo about the new Veil of Maya tracks and upcoming record, his lockdown experience, his work with other bands including Dance Gavin Dance, the partnership with Kiesel Guitars, and more. Check it out below. 

Photo credit: Grywnn, Wikimedia Commons

First of all, how have things been for you handling everything that’s been going on for the past year?

Well, I’m up and down. I’m in Los Angeles right now writing and recording a new album for the band, so that’s been very fun and happy. But when I was by myself in Chicago, it got kind of dark for a while. It was kind of hard to see what the future state of music was going to be like when it was first going down. But all the time away from it kind of made me realize what I enjoy about it. It kind of took the job aspect away from it, and now I feel like a little kid again, music’s gotten a little bit more magic to me.

Yeah, it was definitely weird in the beginning for everyone, because with things shutting down, we didn’t know when the hell we were getting back to a show again, some bands kept on pushing through and releasing music, others came to a halt, it was definitely a weird time, but I’m glad to hear it was kind of a good transition for you in a way and you were able to rediscover some of your roots with music. At the end of the day, it was probably productive for you in a way. 

Yeah, mentally, I needed it overall. It had just been so long since…I mean, there’s no way to get a break that long from anything. We’d just be on tour all year, and by the end of it — I guess it’s weird because going to shows and seeing how others bands are doing and interacting with everyone was how I would get inspired to create before, and not having that suddenly hit. Now creating music is just purely fun, it’s just more for me now than it is thinking about what our fans are going to think. 

That aspect of it is awesome, that you got to reconnect with your love of music in that way. Of course, the single “Viscera” is the latest we’ve heard from Veil of Maya, and honestly, one new single alone has people going crazy to hear new Veil of Maya. It’s charting high, it’s doing great, so maybe start off talking about what went into that track.

The track was mostly written in 2019, I was at a different studio on the East Coast and things kind of stopped and didn’t really work out in that studio, so I actually was mailed a hard drive with all of our sessions for our songs on it, and that is one of the ones where I took what we had and finished it, rewrote a few parts. Our drummer recorded the drums during the pandemic in his little practice studio, he did that himself. Then we just sent off the tracks to our friend to mix it, and it worked out really well, actually. To be honest, I would rather not have an animated video, I’d rather have a real one, but at least we’ve got something out for it. 

Yeah, absolutely. And you did have a music video last year, for “Outsider”, the other new single, and I noticed when I was looking at the music video on YouTube, it makes a very specific point of noting that it was filmed March 10th, 2020, so you guys just made it with that, getting in a new video before lockdown.

Oh yeah, we intentionally put the date on there and everything because the official pandemic starting date was the 11th, which is actually my birthday, but then we had the first show of our tour with Dance Gavin Dance and Animals As Leaders was the 12th, so we’re all at the venue, it’s a sold out show, and then their manager comes in like, “Yep, tour’s cancelled. Everyone go home…indefinitely”. It was just a really weird experience. 

So you were actually at the venue to play the show that night, did you get to play that one show and then the rest of the show got cancelled, or…?

No, all the bands just showed up and then, I guess we had kind of a little…we ate together, and we had kind of like a little party I guess, but it started raining outside and then everyone just went home. 

We’ve all been kind of hearing that there’s another Veil of Maya album in the works to follow “Viscera”, and then of course, you just mentioned you’re in LA doing that now, so what’s the status of the album right now?

Okay, the “Outsider” and “Viscera” were part of the sessions I was doing on the East Coast, so we have essentially an album’s worth of material that we recorded then. And I honestly wanted to ditch the rest of that material, and come to Los Angeles and start fresh again. So either way, we’ll probably have like two albums’ worth of songs to pick from, but I’ll just take the best of the best and then that will end up being the new album. I just kind of had a bad taste in my mouth from the whole last experience, and this time I’m much more into what we’re doing. So if people like those songs, I can always say, just expect the next batch to be, like, prime. Because I’m stoked on what we’re doing now.

Nice. That’s cool, I mean, there’s always the option of a double album or something, throw all the tracks you’re not so hot about on the second one, like B-sides.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It couldn’t hurt just to have more material, and since I think the progress of those two songs alone have paid off all the debt that was owed for recording in 2019, so we’re all good now to keep moving forward. 

Now, being that there was a few years between the last record, False Idol, and this one that you guys are working on now, what made you feel like it was the right time to start working on something new?

Well, we’ve been a band for a long time, and I’m the main music writer in the band, and it just became a lot of pressure on me mentally to have material ready, and then also tour all year, and also helping write with other bands, and helping tour with other bands, and just managing life and relationships and all that just started becoming overwhelming. So, obviously I was trying my best, but I kind of lost that magic thing you have as an angsty teenager, I kind of lost that vibe for a little bit. And then this last year has kind of gotten it back in my system. Now, this is all for fun again, there’s no real work to it. It’s definitely hard to just keep on rushing things and having to meet expectations of being better than the last thing you put out, because you have less time to do it. But now I’ve had time to recollect, and I feel great.

That’s good. Of course, it’s definitely easy to get burned out doing too much of anything, but especially something so creative as writing music, you’re always trying to be original, trying to top what you did before with something new, I’m sure it can get exhausting, mentally and creatively. 

Yeah, a lot of people don’t realize, when you release your first album and it’s super epic, and everyone wants new stuff coming out, a lot of times the band will have maybe 3-4 weeks to make a follow-up record, and that’s supposed to surpass their original one, which they had like their whole life to that point to make. It’s hard to explain to people that don’t have to do that, but that’s what happens, and then everyone gets mad at the second album, because it’s not as crazy as the first or whatever. There’s like a time limit now, for everything.

And that’s the thing, sometimes with songs, something epic can strike you like lightning and you’ll have it done in a day, and other times it just takes time and work, and I think a lot of bands, especially when you’re signed to a label, you have deadlines and everything, you don’t have all the time that you necessarily want. But I think that’s why the lockdown was, in a weird kind of way, good for a lot of musicians, because you had time to kind of recharge, like you said.

Yeah, it’s weird because, I also feel like as touring musician, we’re a little bit more well-equipped for situations like that, because we’re used to being gone for so long, and when you come back from touring, the world just keeps on going without you, so it’s everything all at once, and then nothing at all. So that nothing at all thing, pretty much everyone in the world had to feel together. But I’ve been doing it for years, and I knew how to handle it and kind of distract myself. Yeah, it’s rough watching the whole world deal with it, or watching celebrities have to make, like, crazy TikTok videos to get their normal focus of attention, or whatever. 

Outside of that, a lot of bands have been trying to keep up with the fans just giving some kind of content, the livestream shows, Instagram playthroughs, whatever people need to do just to keep the fans interested, I guess.

And being honest, that’s just not really who I am. I do post online occasionally, but for most of last year, I deleted all the apps off my phone, because it got pretty hectic, and there’s a lot of drama about certain subjects, and I just didn’t want to be a part of that *laughs*. I had to focus on the things that were important to me. I don’t know, social media is a weird place right now.

It definitely is. So, back to band stuff, you mentioned that you do some things with other bands outside of Veil of Maya, and I saw that you recently did something with Dance Gavin Dance, right? So can you talk about that collaboration?

Yeah, that was amazing for me, honestly, because it made me feel…well, I’m really close with that band, so I was honored that they asked me to do that in the first place. But then having the song turn out well, it did a lot for my self-esteem where it’s just like, I’m not just limited to my band, and I’m a musician and producer, and there’s other things I could do and be helpful with. So it was good for me, and I hope I get more opportunities like that, where I can create music with other artists that sounds like them, and doesn’t sound like specifically what my band is. 

Absolutely, kind of break out of the mold of your genre, there. 

It’s funny, there’s a few other bands that I’ve written for but, it’s just funny watching people review and react to stuff on YouTube or wherever, where they’ll like, hate my band but then they’ll love another band’s song that I wrote. They just don’t realize that it’s all the same person doing specific things for other bands intentionally. Like, my band sounds like my band on purpose. If you hate it, that’s fine, but it’s not like that’s all we’re capable of doing.

Right, they didn’t do their research or look up who played guitar on the track.

No, I’m cool with that, that’s the way it should be, right?

Speaking of guitars, you mainly work with Kiesel guitars, so you had some signature models, so how did that partnership first come about?

I was introduced to Jeff Kiesel by Lee McKinney of Born of Osiris, and I think he was introduced to them by Rod from Volumes, it’s kind of like a little family tree. And then I actually introduced Jeff and Will from Dance Gavin Dance, so it’s like a big chain of homies who just all introduced each other.

That’s cool, and you also used to work with Jackson – so you’re mainly on Kiesel now, or do you balance out your gear with a little bit of everything?

I’m exclusively on Kiesel, and trying to sell my signature model guitar, but all that happened right before the lockdown thing, so it made it really hard for me to mentally be there to promote. I’m waiting for us to do this new album, so that I can make all these playthroughs, maybe release some solo material, more guitar-oriented music. 

And since you have a signature guitar, and I think you’ve had a few in the past, I’m sure you probably frequent NAMM when that time comes around, did you make it to NAMM last year?

Yes, I did. That was my last performance as a musician actually.

Wow, you probably never expected that going in.

No, it was actually terrifying, because usually I have the support of my band behind me, at least, but there was a few booths full of people that were all probably like world-class musicians watching me, essentially naked *laughs*. I don’t know, it was just scary.

Yeah, NAMM is quite the experience, because it’s so weird, you’re surrounded by all of this music and all of this creativity, but at the end of the day, it’s literally a convention center with some booths. So it’s formal yet not at the same time.

Yeah, I would say it’s an essential party to experience if you’re in the music industry, it’s a lot of fun. And you end up knowing more people than you think. 

So what’s some other go-to gear for you?

Well, I mean, essentially when I’m writing now, it’s all into the computer. So I use a program called Ableton Live, that’s how I write and record music. And then, I use programs like, there’s one called Superior Drummer, which is made by ToonTrack and they have cool-sounding drums so I can write drums. I use this program called Bias for guitars, other than that, pretty much my life is watching YouTube and watching tutorials, learning how to do new things. 

So lots of digital then, DAWs and plugins is where your focus is.

Exactly, yeah.

You were talking about how during the lockdown, you returned to your roots and why you love music, feeling a little more connected with it, doing for the fun of it, which is awesome. So what about your pre-Veil of Maya life as a musician, what was the first thing that inspired you to get into music in general?

Oh, wow. That started from kind of being an angsty teenager, I guess. I grew up during, probably when I was like 10 or 11, Korn and Limp Bizkit kind of took over the world, and I wanted to go further than that, like “what’s harder than this?” and I got into Death Metal, and then I got into trying to see who the best musicians were, so I got into Fusion Jazz and Progressive Rock and all that. And I don’t know, I got sent away to a high school away from all my friends, so I ended up joining jazz band as something to do, and so I ended up just playing guitar all day for about a year. Yeah, then I just decided by about 14 or 15 that this is what I was going to do, no matter what happens, I’m going to figure it out.

I love how you felt like your taste needed to get progressively harder as you went along, you were like, “Korn? Not heavy enough, let’s go harder”. *laughs*

I mean, respect to them. They changed the world around me for sure, but I just kept on going, I kept on looking. I actually had a science teacher in 8th grade that saw me wearing a Soulfly shirt, and he was like “dude, you got to check out this other band, Sepultura”, and then he made me a mixtape that had Sepultura and Slayer on it, that was like a big eye-opening experience for me. 

Oh, that’s awesome! You wouldn’t expect that from an 8th grade science teacher. That’s funny, I was once wearing an 80’s “Hair Metal” band t-shirt, a Europe t-shirt in one of my classes one time…

Nice!

…and the teacher actually made fun of me, he was like “Europe?! Oh my god, THOSE guys?” I’m like, “Yeah, they’re freakin cool, dude, what’s your problem!” 

That rocks, actually. I threw up the metal horns. 

Thanks! I guess you’re into the 80’s stuff too? 

Well, my Dad raised me on a lot of 80’s stuff, but it would be more like Queen and Don Henley, Phil Collins, that kind of stuff. 

Hell yeah, the classic rock stuff. So back to the present day, whenever anyone can get back to touring, and you get back on the road, what are some places you’re looking forward to playing?

Wow, I haven’t even thought like this in so long. It’s going to be so weird to transition from seeing maybe 2 people a day, to over a thousand, that’s going to be terrifying.

So let’s get back into the mentality now, let’s think about it, make it happen, you know?

*laughs* I mean, right before all this was starting to happen, I really wanted to be in Europe like twice a year. Because we were going one a year to once every other year, and I feel like the more you go there, the better it will do for your career, whereas America, people were starting to get spoiled from too many tours happening. And now, I don’t even know what the first tour’s going to be like, what the attendance and vibe are going to be like, but when it comes to places that I enjoy playing, I really want to go back to Japan. I’ve never been to South Africa, never been to South America before, so I’d like to finish my list and cross everything off, I guess.

Yeah, it’s good to have at least in the back of your mind, because it’s been such a long time, so let’s all start thinking about it now, get ourselves all back out there going to shows, you guys playing shows, spread the music scene again. It took a hit last year, so we’ve got to get it back up and strong again.

I definitely think it’s going to come back, it’s going to be weird — like, masks, I don’t know if masks are going to go away, that might be a thing for the rest of our lives. 

I don’t know, man, it’s really hard to call anything right now. But one thing that we can call pretty easily is that Veil of Maya WILL have a new album sometime in the next year.

*laughs* Oh, yeah!

You are working on it right now, so that’s something we can be pretty certain of since the rest of life is so uncertain right now. 

That is true, I can promise that. 

Cool. It’s been a lot of fun talking with you today, Marc. 

Likewise! Thanks for having me. 

Absolutely, so maybe just give a quick summary of what’s next musically for Marc Okubo right now?

Well, I’m definitely working on new Veil so expect that. We have a tour coming up with Dance Gavin Dance, Animals As Leaders, Eidola, and Wolf & Bear, starting September 6th, I believe. So please come to that if the shows are not sold out already, and then yeah, back to business as usual. We’ll be writing and releasing and touring and doing that for as long as we can.

Awesome, good stuff to look forward to. Thanks so much for your time today, Marc!

Thank you!

Keep up with Veil of Maya via their social media pages: https://www.instagram.com/veilofmayaofficial/, https://twitter.com/veilofmayaband, and https://linktr.ee/VeilOfMaya.

Concert Review: Burning Witches Livestream

ChelseaConcert Reviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
Burning Witches Band
Screenshot of Burning Witches Livestream via Live4You!

