An interview with Brendan James Hayter of Truthseeker

Truthseeker hails from Boston, Massachusetts and is all about explorations beyond the instrumental side of progressive music. Their wide spectrum of influences set them aside as one of the promising bands for which the world will already hear about. I hooked up recently for an interview with the songwriter and the man behind the Truthseeker story, Brendan James Hayter.

Nick: Hello Brendan, thanks for having time to answer some questions for Prog Sphere.

Brendan: Of course. My pleasure.

Nick: How did you guys go about forming Truthseeker? Did you have any exact plan for what kind of music you want to play back when you decided to form the band?

Brendan: Yes, there was a specific idea of what kind of music the band would make. The band was formed to play slow, atmospheric hard rock with a psychedelic and progressive edge. The intent was to transcend all subgenres though, which inherently happened without much effort; what I mean is, the psychedelic rock influence was initially much more obvious on the songs, and as we began to record them they took on a life of their own, and the more obvious coats of “prog” or “psych-rock” became less visible.

I suppose the number one intent of Truthseeker was to make the most emotionally and atmospherically profound hard rock possible. I want it to inspire people, to make positive decisions with their life, and seek their own respective truths, leave their fears and complacence behind and fulfill their lives’ potential.

Nick: Two months ago you released the EP called “Weightless at Dawn“ and according to what can be heard out of it, your influential spectrum is pretty wide. Tell us about this.

Brendan: I suppose the spectrum is pretty wide, but it was not premeditated. I tried to be inspired by nothing other than my own musical visions, the vague music that floats through my head at night that sounds like no pre-existing band. With that being said, there are a couple bands that inspired the writing in the sense that their purity and originality inspired me to hold on to my own purity and originality, and be true to the sounds in my mind, if you know what I mean. Those bands are (in no order) Alcest, Katatonia, Agalloch, Earth, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and early Metallica actually. Cliff Burton was the sole inspiration for me to become a musician…and still now, his song “Orion” inspires me in Truthseeker.

Nick: The sound presented on Weightless at Dawn relies heavily on its atmosphere, trying to reach out to extreme depths in a multidimensional soundwave exploration. What makes you take this direction?

Brendan: That’s the way I always thought heavy music should sound. I think the idea with atmospheric music is to let yourself put on the headphones and fall into a miniature world that reflects your own unique impressions of life, dreams, and even spirituality at times. That’s why the song titles and poems are kept simple. For example with Daybreak, the song is simply about watching the sun rise and watching the day form and feeling inspired and happy. The record is called Weightless at Dawn because with that song I imagine floating in the sky while morning rises and the atmosphere fills with sunlight. Also, that’s just how I feel at Dawn anyway, is weightless. Unencumbered by the stressful things in life, just savoring nature’s beauty and nothing more.

Nick: Did it intrigue you to bring a death metal drummer to play slow rock beats? How did Alex fit into the whole story?

Brendan: It was intriguing, yes! It was Dan’s suggestion to bring him in, because he knew Alex was a very professional drummer with one of the strongest drum sounds and techniques in town, and that he was a Berklee School of Music grad that would be interested in session work. Even in his fast music he kept a strong groove, which was one of the things that made his bands some of the better metal around. It was enticing to see how much groove he could provide in slower tempo songs. That’s what he provided, power and groove! He liked the music enough to want to work with the band further, so that is the plan.

Nick: Weightless at Dawn is a fully instrumental record, but you decided to have the lyrical segment covered for each of the songs on the EP (except Submerged) in the form of poems. Why is that? Is it to be expected that at some point in time you will have a singer? Would you still attach poetry if you have a singer?

Brendan: We currently don’t have any plans to recruit a singer. There was an intent to have vocals in the formation of the band, but as the music took on its own life there left little opportunity for vocals. It works in my opinion. As for the poems, it was an idea that was at the very beginning of the band if I remember properly. I’ve always loved writing poems, and I liked the idea of having one for each song that sums up the visual and emotional content of the track. It is also an opportunity to present little concepts on life and further inspire people.

Nick: The mastering duties of the EP were completed by New Alliance East (Isis, Morne, Converge, Cave-In). How did you come to point to work with them? Speaking of the production, I find it pretty impressive for a completely new band to have such a well-produced release. Would you mind telling us something more about this?

Brendan: The production was really important for this kind of music I think. It had to be a wide, 3-dimensional type of sound, in order to bring the listener’s imagination alive in the way I wanted to. I also knew that it had to be a professional-level production, in order to make the impact on the music scene that I imagined it could. Dan Gonzalez was/is a Berklee student majoring in Music Production & Engineering. He really knew what he was doing, and took advantage of all resources available to make this the best sounding EP possible. We had access to a real mixing console and some great microphones, which brought the sound into the realms I had dreamed of!

I knew New Alliance East from my last band, After My Own, we had them master our full-length. They do good work and they happened to have a last-minute opening in their schedule right when I e-mailed them about doing the EP, so we got it done pretty fast.

Nick: What equipment did you use during production of the recording?

Brendan: The bass guitar was recorded directly into the recording program with a tube preamp, using a vintage Big Muff distortion, as well as chorus and delay. Distorted bass will probably remain a staple of the Truthseeker sound. I used a Steinberger 5-string and a Fender Jazz Bass 4-string. The rhythm guitar sound is a Peavey 5150 combo amp, which can be very harmonically rich and textural with chords if you set it the right way. The lead guitar is a Marshall Mode-Four, which may come as a surprise to gear-heads, because this is a solid-state amp that Marshall made in the early 2000’s! No tubes on this one! Nevertheless the “Crunch” channel had a very unique voice and a perfect amount of sustain. We could have used a JCM-800, but there are thousands of records driven by that Marshall sound. I thought it would sound more unearthly with this obscure and frankly unpopular Marshall head. I used Dan’s awesome rare Schecter Stiletto guitar for all the guitar tracks, because it had a locking tremolo that kept the guitar in tune throughout the sessions.

Alex plays Trick drums, which are aluminum-based drums that are very resonant, boomy and loud. They drove the record’s sound perfectly.

Nick: In the biography, you give a clue of how the upcoming album will sound, saying that the emphasis will be placed on much longer and more progressive songs, as well as a much stronger metal presence. Introduce us in the whole story, what can we expect?

Brendan: I’m afraid I may have over-estimated the length of the new songs when I made that statement. I have timed the songs, and they’re actually not that long! There is one song that nears 8 minutes, but the others average around 5 minutes. The songs are much more progressive though, and heavy.

All I can say is that it is the full manifestation of the Truthseeker sound. It is lush, emotional, nostalgic. I can’t wait to record and release it!

Nick: You are also the member of other bands/projects, Obsidian Tongue and Blood of the Gods. What are these all about?

Brendan: Obsidian Tongue is the other hemisphere of my creative world I guess you can say. Truthseeker and Obsidian Tongue are equally important to me and I spend the equal amount of time and energy on them. While Truthseeker is positive and dreamy rock, Obsidian Tongue is cathartic black metal that is pretty atmospheric in its own respect. I have a huge amount of passion for it and a very big vision that we’re just getting started with manifesting. People can listen to that here: http://www.myspace.com/obsidiantongue666

Blood of the Gods was Greg’s other band that he drummed in when he joined Obsidian Tongue. It’s old-school death metal with a crust-punk twist, reminiscent of Entombed and Bolt Thrower and all those guys. Earlier this year they were in need of a new guitar player, and we were all good friends at this point and the band only does shows occasionally, So I joined and it worked out for all of us. I can focus a lot on Truthseeker and OT and then get together with some friends and let loose with some really cool death-metal! http://www.myspace.com/botgcrust

Alex also plays in two death metal bands, Scaphism and Forced Asphyxiation. These bands are very respected in the Boston scene for having nothing trendy or annoyingly technical about them, just a classic 90’s vibe and some great riffs!

http://www.facebook.com/Scaphism

http://www.facebook.com/ForcedAsphyxiation

Nick: Do you plan to set Truthseeker on a stage at some point in future?

Brendan: Absolutely! We are auditioning guitarists right now to get the live band ready to go. This music is definitely meant to be played live. I will be playing bass, so Alex and myself will be accompanied by 2 guitarists.

Nick: As we are getting closer to the end of 2011, what are some of the albums you enjoyed at the most in the year? The highlights and disappointments?

Brendan: Boston natives Morne put out their second LP “Asylum” this year, and at the moment I’d say that’s my favorite record I’ve picked up this year. Timeless, epic music. Although there are probably a lot of albums that were put out his year that I simply forgot about or haven’t picked up yet, I am happy with the new offerings of Opeth, Mastodon, Burzum and the re-released Dark Side of the Moon with that unbelievable live recording on the second disc. Also, Enslaved released the digital EP “The Sleeping Gods” which I thought was fantastic, they are one of my favorite bands! Steven Wilson’s “Grace for Drowning” sounds beautiful although I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, just a few songs. I also discovered a project called A Midnight Odyssey who put out a double album this year, which is one of my favorite recent black metal releases.