On May 28th, 2021, the Swiss/Dutch Heavy Metal band Burning Witches staged an official album release show for the world via livestream in celebration of their latest record, The Witch of the North, out now on Nuclear Blast. Burning Witches, with their current lineup consisting of Laura Guldemond (Vocals), Romana Kalkuhl (Guitar), Jeanine Grob (Bass), Lala Frischknecht (Drums), and Larissa Ernst (Guitar), showcased live performances of songs off the brand-new The Witch of the North, while also revisiting previous albums, Dance With The Devil (2020), Hexenhammer (2018), and the self-titled 2017 debut, Burning Witches.

  • The Witch of the North
  • Laura Guldemond & Lala Frischknecht
  • Larissa Ernst & Romana Kalkuhl
  • Larissa Ernst & Jeanine Grob

The eerie yet ancient entrance music of “The Witch of The North” greeted us as the ladies of Burning Witches took their places on the stage, before launching full-force like a wildfire to show us all just what Burning Witches is all about. Up next, “Wings of Steel”, with an energetic full-power intro reminiscent of traditional speed/power metal that followed through with the same energy to the end. 

“Necronomicon” gives us a jolting, wailing guitar intro ominous enough for a song which personifies an ancient text into an unseen entity, while “Lucid Nightmare”, performed live, felt reminiscent of traditional thrash with an almost Exodus-like vibe, from the gritty shrieking vocals, right down to the evil laughter and rough riffs. Guitarists Romana and Larissa traded solos on this track for an inescapable sonic attack.

Lala of Burning Witches Band

The anthemic “We Stand As One” is a metal song of the traditional arena sing-along sort, and once this album makes its way to being played before a live audience, no doubt that is precisely what will happen. A steady, belligerent beat from drummer Lala provides the landscape, and with lyrics like “Heavy Metal is our way, loud and fast is what we want, we stand as one”, it’s not hard to guess that Burning Witches is strong in staying true to their roots and influences.

The show continued with “Sea of Lies” off 2020’s Dance With The Devil, which was proof enough that there’s no “lies” about the band’s talents by this point. A rhythmic hooky riff pulls you in before Lala kicks in and brings it to the pace already set by the Witches in speed metal style. Bassist Janine particularly shone on this one, not only keeping a pulsating low-end for the whole track but venturing into the higher register of the instrument to generate the extra bit of energy this song deserves. “Lady Of The Woods”, off the new album, slowed things down and allowed a breather from the heavy metal attack for just a few moments, while also showing off the lower register of Laura’s live vocals. The air of mystery in the track mesmerizes the senses like the spells of the “Lady” herself.

  • Burning Witches Band Laura
  • Burning Witches Band Larissa and Jeanine

If you took a moment to relax during the previous song, “Dance With The Devil” (2020) brought the energy right back up again, featuring some of the more pleasantly melodic riffs of the band’s repertoire, a dip into major-key melodies, and even a touch of Maiden-esque galloping rhythms. I’m sure it wasn’t just me who felt a distinctively 80’s Hard Rock energy in this track. While pondering the past, bells, a thunderstorm, and haunting screams and sounds of torture interjected to introduce the next song, “Hexenhammer”, a well-known track from the Burning Witches discography, and title track off the 2018 album of the same name. Laura puts her own unique touch on it, but still resonates with the same energy of the whole performance, in line with the 2021 vibe of Burning Witches. Newest guitarist Larissa also kept things up to speed with steady arpeggiated riffing and soloing – if perhaps, this was her first time officially playing it live, not a soul might have guessed it. 

Laura of Burning Witches Band

Next up was “Flight Of The Valkyries” (2021), because where would any traditional-style heavy metal band be without at least one mention of dear Valhalla? Frontwoman – or should I say Frontwitch – Laura momentarily vanished behind the on-stage cauldron to allow guitarists Romana and Larissa to shine with a twin guitar attack that truly does take flight. 

With “Black Widow”, we revisited the first track off the band’s self-titled debut from 2017, ripping through metallic riffing as the band gets ready to wrap it all up. Finally, what better way for Burning Witches to close off their concert than with a song named after themselves? “Burning Witches” also comes off the 2017 debut, and serves as a real headbanging anthem to leave us satisfied with what we just watched, yet excited for more. 

Burning Witches Band

In spite of playing to an entirely virtual crowd, the women of Burning Witches did not hold back for even a moment in giving a full live performance experience, and even expressing gratitude to their invisible audience. The talents of Burning Witches were supplemented with great visuals, high sound quality, and effective cinematography on the livestream hosted by Live4You! A full-production stage set came equipped with cauldrons and all the necessary accouterments for a band with “witch” in their moniker, and an illustrated backdrop transformed visuals throughout to match each album cover accordingly.

There’s clearly no mistaking where the band’s influences originate, but rather than rehashing or imitating what’s been done before, they put their own unique touch and spin on traditional heavy metal sonic notions and bring us the fantastic songwriting of Burning Witches in 2021. We may have had a long time off from seeing live shows in-person, but they’re bound to return any day now – make sure you catch this fresh, strong, new energy of modern heavy metal live as soon as they hit your part of the world. 

——
(All Photos are Screenshots taken during livestream hosted by “Live4You!”.)

Follow Burning Witches here: https://www.burningwitches.ch

Find the new album in physical form, alongside plenty of merch, via the Nuclear Blast Store here.

For the US merch link, click here.

Find the new album The Witch Of The North digitally here (affiliate link).

Interview: Biff Byford

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
Biff Byford of Saxon, 2020

Saxon released their new album Inspirations, a cover album featuring the artists and songs that influenced and inspired them, via Silver Lining Music this spring. I had the chance to speak with frontman Biff Byford about the story behind the new album, his solo work, music production, social media, and more.

You have the new Saxon Inspirations record which was just released, and of course Saxon has been unstoppable for years, releasing studio album after album, so I’m curious what made you want to go into a covers direction this time around? 

Well, the main reason was as something fun to do, really. We didn’t want to release the new Saxon album just yet with the lockdowns everywhere, so we decided to release the new Saxon album in February, and I released my solo album over the last year. So yeah, we just thought we’d do something fun, get the band playing together again, and we thought doing an album of songs that influenced and inspired us from teenage years onward would be a good idea. 

And it absolutely was a great idea, with some great results. Did you have to accommodate for the pandemic to record this, or did you have it already somewhat done before it happened?

Oh, no, it was right in the pandemic. It was done very quickly, we had the idea one week, and the next, we did it. So we created a bubble, we had already got tested a couple times, and pretty much everybody was in their own little place anyway, nobody lives in a big city. So it was easy to get together, create a bubble, stay in that bubble, and record the album, really. Yeah, it was pretty cool. 

That’s good, definitely, and a good way to keep yourselves busy when you weren’t able to go out on tour. 

Yeah, there’s no touring obviously, so the next best thing is recording. And it was good fun because there’s no pressure of writing songs or writing melodies for things, all that. 

So when you decided what songs you wanted to cover for the album, did you all get together and talk about your influences, inspirations, and just kind of pick out some songs from that?

Well yeah, we all had ideas, it was put together very quickly. I don’t think, really, that it took us longer than a week to decide which songs to play. I didn’t go for the number one tracks of all the bands, we went for the tracks a little bit down the hit list, really. I think it worked out really well.

Absolutely, and that is a good choice, you can show your influences and inspirations without going for the obvious choices, the biggest hits.

Yeah, we could have done “Highway To Hell” or “Back In Black”, but I wanted to do an AC/DC song that I liked. And I saw them in the 70’s on their first tour of the UK, in Sheffield, a small venue, and they played that song [“Problem Child”] and I really liked it. 

Out of all the tracks that you put onto Inspirations, if you had to pick one, which song or artist would you say inspired you the most out of all of them?

I would say they pretty much all did. The thing is, the album’s a mixture of inspirations and influences, if you know what I mean. Some of the bands on their inspired us, and some of the songs on there influenced our style of writing. So there’s a difference, but every song has a story connected to it, specifically to Saxon or to the member that picked the song. “Paint It Black” was chosen by Douglas, the guitarist, and that was one of the first songs I ever learned how to play on guitar, so I liked that choice as well. Things like that, really. And Nigel Glockler picked…he’s a big Sabbath fan, he liked Bill Ward’s drumming, we didn’t want to do “Paranoid” or a big hit, so we wanted to do something a little bit more off the earlier albums, and it’s not even a Sabbath song, but the band inspired us. So it’s not always about the song, sometimes it’s a band. 

That’s really cool to know that there’s a personal connection for each of you in a different way, and a story related to it, that makes it a lot more meaningful than just, “Hey, let’s cover some songs for fun”, so I love that.

Yeah, it just makes it a little bit different from your average cover album. We wanted to be honest, and put songs on there that actually influenced or inspired us. 

And I love that Inspirations, the release was pretty much in every format, CD, Vinyl, digital, and even a cassette format – what’s your favorite format for music would you say?

I’m not really bothered. I like vinyls because the artwork just looks better. But I don’t mind CDs, and cassette’s cool. I haven’t really got a cassette player, I might have to buy an old car or something with a cassette player in it. But I’ve got a cassette player in my studio, it sounds pretty cool on cassette. I like it for a change, it’s more analog-based. But I’m not really bothered, I don’t really have a preference. I’m not really a hi-fi buff, I’m more of a studio buff. I like to get the album sounding great – after that, everybody has a different opinion anyway, some people love vinyl, some people love CDs, some people love to stream, some people love the cassette. But a lot of people buy these limited edition things to collect.

Especially when it comes to the artwork, like you said, with vinyl, sometimes that can be a big component of it as well. Having the whole experience of the physical format, you’ve got the artwork, you take out the vinyl and it also sounds high quality. But I see what you mean, you want the original product to be as high quality as possible and everyone else can decide their own formats after that.

That’s right, you know, we do a different sort of master mix for the vinyls than we do for the CDs, so it may sound slightly different. On the cassette, there’s a little bit more level put on the tape so it sounds more authentic to back in the day. The people that work with us are very experienced in that now. 

So you mentioned that you have a studio of your own, how involved do you usually get with the production in terms of the recording, mixing, mastering, etc of the Saxon records?

Well, I produced this one, and my solo album, so I’m used to working in studio, learning things and making choices. So yeah, you get involved it in altogether, people are sending me mixes and different things all the time. I have to be on it, I have to have multiple listening systems where I can check the sound on different systems. One in the car, one in studio, and one in one of the rooms in my house, so you have to check it just to make sure it’s good for the fans.

You also mentioned, of course, your solo album, School of Hard Knocks, released last year. What prompted this solo venture for you?

Well, I had a lot of songs that I wanted to put out that were personal to me, and I got the chance to work with different musicians which was really good. So yeah, we just launched the project really, it was at the beginning just before the pandemic, before March. So we were touring, but that’s been on a bit of a hold. So it was pretty good doing it, this Inspirations album is a lockdown album. And of course we can’t play live, we have to do something, otherwise I think you just waste away. And I just finished an album with my son, called Heavy Water, so that’ll be coming out soon in the next few months. So we’ve been busy really, or I have, at least. 

That’s awesome! So tell me more about the album you just recorded with your son. 

It’s coming out in July, I think. The album’s called Red Brick City, and the songs are very…geared more towards the lockdown, especially my son, who was going to live in a big city for the musical scene and to get working, which all stopped, so he’s been trapped in a room for months. So I think this album is a great release for that, we’ve written some great lyrics together, and we share the vocals on everything, so it sounds pretty good. 

Well, I can’t wait to hear it! That’s really sweet that it’s a father/son lockdown collaboration there *laughs*. 

Yeah, definitely!

And I see that you’re really active on social media, and I think it’s really cool that you still keep fans posted on what’s going on in your life, especially while they can’t come and see you play live and in person. But I see you sharing things about your family, your dogs, taking trips in the woods and countryside, so I guess that’s a good summary of your lockdown experience besides making music?

Well, people are interested. Not everybody lives in the countryside, not everybody lives in the UK, so I suppose somebody that lives in, say, Florida, looking at me walking through the English countryside, up here in Yorkshire, is different. People are interested – I don’t think any of the other guys in the band do it, but I do it. It’s pretty cool actually. We don’t get too personal, but I think it’s good fun.

I agree, I don’t think it’s oversharing at all, I think you show some cool scenery, your adorable dogs, so it’s a nice little look into your life beyond the music for the fans. 

Yeah, definitely. People want to know what you’re doing, keep in touch. They go on there and have a look, they share it. And I get more followers all the time – I went from, the last time I looked, I was like two thousand people, and now I think I’ve got like, 11 or 12 thousand? It’s amazing how many people find you.

Well, you’ve got a lot of fans out there, Biff! You’re an absolute legend in the music industry and the metal world, so people are happy to see anything you share.

And we’re surprised at how successful the Inspirations album’s been, actually. It went quite high in the charts across Europe, so we were surprised. We just thought people would not be quite so excited about it, but I mean, people have really gotten into it. We’ve had some fantastic reviews and now I’m doing interviews with America now, so we’ll wait and see how that goes. It’s a good fun album though, you can put it on in the car or in the kitchen, and just listen to the songs roll by. I think it’s a really interesting album, because all of the songs are great tracks, aren’t they?

Absolutely! I mean, you have great original songs to work with, and then you put your own spin on it, which is great. It’s funny to me that you sound surprised that people are enjoying the album and having such a good time with it, but from an outside perspective and from a fan perspective, Saxon is Saxon! So whether it’s an original album or not, people are going to be excited to see new albums and new content coming from you guys. 

Yeah! I mean, the whole story behind the album, and recording it in the old style, there’s a making of video on YouTube that people can watch, so the whole story’s very interesting so it’s not just about the songs. The whole story of us making it, I think people really enjoy it. 

Last year, you did have a few shows scheduled just before the whole lockdown situation, there was one with Girlschool and a couple of other shows that you had lined up. I’m in the US, where some shows are starting to pop up here and there, but how are things looking in the UK, are the prospects looking good for you guys possible getting on the road later this year, or are they still on hold for now?

Well, there’s been a few shows and they’re doing some more. They just did a big one in Spain a couple of days ago with five thousand people actually inside a venue going crazy. So that one worked out really well, and only two weeks after the show, they found that four people had gotten the virus. So obviously they didn’t get it at the show, they must have got it somewhere else. So that’s looking good, they’ve done some shows in Liverpool, they’ve done a couple football matches. They’re slowly trying to get the data on how transmittable it is, everyone is asking for a negative COVID test before they can get in. I think maybe you’re going to have to have a vaccine sheet as well. But yeah, they’re moving toward gigs so hopefully in July, August, we’ll be doing some festivals.

Ah, that’d be amazing, it’s been a long time coming, everybody’s been waiting to get back out there and see shows. I’m sure you’re eager to get back out on stage as well. 

We are, we are. It’s crazy that we’ve gone from a live band to a recording band *laughs*. 

Yeah, in the course of a year, right? Amazing how that happened. But I’m glad to hear that the prospects are pretty good, but you’re definitely keeping busy between the Saxon and solo album, and now your album with your son, which is going to be cool to hear how that sounds when it comes out. It’s been absolutely delightful talking with you, Biff…

You too.

…so I’ll just wrap it up with a summary of what’s next on the plate for Biff Byford?

Well, like I said, we’ve got this album coming out with my son, the project’s called Heavy Water and the album’s called Red Brick City, so that’ll be coming out soon. The next Saxon album will be out in February, I think it’s February the 14th, and I think the Heavy Water album will probably be out in July. So not long to go before that comes out. So yeah, things are looking pretty good, we’re all trying to keep fit and active which is really hard in lockdown *laughs*. But hopefully we’ll be able to come to America and do some shows. 

Everybody would love to see you out here for sure. Good luck with everything, and we’re looking forward to hearing these new albums coming from you. Stay healthy and give your dogs some extra pats from me!

We will, we’ll give them a treat. 

Excellent, thank you, Biff!

Have a great day, thank you. 

Find the new album and Saxon news via: https://www.saxon747.com.
Keep up with Biff Byford via: https://www.facebook.com/biffsaxon747/

Interview: Simon Wright

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Holy Diver Live and Evil Or Divine: Live In New York City are two new Dio live album reissues that were released last month via BMG. I had the chance to talk with iconic drummer Simon Wright about the reissues, his memories of the tours and some stories of Ronnie James Dio, the Dio Returns hologram tours and Dio Disciples, as well as some new side projects and albums Simon recently recorded on. Check it out below: 

The main topic that brings us here today is of course the Dio album reissues, Holy Diver Live and Evil Or Divine: Live in New York City, and that one is particularly close to me as a New Yorker myself, but I just want to start with your thoughts on these albums being reissued now?

I think it’s great, especially at a time right now when you can’t go see any live shows. Doing Evil Or Divine and the Holy Diver Live shows was a great time because the band, we were really tight, we’d been playing a lot of shows. I remember we were really comfortable with things, we’d been throwing things in here and there, and Ronnie was singing his ass off. So it was great, they’re great memories, and I still can’t believe I was involved. You look at the listings of these songs, classics. But they were great nights, absolutely.

So seeing these reissues coming about now, do you find yourself reminiscing on these tours?

I do, I must admit. They were great shows, like I said, the band was really tight, and Doug was playing his ass off. It’s funny though, when you play the capitals of these states and countries and stuff, you always get a lot of people come along, your friends and stuff. It makes it a little difficult at the same time, you’re glad to see them, but when you know that they’re recording a live DVD and there’s cameras everywhere, you have to step away for a minute before you play and collect your thoughts. Get ready for it, you know? Which is what happens. But I think it turned out pretty good.

Definitely, it turned out amazing! But I see what you mean, there’s an extra kind of layer of pressure that’s added to the performance there, like, “All right, this is being immortalized here with a live album”. 

Exactly! You’re thinking, “oh, I’ve got to do something in a minute”, and this guy’s talking in your ear, you’re like, “oh, I’ve gotta go”. *laughs*

*laughs* I mean, especially now, every single show is getting recorded, everyone’s got everything on their phones. Back when these albums were made originally, that wasn’t necessarily the case, you didn’t have somebody recording every single performance you did all the time, so I guess that’s the difference now.

Yeah. I find myself kind of ignoring them, but I’ve got a bit of camouflage back there, with cymbals and stuff. It must be a pain in the ass sometimes to lead singers, dealing with it. It’s almost surreal, am I singing to you or am I singing to your phone?

That’s a good point. So in the case of the Holy Diver Live record, though you weren’t on the original recording of Holy Diver, you had plenty of time playing those tracks on the road before the live album came out. So when you did that tour run, did it feel like your chance to put your own spin on those tracks?

I think so, yeah. I mean, I didn’t go over the top and I respected the parts that Vinny Appice had played, I think. At least, that’s what I tried to do, I always try to do that when I’m playing other people’s songs. Whether it be Vinny, or Bill Ward, or Cozy Powell, you respect what they’ve done. But it was great, along the years, we’d play the usual standards off of Holy Diver, like “Stand Up And Shout”, and the title track, “Holy Diver”. But to dig a little deeper into it, and do “Gypsy” and “Caught In The Middle”, “Invisible”, awesome songs, you know? And we get to play those songs in the set, it’s amazing. To build a whole set around the whole album, that was something else, I think it turned out really cool. 

Absolutely. I like when full albums are turned into tours, shows, live albums, and stuff like that, I feel like it is interesting for both the musicians and the audience, because you’re getting a new perspective. A lot of the time for albums, like you said, there are singles, certain hit tracks that will come along on tour no matter what, but you don’t always get a chance to revisit the deeper tracks, or see how they would be live. Sometimes they just get laid down in studio once and that’s that. 

Some albums have a link with each song, they link together not in a concept way, just at that moment in time when they were recorded, the sound, the feel, the energy. And you’re right, it’s good to hear those tracks, but I think it’s even better to hear the whole album. 

Definitely, and I notice that a couple of your drum solos are now featured on the reissues as well, and I love when individual solos are captured on live records, because it’s capturing that musical moment in time, whether it’s something improvised, something that just kind of happened. I wonder, do you tend to go into solos with any kind of map or plan in your mind at all, or is it just, whatever happens, happens, I’m just going to play?

That’s a good question. There are certain things that I do, little fills and little sections that I stick to that have just evolved over the years. In between, I kind of mess around but get ready for the next part, and then I’ll do that part. And I’ll get out of that and I’ll keep jiggling around a little bit, then go in for the next part that I remember. But another thing is, Ronnie was nothing but encouragement with creating a musical part of the drum solo. I’ve put in 1812 there, and Jupiter from Holst, just because it’s that same old adage of, “Oh God, not another boring drum solo”. We just decided to make it a bit more interesting, put in the music, and I think it turned out okay. 

I see what you mean, I think in Dio’s music in general, and I just mean anything to do with Ronnie, any project associated with him, there is always that sense of classic musicality that comes through. There’s always so much going on in the instrumentation and with his vocals together, but at the same time it’s never too much, never too flourishy or too distracting, still heavy metal at its roots. So I definitely see what you’re talking about there.

Yeah, you’re right, absolutely. He always had that kind of classical metal vibe in some of his songs and stuff, that kind of orchestral feeling now and again. Which I love, I think it’s amazing!

And speaking of Ronnie, of course, out of the many people who have played with him, you probably were one of the closest people to him. I actually read that once when you considering quitting music, he was actually somebody who helped you stick with it.

He did! I was having a really rough time, we were on the road in Scandinavia and I got a whole bunch of horrible phone calls from my ex-wife…well, she wasn’t my ex-wife at the time, but she wanted to be. And I think I wanted her to be, too. *laughs* I was just pissed off with the whole thing, and he said, “No, no, come back to L.A., stay at my place”. And lots of people had stayed at his house there, he had a really beautiful, big house. So I did that, and 13 years later, I was still there. We got to mess around on the house, work on the house and keep ourselves preoccupied, so I saw another side of him away from the music. We worked on music there as well, obviously, but we did a lot of building projects together and stuff, and those are times I’ll never forget. You turn around and you’re building a wall with Ronnie James Dio *laughs* like, “Wait a minute, hang on a minute, what’s going on here?” 

*laughs* That’s so funny, I love that.

And I got to know him, and he’s such a generous, funny person, really. He had his angry sides to him, he was the boss, though, he had a lot on his shoulders. Some stuff just caught up with him and he’d get angry and stuff, people have seen that, people know that. But I really, really miss him. I wish he was here.

Aww. Absolutely. Probably some of that fire is where his big heavy metal vocals came from.

That’s the thing, you know! If you listen to some of his vocals, there’s a real anger behind them. He’s not just singing for the sake of singing, he’s putting his heart and soul into some of those lyrics and that singing. He’s amazing.

I’m curious to ask you, because you were also part of the Dio Returns hologram tour, and there’s been a lot of mixed reviews on that. I personally saw it, I thought it was a great show, I thought it was cool, especially as someone who unfortunately never had the chance to see Ronnie while he was still here, so that was the closest I could possibly come to seeing a depiction of him onstage. As someone so close to him, do you feel that it truly was a great tribute to him?

Yeah, I think so, that’s where we’re coming from. We just want to keep his music alive and his memory. Me and Craig, Scott Warren and Rudy as well. You can’t just walk away from it and not play that music anymore, and you can’t walk away from him like that. We were all around long enough to become part of his family, so that’s really where we’re coming from. We’re just remembering him with as much respect as possible. And that’s the whole premise behind it really, because it cost a lot of money to put it on, so it’s give and take, you know?

I mean, doing projects like Dio Returns and Dio Disciples as well, I’m sure you interact with a lot of fans that ask you about Ronnie, working with him and knowing him, or maybe have memories to share of their own, or like I said in my case, fans that never actually had the chance to see him when he was still with us. What does it mean to you to be someone who is helping to uphold his memory, and help continue his music and his stories, keeping it alive?

I feel good about doing that, and I’m happy to do it. You’re right, actually, the proof in the pudding is kind of when we meet people after the show, the fans who say what a fantastic job we’re doing and all. We don’t live for that, we do it to keep Ronnie’s memory alive and stuff like that. Like you said, people who never got a chance to see Ronnie now get a chance to get a glimpse of him in one form, the best form we can do at the moment. So yeah, it’s good to know that we’re doing a good thing. The people who don’t get it, that’s fine, just don’t show up. Sit in your bedroom and spout a lot of shit on your computer, you know, that’s fine. We’re going to get on with it anyway. *laughs*

*laughs* Now, another thing I wanted to ask you about Dio Disciples, a couple of years ago at this point, I interviewed Craig Goldy, and he mentioned that you guys had an album in the works for Dio Disciples, and I know that kind of got put on hold for the Dio Returns tour as well. I’m curious if you guys found any time during this lockdown situation to return to it at all?

No, we haven’t, really. Craig’s been doing some other recording projects, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do a couple of albums. There was nothing going on for the longest time, it’s probably like that for lots of musicians right now. But it’s still on hold, we’re concentrating on Dio Returns for the moment. We had like four or five good ideas for that album, they still need work, I think. But it’s been a long time since we’ve approached that subject, so it’s still on hold.

That’s okay, you’ve still got a lot going on for sure, especially with the Dio Returns, it’s a whole life of its own there. I’m curious what that was like to rehearse and coordinate something like that, literally half live band and one part hologram, how do you work that out in rehearsals?

Well, it was a bit strange, when I first saw the hologram, it was a little spooky. The hairs on your arm stand up a bit, it was pretty amazing. But on my end, I had to learn how to play with the click track live, because the click track runs with Ronnie’s voice, that voice is taken from different old performances, and then the band basically plays along to me and Ronnie. But I’m the one who keeps things on track, so that was a little bit terrifying first couple of times. And then you’ve got to have the guy starting the click, he’s got to be on the ball too, for the right amount of time. So it took a little bit of working out, but we finally got it sorted, I’m not afraid of it anymore. 

That’s good, but that is a bit spooky now that you say it that way, it’s like echoes of concerts gone by that you have to coordinate into one, there. It’s cool though, it’s a very innovative way of approaching this kind of thing.

Yeah! It is. Frankly, it’s the only way it can be done. But I remember one night, like I said, the monitor guy who starts the click, he started one one night and it was a different song. *laughs* I’m like, “stop!!” *laughs*

Oh my goodness, that’s funny. Well, it’s amazing to be talking to you about Dio, Ronnie, and Dio Returns stuff, but I want to just ask you, because you mentioned just now you have some albums you’ve been involved in, other projects you have going on. Maybe you can give us an outlook of what’s on the horizon for Simon Wright right now?

Sure, thanks! I mean, for the longest time, there was nothing going on, just like for a lot of musicians. But these last couple of months, I got a call from a friend of mine, Stuart Smith, he has a band called Heaven and Earth, and he asked me if I’d like to do the album. I said, “sure, that sounds cool”, and that’s pretty much done. Unfortunately, it’s going to be out in August, that’s a couple of months away, but then a couple of weeks later, my friend Kevin Goocher called, he’s a singer, has a band called Of Gods & Monsters, so I did that album as well. They’re still putting guitars on that, and vocals and stuff at the moment. It got really busy there for a couple of months, and like I said, before, there was nothing. So that was pretty good!

Yeah! Okay, so we have some band names to keep an eye out for some extracurricular work from Simon, there. 

Yeah, keep an eye out!

Absolutely. Thanks so much for your time today, really awesome getting a chance to talk with you, you are a legend in your own right, so thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.

Nice talking with you, Chelsea, take care now, be safe.

Interview: Jef Rhodes

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Jef Rhodes is the mastermind behind Them Damn Kings, whose debut album Rise Up is set for an early 2021 release. Though it may be a debut album, this is far from Jef’s debut in the music industry, with plenty of road years and experiences under his belt, including long runs as a Front of House Engineer and Backline Tech for bands such as Lacuna Coil, Cradle of Filth, Opeth, Mayhem, and more. I had the chance to talk with Jef about the new album from Them Damn Kings, how Jef got his start in the industry, memorable road antics with Motörhead and Megadeth, and a great rock and roll message to close things out. Check it out below:

Them Damn Kings, you’re headed to releasing your debut album, Rise Up – start with some ideas that went into the making of the record?

Well, there’s not much of an idea that goes in behind it – you get in there, you just want to make a rock and roll record, and whatever comes out is what comes out. We don’t really do too much planning, whatever happens is what happens and that’s the time it’s meant to happen.

Now, even though this is the debut full-length for Them Damn Kings, you did actually have an EP a few years back, talk about the time and the differences between the two, and what led to your going for the full-length now?

There was a lot of drinkin’ involved, I’ll tell you! *laughs* I’ve been playing since I was fourteen years old, and been in and out of bands for most of my life. I’ve been out there doing the sound guy routine, the crew thing, and I just felt it was time to put out something. I just kind of sat in the house, and if a song came out, all right, that’s cool, we’ve got something going on. And one thing kind of leads to another, a good friend of mine, Adam, it was time to start moving forward and he came on board and started managing us. Now here we are making the full-length. 