Nick: Is there anything you would love to add at the end of the interview?

Brendan: Thank you for having us on your website! Keep in touch with us online as we get closer to the recording of the full-length.

Nick: Thanks a lot, Brendan!

Haken’s Visions

If you have been keeping a close enough eye on the modern scene in prog rock, you have no doubt heard of Haken, a virtuosic group of musicians who took prog by storm in 2010 with their opus ‘Aquarius.’ Now only a year later, these talented artists are back with another excellent record. Richard Henshall and Ross Jennings from the band were kind enough to take some time out of their schedules and give us some insight into the band, their music, and their ‘Visions.’

Conor: How are all of you doing?

Richard Henshall: All is good in the Haken camp. It has been an exciting and eventful year for us, so our spirits are high. We’ve had the opportunity to play at Night of the Prog festival along with likes of DT and Anathema, and we were also lucky enough to perform at Prog Power USA, along with many other great acts. They were huge gigs for us and were a step up from anything we had done in the past.

On top of all the gigging, we’ve been working hard on our second album, ‘Visions’, which has just been released. Individually and as a band we have tried to push our boundaries with this album by expanding upon the ideas laid down on our debut album, ‘Aquarius’. We’ve poured our hearts and souls into this album!

Conor: How would you describe your music to someone who has not heard it before?

Richard : I have always thought of Haken as a celebration of music, and feel that our sound is too broad to be pigeon holed into one specific genre. We have songs that juxtapose zappa-like quirkiness with extreme metal riffage, as well as Dixie land jazz sections with sweeping solo classical piano. Our music travels through various soundscapes and different emotions, taking the listener on a journey. There is also a strong cinematic vibe to our sound, which acts like a harmonic thread that binds our music together and compliments the conceptual lyrics.

Conor: How did you get started with music? How were you led to join/form the band?

Richard: My Mum’s a piano teacher and my Dad’s a music enthusiast so I was introduced to music from a young age. Being in this environment sparked my ambition and led me to start playing the piano at the age of 7. I also experimented with playing the drums and clarinet for a while until I discovered the guitar when I was about 11 and haven’t stopped playing since.

About ten years ago, Matthew Marshall (ex guitarist), Ross and I used to meet on a regular basis to have casual jams in our bedrooms; this is when the idea of Haken was born. Over time we began to take our chosen instruments more seriously and formed a pact that we would each go and complete our studies before persuing the band any further. So three year later, we returned from our universities and have gradually built the band into what it is today.

Conor: What is the creative process of Haken? How do you first get ideas for a song, and how are they then fleshed out into larger compositions?

Richard: I’ll usually get an idea for a melody, riff or chord progression whilst practising, which I’ll then play around with for while to allow it to grow naturally. When I feel it’s ready to be developed further, I’ll program it into Logic and begin constructing a song around it. This is the part that takes the most time; for example, the title track on ‘Visions’ took me about a year to write!

Besides strong melodies and emotive progressions, one of the most important things to me, whilst writing, is the overall flow of the piece. I feel it’s crucial to have a healthy balance of light and shade within each song and also the album as a whole. Therefore I dedicate a lot of time in creating smooth transition between the contrasting sections.

Once the framework for a song is complete, I send it to the rest of the guys who provide feedback. We then take the songs to the rehearsal room and begin adding flesh to the structures. This is when everyone adds their personality to the tracks which brings them to life. I feel blessed to be working with such a talented group of musicians.

There were also a couple tracks on ‘Visions’ that were more of a collaborative effort. For instance, Diego and I wrote ‘Premonition’ together. We met regularly over the space of a few months, bouncing ideas of each other until the piece was complete. A lot of the ideas from this track were built around the main themes that appear throughout the album. ‘Insomnia’ was pretty much a song we wrote in the rehearsal room as a band. It’s a great representation of all our eclectic tastes.

Conor: Highly conceptual lyrics are a trademark of Haken. What is Ross’ inspiration and process for putting these stories together? Do lyrics come first, or the music?

Ross Jennings: Conceptually, the process for both Aquarius and Visions were similar. Richard would have some musical ideas and share them with the band. At the same time I would be mapping out some themes and narrative ideas and discuss them with Richard so that the music and lyrics would be coherent. As the arrangements come together, the lyrics will be written with more attention to detail and edited to lock in with the music. On occasion, the vocal melody ideas that I come up with will influence the direction various sections take, that’s all part of the team-work that shapes the final piece.

On Visions, the verses and choruses on the first half of the title track were among the first lyrics written for the album and the story evolved from there as the music was written, whereas Aquarius was pretty much mapped out before any music was written.

Aquarius is purely fantasy. That was the sole intention, to be all-out prog cliche, but at the same time, you can find deeper meanings and themes within the songs such as love, death, and sacrifice.

Conor: Last year, you released your debut album ‘Aquarius’, which met some wide acclaim and excitement from the prog community. What are your reflections, looking back on the album? Is there anything you may have wanted to do differently?

Richard: We we’re completely blown away by all the positive feedback we received for ‘Aquarius’, it was beyond our wildest dreams to get such great critical acclaim for essentially something we love to do, we couldn’t have hoped for a better start to our career. When looking back at any work you’ve done in the past, I guess it’s natural to find points which you’d like to improve, as tastes change with time. However, I feel ‘Aquarius’ has a certain charm that represents where we were at that time, and successfully built the foundations for where we are now.

Conor: Haken’s follow-up album ‘Visions’ is now upon us in 2011. What is different for Haken this time around?

Richard: I came up with a lot of the initial ideas for ‘Visions’ on the guitar, whereas the majority of ‘Aquarius’ was written on the piano, so naturally each album has its own vibe. Generally, ‘Visions’ feels heavier than our previous work and leans towards the metal side of the prog spectrum. However, there are still plenty of nutty keyboard breaks to keep the listener entertained. There are two instrumental tracks on this album, which gave us the opportunity to build some of our wackier and experimental ideas into whole pieces. There are also a few shorter and more digestible tracks which help the overall flow of the album, they’ll hopefully give the listener a bit of respite between the lengthier songs. I’d say our Piece de Resistance is the closing title track, which has many of the themes that occur throughout the album. It’s a lengthy beast that combines many of the elements that make up our sound; there’s plenty of riffage, Zappa-like-quirkiness and even a west end inspired theatrical section. If someone asked me to describe our sound to them, I’d save my words and point them in the direction of this track.

Another important thing to mention is that we have a live string quartet in various parts of the album, which was an effective way for us to reintroduce certain themes in a different context. The quartet did an amazing job of enhancing the pathos within our music; there are a few moments that really tug at the heartstrings. In the spirit of including live orchestral instruments, we decided to ask a friend of Ray’s, Joey ‘Dah Lipz’ Ryan, to double all of the brass parts with his French Horn, which turned out to be very effective and made our grand sections even grander!

Conor: Briefly describe the concept of ‘Visions’. It appears to be a little more complex than ‘Aquarius’…

Ross Jennings: The concept of ‘Visions’ spawned from a dream I had where I saw my own demise that felt insanely real! The idea of confronting one’s own death fascinated me, so that was the initial inspiration. Throughout the writing process it developed into a more complicated story exploring themes such as the nature of consciousness, the transience of life and a couple of the tracks on the album explore the concept of dreams within a dream. Our narrative is told through the eyes of an innocent boy, who has a nightmare in which he is murdered – it seems so real that he convinces himself that it was a premonition and spends the rest of his waking life trying to track down his killer, whilst mentally preparing to meet his death, perhaps leading to his psychological undoing. All is revealed in the closing 22 minute title track, but ultimately it’s up to the listener to decide how much was real and how much was imagined.

Conor: How did Haken record their material for ‘Visions’?

Richard: We recorded ‘Visions’ in the same way as ‘Aquarius’. Ray recorded down his drum parts first, which were engineered by John Papas at Hardbeat Studios in Wembley. Each of us then took the drum tracks home to our personal studios and recorded our instruments over the space of a month or so. We then hired a microphone and recorded the vocals, over a two week period, within a makeshift vocal booth in my loft.

We decided to ask Chrsitian ‘Moos’ Moschus to mix ‘Visions’ as we were extremely impressed with his work on ‘Aquarius’. In my opinion, he has surpassed himself with his work on this album. We sent him dry signals for all the guitar and bass tracks, which he later re-amped through an Engl Powerball amp.

Our recording schedule was incredibly tight as we wanted to make the disc available, ahead of release, to everyone attending Prog Power USA, so you can probably imagine that it was pretty agonising at times. To add to the intensity, we had to prepare for our performance at Night of The Prog festival, conveniently placed right in the middle of the whole process. Thankfully the gig was a success!

Conor: What prog rock or metal bands have you been listening to lately?

Richard: I recently came across a great band called ‘Shaolin Death Squad’. Their latest album, ‘The Five Deadly Venoms’, is a superb album that was released last year. To me this band sounds like an interesting cross between Mr Bungle and Pain of Salvation. The album also shares its name with a classic Shaw Brothers kung fu film, which is what initially grabbed my attention.

I’ve also been listening to a lot of Gentle Giant recently. To me, they are the epitome of prog, they represent everything that is right about this vast and colourful genre. I just wish I could travel back in time to see the whole line-up in action, I’m sure it was a joy to behold!

Conor: What advice would you give to someone first starting music and trying to ‘make it’ in the prog world?

Richard: Back in the day, when Haken was in its embrionic stage, I used to practise for many hours, preparing myself for when the band would actually become a reality. I used to tell myself that practice, patience and perseverance would equal success. Practice is crucial for building your technique andmusicality, without it you’re not going to progress at all. Patience is alsoan essential tool; no one will be able to play like Malmsteen in a week! And lastly, you must persevere at everything you do; it’s about having the resilience to keep pushing yourself to the next level.

I guess everyone’s musical journey will be different as each individual has their own dreams and aspirations. One thing I’m certain of is that to achieve anything worthwhile you need to retain a certain level of self discipline; I guess the level of your discipline should depend on the size of your dream. There’s nothing more satisfying than fulfilling your ambitions.

You can apply the same philosophy to running a band. It is important that the group rehearses regularly to build chemistry and comradery. Bands need to be patient, not only when writing songs, but also when waiting for their break; it will eventually happen if you persevere. I think it’s important for bands to have aims, so they have a clear idea of where they’re heading. Back in the early days of Haken we set small realistic targets which over time turned into big dreams; to this day, we’re still working towards achieving them.

Conor: Any final comments?

Richard: Thanks to everyone who has already purchased the album, and to those who haven’t… what are you waiting for?

Accordo dei Contrari

Dan: Hello Giovanni, would you mind introducing yourself and the rest of the band?

Giovanni: Hi Dan & ProgSphere, I’m Giovanni Parmeggiani, keyboard player and composer of most of the music of AdC. Cristian Franchi is the drummer, Daniele Piccinini is the bass player and serves as the manager of the band for he deals with website and merchandising, and Marco Marzo is the guitar player and also composer of some of our music. We are an electric-acoustic quartet who plays mostly instrumental music, sometimes filled with vocals too.

So far we have released two albums, Kinesis (AltrOck productions, 2007) and Kublai (self-production, 2011). Since 2009, we have been playing in several festivals in Italy and Europe, most recently together with Richard Sinclair, the vocalist and bass player of seminal groups of the Canterbury scene like Caravan and Hatfield and the North. In addition to performing our music, we have also performed some historical tracks of these two magnificent bands (e.g. “Winter Wine”, “Waterloo Lily”, “Share It”, “Fitter Stoke Has a Bath” and others). Richard has also singed on “L’Ombra di un Sogno”, a track that I composed for AdC and we recorded in Kublai. We had also been invited to perform at the NEARfest but unfortunately, as you may know, the 2011 edition of this prestigious festival was cancelled.

Dan: Would you mind telling us something about the band’s origin and history? I understand you’ve gone through a lot of lineup changes.

Giovanni: AdC lineup has changed so many times! Probably too many, but that’s life, you see: it is never easy to find the right people to play with. Anyway, the band was born in Bologna, Italy, in 2001. I had many musical ideas and I was lucky enough to meet Cristian, the drummer, who was crazy enough to play with me. We worked initially as a trio—I used to play the organ, the electric and acoustic piano, and also the bass parts by synth because of my propension to bass lines, together with Cristian at the drums and Alessandro Pedrini at the guitar. After that, in 2004, AdC became a quintet: Daniele joined in on the bass, Marco on the guitar and Vladimiro Cantaluppi played the violin. One month before the recording of Kinesis, our first album (June 2006), Vladimiro left the band—he was very busy with other projects, but principally he didn’t feel confortable with the kind of music we were playing. AdC thus became a quartet. Since then, we have been a quartet. We’re very happy with our current setup.

Dan: I really like the band name, how did you guys come up with it? “Agreement of Opposites” is the English translation, for those readers who don’t understand any Italian.

Giovanni: It was by some chance. At the beginning we were three different people (now four), each with a distinctive view on things. It was not simple to work together, and after an initial discussion Cristian said: “Here it is the band’s name: Accordo dei Contrari!”. It’s a fun circumstance, as you see. Interestingly, our music is, indeed, an harmonic agreement among very different—sometimes opposing—moods and musical styles. “Accordo dei Contrari” happens to be the right name not only for the band, but also for the music we play.

Dan: Let’s discuss your first album, Kinesis, for a bit now. You told that just before recording began your violinist left the band. Apparently having violin on the album was a big deal to you (not that I can blame you) because you got some onto it in a few months. This must have been a rather annoying process; do you have anything to say about it?

Giovanni: You are right. We were very discouraged when the violinist left. I was particularly disappointed, because most of the music I had composed was perfect for violin (you see, I love music for string quartets, especially Beethoven, Bartok and Shostakovic, and I still compose music that involves strings). We had no time to find another permanent violinist. However, a friend of ours, who incidentally plays the violin, helped us by playing some of the violin lines that I had composed. Fortunately, the music in Kinesis works even without violin (what a great surprise!), but I have to admit it, if all the violin parts had appeared, the whole music would have had a rather different—perhaps even better—impact.

Dan: Kinesis’ style is rather dark and heavy, with almost a metal vibe (especially from the guitars), but I certainly get the feel of lighthearted jazz fusion even if it perhaps isn’t the “traditional” Return to Forever/Weather Report kind. What do you have to say about Accordo Dei Contrari’s playing style?

Giovanni: My compositions often have a dark feeling. The “heavier” vibe in Kinesis depends on the guitars for sure, but also on the distortions that I apply to the organ. The organ produces a sound that I love, as it is also evident from our latest album, Kublai. All of us play always rather powerfully, and this explains why the distinctive feature of Kinesis, alongside with dynamics (i.e. fluid changes in time-signature), is strength.

Nevertheless, if the music of Kinesis had been played as it was originally conceived, i.e. by acoustic piano, one would have had the perception of contemporary chamber music. The fact is that at the time of the recording of the album, we were not mature enough to properly interpret the music, respecting its original inspiration. It is also true that electric jazz is part of Kinesis, but in a particular way, as you rightly point out. I think this is because of my approach to jazz music, which was self-taught and heavily influenced by rock music on the one hand—progressive rock in particular—and contemporary music on the other hand (Messiaen and Shostakovic, for example). The result is a “magma” where one feels the presence of many artists at the same time, like Soft Machine, National Health, King Crimson, Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zappa, Steve Coleman, Tim Berne. . . These are indeed among my favourite artists.

Dan: What about Kublai? Tell us about the similarities and differences to Kinesis.

Giovanni: Kublai is, in my opinion, a more mature undertaking than Kinesis, in performance as well as in composition. The original ideas of Kublai have not been “betrayed” by the actual performance. As for Kinesis, we recorded Kublai live in a few days, but instead of sounding consistently powerfully as it happened in Kinesis, with Kublai we succeded in finding a subtler and deeper balance among us. This is the welcome effect of several years of rehearsals and gigs together: we have definitely grown up as a live group.

On the one hand, Kublai moves in the same direction of Kinesis: we always look for natural, fluid changes of time-signature without altering the whole homogeneity of every track (this is indeed a feature of AdC’s aesthetic in music). On the other hand, Kublai surely represents a strong step forward, because of its variety of musical forms, better arrangement and improved instrumentation and recording. We have also expanded our musical language—see the use of oud in “Arbesque”—looking for new, exotic atmospheres. And what was new for us at the time of Kinesis, namely improvisation, became a standard at the time of Kublai.

Dan: Could you tell us about the band’s gear? I’m particularly interested in the keyboards, but I’m sure our readers would be interested in the instruments the other members of the band play.

Giovanni: When I first arrived at Mauro Pagani’s Officine Meccaniche (Milan, Italy), the studio where we recorded Kublai, I was impressed by the many instruments I had at my disposal (an Hammond C3 in perfect conditions, Leslies, every kind of vintage synths, amps and electric pianos, two Stainway pianos, one of which played by Duke Ellington [!!!]). I asked: “I need a gong”. The staff answered: “No problem, here it is”. There we could find every kind of instrument for orchestra: it was incredible!