There you go, that’s awesome. So I’ve heard that this album was actually made as a one-man band, but when the time to actually go out live comes around, it looks like you already have some plans for the live lineup as well?

I do, it definitely was kind of a one-man situation. I played everything on the EP, I was going to do the same thing on this, but I just wanted to get involved with more people. Ryan had just left Lacuna Coil, and so I said “Hey man, why don’t you fly out and do the drums to this?” and we ended up having a great time doing it and a lot of things just ended up happening, the songs took on a whole new shape when he sat down and started playing. So yeah, when I go out and do the live thing, we’ve got Ryan on drums, floating around with Tony from the band Kyng, and we’ve got Gogi on rhythm guitar, and so we’re just waiting for this pandemic to be over so we can get out there and start blowing the roof off these joints again. 

Hell yeah, everybody’s waiting to get back out there again! 

I know, it’s crazy times. 

So when you did do the EP, and the more one-man setup, you obviously have audio engineering experience from your time on the road, so were you just doing all the recording and everything yourself?

Yeah, I do, I got out of Jersey a couple of years ago and got a nice place down here in Savannah, Georgia, and lo and behold, the house that I found was absolutely perfect, the whole thing is basically a recording studio now. I’ve got a bedroom that I sleep in, and the rest of the house is just music stuff everywhere. So I just started building this up over the last couple of years, I’ve always had some way to record and bought a rather large console a long time ago, and this is kind of the center of my recording, everything’s still basically analog here, and trying to limit myself to what I have, you know? I really don’t like overproduced, the over polished stuff. Nowadays you can get away with a million tracks in Pro Tools, but what I got is what I use, and we just limit ourselves to that, and I feel that you get a little bit more creative in how to do things that way. 

Absolutely! I love the analog sound on recordings, but that also means you had to take all that equipment down from Jersey to Georgia, transporting that carefully, huh? *laughs*

I did, and actually I’ve got a basement down here, and one thing you don’t do is buy a house with a basement in the South. That was a bad idea. So originally, I planned to build the studio in the basement, when I bought the place, the seller was like, “yeah, the basement doesn’t leak”, so six months into it – I go downstairs, “what’s that smell, what’s all that noise?” and water’s up to my knees, and basically all of my gear was almost destroyed. I spent probably a good four months ripping this console apart, and this console was literally underwater, and I tore the whole thing apart. That was such a heartbreak right there. So, 90% of the gear is restored, and there’s clicks and pops now, it kind of took on its own new life. I kind of like that, it gives it a newer, dirtier sound that’s not really meant to be there, you know? 

I mean, I guess it gave it character, but what a rough way to get it though.

That’s definitely a rough way to get it. I’m glad it survived, and it was a pretty major undertaking putting all this gear back together again. You know, you’re like, wow, there’s so much money invested into this stuff and to see it underwater, that was almost it for me, you know?

Man, so you had to do a total rebuild?

Literally, and finding parts for this old console from the mid-80’s was near impossible. I just started having to salvage things off of it, and ended up finding another one online for a couple of hundred dollars that was just a parts console, picked that thing up and ripped it apart and just tried to get all these components back together as best as I could – and I’m not exactly an electrical engineer, you know? So now I’m waiting for it to catch fire next *laughs*. 

*laughs* But still, you’ve got the audio engineering experience, I know you did some front of house, you did backline, you do have that experience working with audio equipment, so I’m curious what got you into audio and engineering in general, and how did you get your start in that direction?

I didn’t mean for it to happen! I was playing the circuit back in Jersey, and there was this old club called Obsessions, and we used to play there quite often, about 20 bands ago. And the kid who was the audio guy there happened to own the equipment and he wanted to get out of everything, and it wasn’t great equipment, but it was a club and it came with clients, and I was like, “Sure, I’ll chuck ya a couple of bucks and try my hand at this”. Ruined a lot of shows in the beginning blowing gear up *laughs* but that’s just kind of how I fell into it. And then I got this crazy idea, I couldn’t afford anything back then, cool lights and all that kind of stuff, so I had started making lights out of coffee cans. I found this hospital bed motor and I wired all these lights up on this little truss they had at the club, and with the hospital bed motor you could get the lights to move back and forth. So it was my version of moving lights, and then a band would come through and be like, “This is really cool, come out with us!” So I started touring, doing audio and lights on the side there, and next thing led to another and I’m out with another, and next thing led to another and somehow I got to Cradle of Filth, and I was out with those guys for a few years. Then one thing leads to another, and I’ve been out with Lacuna Coil for 12 years now.

I love it, you fell into it, strung up some lights, and now you’re touring the world. 

*laughs* That’s how it happens. 

It was probably meant to be then, even if you didn’t feel like it at the time. But that’s cool, you were kind of winging it and learning on the job, that was very creative. 

That’s just kind of how you have to do it, I mean, lights are BS anyway, right? You got to BS your way through it – good lesson for you kids out there! Just do it!

That’s great. So you mentioned just a couple of bands that you’ve been out with, and you’ve gone on some great tours, I’m sure you have great stories. But overall, what do you feel have been some of the most memorable tours that you’ve been a part of?

I mean, being out with Lacuna’s really opened up a lot of different things. Growing up, Megadeth was one of my favorite bands, so we got to do the Gigantour, that was just great. Dave Mustaine is such a trip, I think that’s probably one of the most memorable, considering Motörhead was on that too. Between Motörhead and Megadeth and the antics that were going on, it was probably the best and craziest tour I’ve ever been on. Got a real good taste of rock and roll on that one!

I bet, man! 

Oh, man, I could go on for days and days about that tour. Every hour was something different, you know? *laughs* 

I can imagine, it must have been crazy to have those two bands on the same bill. Just trying to make audio and lights work and survive the antics? Must have been insane. 

I mean, Lemmy got me so…I almost got fired off that tour, Lemmy got me so hammered before I was supposed to go and do my job. I remember waking up on the mixing desk, I had passed out and pushed all the faders all the way up *laughs*. People are just hitting me like, “What the hell are you doing, man?” and my tour manager wanted me GONE, man. I was like, “it’s not my fault, man, I was walking around backstage and Lemmy grabbed me and basically shoved a bottle of Jack down my throat”. Then it was, “Well…well, as long as it was Lemmy that did it to you, you’re fine”. 

Oh! It can be forgiven because it was Lemmy. *laughs*

That’s the ONLY reason! So, God rest his soul, thank you, Lemmy. 

Exactly. It’s funny, any kind of story I’ve ever heard from anyone about Lemmy, it’s always been good stuff. Even if he got you in a little bit of trouble, just his name alone saved you there. A lot of people love him as a person, and say he did a lot for people, so that’s pretty cool.

He was a great guy. 

Aside from that being so super memorable for you, if you could tour with any artist at all that you haven’t met, haven’t been on tour with, or maybe have met and just haven’t gotten to tour with – just if you could tour with anyone you wanted at all, who would it be?

That’s easy for me, it would be Zakk Wylde all the way. He’s the one guy, and I’ve met a ton of people, I’ve done probably a hundred shows with him. We’ve been out doing festivals with Black Label Society, and Ozzy and all that. Literally probably been five inches away from Zakk at times, and the moment has just never presented itself to be like, “Hey!”. Every time I’d turn around like, “What’s going on, man?”, he vanished. That would be the one guy that I think would just…one of us would probably leave dead off of that run, you know? 

Even crazier than the Megadeth/Motörhead thing, right?

I mean, it’s good because Zakk doesn’t drink anymore, so I’d probably keep myself in check. But, I couldn’t even imagine if it was the Motörhead and Megadeth, and Black Label or Ozzy doing that run. We’d all be dead, I can’t believe we all survived that tour. 

*laughs* But you all did, and good thing. So, for your new music, Rise Up, there’s plans for it to be released in 2021, I’m sure that was a bit of pandemic delay there, but that’s okay, everybody’s in the same boat. So just your thoughts looking toward the album being released next year?

I’m excited, I’m glad it’s not being released this year. The mastering came back about ten days before everything just shut down and went into lockdown. So, we kind of regrouped, and I’ve been speaking with management and all those guys about what to do here, and I’m glad it’s happening toward the end of the year. I’m even more so glad that 2020 is not going to be stamped on that album, because I just don’t want that stigma whatsoever, who knows what would happen? We’re really excited about it happening, it’s supposed to be coming out next spring, tentatively now. But I know we’re going to put out a couple more singles before then and try to get everybody rounded up and listening to it, and hopefully we’ll push and tour it. I think we just need to get back out there and play again, you know? That’s what it really comes down to, I think that’s where we shine the most. Because there’s no BS with us, the antics speak for themselves. 

So obviously, the focus is really on Rise Up right now, since that’s projected for next year, so I assume you don’t have any plans for future records right now, just kind of focusing on this one for now?

You know, I always want to make music. I sit up here just about every day jamming, but it’s kind of a difficult thing, because I don’t go into a, “Let’s make a record” type of situation, you know?  If I could, I’d put out a record every single month, that’s insane to even say, but that’s just the way — next month, my taste might change, you know? I listen to so much different stuff and I feel like every day, especially now, you’re just influenced by so many outside factors that they change on a daily basis. And so when the songs are coming out, it’s just different, it’s a different time, moment, and memory for me. But, that being said, I think we are planning, next spring or summer, if we’re all still camped out in lockdown, to at least get us all in the studio and just kind of Led Zeppelin it and see what happens in a week or two, you know? 

Yeah, absolutely. So you were talking about being influenced by a lot of different things, but what are some bands, some styles of music that are influencing you lately?

Every day changes, one minute it’s Pop Evil, next minute it’s Stanley Jordan or Leo Kottke, or back to Megadeth. I’ve got about 5000 CDs downstairs and that’s not even included records or my terrabyte hard drives. There’s new music coming out every day, it’s really hard not to be influenced by it all. This was kind of the problem though, my mind works in such a ADHD way, I’m just kind of like everybody else listening to music, it’s like, “Wow, this is great!” and then 5 minutes later YouTube or Spotify puts you on something else, and you’re going, “Wow, this is great!”, it’s just constant all over the place. Like you ended up having 15 pots of coffee before 10 in the morning, you know? Which is the way that the industry is right now, but you can never go wrong with Ozzy, so I’ve always got Ozzy jamming at least once a day. I think for me, it’s just seeing the way the world is right now, between the political campaigns and all the BS that’s happening, the way people are reacting to the whole pandemic and the whole being told what you can and can’t do. It’s chaos out there right now, and it always keeps me bringing back to, we’ve got to get shows rocking and rolling again, because people are falling apart, you know?

Good point. But that’s good that you’re well rounded and listen to a little bit of everything, that just means you appreciate music, and you’re able to channel that into your own writing, so that’s cool. 

Absolutely, where would we be without music? I’ve never been shut off like that. I’m a rock and roller til the day I die, but I can appreciate and respect a lot of stuff out there. 

That’s great. Is there anything about Them Damn Kings that you want new fans just discovering you to know?

We like booze, bring them to us! *laughs* Nah, it’s just straight up rock and roll, you know? I grew up with rock and roll, I feel like that whole rock and roll way of life is just dying, it’s a dying breed, there’s not too many of us left. I think the older generation can really appreciate that, but I really want the younger generation to understand what rock and roll is really about. It’s not computers, not being perfect. It’s about being yourself, mistakes happen, and you just dust yourself off and move on with it. It’s a party out there, be happy!

There you go, that’s an awesome message, I love it! 

Right on.

Well, thank you so much for your time today, Jef, I’ll let you get back to your day, but it was a lot of fun talking with you. 

Thank you, same, I appreciate it, thank you very much. 

Interview: Jess Hartley of Häxan

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
Häxan (L to R): Jess Hartley (drums), Sam Bolderson (vocals/guitar), and Harriet Wadeson (bass). Credit: A.M. Photography via Häxan Official Facebook

Häxan is a three-piece bringing their classic-tinged modern hard rock out of the UK, with Jess Hartley (drums), Sam Bolderson (vocals/guitar), and Harriet Wadeson (bass). Shortly after their debut full-length, White Noise, was released, I had a chance to speak with Jess about the record, the music videos and the drive behind Häxan. Check it out below. 

I want to dig right into White Noise, you guys are awesome and this is a killer new record, and it’s also your debut full-length. It’s still kind of strange times to be releasing an album in, so my question is, how has it been working through this social-distanced remote type of situation while still trying to put yourselves out there as an up and coming band? 

Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely very weird times, trying to come up with a plan of how we’re going to do this. But we had planned the release for this year, and obviously this happened at the beginning of the year, and we did have a discussion of whether we should carry on or postpone it, but we didn’t really want to postpone it because we didn’t really know how long that would be for. You know what I mean? We could be in the same position this time next year, no one really knows. And fans have been waiting for it for a long time, especially since it’s our first full-length album, it’s been a long time coming, and a long time in the making. So we thought it was only fair that since it was all recorded and it was all ready to go, that we get it out there. It’s definitely been weird, trying to promote something without being able to play a show. But luckily for us, we do have a lot of loyal and amazing fans, and they’ve jumped on board with it, and all the amazing publications printing reviews for us have helped get it out to people that perhaps didn’t know who we were. So it’s come up better than we hoped or thought it would, and we’re eternally grateful for that, we cannot wait to get back out there and promote it in the good old-fashioned way. 

Definitely, and it seems like you guys have a solid following that’s just growing every day because people are getting to know you through this album, which is awesome. 

Yeah, it’s mad, definitely every day we’re getting new messages from new people, and it’s wonderful and it’s quite overwhelming at times, that people are jumping on board as much as they are, but like I said, we’re so grateful, and can’t thank everyone enough for all the kind comments and things they have to say about it. 

Well, you guys are a really talented band, so I’m not surprised.

Thank you so much, that means a lot.

Of course! So, did you already have some tracks in the works – you were already in the middle of working on White Noise when this whole pandemic lockdown situation happened, right?

Yeah, we were almost done. We started recording the last track in February, and we went into lockdown here at the end of March, and by that time, we had it all done except for some vocals, so we did actually have to make a makeshift vocal booth at home, and just kind of smash out the last vocals then get them sent to our engineer, Todd Campbell, who did a great job of seamlessly fitting them into the tracks. So we were lucky we were able to find a microphone we kind of had laying around, and get them out.

You know what, you do whatever you can do, especially in these times. 