While recording Kublai, I used my own Minimoog and Arp Odyssey (mark III, i.e. black-orange face), and also played a Rhodes mark I with Fender Twin Reverb amp, an Hammond C3 with Leslie 122, a Stainway mezzacoda (you hear it in “Battery Park”), and a Stainway coda (you hear it in “Dark Magus”, “L’Ombra di un sogno” and “Più Limpida e Chiara di Ogni Impressione Vissuta part I”). Cristian played his original Gretch drums; the other guys used their own instruments (Marco and Daniele played a Gibson SG and an Alembic bass, respectively) with amps from the studio (Hiwatt 50 for guitar, Hiwatt 200 for bass). A dream, for sure, but real!

Dan: I’ve watched some of the videos on the band’s YouTube channel, and I must say they’re very good quality for YouTube. The quality really helps to show how awesome you guys are live, so my question is: What’s your secret? How do you bring that energy from the studio to the stage?

Giovanni: Thank you, Dan. Actually, several people, who have seen us in concert, argue that we are better live than in studio (!). I don’t really know the source of our energy: probably it’s friendship, but also the fact that we always interact and see ourselves as a living rock group.

Dan: I think I’m out of questions, is there anything else you’d like to add?

Giovanni: We are currently working on a third album. I hope we will record it in June 2012. We still have several pieces that we have not included in Kublai, and we are still composing as of today (Marco and I have just composed a new track together). But abundance of ideas is never a problem . . .

DanGoodbye Giovanni, and thank you for taking the time to do this interview with ProgSphere.

Giovanni: Goodbye Dan, many thanks to you and ProgSphere for your excellent observations and questions.

Buy Accordo dei Contrari “Kinesis” from:

Interview with Jan Erik Liljeström of Anekdoten

Roger: Thanks to Jan Erik Liljeström of Anekdoten for giving us his time to do this short interview, no doubt taking time off from rehearsing for the upcoming European tour. (Go here for full gig listing) Speaking of which how are the rehearsals going, as I assume it is some time since you played together?

Jan Erik: Normally we meet regularly, typically once a week, but the focus for quite some time has been on trying to come up with stuff for the new album. We had a long summer vacation and the last thing we did on stage was a support gig to Meshuggah on Easter Sunday. We only played 6 songs then, so we had quite a lot of catching up to do. We have rehearsed 18 songs from our back catalogue and some of it haven’t been played for more than 3 years. This was evident in the first rehearsals, but now we are back on track and ready to rock!

Roger: Will there be any of the new material in the set? When do you think the new album will be ready?

Jan Erik: We discussed how we should go regarding this, but we came to the conclusion that it would be better for the overall quality of the shows if we concentrated on getting our old songs to sound really good, instead of dabbling with the final arrangements of new songs. The situation today with things surfacing on Youtube also made us reluctant to present our most innocent little babies to the world in an uncontrolled way.
There won’t be a new album in 2011, but we will hopefully start recording by the end of this year.

Roger: I suppose you can’t really answer this beyond Yes or No, but will the encores contain any surprise cover versions? Your version of Easy Money was great!

Jan Erik: No. It would have been great to do a surprise cover or two, but our own material will be prioritised.

Roger: Nicklas has been busy with the fab My Brother The Wind project, and his El Ultimo soundtrack, but what have the others been up to musically since the band last played together, day jobs allowing of course!

Jan Erik: Well, I’ve had 2 kids since “A Time Of Day”, so that’s what has kept me busy!

Roger: I’ll bet!

Roger: I’ve followed the band since Nucleus, which of course led me back to Vemod, and in that time you’ve released some mighty music, and played all over mainland Europe and Japan and the USA, but you’ve never, as far as I know, played in the UK before. I hope you’re all looking forward to visiting London’s Camden Underworld on 6th October (Go here for tickets – quick, before they sell out!).

Jan Erik: England is actually the white spot that we are most eager to finally explore. We’ve played in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris etc, but it’s been nagging us that we’ve never come over to England. We will most likely lose money playing in London, but when the opportunity came we felt that we had to do it this time around.

Roger: In my humble opinion the double Official Bootleg, Live In Japan CD is one of the best live albums I’ve heard, the sound is simply immense! Any plans to record the shows of the upcoming tour? A lot of bands now make live recordings of gigs available as downloads, it would be great to think you would do the same.

Jan Erik: No, we won’t do it on this tour. What has been discussed is a dvd at some point, but that project will also have to wait a while longer.

Roger: Have you got any plans for future vinyl releases? I really liked the Vemod LP reissue, it was a high quality piece of work.

Jan Erik: This year we’ve put out Vemod and Nicklas’ soundtrack album on LP and they’ve both been very successful so there will definitely be more vinyl releases on our label in the future. Regarding re-releases Nucleus feels like the logical next step.

Roger: Is the songwriting a group effort, or do individual members bring their own songs to the band? I think it’s always interesting to read how a band construct their songs.

Jan Erik: Nicklas comes up with all of the basic ideas for songs, but all members contribute with some riffs and melodies.

Roger: What music are you into at the moment?

Jan Erik: Not that much prog actually, but I like Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues” a lot.

Roger: Yes, they are rather good – a sort of 21st Century CS&N!

Roger: I seem to recall reading a while back that another group had “borrowed” your Mellotron and forgot to return it! Did you ever get it back?

Jan Erik: No, we got it back

Roger: Glad to hear that…:)

Roger: I always like to end on a food related question, so what culinary delights will you be looking forward to sampling in multi-cultural Camden when you come over?

Jan Erik: I’d love to go to a really good Indian restaurant if possible. London marks the end of this small tour, so hopefully we’ll have time for a few pints as well.

Roger: I’ve a good mate in London, I’ll ask him if he can recommend anywhere, hopefully we can meet up. In the meantime good luck with the tour and we all look forward to seeing you and the band in Camden on 6th October!

Bruno Pitch

Bruno Pitch is a Chapman Stick player, originally guitarist coming out from France. We talked about his musical background, as well as his work on the Crystal Garden album, the instrument and future plans.

Nick: Hello, Bruno! Would you mind telling us more about your musical background, your early beginnings in music?

Bruno: Hello, talking about my beginnings in music is an interesting thing as I’m not considering myself as a conventional musician. I started to play guitar at the age of 14, at this time I had no idea of what was a metronome or the fact a guitar must be tuned! Instead of caring about these things I just started to compose my own tunes, and the first thing I played was a creation. As you can imagine listen today to this music can be horrible, but the most important thing was the creation process, not the technique.

Nick: For many people you are known as a Chapman Stick player, but originally you are a guitarist. What is it that pulled you off to start playing and composing on the Chapman Stick? What this instrument in particular provides you comparing to the „classic“ guitar?

Bruno: Well, I’ve never been a cover specialist, so I always preferred to compose on guitar than practicing famous tunes, and the big frustration in this process was that I had to record guitars chords, then bass lines, and finally the melody. The first time (in 1993) I heard some Stick music was from an album of Jim Lampi (one of the best players in the world), and I thought… incredible! A string instrument with you can play bass and guitar simultaneously!  And the sound was so unique… At this time I was considering playing this kind of instrument was for me an impossible thing, so I didn’t think about looking for one. Finally in 2004 I decided to buy one, and it radically changed my way in playing music. Now it was possible to play simultaneously chords on left hand and melodies with the other hand. Another fact with this instrument is the natural sound you get, just straight to the amp with or without effects it sounds great. Since this time I don’t play guitar anymore, I’m filling at home with the Stick.

Nick: As you might’ve mentioned above, during late 80’s and in early 90’s you was involved in a hard rock band called Wisdom? Are there any recordings from that period? What were your main inspirations at the time?

Bruno: Unfortunately we didn’t go to the necessary level for recording an album, but it was for me a great period, we were composing in a heavy metal atmosphere, our influences were Metallica, Rush, Loudness, Van Halen… We loved to insert some prog parts in our songs but at this period I didn’t know the ‘progressive’ naming.

Nick: Later, you expanded your musical sights and, let’s say, you progressed coming to the jazz subgenre which is today a significant part of your music. Where does it come from?

Bruno: Well, in 1993 I went to a French music school (the actual M.A.I. in Nancy) to improve my ‘metal’ guitar technique, and there I met many musicians coming from various genres like metal, jazz, song, funk and so more. At this time I started to practice some jazz standards and continue now on the Stick, of course I’m not a real jazz player, but with a single jazz song you can work on all of the aspects of an instrument: chords, accompaniment, melody, rhythm, soloing… So in my music I think a natural jazz color can appear in the way I play, but it comes naturally not intentionally.

Nick: Would you tell something more about the tapping technique used on the Chapman Stick?

Bruno: There are so many things to tell about tapping. First when I started 7 years ago, I thought it was limited in the variety ofsounds you can produce, now I can say that every week I discover new way to play ,it’s infinite, one life is not enough to learn to play this instrument! Then the Stick is not the only tapping instrument, these last years many tap-guitars were produced by other great luthiers, but the Stick is something special, an unique sound. Tapping players’ community is like a family, we are not so many, so it’s very easy to meet a famous player, I often go tapping seminars, where I can learn, play and talk with great players, each one has developed his own technique, each one is unique, that’s impressive. There are people coming from bass world: they can play crazy bass licks on the Stick, people who play keyboards : they are easy with the independence aspect…

Nick: Magic Street, an instrumental funk project originated in 2007 and it came up as a collaboration between you, the drummer Guix Hure and the bassist Boris Nicolik. Was that sort of a tendency to do something new and try new musical subgenre in an ever-evolving process or you strictly knew what do you want to produce?

Bruno: Magic Street was first created by Boris with Guix, they were looking for a guitarist, I called them and said: “I’m a guitarist but now, I play only on a Stick “, so they said “Ok why not , but what’s a Stick?”. The goal of this band was to produce funk music, but it quickly turned into a prog band, it was a very intense period, we were composing together mixing various influences from funk, psychedelic, metal, rock genres. The funny aspect for me is I was playing with a bassist, so I didn’t have to use the bass side of the Stick and try to use it as a guitar.

Nick: Crystal Garden was released in 2010, signed by yourself and as it’s stated in your biography it’s an album dedicated to the Chapman Stick. How was to work on the album? What inspired you?

Bruno: In first I only wanted to record some ideas coming on the Stick at home, so I thought to use some drum loops libraries to make recordings on my computer. Then after the Magic Street experience I contacted Guix saying him I wanted to try my compositions with a real drummer, and after some rehearsals I discovered the tunes were sounding really better than I could suppose. So I decided to record with him, and the project became more serious at the point I chose to record in a real studio. We attached great importance in the drums recording process, Didier Lamaze (the sound engineer) did a great work. The inspiration is an easy thing for me, I always compose, it’s natural. But the more difficult aspect is when you have to choose what to keep or what to throw out, that’s where the presence of another musician is important, he can bring a new fresh ear on your sounds and suggest you to develop things that would not do alone.

Nick: There is an omnipresent feeling that on the Crystal Garden you are flirting with different elements, but the core of the album is rooted in progressive rock. Where does it come from?

Bruno: I guess the rock aspect come from my metal past years and the playing of Guix. For the progressive thing, I think it’s something personal, I’ve got a fanciful attitude inside me. I think we should not keep away our childhood in the past, to have a little crazy attitude is a secret of balance for our lives, Franck Zappa knew that, he was a master.

Nick: I can’t avoid a question about the song Karachi, which is personally my favorite track off the album, adorned by Mid-Eastern influence weighed excellently on the Chapman and Tabla. What do you think about employing such Mid-Eastern motifs in the genres such progressive rock / fusion jazz? I find it as absolutely something that could be described as the crown in the making of music.

Bruno: Well this song was originally played with my friend Breme Coumarin who is born in South of India where he learned the tabla playing. I listen to many different genres of music and like to mix these influences coming from other cultures, sometimes when people see the Stick for the first time, they ask me: “Is this an traditional indian instrument ?” probably due to his aspect remaining the sitar or something like that… Personally I can’t conceive music in only one restrictive genre, for me it needs to mix influences, cultures and genres, it’s like cooking, in France we have a famous cooking,  but this traditional cooking include many influences from other continents most of them were brought by the past conquerors.

Nick: What are the latest news coming from the Bruno Pitch camp? Are you working on any new projects? Can we expect a new album some time soon?

Bruno: We are now recording demos for the next album, it will be more produced. There will be strings arrangements by Célia Picciocchi a french violinist and keyboards, parts by Steve Gresswell an english musician. So it will not be a Stick focused album, but it will sound more like a band. We tried to find a singer for this project but didn’t find the right person, so it will be another instrumental album, I’m not disappointed for that, I like the instrumental aspect too.

Nick: Is there anything you would love to add to this interview that I didn’t cover in my questions?

Bruno: Yes just a message to everyone: be creative, be yourself!

French TV

French TV is a great band from Louisville, Kentucky, USA, who have been dispensing their twisted brand of avant-jazz-prog since as far back as 1983, and I e-flurried (©Robert Fripp) with founder and leader Mike Sary to come up with this doggerel….

Roger: Hi Mike, and thanks for giving us your time for this chat. For those unfamiliar with French TV tell us a bit about the history of the band.

Mike: We came, we saw, we forgot to conquer. Sorry to be so flippant, but we’re talking 20+ years here!

Roger: OK folks, just go buy the CDs here - http://www.frenchtvonline.com/orderingdistributors.htm – if you only buy one, get the 2CD version of FTV 10 – it really is good!

Roger In those 20+ years French TV has released ten albums of massively complicated and at the same time hugely enjoyable music. Would I be right to assume a Zappa influence with a large helping of the more convoluted end of Canterbury prog, and possibly a soupcon of Gentle Giant with some European RIO thrown into the blender?

Mike: Yeah, that about covers it, but I have to say I’m equally influenced by the more “traditional” prog bands like Yes, ELP, Crimson, etc, to say nothing of a lot of the 70s fusion bands, particularly Weather Report and Brand X, even if it’s not so obvious in the writing.

Roger: You’ve just reissued last year’s album I Forgive You All My Unhappiness with the great bonus disc Live At ProgDay 2009. Was this down to fans requesting more live recordings?

Mike: Nah, I can’t say we get much in the way of fan requests to begin with. It was more a matter of Mike Potter, the mastermind behind Baltimore’s ORION STUDIOS, offering to record us [as well as the other bands playing ProgDay that year] using his mobile recording truck. I’d working with Mike before, and knew this would be recorded well, so I expected it would be good enough to put it out eventually. MALS RECORDS wanted to re-issue FTV10 and suggested bonus tracks to make it different, and I countered with including a live cd.

Roger: Judging by the accompanying pictures, ProgDay 2009 looks like an idyllic setting. Where did this happening take place and was there a good party?

Mike: In Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As for the party, it was okay, except for the part where I was trapped between two 70s rock trivia experts who spent the evening correcting each other. My head was about to explode, much to FTV drummer Jeff Gard’s delight.

Roger: Your music, to the non-musician at least, sounds like it is rather complicated. How do you manage to reproduce it live, as I would imagine trying to remember all the twists and turns is no easy task. Is any of it scored or is it all in the head? And, I wonder if the band could play a 12 bar blues “straight” without veering off into another far more interesting universe?!

Mike: Drummer Jeff Gard and I devise the basic structures for the tunes, and I generally allow the other contributors a lot of leeway in coming up with parts that compliment whatever’s going on in the tunes, although my preference is to be sitting with them coming up with parts. But for the last few years, I’ve had to work with long-distance collaborators, so I have to allow them some autonomy. I rarely, if ever, need notes or scores when I record my parts or perform live, but the others guys generally have to have some sort of notation.

Roger: Do you hope to play outside of the USA any time soon? The UK beckons so yours truly (and my mate!) can finally get to see French TV.

Mike: Nothing concrete yet, but it feels pretty inevitable. It helps to be invited to a larger-scale festival somewhere, then we can organize 5-10 dates surrounding that. I’m DYING to return to Europe!

Roger: I’ve got this far without mentioning song titles, so what is your favourite make of bass guitar  (heheh)?

Mike: Generally models I can’t afford! My two main “problem-solvers” are a 5-string fretless Steinberger “Spirit”, and a 5 string fretted Ernie Ball Music Man. Would dearly love to find a nice inexpensive Warwick P-Nut or Streamer, or a 4001 Rickenbacker [had one back in the day, but foolishly traded it away]! Or a Lakland…or a vintage Wal…or Alembic…or…

Roger: OK then, let’s get it out of the way – You have mentioned to me before that the bane of reviews of French TV’s CDs are those that are so nonplussed by the music they spend most of the time musing on the origin of song titles like With Grim Determination, Terrell Dons The Bow Tie. Your song titles seem to this Brit to have a strong Zappa/Anglo influence. My favourite is 801’s “Mummy Was An Asteroid, Daddy Was A Small Non-Stick Kitchen Utensil”. Any that make you smile?