Exactly. Yeah, we can’t wait indefinitely for the sake of a couple of vocals right now, we’re getting this done, we’re doing it. *laughs*

Exactly, so I mean, aside from the whole lockdown situation, White Noise is self-released, you guys did it as an independent band, so I’m curious what that process was like – the recording, the writing, doing it all on your own?

I mean, we wrote the songs over a couple of years, the last song was recorded in February and we didn’t even finish the lyrics until about five minutes before we went into the studio. But the songs were essentially finished before we went in, and then we recorded them track-by-track, and we were all involved in every process in the writing and recording, being there with each other, encouraging each other, and coming up with new things when we’re there recording. But yeah, being independent, self-released, we like doing everything, we’re quite a self-sufficient band, and we love doing all these things ourselves, even down to sending the emails and all the admin that comes with it. We love it, we love every part of being in a band and we’re a very close band, we all get along, which definitely helps. 

Definitely, you need that. 

Yeah, when you spend 10-15 hours in a van together sometimes, you’ve got to get along, haven’t you?

So the band formed around 2016-17, but you were actually not with the original lineup, Jess, you came in a little after that?

Yeah, I’ve only been in the band for a little over a year now. 

Häxan as a band had the EP Breaking Down The Walls, but White Noise would actually be your first time recording with the band. But you were playing live gigs, so from live to studio, do you feel like you, with the band, have kind of grown in terms of your music and your connection with one another?

To some degree, I think. We were really lucky in that when they asked me to join the band, our first gig together, Harriet and I had never played together, it was very last minute that I was asked to play the gig, and we jumped onstage and took the gig, it was just something special, we all just kind of clicked musically and it just kind of worked. So I think we always had a natural thing together when it comes to playing. But definitely, with the album, writing together and being in studio for the first time, really listening to what each other’s doing, definitely helped us come together more as a band, and click even more. We are a three-piece, so as a drummer, I think it’s really important to click with the bass. Being in a three-piece, there’s nowhere to hide, you know what I mean? Everything you’re doing is very much on display for everyone. So we’ve definitely grown more as a band through the album process. 

I understand what you’re saying, that’s part of that whole “Power Trio” kind of concept is that you don’t have dual guitars, or any extra stuff going on, each of the three of you stands out on your own there. 

If one thing’s off, it’s much easier to notice. You haven’t got another guitar to hide it, for sure *laughs*. 

But you guys seem to do pretty well with that though, like you said, you had a good connection right from the start, and it comes through – in the album, in the music videos, anything I’ve seen of live footage…

Sure, we’re very lucky that we do have that, it doesn’t happen very often, and we’re very grateful for it and we thrive on it. We love recording, but I wouldn’t say we’re a studio band, the atmosphere and the energy of live where we kind of thrive off each other, which also helps the connection and the click to grow and progress and become even more solid. 

That’s so important. And about the music videos, you guys had the video for the track “Nine Lives”, that’s the one we’ve all seen most recently, and I heard that that one has a bit of story behind it – you guys actually had some trouble with the law when it came to getting your music video together, that’s pretty rock ’n’ roll to me. *laughs*

*laughs* Yeah, that was an interesting day. We spent hours running in and out of a warehouse, because we had to park a distance away, and we had three vans’ worth of stuff. We’re all quite small, we’re not the tallest or biggest of people, we’re hauling heavy gear, working for about five or six hours carrying stuff, setting everything up. And the second we go to hit record, literally the second, three policemen turned up and were like, “You’re not having an illegal rave”. And we’re like, “We’re not, you’re correct. That’s not what we’re doing”. But because of the lockdown and whatever, they weren’t very happy with us being there, even though we weren’t being loud because obviously it’s a music video, so it’s essentially miming. We were definitely not having an illegal rave, like some members of the public had reported that we were doing, because they saw us carrying all the equipment. By this point, it was about 7 o’clock in the evening, and we spent another two hours or so trying to convince authorities above them to let us do it, let us film. And eventually they gave us a forty-five minute window to film the whole music video. So we had to quickly smash out as much as we could, and luckily, we were all very happy with the end product. But it could’ve gone the other way, and we would have been absolutely devastated. So I’m very proud of the end product. 

Oh man, yeah, I can’t even imagine if you had to just go home and abandon the whole thing after all that.

That was the thing, we had spent so much time on it, we were tired already just from carrying everything. If we had gone out just to immediately take this down, and spend the next few hours packing it in the cars, and then figured out what we were going to do next…you know what I mean? We had spent a few weeks planning it, finding the location and getting all of the things that we needed for it. I wouldn’t have minded if when we got there, they said no, but it was the fact that we literally set everything up and it was the second we were going to hit record *laughs*. But luckily, everything was fine. 

Yeah, it eventually went well, cool results, and you have a story to go along with it on top of that.

Exactly, it’s all memories, right?

Exactly, good little rock ’n’ roll experience there.

*laughs*

So going back a little further, to the first single, “Skeletons”, talk to me about the making of the music video for that one?

That was a really fun day, Harriet came up with this idea, she was like, I kind of like this idea of just nicely dressed people dancing with skeletons, they’re all dancing together and then they suddenly turn into skeletons. And me and Sam were like, that’s great, let’s do it. So she told us this idea, and about a week later, we were like, let’s meet at this church, and we managed to get some people, at least three or four in steampunk attire to be our extras. So yeah, we filmed that, actually, on a Tuesday and we released the video on Saturday, so we like very quick turnarounds. *laughs* It’s kind of what we do, apparently. But yeah, that was a lot of fun, and we were in this really cool church, kind of Gothic-looking, exactly what we wanted. So it was Harriet’s good idea that we made happen.

That’s awesome. I want to also ask you a little more about your pre-Häxan days, Jess, and your background as a musician, what you did before you joined the band?

I mean, I’ve been playing drums since I was about twelve, I think, and the whole reason I actually even started playing was, when I was probably about eleven or twelve, my dad said to me, “You remind me of Animal from the Muppets, you should play drums”. And that was genuinely the reason I started playing drums, but I didn’t really get into it until I got into Aerosmith, and all of a sudden, I was like, “This is what I really want to do”. So I played in lots of bands in my teens, and I did music in college for a bit, and then I was in a couple bands in my early 20’s, but it wasn’t until I met the Häxan girls that it was kind of…I mean, it was always something I really wanted to do, but I was like this is the one now, finally. I finally found where I belong. 

Oh, that’s awesome! It kind of just clicked for you with that. 

Yeah, sure, like I said I’ve always played in bands for the last fourteen, fifteen years, and we always had a great time, it’s always been great. But Häxan’s definitely the one where, like you say, it just clicked for me. 

So, these days, you mentioned Aerosmith being a big influence for you, so is classic rock more of your vibe – the thing we would find on your playlist if we were to take a look?

Probably, it’s definitely got more of my heart, and like I said, the thing that got me into a lot of music, but I like a lot of modern bands. I’m really into Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, I think they’re amazing. And Halestorm, that goes without saying. I’ve got a big array of music, I think if you went in my Spotify, you’d probably be surprised at some of the things on there. But in my heart, definitely, it’s classic rock and Aerosmith. And I was very much into the 80’s scene, so like Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and that sort of bands. And they still have a special place, but yeah, classic rock is my thing. 

And you know what, you can hear that kind of classic rock influence in Häxan as well, you guys are very modern and very original, but you can tell that you guys probably all had a special place in your heart for that classic music as well.

Sure. But, I think that’s the really interesting thing, we do bring quite different influences. Like Harriet, for instance, she’s more into the heavier side of it, like Slayer and Metallica and Megadeth, those sorts of bands. Sam’s definitely more rooted in classic rock, she loves Led Zeppelin, Suzi Quatro, and those sorts. And I just have sort of an eclectic. But yeah, we never really, when it comes to writing songs, it’s not so much a case of, “Okay, well we all like this band or this song, let’s try and sound like that”, we kind of just play what feels good, what feels right, and I think we’re very much motivated by what each other’s doing. So if Harriet plays something cool on bass, or Sam’s got a cool vocal line, I try to complement that and play with it. That’s more what influences our writing, I guess, each other. 

That’s awesome. So I just want to close things off with, what can we expect from Häxan in the future?

Well, fingers crossed, we’ll get back to some kind of normal and we can gig to our hearts’ content, because we are missing it so much. So fingers crossed for next year, we can get to promoting this album as we should be, playing it live, and it will be mostly songs we’ve never even played on a stage. So it would be really nice to do that. So yeah, we’re just going to be playing this album as much as we possibly can and getting it out to as many people as we possibly can. 

Well, I look forward to hopefully seeing you guys on the road sometime – if not later this year, then hopefully sometime in 2021.

Yeah, fingers crossed, we would absolutely love that. Thank you so much for chatting with me, it’s been really great. 

Awesome, thank you so much, you’re awesome and you girls are rockin’ it out there! Good luck with everything.

Thanks so much, Chelsea, really appreciate it. 

Find White Noise and more on Häxan at: http://www.haxan.co.uk.

Interview: Bobby Blitz

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
  • BPMD (Photo Credit: Scott Diussa)
  • Overkill

BPMD is a supergroup on Napalm Records, featuring Bobby Blitz, Mike Portnoy, Mark Menghi, and Phil Demmel (whose initials all form the band name). This summer, BPMD released American Made, and I had the honor of chatting with Bobby Blitz about the new project. We covered the concept and ideas behind BPMD, and also had a lot of laughs talking about Bobby’s origins and influences as a vocalist, the early days at clubs like Sundance, Roxy, and L’Amour Brooklyn, and the latest on Overkill’s 20th album on the horizon – plus took a few digs at each other for the New York-New Jersey rivalry. Check out the audio on Metal Magnitude’s official YouTube channel below, and be sure to subscribe while you’re there!

Subscribe to the Metal Magnitude YouTube Channel

Interview: Cameron Byrd of Veio

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
Photo Credit: Morgan Larsen

Portland, Oregon Rockers Veio just released their new album Vitruvian via Silent Majority Group last month. I spoke with Veio frontman Cameron Byrd shortly before the release, about Vitruvian, the Veio Legion, working with Sylvia Massy, their time at the Happens convention, and more.

So let’s dig right in, you’ve got the new album, Vitruvian, coming out this month – so I want to ask, how did you first approach following up on the Infinite Light, Desperate Shadows record?

So, we followed up Infinite Light, Desperate Shadows kind of with an approach that we wanted to write songs that were maybe a little more manageable to the average listener – and by that, I mean, on Infinite Light, we had a lot of songs that were super long, a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of songs that were fun for us to play, but didn’t really create a high-energy vibe between us and the audience as well, you know? So we set out to write some songs that were still very powerful, still very driven, but also almost, in a way, straightforward rock and roll, too. 

Makes sense, a little more straightforward, and maybe even a little more radio-friendly than you guys have done before. I notice you guys kind of cross the line between the rock and metal world, especially in radio – you know, you’re working Active and you’re working Metal at the same time – do you feel more part of any one genre than the other?

You know, I consider ourselves just a rock and roll band. Because so many people get so caught up in genres and subgenres and all that stuff, but we’re really influenced by a lot of Prog bands. A lot of my favorite bands, personally, are Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal bands, but that’s not exactly what we do. And I love a lot of stuff that’s more straightforward rock and roll, more traditional metal stuff, but that’s not exactly what we do either. So when it comes to people asking or talking about it, I say, we’re a Rock band, let’s not get caught up in all the genre hype, let’s just play the music that we love, play to people that love what we do, and don’t really care either, and just go from there. 

That’s good, because you’re not restricting yourselves in any kind of way – whatever comes out is what comes out. 

Exactly, we try not to be too snobby about it all. *laughs*

*laughs* Good attitude. So far, we’ve heard “Flare of Defiance” and “Crux” from the album, talk to me more about these tracks, what they mean to you and in the context of the album.

To me, “Flare of Defiance” and “Crux” are both songs that are pretty high-energy and good songs for a live experience. Really fun to play, and within the album, kind of unique thought process behind it where I took the lyrics of each songs and gave them a label – so “Crux” is a song basically about spirituality, it’s a song about finding you, finding your being, finding your soul, whatever way you want to interpret that, and then “Flare of Defiance” is a song about, basically, personal freedom, personal liberty, being able to do what you feel is right, being able to do what you want to do in your everyday life, and those were two themes that I put to these two particular songs, and the rest of the album has themes like that as well.

Good stuff. Now, to go along with the release, there’s also something else you just launched – can you talk about the “Vitruvian Experience”?

Yeah, so the Vitruvian Experience is an opt-in, sign-up experience that we’re providing our fans that is just an in-depth look into making this album over the last…I mean, we spent a good year, almost a year and a half, making this record. It gives you opportunities to see behind the scenes in the studio, behind the scenes on tour, exclusive other content, you can find some merch in there that we’re offering our fans that isn’t available just on our normal website. So it’s a fan experience, we call our fans the “Legion”, the Veio Legion, so when you get the Vitruvian Experience, you become part of the Veio Legion, and that leads to a bunch of other perks for future use as of right now, seeing how we’re not out on the road, like everybody else. We feel like it’s a cool opportunity for our fans to get to know us, us to get to know our fans, have cool interaction back and forth, being able to chat with people, and especially in this time, reaching out and making sure that everybody’s okay, everybody’s feeling good, and then hopefully when this new record comes out in a couple weeks here, that people will find some hope, inspiration and joy in that, as well.

So you guys probably have a good fan connection there. 

We do, our fans are awesome. We got a little crew, it’s unofficial, but within the Veio Legion, we’ve got people who we call our superfans, and they’re great, they support us in all that we do, they reach out, when we do livestreams, they’re in there commenting and we can have good dialogue back and forth with them, we really appreciate those people out there. 

You mentioned that it shows more behind the scenes about the making of the album, something I wanted to ask you about is to talk a bit about working with Sylvia Massy. Now, I happen to be a fan of hers, she’s known for her unusual and quirky recording techniques, so did you get to do any fun stuff behind the scenes with her? 

The time with Sylvia was cool. To answer your question directly, we did not do anything super quirky or crazy because we were on a pretty limited time constraint, but she has a very artistic, very creative, very…for lack of a better term, oddball approach to a lot of stuff, so one of the things that we found interesting that we’d never experienced before in our recording adventures in the past, was that she set up, I think it was 24 or 26 different mics on the drum kit, which is an incredible amount of mics for recording any drum kit, let alone the size of drum kit that my brother Brett uses. He doesn’t use a small drum kit by any means, but 24-26, somewhere in there, whatever that number was, was an insane amount of mics, and one of the mics was actually a cut up section of garden hose that she put around the kick drum, literally taped on to one end. So that was a funny, unique approach to capturing parts of the kick drum that probably otherwise wouldn’t have been captured. 

Wow, yeah, 26 mics, that’s pretty intense. But good results though, I’m sure you guys were satisfied with whatever those 26 mics made happen, because it’s a great-sounding record. 

Yeah, thank you, it was just awesome to be in her studio, it’s in Ashland, Oregon, which is the opposite side of the state from us, it’s about a 20-minute drive to California, and walking into her studio with Johnny Cash, Chili Peppers, Tool, and System of a Down plaques on the walls was pretty awe-inspiring. 

Yeah, that’s awesome! So, Veio also did a Facebook livestream for the Music Mayhem magazine recently, so how did that go?

That was really fun to do. So, Chris and I did a two-song acoustic performance, which, we don’t normally do acoustic performances, it’s kind of not part of our gig, I guess. And to be honest, myself personally, I don’t prefer to do acoustic performances. But we morphed two of the first songs that you guys have heard off this album, “Flare of Defiance” and then “Ascendancy” into acoustic songs. Kind of changed the tuning on them a little bit, played them slightly differently to make it more of an acoustic vibe – but that was great, I watched the livestream and all the other bands and artists that were on there were fantastic, and I’m a fan of some of the people that were on there that I’d never heard of before now. So it was a cool opportunity to see some other people, and a cool opportunity to approach two of our songs in a different light as well. 

Who were some of the other artists that you discovered that you dug?

I really dug the approaches that you could tell some of the more heavier, harder, more metal bands took but they approached the songs with more of an ambient, ethereal kind of vibe, real spacey sounding guitars, some of the keys that they added in that aren’t in their normal songs were awesome. There were several of them that did that type of vibe and I thought that was really cool.

That’s cool, well, you said you’re into Progressive stuff, so spacey and synthy definitely fits that category.

Definitely, definitely. 

Also, last year, you guys performed at the Happens convention in Las Vegas, so I’m curious what your connection was with that initially, and how the event was for you guys?

It was a great experience, super fun going down to Vegas for a couple days, especially in February, when up here in Portland, Oregon, we’re pretty grey and overcast, so it was nice to get down to the sunshine, but it started snowing when we were down there, which was crazy. But we got in through our management team at SMG, Silent Majority Group, Jeff Hanson and Mark Fischer, they’re our guys, they’re responsible for a lot of big names acts out there in the past, and they got us in, suggested we did it, so we went down, had a great experience with several other fantastics bands. Especially – I mentioned I’m a Prog fan – we played with The Contortionist, which is one of my favorite bands and I’d actually somehow never got to see them play a live set. When they’d come through Portland here, I’d either not hear about it somehow, or we’d be on the road, and I’d miss their set. So it was really cool to be able to play a set of our own, and then see somebody else that I’ve looked up to and listened to and admired. Those dudes were really cool, it was cool getting to chat with them afterwards and hang out for a bit. And then they actually came through Portland like a month or two later, I went to the show and caught their set and chatted with them afterwards too, so it was a cool experience.

Oh, that’s awesome! So it was like a little bonus for you there. 

Yeah, definitely!

Hopefully we’ll be getting back to actually seeing people live again in the near future, I know there’s no way to say anything about that, but it’s cool that a lot of artists are doing these livestreams, and even if you have to push your music into an acoustic version, it’s still providing an experience of some sort. All just doing what we can, right?

Oh, for sure. Trying to stay moving forward even though things are a little slow right now, and just hanging in there. 

Exactly. Well, on that note, you’ve got the release of Vitruvian this month, and I know people are already excited about it, so what’s on the horizon for Veio? I know it’s hard to say anything about touring, but any new music in the works, or anything else you’re thinking about?

Yeah, definitely. It’s kind of funny that we’re releasing a brand-new album in a couple weeks, but we’re already looking forward to new music. We have a little bit of a fan vote going on our Facebook and Instagram with suggestions for cover songs, because we thought it would be cool to approach somebody else’s song in a different light. We’ve done one before, and we were just like, hey, this would be a cool thing, people are bored at home, and not having a whole lot to look forward to right now, so let’s get their ideas on what a cool cover song would be. But then, also, we’re just slowly continually writing new riffs, new ideas, new licks, I was just working on one for three or four hours yesterday, and yeah, hopefully even if touring doesn’t happen…it’ll be strange, we might have two new albums out by the time we get out and play live again. It’d be strange because you’re supposed to put an album out to tour, right? We’ll see what happens, but maybe this fall, we’re going to get back in the studio and record new material. So we don’t have a plan for that yet, but that’s what’s on the horizon for us right now. 

That’s awesome! Stuff to look forward to, and you know what, when you get back on the road, you’ll just make your set doubly long, right?

Hopefully! That’d be the ideal situation. 

Good stuff. Well, thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Cam, Vitruvian’s an awesome record and you guys rock, looking forward to hearing more.

Chelsea, thank you so much, we appreciate it.

Find Vitruvian and more on Veio at: https://veiomusic.com/.

Interview: Paul Martin of Devilskin

ChelseaInterviews
Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr
(Photo via Devilskin Official Website)

New Zealand Hard Rockers Devilskin released their new album Red via Devilskin Ltd. this spring, and I recently had the chance to talk with bassist/songwriter Paul Martin about the record, and his background as a musician and radio personality.

Just want to make sure, first of all, Paul, that you and your family are safe and healthy during these crazy times.

Yes, pretty crazy times, we’re all well, thank you. New Zealand’s been one of the luckiest countries over this whole COVID crisis, so far it’s pretty low. It’s been crazy, been locked up and just the way things are going, no gigs, of course – that’s a big thing for us musicians and our associated industry is that we can’t go out any play gigs.

Definitely, that’s been one of the biggest problems for musicians, I think, and of course you’ve got the release of the new album, Red, I’m excited to start talking about it, but I imagine it’s a bit bittersweet. If it were me, I know I’d be excited that it’s out, but feeling weird that you can’t promote it and tour it in the traditional way, so maybe just start with how you guys are feeling about the album being out, but also how you’re making do with what you can?

I think you pretty much nailed it, Chelsea – weird. The whole thing feels really weird, when we released the album, we still weren’t allow to mail anything over here, so we could release it digitally, on Spotify and all the digital platforms, but we couldn’t get physical copies out to people until the government legislation, which was only this week. So, we’ve been bundling up CDs and LPs and box sets. It’s a crazy time, and you know, no one saw this coming. Right now, we should be driving from Italy to Spain *laughs*, on a nice tour bus for the next gig, but we had to cancel the UK tour, European tour, and the New Zealand tour, that’s the way things have been going. 

Yeah, it’s just a waiting period for a lot of artists, but that might turn out to be a good thing, because everyone’s got all this pent-up energy of just wanting to get out there on the road, so it’ll just be like unleashing all the bands once everybody can get back out there. So, let’s dig into the Red album a little bit and I want to start off with the writing of it. Do you all contribute to the writing together, how does your system for Devilskin work?

There is no one way of writing, sometimes it’s really organic and I’ll just start playing a bass line, sometimes Nic or Nail or myself comes up with an almost-finished song and we’ll go on with it. Lyrically, it’s either Jennie or myself that writes the lyrics to the songs, and I’ve always written lyrics in songs that have got hooks and…I think we’re quite different songwriters doing lyrics, Jennie’s probably get more personal, whereas I tend to be a little bit more ambiguous with my style. But I think it all works well together and really, we write when it’s the four of us in a room together just sharing ideas.

That’s cool, that’s usually the best way is when it’s organic – in this case, you got some awesome results, because Red is a killer album.

Thank you. We’re just so happy with it, it’s been a long time coming for us, there’s a couple of songs we initially wanted on our last album a few years ago, but we sort of hung onto them and nurtured them, and we had like 30 songs for this album and had to narrow it down to 12. A few moments where it’s kind of like letting go of your children, you know? It’s like “ah, man, that song’s going to be amazing if we get to record it”. And one of the songs that almost got cut, but I pushed and pushed for it, and so did our producer Greg, a song called “Do You See Birds”, I had written the lyrics over a year ago now, but it talks about loss of freedom, looking out the window and thinking of flying away stuff, and a year later, we record the song, and as soon as Jennie came out of the vocal booth from doing her part, she goes, “I think we should probably start the album with this”. We’re all sitting there with our jaws on the ground going, “Yep, yep. Let’s do that”. It’s a bit of a throat punch, you know? But yeah, the irony is the lyrics.

Absolutely, what timing for that one!

You know, the same with “All Fall Down”, I wrote the lyrics to that about a dystopia, an Orwellian sort of theme that kind of fits as well.

It sounds like you secretly made this all happen, Paul. Or you saw it coming, how about that?

*laughs* I did nothing, I saw nothing, I swear!

Well, you just mentioned some songs that you had such a big role in writing, but is there any one particular track standing out to you that you’re really proud of?

Yeah, at the moment, it’s a song called “Sweet Release”. It’s number 10 on the album, that’s a real soft ballad, and I wrote the lyrics about a young man who was 21 here in our hometown of Hamilton, New Zealand. And he was on mental health care, and they let him outside for a cigarette when they shouldn’t have, he was supposed to be on suicide watch, and he took his own life at the river. And that was 5 years ago now, and it’s been in the papers almost every day or every week, and his poor parents are trying to get some sort of closure and try to get the hospital to own up to it, and to change the policies and stuff like that. His poor parents are being tormented, it’s such a really sad story, and this poor young boy, only 21 and took his own life. It hit us and we basically wrote the song on the spot, rehearsed only once and kept it pretty much organic. Every time I hear it now, I get chills and I get a little sad about this young man, you know?

Absolutely, that’s an awful story and so sad. And it’s interesting how you guys channeled that into music, sometimes that’s where the best things come from in terms of music is when it’s something that’s from real life that you or somebody else really connects with.

Oh, definitely. There’s another song on the album, called “The Victor”, we’d just been away for a songwriting retreat, and we’d written the music for that but we didn’t have lyrics to it, and we were driving back home and out in the middle of nowhere we came across this really, really bad car accident. We went to provide support to these people before the ambulances could come, and there’s children, and man, the whole lot of us were all traumatized by it. And we wrote the song on it because it helps us process it, and we can sort of pay our tribute to the people that were in the accident, thankfully no one was killed, but it was just such an ugly thing to come across. And there are people who see that all day, every day. There’s so much tragedy going on, and when they happen to you, it’s really close to home, and we’re lucky that we can write songs about it, people can pick up on the same feelings and vibes and we address them, you know? 

It’s that connection, yeah, whether it’s a tragedy, or it’s something inspiring, whatever it may be, there’s something to connect with that makes it really important.

Exactly, and these songs are real to us. And the four of us in the band, we’re all huge music collectors as well, so we’ve got our favorites and we’ve climbed inside our favorite songs and get as close to them as we can, so for us to be able to evoke feelings in other people, it’s pretty special.

That’s what it’s all about. Now, Paul, you’ve always had a lot going on outside of the band as well – you have a background in radio, which is awesome, and you’ve started a record label, you’ve done DJing…what was first for you, was it radio or playing in bands?

Playing in bands. I lied my way into a band when I was 17, I told them I could play bass and I couldn’t *laughs*! I was like, learning on the spot, but I really wanted to be in a band. It’s freaky because my very first band, we were good buddies for years, and we were doing our own versions of Judas Priest and Black Sabbath songs, we had so much fun – and it’s weird, because the singer has just written a book, and I’m reading the book and there’s all these things that I’ve forgotten that we did. We rehearsed five days a week for four years, and we worked really hard – it was all rubbish, but I’ve just always been this into it, it’s just what I’ve always wanted to do. The DJ thing, I was being interviewed on a student radio here in Hamilton, and I got on really well with the DJ who just happened to have a metal show, so he and I got together, and he left and I carried on his metal show, and now it’s been 33 years. *laughs*

You know, that’s how it starts! It starts for so many people with college radio, it sparks an interest, sparks opportunities – that’s where I started, too, was college radio – and that’s cool. Do you have a favorite interview you’ve done for radio?

That’d probably have to be Dimebag.

Nice!

I was privileged enough to get to hang with him on a number of occasions. Probably one of the worst interviews I ever did was Ozzy Osbourne. It was a phone interview and he was eating an apple, and it was really hard work, but there’s been some I’ve really enjoyed – Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and yeah, I’ve been privileged to speak to some of my biggest heroes. 

Total icons you’ve got on your list, that’s awesome!

Yeah! The last interview I did was David Coverdale, they were going to do a tour here a month ago but obviously that got canceled, too. But he’s a sweetheart to talk to, such a nice guy, really funny.

That’s cool. Now, since you started with the band stuff first and then went into radio, was it weird for you to go from the band member being interviewed, to the radio guy doing the interview? You kind of switched roles there. 

Yeah, it was – I mean, don’t get me wrong, Chelsea, but I just never wanted to be a radio person, because I used to watch WKRP in Cincinnati, and it was like “radio folk are a little bit funny, aren’t they? They’re a little bit weird”. So my whole thing was, I’m a musician and I’m just playing my favorite songs. Obviously, over the years, I’ve become this DJ – I’m starting to get the hang of it now. *laughs* But you know what it’s like, just playing great music to people, and then you’re introducing these bands, “I love them so much, they changed my life”, and it’s a great feeling when you’ve turned people on to a really cool band. 

That is funny you have that dual role of playing stuff on the radio and being in a band yourself, because then you can turn people on to your own band – just be like, “Oh hey, I heard this really great band called Devilskin the other day, you guys should check ‘em out!”, right?

*laughs* That’s the hardest part of the job – because I’ve heard DJs pushing their own stuff and it sounds awful, you know? – so I’ve always just talked about the band in the third person, and I probably don’t give us as much attention as I do other bands, just because I don’t want to be “that guy”. 

Well, that’s good then. *laughs* So you said when you started with your first band, you told them you knew how to play bass even though you didn’t, so how did you end up learning? Just along the way, you were winging it and just got the hang of it, or did you take actual, formal lessons?

I didn’t take lessons, I was too embarrassed, I just worked my ass off at home, playing along to AC/DC songs, and then the band was playing Iron Maiden songs and I thought to myself, “I’m mad”, but then yeah, I just watched and learned and practiced my ass off because I wanted to be good at it. And I’m still in that situation now, I’m trying to practice as much as I can, and I just love the instruments, I love playing guitar and I’ve got another band I play in called World War Four, and we just released a video and single. That keeps me busy, too, I play guitar and sing in that one. 

Oh, that’s awesome, tell us more about World War Four then!