Mike: Captain Beefheart titles: “Ashtray Heart”, “My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains”. Lots of Zappa: “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing” [if only for the sentiment], “Bamboozled By Love”, “I’m a Beautiful Guy”. But the undisputed king of song titles has to be the fellow from FOREVER EINSTEIN, with classics such as “It’s A Good Thing I Don’t Have Super Brain Powers Or You’d Be In A Thousand Little Pieces Right Now”, “I Wish I Had Me Some Of Them Miracle Smart Pills”, “With a Car Like That You Must Be Knee-Deep in Whores”, “The Iron Boot of Stupidity Will March Across Your Face”, and my all-time fav, “Hercules Pushes Giant Goats Over The Cliff And Watches As They Fall Into The Canyon Below”.

Roger: Haha! That guy should write a book! A sense of humour is an important part of life and obviously important to you, but why do you think most prog bands come over as po-faced and oh-so-serious, particularly it seems to me in the prog-metal fraternity?

Mike: I wish I knew! But I blame Roger Waters and Pink Floyd.

Roger: So do I! Is there anyone in the current prog scene that you are into? Another great and underrated American band that I love is NYC’s Frogg Café whose music has a similar feel to yours in places. Have you ever crossed paths?

Mike: Guitarist Frank Camiola and I DO have a mutual admiration society. I remember in the “National Health Complete” booklet notes, Dave Stewart mentions that he, Mont Campbell, Alan Gowan, and Phil Miller were constantly trying to “out-complex” each other on the compositions, and if I were in a band with Frank, I suspect it would be a similar situation. Also met violinist Bill Ayasse at a festival once. Oh, and FTV10 keyboardist Steve Katsikas guests on the next Frogg Café cd!

As for other bands, there are TONS of them I love and many of whom I’m friends with (in fact, I have a section of our website devoted to recommendations): PANZERPAPPA, ACCORDO DEI CONTRARI, CAMEMBERT, FINNEGAN’S WAKE, NEOM, OCTOBER EQUUS, FLAT122, PHLOX, TEE, GARGANTUA, ARGOS, RITUAL, SANHEDRIN, AMOEBA SPLIT, LOST WORLD, OUTRE MEASURE, SENOGUL, EVIL GIRAFFES ON MARS, TIME TRAVELLER, AGENT MOOSEHEAD, LILLIPUT ORCHESTRA, anythingMICHEL DELVILLE does, DJAMRA, FORGAS BAND, GUAPO, KLOTET, PLANETA IMAGINARIO, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD…plus “old-timers” like UNIVERS ZERO/PRESENT, MAGMA, HAMMILL/VDGG….it’s amazing that as shitty and unprofitable as the music biz is these days, there’s an INCREDIBLE amount of quality music/bands plugging away.

Roger: In my review of IFAMU/Live At ProgDay 2009 I made the observation that French TV seem so obscure that even a Chilean mountain rescue team may have difficulty locating them. Maybe an exaggeration I know, and a tad cheeky to boot, but as you have been going nearly 30 years, presumably this is a situation you’ve come to accept?

Mike: I’m not sure whether it’s acceptance or not, but I guess I regard it as living with some sort of disability-some combination of resignation and bitterness, and it’s probably never going away. All you can do is hold onto the expectation for that moment when something magical pops out of your fingers in combination with other musicians having similar moments.

Roger: What’s coming up for French TV gig-wise or recording-wise?

Mike: Well, we’ve got a new keyboardist from Greece, and we’re having quite a bit of fun improvising together as a trio. We have skeletons & frameworks of tunes for the next album, but trying to get the 3 of us together at the same time has been a pain. We DID play our first gig together about a month ago, with promising results-we’ll see what happens!

Roger: Finally a bit of levity – I hope you are a Monty Python fan (if you’re not then this question is pointless, and I pity you!), so which Python sketch would you have liked to appear in?

Mike: UPPER-CLASS TWIT OF THE YEAR!!! Also once dressed for an FTV Halloween gig as one of the Gumbys. Of course, the other members wimped out of dressing up for this particular gig, despite being thrilled at the prospect during rehearsal.

Roger: Finally, finally a bit more levity – Do you know what Cricket is?

Mike: YES. Do I understand it? NO. Do I WANT to understand it? NO.

Roger: I have a similar view of American “Football” and Baseball! We can’t go without mentioning food, so, a curry or a pasta dish? Washed down with a good beer or wine, or possibly a cup of tea?

Mike:  CURRY (Thai)! A nice Gang Keow Wan (eggplant + beef), with a bottle or two of WOODCHUCK DRAFT AMBER CIDER!

Roger: Good choice of grub there. Thanks again for your time Mike, and if you ever plan on coming to Europe, be sure to let me know.

Hotel Wrecking City Traders

Hotel Wrecking City Traders are brothers Ben and Toby Matthews, hailing from Melbourne, Australia. Eager to explore beneath the vast surface(s) of different subgenres, their music is unpredictable and good. For their latest 12″ release, the duo hooked up with Gary Arce of Yawning Man and Ten East, researching the soundwaves furthermore. And on the other side, we hooked up with Ben for a little bit of chat and here is what he said…

Nick: Hello there, Ben! To open this interview, would you mind going back to the beginning of Hotel Wrecking City Traders and tell me about you and Toby (your brother) started the band?

Ben: The band started playing shows in 2007 shortly after self releasing our first EP. We had been jamming for many years before this on and off for short periods but started playing shows regularly from 2007.

Nick: Somehow it seems natural that you and Toby would form a band around improvisation and jamming, considering that you two played together since you were kids. What do you think about this?

Ben: Yeah probably. It’s a very comfortable arrangement and is the basis for our live shows. We also enjoy constructing pieces of music and ‘writing’ parts and give credence to the concept of songwriting, we hope to release some of that stuff next year.

Nick: Speaking of improvisation and jamming, especially jamming here – I always thought that to have a good (final) product out of a jam, you have to know your bandmates very well. I guess it’s a mitigating circumstance for you and Toby, no? I mean, everyone of us (who knows  how to play an istrument) can hook up with some other musicians and noodle something, but that’s doesn’t mean you’ll have something good as a result.

Ben: Yeah it all depends on the connection that stems between players and Toby and I read each other very easily and enjoy communicating via our instruments in this band together.

Nick: A lot of thought is put in the name of the band. When I say Hotel Wrecking City Traders, there are many things that pop into my mind. I’d like for you to tell us more about it.

Ben: It’s a pretty dumb name. Toby made it up. Originally I think it was split into two parts, the ‘Hotel Wrecking’ being a sarcastic nod to the actions of drugged out rock starts of the past and City Traders’ part was because we had moved around a lot and had met up to jam in so many countries growing up. I always laugh when we get asked if it’s because we are Wall St bankers. It’s really just a sort of sarcastic and silly name. Probably way too long! We get that a lot. Maybe we’ll just shorten it to HWCT.

Nick: This year you guys released a 12“ on Bro Fidelity as a collaboration with Yawning Man’s Gary Arce. How did you hook up with Gary? What’s his take on this release?

Ben: We met Gary through playing a show together in December 2009. We opened up for Ten East on their Aussie tour. It was a coming together of like minds in terms of the ways we approach making music and he suggested that we should collaborate on something which of course we said we would love to do. Last time I spoke to him he was digging the release. I think he felt like he wanted to play more stuff on there perhaps or maybe wished he had some more time but I know he wants to record another one, this time with all of us in the same country/room/time though.

Nick: Do you guys often rehearse prior to the recording process for a release or do you go strictly improvisational, without knowing how it’s going to sound? Describe the process of making a “song“ in HWCT.

Ben: The EP was all written mostly, but we improvised a few parts out on the day we recorded it which we did in around 4 hours (we were poor at the time.) “Black Yolk’ was recorded in one day also, with the exception of one track we did  when we were recording another project Daggers Mid Flight with our friends from Spider Goat Canyon. We recorded that when they were having a break drinking some beers and we just plugged in and recorded that piece, which became ‘Eavesdropper’  I have always been a fan of Sonic Youth’s approach to making music and how they do their studio records as well as their own improvised  releases on their own label. I think that’s what we are likely to do with the next record is probably go back to what we did on the EP and try spend time honing ideas, and constructing the riffs more methodically. I think change is good for any band. No rules is a good rule for us I guess. Follow them, break them, make them up, whatever seems interesting at the time we’ll go with that gut instinct.

Nick: What do you think of improvisational music? Somehow there is an omnipresent feeling that many bands today decide to go without a singer, which leaves a vast field for exploring within these subgenres.

Ben: We have always been a fan of it. We played with Russian Circles last week and they have that whole precise/constructed thing going on in such an amazing way. They translate those songs live in a very potent way and were really a fun band to watch. I equally admire bands like Earthless and Om who will diverge from the recorded versions of their songs and allow each live setting to determine a songs length and levels of exploration into it’s final sonic destination. I think instrumental music is very powerful and we have never really entertained the notion of singing ourselves, but anythings possible.