I’ve had the band going for about 15 years or so, different lineups, different bass player and it’s always been a three-piece with myself on vocals and guitar. We’ve made different recordings of various qualities over the years, and it actually got cohesive enough to release an album, and I’ve just put them all together, and you can check them out online, Spotify and Youtube and all that. It’s a side project that’s a little bit heavier than Devilskin and it’s the classic power trio so I’m definitely very wary of my vocals after playing in a band with Jennie. *laughs* But it’s more about attitude and all that in that band, but it’s a lot of fun playing the guitar, which I love.

So you’re doing vocals and guitar? If you were doing vocals and bass, I would have said you’ve pulling a Lemmy there with that power trio.

*laughs* I wish!

I’m definitely going to check that out when we get off the phone. Devilskin, you’ve got great stuff going on, and you’ve got World War Four, still have your radio work, so it sounds like you’re still finding ways to keep busy even while the world’s on lockdown. 

Definitely, and I’m a motorcycle fanatic, too, so I make time each day to go for a ride on my bike. 

Cool way to pass the time. I know it’s kind of hard to project the future for any band right now, especially with everything that’s going on, but let’s think beyond the lockdown, when the world’s back open, what should we be expecting from Devilskin?

Well, we want to get to America. We’ve played in Hollywood twice and that was a few years ago, so we desperately want to get to America, get a decent tour and have a good look around, meet you folks, and have a good time playing rock and roll. For us, a couple of years ago, when we came to Hollywood, we got to play the Whisky a Go Go, bucket list stuff there, but now we need to get to the rest of the country. 

Well, America wants to see you guys, you’ve got this killer new record, you’re an awesome band, and we definitely want to see you in the near future. 

Definitely, thanks so much Chelsea, thank you for the support and I’m really glad that you like the album. 

Thanks so much for your time, Paul!

Find Red on all digital platforms and physical formats here, and keep up with Devilskin via: https://devilskin.co.nz.

Interview: Edward Warren of Ironstone

ChelseaInterviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Ironstone is a progressive metal band out of Melbourne, Australia who just released their first EP, Prophecy, on May 29th after making their debut with two singles in 2019. The band had a switch-up of vocalists in the past year, but have locked in a lineup as they showcase their metal musicality and impressive skills to the world with this 6-track debut. Ironstone founding guitarist/songwriter Edward Warren (second from right in band photo) took the time to give some great answers via email to my questions about the band and the new EP. Check it out below.

Talk about some ideas that went into the tracks on Prophecy – is there any kind of theme running through it?

Through the individual songs there is a range of topics. Concern for the future, remembering where you came from, self control and even some black humour! The overall theme and inspiration behind the title comes from the idea of a ‘prophecy’ being a prediction, but rather than just leaving that to chance or fate, shaping your future with positive actions. It’s very easy at the moment to get caught up in hopelessness, doom and gloom. That’s a terrible launching pad to spring from as a young adult, and it’s easy to feel defeated before you even begin. So we like the positive message of becoming a ‘self fulfilling’ prophecy. Remaining positive, working really hard and making your own ‘luck’.

For a newer band just making their debut with an EP, Ironstone already has some solid and professional music videos, including one with your former vocalist, one with you on vocals, and now two new ones for the EP with Dan on vocals. What goes into the making of these videos, is it more formal with a production team, or do you work on some of it yourselves? 

We’re extremely lucky when it comes to music videos. Our manager Annie Warren (who also happens to be my Mum) films and edits them, so they are completely DIY and made on a shoestring budget with minimal equipment. Annie is a pro photographer and was keen to transition into making music videos. She says it’s heaps more fun than photographing weddings and readily embraces the learning curve! Our guitarist Aidan is also very enthusiastic about film making, and shoots extra footage whenever he’s not in the shot. In fact most of us have done a bit of filming on a second camera at some point. We’re all very artistically minded and really enjoy the process. Annie will usually come up with a concept for the video, then we all sit and discuss ideas and make suggestions. The shoot itself is always hectic and hard work. It’s ALL hands on deck, and yeah…. it’s always just the band, Annie and a couple of extra helpers. 

Your most recent video release is “Downpour”, talk about the experience of making that one in particular?

The funny thing about Downpour is… we WROTE that song because we wanted to make a video in the rain! Crazy. What were we THINKING? That’s the first time that a video idea was the main inspiration for a song. A lot of work went into planning the video. We made a ‘rain machine’ with garden sprinklers and lighting trusses. Jack had an old drum kit that he was happy to get very wet, and we knew that would look great, especially with the water on the cymbals in slow motion. We always planned to get our singer Dan really soaked too, using back lighting to show up the water. Strangely enough our biggest challenge was finding a shed. We were panicked because our warm weather was running out too. In the end our neighbor let us film in his huge shed, and that was the LAST weekend before our severe Corona restrictions kicked in. We JUST got Downpour shot in time (in just ONE night)… then it was edited during lockdown! I’d just like to add that head banging and wind-milling with WET hair is really difficult!

Still on “Downpour”, there’s a lot of cool things going on during this song, besides the more obvious Koto sounds, I found the subtle synths in the background another interesting choice, you could almost miss them if you’re not paying attention during the verse, but it’s overall such a great blend – what was the inspiration for this track musically? 

Once I decided to write a song about a downpour, I was stuck on the idea of it being a monsoon… like heavy, tropical rain. So that translated to wanting an ‘Eastern’ or Oriental ambience. In terms of the synth sounds being a really discreet element, we usually strive for our music to be complex and multi faceted. You can focus your ears on different aspects, but probably won’t hear everything on the first listen. That gives the music more texture and layers, and hopefully increases the replay value. I also think the sounds added a kind of chug that was conducive to the inevitability of the storm itself.

The words “Killed A Man” had me thinking of “Bohemian Rhapsody” at first glance, but this was no Queen song, and in fact, it’s probably one of the most “Djent-y” tracks. Can you elaborate on what’s behind this song?

Musically the song was inspired by that intro part… which sounds a bit reminiscent of Eminem. While Jack (drummer) and I were playing around with that it gave us a real rap vibe, kind of gangsta and bad assed which we not only loved… we found it a bit amusing. The lyrics flowed on from that idea, but it’s supposed to be a bit of a juxtaposition. It talks about killing somebody which is very sinister, but using a very trivial tone, like saying ‘ooops’. I really wanted a song where the vocal style and bounciness of the music heavily contradicted the subject matter and created a strange, almost disturbing kind of disconnect. It was always intended to be tongue in cheek. Black humour.

Chris Themelco mixed and mastered the record at Monolith Studios, did he produce it as well? How much of a change do you feel that overall process brought to it – in other words, where your EP was when you started formulating the songs versus after working with him?

The EP is actually self produced. We wrote and arranged all the songs, recorded everything ourselves and went through the arduous process of refining and perfecting the songs and their arrangements. We made some drastic decisions before we started tracking, cutting out entire sections in some songs, and adding last minute ideas in others. Some changes were even made during the final recordings. Once we had everything recorded, we sent all the finished tracks on to Chris Themelco for  mixing and mastering. We were absolutely blown away by his first mix. It was honestly SO close to what we wanted it felt like he’d read our minds! Plus he’d added some very cool effects that we really loved! We did sit in with him for a final mix which was great, being in the same room together and talking things through. We’re absolutely thrilled with the finished product. Chris really made the EP sound fantastic, and was on our wave length all the way which made working with him a great experience!

What is your background as a musician pre-Ironstone?

I’ve been playing in bands since I was very young, but I began with rock covers, so I feel like I’m a world away from where I started. The other guys all come from different backgrounds with varying degrees of previous experience. Dan had done a lot of original acoustic pop, Aidan and Jack had been introduced to guitar and drums through school programs. Ollie was a double bassist in an orchestra!! We all came together through a love of modern heavy music, and have individually worked really hard and adapted our skills to play what we’re playing today. We’re all pretty young, so we don’t have a history of previous bands!

If you could play a show anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I have a personal love for Germany. I speak fluent German and have already been there with a student program, so I’m going to say Germany. The other place I’d LOVE to play is Russia. (I’m also learning Russian at the moment). We’ve been told that crowds in Russia and the Ukraine are VERY appreciative… and really go off!! Haha. I love the idea of that!

And now that you know where you’re going, what’s your dream tour package lineup – say you can go out on the road with any 3 bands you want, who are they?

Definitely Periphery. They are absolutely genius… without doubt my favourite band and a massive influence. We ALL love Twelve Foot Ninja, a Melbourne band who also greatly influence our music. They are AMAZING and just a bit crazy, so just being around them would be fantastic fun. For a third band I’m going to choose another Aussie band called Voyager. Just for absolute ‘cool’ factor. If you don’t know of them… check them out. It’s like 80s synth vibes meets djent. Awesome band. Plus I think they’d be super fun to hang out with too. HA! We’re going all the way to Germany or Russia with 2 other Aussie bands… AND Periphery. 

Most of the world has been in lockdown for a while, so I’m almost obligated to ask this type of question – what’s the last show you binge-watched, and the last album you listened to?

The last series I binged was ‘Das Boot’. I have to admit it was the second time though. I absolutely love it! The last album I listened to was ‘Handmade Cities’ by Plini. He is an Australian progressive, instrumental guitarist, and utterly amazing!

Are we going to see a full album to follow this EP?

We’re not sure. There’s a lot to be said for smaller releases these days. Less time in between EPs and a smaller financial outlay. In all likelihood we may choose to release a second EP before a full album. We certainly look forward to releasing a full album in the future though. Something to work towards!

It’s an awesome record, thanks so much for your time and looking forward to hearing more! 

Thanks so much Chelsea!!

Find Prophecy on all major streaming services here, and visit Ironstone on Bandcamp and their official website.

Interview: Kjetil Nordhus of Green Carnation

ChelseaInterviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Metal Magnitude recently got on the phone with Kjetil Nordhus, frontman of the band Green Carnation to talk about their new album, Leaves of Yesteryear, out now on Season of Mist. Kjetil discusses some ideas behind the new album, some Green Carnation history, a look into Tristania, and virtual livestreams that Green Carnation has lined up in these pandemic times, all from a socially distanced bar in Norway. Check out the audio via YouTube below:

Subscribe to the Metal Magnitude YouTube Channel

For more on Green Carnation, visit: https://www.facebook.com/GreenCarnationNorway/ and https://www.instagram.com/green2carnation/. 

Album Review: Kansas – The Absence of Presence

ChelseaAlbum Reviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

The iconic level of musicianship associated with the name Kansas has never wavered, and the band has evolved with the times as they produce their latest album that fits the Progressive Rock idiom while venturing into modern Hard Rock elements. Vocalist Ronnie Platt has said that “The Absence of Presence shows the band firing on all cylinders”, and there’s no mistaking the truth of that statement from the very first song. 

The title track opens the album, and its verse and chorus has Platt delivering the message of “reaching for connection to break the silence”, noting that “The Absence of Presence fills the air”, but what truly breaks the silence and fills the air is the expansive and epic sound of Kansas bringing some of their best songwriting forth from start to finish. We go from the broad exploration of this eight-minute opener, only to find ourselves listening to a track that grooves in “Throwing Mountains”, which gets the album feeling like straightforward heavy hard rock at its best. 

While listening through The Absence of Presence, it’s hard to pick a favorite song as they all have so many elements, each track with a different yet connected energy. Many moving lines capture the essence of Prog itself, and the overall atmosphere paints a cinematic musical picture. Kansas founders and The Absence of Presence co-producers, guitarist Rich Williams and drummer Phil Ehart, mightily lead the charge alongside bassist Billy Greer – while not a founder, an integral part of the band’s legacy – and Zak Rizvi skillfully joins in as a more recent addition, and fellow producer, songwriter, and guitarist. Electric organs and varied keyboard effects provided by keyboardist Tom Brislin give off the classic vibe of the time of Kansas’ roots, as do David Ragsdale’s violins, which at times are practically shredding as heavy as guitars. You can hear that vocalist Ronnie Platt’s strong voice bears a classic clarity, not meaning to take the place of his predecessor Steve Walsh, but to complement the band’s long-standing legacy as his tone fits right in.

Continuing on through the album, after the piano-led “Jets Overhead”, we encounter “Propulsion 1”, an upbeat all-instrumental track that lives up to its title and keeps the energy of the album propelling forward, but the poignant “Memories Down The Line” gently steps in to bring it all to a momentary stop, with a powerful ballad that takes some time to reflect on the past while considering memories and stories that will be passed down to future generations. “Circus of Illusions” picks our energy back up again, with what is probably one of the more “prog-y” tracks of the record, only to have the succeeding track, “Animals on the Roof”, take that idea even further. “Never” brings another ballad to bridge the next step into the epic closing track, “The Song The River Sang”, which takes us on an adventurous five-minute journey to ensure we’re left with good memories of this album down the line.

Theatrical, compelling and absolutely fantastic. With a rocking new album, Kansas carries powerfully on into 2020 and beyond. 

Rating: 5/5

The Absence of Presence will be out on June 26th through Inside Out Music, and is available for pre-order now.

Watch the videos for “Throwing Mountains” and “Memories Down The Line”, and keep up with the latest on Kansas via their official website: https://www.kansasband.com/. 

Interview: Dave Wanless of Sven Gali

ChelseaInterviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Sven Gali made their debut on the Canadian music scene in the early 90’s, with a self-titled debut that went gold and launched the band to hit music videos, Juno nominations, and world touring alongside the likes of Def Leppard, Foreigner, Pearl Jam, and April Wine. Life took the band in different directions, and they split in 1996, but Sven Gali is back this year with a new EP, 3, set to be released on June 12th via RFL Records. Sven Gali frontman Dave Wanless took the time to answer some questions about the band and the new EP. 

When you released “Kill The Lies” in 2018, it was to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the first album going gold – did you have any plan of continuing on to an album at that point, or did you think it might have just been more of a one-off reunion at first?

I think all of us at first thought it was a 1 off and maybe a couple of shows, but when we got together and played it felt good, shortly after everyone’s ideas were put on the table and the “therapy sessions” began.

Now that you’ve had activity beyond 2018 single, some recent touring, and now an EP, how do you all feel as a band? Does it seem like revisiting your early days or more like a new incarnation moving forward? 

It feels like waking up doing whatever you want with absolutely no pressure at all! The early years were a good time and the foundation of the band but now with the addition of Dan and Sean from Varga, the band is heavier. So we look towards the future remembering where we came from. 

It wasn’t just a reunion of the band, but also a reunion with David Bendeth, who produced your first album. Nowadays, he produces a lot of modern hard rock bands, so do you feel it was like a step toward modernizing your sound for the new releases? 

Well when we decided to record, and the topic of producers came up we thought of Dave right away. We are very comfortable with Dave; he knows us very well and gets the best out of us. We really like what he has done and knew he was fit for the new tracks.

You also had Jon Howard produce a couple of new tracks – what was the difference between working with the two producers in terms of how they helped you bring Sven Gali into 2020? 

I think David had a vision of where he was going with “Kill The Lies” and “Break Me”, he was a huge part of the Sven Gali sound, we co-produced with Jon on “Now” and “Hurt”, a couple of songs written back in the day…we kept bouncing ideas around until we thought we had something, Jon brought the heavy to the studio right off the bat and that was that!

You’ve had other bands and projects in between, so what was it like to step back into the role of Sven Gali frontman? 

Well, live with the new line up it feels like a new band, we are doing this for ourselves as well as the fans. I feel no pressure, I enjoy being up there with the boys again.

Sven Gali has toured the world alongside some big names – what’s a favorite touring memory or crazy story? 

I remember our first show in England, the crowd was singing our songs, I remember thinking, shit, these people know who we are!

You sometimes get grouped in with the Grunge movement just because of the time period you guys were making albums, but you definitely weren’t completely in that world, with more metal influences and a tinge of the 80’s in there with your music. Did you ever feel like you had a genre or niche you had to fit in to or was it more of a “here we are, and this is what we sound like” kind of attitude? 

I think on the first record we had the attitude that we needed to fit in, but that became less important during the making of Inwire and definitely 3, with the new EP we just played, never thought once about who was going to hear it.  

I’ve heard you once presented Neil Peart with “Drummer of the Year” at the Toronto Music Awards – can you talk about that experience? 

So, I was looking forward to presenting Neil with the award, myself, and the singer of 5440, that night Neil did not make [it] and we accepted the award on his behalf…the guys have not let me forget it… 

What’s the near future looking like? Obviously touring is held up for a time for everyone, but do you have any ideas or a plan to record a full album next? 

We have a lot of material as a jumping point. it seems like the next step if we can’t play live then we may start recording.

How about a message to fans who are excited to see Sven Gali back in action? 

I would like to thank everyone who has supported the band over the years. We look forward to getting out there live again. Until then give 3 a listen and stay safe.

Keep up with Sven Gali via their official Facebook Page.

Interview: Raider

ChelseaInterviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Canadian Death/Thrashers Raider have just unveiled their debut full-length album to the world this month, following up on the 2018 demo Urge To Kill with the release of Guardian of the Fire. Raider’s frontman, Angelo Bonacorso, answered a few questions about the band and the new album. 

Guardian of the Fire is actually your first full-length, what are some ideas that went into the making of this album?

Musically: we wanted this record to introduce something fresh to death-thrash. What we came up with is something heavy, catchy, and original. We wanted to pay homage to our forebears but the only way to truly do that is to bring something new to the table.  

There is an overarching theme to Guardian of the Fire, can you talk about the concept behind it?

Thematically: this record is about conquering everything that stands between us and the truth. Everyday we are deceived by others for their own gain and more potently deceived by ourselves…truth is above all things and must be held high in the face of our demons. 

You make a point of mentioning that your music is in “E Standard”, can you explain what makes that an unusual choice for the style you play?

Typically, extreme metal is downtuned. The reason for this choice is the effect it has on the overall sound: it gives the riffs a clearer voice and makes them brighter in the mix. 

You’ve had some lineup changes since the band first began a few years ago, what is it about this current lineup that clicked and made it the right time for a full-length?

The core band has been myself (Angelo), Gabriel, Kevin, and Brandon for most of its existence. We have had friends fill in on second guitar for the most part but we finally decided that Ira is the right fit for our sound and we are now a complete five-piece. 

Every track on Guardian of the Fire (but especially the title track), has such a broad, epic sound. Can you give some insight into the studio and what went into the recording (gear, tone, production, etc. – anything that stood out to you in the process)? 

We recorded in a home studio: Nomadic Arts. Our good friend Alex Snape produced and recorded this record with us there. 

Wesley Raffan may not be a household name, but he’s a photographer with a cool history of connection to the metal world – shooting bands like Sepultura, Slayer, and Metallica live and in studio – how did he get involved with Raider and your album photos?

Wes is the man, we met him while he was shooting a show here in Waterloo where we are both from and ended up clicking really well. It was really fun and cool to hear some old school stories about his time in Brazil with Sepultura. We had a great time shooting with him at Thak Ironworks here in town. It’s really great when people of different worlds come together to collaborate and create something cool. In this case: metal, photography, and iron forging! 

Though you are new and original, it’s clear you have some classic metal influences – what are some bands that have inspired you? 

Annihilator, Demolition Hammer, Carcass, Kreator, Testament, Cannibal Corpse… the list goes on. 

What’s on your personal playlist, what are some bands/artists you’ve been into lately?

Paladin’s debut album: Ascension was unbelievable. Visigoth, Xoth, Rimfrost, Baest, and of course we are always cranking our local brothers in Invicta and Cathartic Demise. 

Tell me about the music video for “Bound by No Fate” – it feels like a short film with shots of you guys playing mixed in – what’s the story behind the video and how was it to make?

We had a blast shooting that video. We had already collaborated with Rob from Thak Ironworks before for our band photos and had the idea to shoot a music video there. Rob actually plays the king in the video and he is the forgemaster! Working together with Michael Amaral and a bunch of our friends we came up with the idea for the video. The song is about forging your own fate (no pun intended) and reclaiming the path that is rightfully yours. 

What’s on the horizon for Raider?

We are using the current state of world affairs to work on new music and promote the album as much as possible. Soon, when this all evens out and everyone is back playing shows, best believe we are going to be at the front of that line ready to play new songs for everyone. We plan to tour as much as we can when this is over and we are actively exploring those opportunities in the meantime. Thanks so much for reading and be sure to check out our socials for updates on new show dates and music! 

Find more on Raider at all the following locations: 

https://raiderofficial.bandcamp.com/

www.facebook.com/raidermetal

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtQETkX8YfPhoYzraYpI_ew?

www.instagram.com/raider.official 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/58IxOcAG2DyT1rHOxdHQyf?si=QqKRcj-yTS67Xbcx0H0O-Q

Interview: ZouZou Mansour of Soraia

ChelseaInterviews

Facebooktwitterpinteresttumblr

Soraia is a hard rocking band out of Philadelphia who have just released their latest full-album, Dig Your Roots, and recently took to a new platform with StageIt to do a livestream record release show for fans during this time of social distancing (and concert cancellations). Frontwoman ZouZou Mansour sat down for an interview to discuss the roots of Dig Your Roots, songwriting and influences, and the near future for the band. 

Dig Your Roots is an awesome album with catchy, clever tracks and a versatile range of styles – can you start by talking about some ideas you went into the studio with when you first started working on this record?

Well, we definitely had all the songs finished by January 2019, and were ready to band demo, then record by late February. We didn’t want to approach recording the album like we had on the last full-length, which was we had a lot of time to work out the kinks of the newest songs live on tour for at least 3-4 months for 2017’s Dead Reckoning. The songs were still very fresh, new, and open to possibility in my mind. Sometimes overplaying is a disadvantage in that you get used to the song a certain way—and I feel this time going in—there were a lot more production ideas that came shining through. Also, because we had worked with Geoff Sanoff (our producer on Dig Your Roots and Dead Reckoning) on our first album and a few subsequent singles, we had a comfort level with him that gave plenty of room for ideas and a deeper level of trust and collaboration. Also, we had learned to not be too attached to the songs in a certain light. We really kept the ideas flowing day-to-day with all the songs. It was very freeing and relaxing and ideas definitely flowed more. 

Talk about the current lineup and the songwriting collaboration dynamic between you all.

I, ZouZou Mansour, am the singer and main lyricist on all the songs. Travis Smith, our bassist and main songwriter, has been with Soraia the longest – really since its inception. Brianna Sig is our drummer and Nick Seditious is our guitarist. Most of the songwriting is done one-on-one with me and Travis. There’s a comfort level and openness there which makes it easy to write together because we’ve been doing it for so long, but also grow as writers, together. He usually has about a thousand musical ideas, but it depends when he presents them whether or not they get written to by me at that time. I usually hear a lyric idea, or he brings a title line to the table. His tone and style of playing gives me lyric ideas almost right away–it’s magic. Brianna and I have written one song together on this record,”Don’t Have You”, which I’m also very proud of. Nick is the newest member, so he’s already had a time learning all our material. Honestly, we already brought new songs to everyone—and whatever we write, and whomever the original songwriters were, the band gets a hold of it and it changes the song. Everyone brings arrangement, parts, and production ideas to the table well before we demo it, and everyone has a hand in the creative arrangement of the song once it’s out of its original outline. We tend to jam on the song a while and then we all open up with a ton more ideas once the familiarity sets in.

“Wild Woman” feels like a wild ride, because it starts out with a Black Sabbath-esque riff, then opens into this very classic rock-style jam that also sounds new and original at the same time – it’s a great radio hit that’s also the track which is getting a lot of radio airplay around the country,  what are some things that went into this track, and your thoughts on it taking off in popularity?

Honestly, the riff is what drew me in to write the lyrics, I loved it because it sounded so Sabbath-y! I thought about some of those songs like “Woman” by Wolfmother and how repetitive the lyric was and the main focus was on the riff and music and arrangement. I based my lyrics from a female preacher I had watched recently. The whole thing is just familiar but fresh to me—the lyrics are about empowerment in my own definition of that idea, and the music really takes me to a different place. There’s great arrangement ideas in there, too. It was an opportunity to really shine on the vocal for me, as well. I think it’s just a song that has it all. I hate to admit it, but I have our own song on repeat, and when I hear it in the car, I just DRIIIIVE FAST. It has that strange magic energy to it. 

You’ve said that the cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U” joins the original Prince track with a Mott The Hoople vibe, and it’s a great reimagining of the song for such a unique combination. Did you ever think Prince/Mott The Hoople/Soraia was a sound you’d be going for in studio?

Not at all. It was much more how Geoff saw our interpretation of the song that led us to do it that way. Prince’s original version of the song is so soulful – so different from the version most people know by Sinead O’Connor. So we tried to keep that soulful vibe, too, maybe with our own unique take on the vocal. I wanted that to be more intimate and like I was telling the story to one person, and conveying the emotion and breakdowns on the lyrics.

Steven Van Zandt is a big supporter of Soraia, what’s it been like working with his label, Wicked Cool Records, and having him behind you guys? How did the connection first come about?

It’s been wonderful working with Wicked Cool and with Steven. Wicked Cool loved who we were, and let us be that, and also helped shape us a bit without betraying what we are. That’s unheard of with a lot of other labels, but they genuinely are nourishing rather than trying to make us adapt. It’s an honor to work with them for that reason. Also, there’s one-on-one attention there; you never feel unimportant or like you’re a cog in a giant machine. There’s that personal attention when your release comes. Steven has championed us for a while now, and it has brought opportunities and encouragement from all areas. He’s mentioned us a bunch in interviews and also supports us on a more continuous basis on Twitter and other social platforms. He’s brought an attention to us that’s undeniable with our play on his syndicated show and The Underground Garage, as well. But the inspiration and hands-on advice we get from him is where the real glory is. He gives us notes on our demos all the time. He’s a behind-the-scenes guy, but is very much involved in our advancement and any successes we have. Steven had heard a song I co-wrote with my old producer, called “Runaround”. He loved it and invited me to his office which turned into a 3 hour conversation about music and touring and what I really wanted to be in music. It was – again – an inspiring talk. He told me to write a bunch more songs, so we did. And the rest is history.

Hometown record release show takes on a whole new meaning when you’re practically not allowed to leave your hometown – how was the recent livestream concert experience?

It was equal parts a lot of fun, and frustrating! It was frustrating because we had never used that platform before (StageIt), so we had issues with the sound (we were trying to do full band rather than acoustic)—but our fans helped us get it together—so that part was really invigorating and fun! I really enjoyed talking one-on-one with them, and they all commented the choruses on some of the songs to simulate singing at the live show. I feel like although we didn’t have their physical energy right in front of us and couldn’t see their faces, we still felt their presence and really loved connecting with them. Honestly, we miss them so much. It’s tough to do a full energy show without them there, but we all managed well and I think there were still some really glorious moments in there, too.

Soraia has been compared to artists like Patti Smith, The Pretenders, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and others from the Classic Hard Rock/Punk world – were you aiming for this particular CBGB-worthy vibe when Soraia first began, or is this just the style that came about when you all got together?

Honestly, I love CBGB’s and the whole story and time period behind that era of music and what it was all about, so although it wasn’t a conscious effort to sound like those bands, those are the bands I had on repeat forever—so it was inevitable, really. It wasn’t a conscious so much as a subconscious decision to be like them.

You have a gig with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts coming up (though postponed with the current pandemic situation), it must be quite the feeling to be continually compared to a classic legend then share a stage with them. 

It’s a dream come true at the same time that it makes a ton of sense. We’ve been hammering on our craft for a long time—working on our writing and performing. We are cut from that touring stone mentality – and your odds get better for these kinds of things to happen when you keep going for it. “If you build it, they will come” kind of thing, I suppose. Also, in good news, the Joan Jett show was already rescheduled to later in May!

Back to Dig Your Roots, If you had to pick one favorite track that you’re particularly proud of, what would it be?

Two are tied for first place right now, and they are “Wild Woman” and “Superman Is Gone”. Those songs I spent a lot of time on the lyrics to get them right, so I’m super proud of what they became. I was iffy about them going in to record them, and what they because surpassed any possibility if they had no further collaborative input. Those songs are glorious as the result of the work in the studio, in my opinion. They really got the breath of life in them there. They were strong possibilities that turned into real success stories! They just needed that fine-tweaking.

What’s in the near future for Soraia?

Since our spring tour dates, for the most part, have been postponed or canceled, we are going to find more diverse and special ways to connect with our fans and reach out to a bigger audience, too, while we are quarantined. There’s a lot of restrictions at this time because of COVID-19, but there are immense possibilities of seeing and approaching things differently, too. The music won’t stop, and neither will we. In the meantime, we are already planning our summer dates with our booker, and soon will be rescheduling our current dates. Also, we already have written new material, and we’ll keep doing that as well. You can count on a number of summer dates being added to the ones we already have in place, and a full fall tour to follow.

Keep up with Soraia via: https://www.soraia.com.