Nick: You employ different subgenres ranging from psychedelic, stoner, noise to post-rock. Where do these elements come from? Which bands / artists influenced your work in HWCT?

Ben: That list is endless. There are so many influences that have shaped the way we play our instruments and play. Many of them are really nothing like what we sound like at all.  But Yawning Man are a big influence for sure, The Melvins are awesome and always are changing which we really enjoy and respect, but I think our sound is born out of reactions to music rather than trying to mimmick a certain style, genre or sound. The hallmarks will be evident sometimes but we try not to make that a conscious thing.

Nick: Comparing this project you did with Gary with your previous works, there is an evident shift in your music from release to release. Would you call it an evolutionary process? I have to admit that I dig Black Yolk because of its rawness and somehow straight-in-the-face vibe.

Ben: Thanks. Yeah I think each record is a product of it’s time and environment in which it was made. I guess it is evolutionary so long as each progression shows some element of growth to the listener. I’m sure our next release will have some new approaches and characteristics in it too as well some familiar aspects. The more times a band plays the more it grows and the players musical vocabularies grow with it. For us, we enjoy that exploration and that’s what you hopefully hear in the recordings.

Nick: Besides working with HWCT, you started an independent label, Bro Fidelity Records. As you are both concerned in running this kind of business and playing in a band, do you think that the future for young up-and-coming bands is to work this way? Also, are you open to release some other bands through Bro Fi?

Ben: Yeah I would love to put more releases out on Bro Fi and get asked to all the time. I have limited resources financially so I can only put out one or two releases a year. The Fire Witch release was the first non HWCT release I did. Absolutely love that record. The next release is going to be a 3 way split which I am really excited about, HWCT are on there as well as one of Mario & Gary’s projects and an awesome band from the UK called Sons of Alpha Centauri. I think the days of the ‘traditional’ record company setup are soon to be doomed. That ideology no longer works for the bands or for the labels. DIY is the way forward and having bands able to put out one release on one label and their next release on another to me is the best way. To me the ethos of Frank Kozik’s Man’s Ruin label, was for me the major inspiration. I can only dream that one day I have put out a tenth of as many killer releases as he did! That label was an absolute goldmine for killer bands and quality small run presses. The label doesn’t make money it simply is an outlet for HWCT’s music and others in Australia. We would love to find somebody to release and distribute our records in Europe though as the price of mail order from Australia makes it very difficult for me to cover costs. I like to keep the releases affordable for the buyer but in doing so lose money, simply due to the huge cost of postage to Europe.

Nick: We talked about HWCT and Bro Fidelity, but are you involved in any other projects / bands at the moment? I know that you filled in on drums for Mondo Generator’s tour. How was it?

Ben: Sadly the Mondo tour never fully got off the ground. There were some problems with band members getting sick and it was over before it began unfortunately. Good while it lasted though. Got to spend some time in Los Angeles last summer, and see some sights.  Toby and I also have a band called Daggers mid Flight which is releasing a double album soon on Chairfish Recordings in Australia. We’re working on some shows with Gary as a three piece as soon as we can which we are all looking fwd to and also some offers from Japan have arisen which we are excited about.

Nick: What are your upcoming plans? Are you working on some new material for HWCT?

Ben: We have some shows in and around Melbourne for the rest of the year and then want to get to recording something new just the two of us I think. There’s also the 3 way split 12″ that’s gonna be the next Bro Fidelity release, then we will get the new record done and do some more touring.

Nick: Is there anything you would love to add that I didn’t cover with my questions?

Ben: Thanks for the chat, man. We appreciate it.

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Read Hotel Wrecking City Traders & Gary Arce review here, listen to it here or buy it from here.

Johnny Engstrom Band

Nordagust

In what may qualify as the most detailed interview yet seen on this site, Norwegian proggers Nordagust sat down for hours in front of their laptops, and with loving care and attention to my questions will now entertain us all with an in-depth insight into their music making and more. Enjoy!

Roger: Thanks for emerging from the dark woods of Norway for this chat! For those unfamiliar with the band, tell us a bit about your musical backgrounds and how and when the band first started.

Ketil: Thank you very much for your interest.

I grew up in a musical family – 3 generations in the same house. My grandmother was singing hymns and old traditional songs, my grandfather played harmonica, my father played accordion, my mother played acoustic guitar and upright bass. My 11 years older brother is playing guitar and kantele.

I began playing accordion at 10 years age  – with my father as a teacher. Spontaneously – my brother bought a vintage John Grey drum kit in 1978. It looked and sounded very interesting, but with both parents and grandparents living under the same roof – I was soon to be banished from the house. Next stop was the storehouse. It was very, very cold inside, and during the Norwegian winters – from November to March – I wasn`t able to practice at all.

From the age of 18, I have been involved in various bands, playing bluesrock, jazzrock, even countryrock. From 1994 to 1998 I played together with Daniel, Knud and two other guys, in a symphonic prog-act named “Ocean”. We made one album: “Newborn Ground” in 1997, and released it on our own label. We were also represented on two compilations named “Revenge Of The Orange” (1996) and “The good, the bad, and the orange” (1997). Both released on Briskeby records. This was two compilations (out of four) with Scandinavian progressive rock – that is quite hard to find for sale these days. They were all printed in a very low number of copies.

Anyway; Musea wanted us to sign a contract with them, but we never got that far. The members of Ocean were searching in different musical directions; therefore we disbanded – and Daniel, Knud and I formed Nordagust in 1999.

Daniel: As long as I remember I’ve been composing music in my head, but I didn’t play any instrument before I was a teenager, because we had no instruments at my home. But when I started to earn my own money, it didn’t take long before the house was full of various instruments. I have been playing a lot of various folk music, heavy rock, symphonic rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, classical music, some blues, all the way trying to find my own style.

Knud Jarle: Got my first bass at 13. Played in various local bands, and formed Ocean with Daniel in 1991.

Jostein: I got my first guitar when I was nine. A local musician, Stian Carstensen in Farmers Market helped me get it and taught me some basic guitar techniques and scales. After that I played with friends basically, and got back to Stian at age 15 to learn more. In 2002 I formed my first band called Freebird. A pop/rock band, and from there on I`ve played in different bands writing my own material. And I started to play the piano and keyboard as well. I recorded a lot of my material in Daniel Solheim`s studio, and after working together for some years we found out that we had a lot in common and pretty much the same view on music. So in 2008 I joined Nordagust.

Guro: I started to play the violin at the age of 6, but I quit and changed to the keyboards when I turned 9 (after seeing an incredible keyboard solo by Rick Wakeman on TV!). Then at the age of 13 the guitar conquered my life (together with the keyboards of course!) And It’s more or less thanks to Metallica’s “Nothing else matters”. And also by that time of my life Slash was one of my biggest inspirations , so I ended up buying a Les Paul as my first guitar! I joined Nordagust in 2010.

Roger: I have been listening to your powerfully evocative album In The Mist Of Morning. The album draws on Norwegian folk music, (although it is not “folky” in the slightest!) so could you tell those of us unfamiliar with Norwegian folk legend and folk music something about Norway’s folk tradition?

Ketil and Daniel: Folk music is a musical tradition that has developed through being passed on directly by ear. The most important factors that shape the tradition are: Continuity – which binds the past to the present and variation – which arises from creative impulse.

The oldest Norwegian song traditions we know have their origins on the old mountain farms. For communicating with other people (or calling in their animals), over long distances, it was necessary to sing/shout the message in odd rhythmic and melodic patterns. Other instruments associated with older folk music, including voice, willow flute (sallow flute) , neverlur (horn covered with birch bark) and ram`s horn, have been less widespread due to their original functions as work implements. Many additional wind instruments existed that are not very common today; in earlier times, they were primarily sheperds´instruments. They include bone flute, neverlapp (lit. piece of birch bark), tungehorn (lit. tounge horn) and various variations of home made “clarinets”. Harp and lute instruments also have a long tradition in Norway, but fell into disuse long ago.

Norwegian and Swedish folk music is unusual in European music culture because they developed mainly among small farmers and cotters, and have remained nearly independent of influences from newer musical fashions in Europe. The music and dance have strong ties to one another; they are based on an older tonality, melodic structure, and rhythm patterns. The music is tied to certain instruments: Hardanger fiddle, ordinary fiddle, Jew`s harp and langeleik (a dulcimer relative). Music based on traditional Norwegian form usually includes minor scales (sometimes mixed with major scales), making a sober and haunting sound. Pure major key dance music forms also exist.

The old tonality with variable intervals and natural scales has been retained until the present time. Gradually, as the tempered scale we know from classical music and newer musical fashions becomes more and more common in our daily musical experience, the old tonality and rhythm patterns will be in constant danger of disappearing…

Roger: The album was given its official release last year on Karisma Records, but your website discography lists a number of demos (which I’d love to hear by the way!) so how long did the album take from recording the first demo version to the released version?

Ketil: Daniel presented his first sketches of this album in 1998, and we were finished with the recordings around 2003. I remember we had a discussion about whether we should sample the sound of a stone that was thrown into the water. Then we asked ourselves the question: “What type of stone will sound most natural?” Then we realized that the album was finished. Maybe we could have done something more “perfect” today, but that`s not the point. In that case I am afraid the original force more or less would have faded away. That said: We appreciate quality, and I don`t dare to think of how many hours Daniel has spent on this album.

The lack of response from record companies, and a hard drive crash delayed the progress. We have been involved in several other time-consuming projects, so for a couple of years we met maybe once a month – if not less. Ten years is a long time, but we also have composed and arranged some hours of music for Nordagust, that hopefully will be recorded and released some time in the future.

Roger: Daniel, Ketil and Knud have adopted the names “Solur”, “Bergur” and “Strandur” on the album credits. What is the significance of these names, something to do with folklore perhaps?

Ketil: We have known each other for a long time, and our communication often becomes  a litte progressive, too . New Norwegian, Old Norwegian, different dialects, Icelandic, Swedish…. I think the nicknames were meant as a practical joke; a self-ironic Viking-view on ourselves, while recording songs for our demo-CD “Naudr”..

Roger: There is a vast array of instruments listed on the album. Was it a deliberate intention to include so many sounds or did this organically evolve during the recording process? What is a “Swallowflute” by the way?

Ketil and Daniel: You are definitely not the first to mention it. It`s some kind of misunderstanding printed in the press releases here: We delivered two CD`s to Karisma Records; “In the mist of…” and “Naudr”, which is mentioned above.. On the last mentioned, we used the instruments you refer to , but on “In the mist…” the most unusual instrument you will find, is the kantele (in the woods) – the Finnish national instrument…

The”sallow flute”, also known as willow flute (Norwegian: seljefløyte, Swedish: sälgflöjt or sälgpipa, Finnish: pitkähuilu or pajupilli), is a Scandinavian folk flute, or whistle consisting of a simple tube with a transverse fipple mouthpiece and no finger holes. The mouthpiece is typically constructed by inserting a grooved plug into one end of the tube, and cutting an edged opening in the tube a short distance away from the plug.

Similar, however not the same instruments were made by peasants in Poland, usually using a different method described in sources as “kręcenie” (that nowadays means literally “rolling”, at that time possibly also “drilling-gouging”), “ukręcanie”, “ulinianie” (nowadays literally meaning: “making moulted”). Such instruments are mentioned in folk poems or songs.

The sallow flute is a type of overtone flute. It is played by varying the force of the air blown into the mouthpiece, with the end of the tube being covered by the finger or left open. The tones produced are based on the harmonic series. Playing the instrument with the end of the tube covered produces one fundamental and its overtones, playing it with the end of the tube left open produces another fundamental and series of overtones. sallow flutes cannot be tuned to an equal tempered scale.

Roger: Who are the main songwriters in the band, and did you go into the recording sessions with the songs fully formed, or did they evolve in the studio?

Ketil: Essentially, Daniel is the creative force. He has – more or less – all the music and the lyrics in his head. And if not, he will have a basic idea about how it should be. Some parts of a few songs are a result of jamming – but that’s just a few bits in the puzzle.

Roger: The music comes across as having a definite structure, as it would have to do on a studio album, but do you stretch things out a bit when playing live?

Ketil: Until last year we were absolutely sure of one thing; we would never be able to do “In The Mist…” live. It seemed hopeless, so we gave it a try! It’s now nine months since we played the material live for the first time, and it worked better than we could imagine. It’s not our intention to stretch the songs out..with..endless solos, but we all have changing moods and the songs will be coloured differently each time we play them.

Roger: What influences do each band member bring to bear on the sound? Daniel’s guitar sound reminds me of very early Steve Hackett, and there is a definite and obviously inevitable Scandinavian feel to the music, Landberk, Änglagård, Anekdoten in particular, although the end result is certainly Nordagust!

Ketil: If I had to mention just one influence: John Bonham. That said: The drummers in Landberk, Änglagård and Anekdoten have all been great inspirators, with their different expressions. Sweden has raised a lot of good drummers; Morgan Ågren is fantastic – especially on Fredrik Thordendal`s solo-project: “Sol Niger Within”. Highly recommended!

I tune the toms quite low – and often use the floor tom instead of the snare. This reminds me of more “primitime” drums. (I also play a field drum; an exact copy of a military drum from 1808). To match the dramatic Nordagust sound, I want the floor tom to sound – sometimes – like a kettle drum. I try to colour the massive mellotron-eruptions with syncopes(?), not unlike the way Peter Nordins of Anekdoten are thinking…..I think. On “in the mist…” I use dark, heavy cymbals and a sharp, crispy hi-hat as contrasts. My best friend is a vintage 22” Zildjian ride cymbal with a million overtones. I use it as a ride, a heavy crash, and a gong. All parts of the drum-kit are dynamic instruments, and they should make a physical experience. I want the drums to communicate something more than just timekeeping.

Daniel: I love to hear you say that the end result is certainly Nordagust!

Since you mentioned Steve Hackett; yes, I have listened a lot to him (and Genesis), and especially “Spectral Mornings” was inspiring, and (of course) also “Firth of Fifth”. A lot of other guitarists have inspired me as well; John Lees, Andy Latimer, Mike Oldfield, Ritchie Blackmore and Terje Rypdal. Of younger guitarists I have to mention Reine Fiske.

Another thing; I have also listened to violinists in folk music and classical music, and this may be the reason I love the sound of mellotron-strings and vibrato sologuitar played together.

My way of singing is surely influenced by Mike Scott, Ian Anderson, Steve Walsh, Roger Hodgson and Roger Waters, together with some folk-music singers.

I remember one sentence I heard long ago by one of my favourite singers; “You have to sing from the bottom of your soul, then you will find your own voice, your own expression”. I followed that advice.

When it comes to the sound of the whole band; we all want it to sound organic. I remember one sentence said by Ketil; ”we should try to sound like the Norwegian nature”. And I asked myself this question at the early days of Nordagust; “what would it sound like if Edward Grieg and Pink Floyd composed music together”?

Knud Jarle: My biggest inspiration is the German band Eloy, and groups like The Beatles, Rush, The Who, Yes, Marillion etc. My favourite bassplayer is Klaus Peter Matziol from Eloy.

Jostein: Elvis and The Beatles were responsible for my first musical awakening. After that I`ve been listening to all kinds of music, Some of my favorites are; Grieg, Mozart, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Led Zeppelin, Arnold Schoenberg, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, John Coltrane, Paul McCartney, Stian Carstensen, Jimmy Rosenberg, and Ole Bull.

Guro: I have a very special bond with the album “Dream” by Kitaro, it was the first album my parents ever played for me (or so I have been told) and I have listened to it ever since. I feel like it has shaped much of my life and the person I am today. Together with Kitaro I have grown up with listening to “Ocean” and the work of Daniel, so the tones and melodies of Nordagust comes very natural and nice for me.

Today I listen to bands like Rhapsody, Machine Head, Marillion etc etc.( very mixed!) I like melodic music with soul, and it got to have a real and honest expression/message, whether it is anger, melancholy etc.

Roger: Anybody in particular you’re into at the moment?

Ketil: Future Kings of England, Sky Architect and Devin Townshend.

Daniel: Some music of Future Kings of England is certainly one of the most interesting things I’ve heard in a while, especially “Mustard Men” . ”Celestial Ghost” by Nicklas Barker is also a lovely piece of music. And I like the guitar-sound and some of the symphonic guitar-parts on “ 360 degrees of Wonder”, the latest album of Pluto and the Planets. I also listened a lot to “We’re Here Because We’re Here” for a while after it was released, and I think it is the best Anathema album in a long while, but not as good as the brilliant “Judgement”(one of my favourite albums the latest decade).

And I just discovered a band called Eleven (some of their music is heavily inspired by Led Zeppelin, reminds me of The Tea Party.)

Knud Jarle: I’m stuck in the seventies.

Jostein: I recently borrowed Eloy’s Ocean from Knud Jarle, a nice and atmospheric album. Beside of that my favourite progrock bands at the moment are; Emerson Lake and Palmer, Genesis and ….Nordagust of course

Guro: Within Temptation.

Roger: The album is very visual, conjuring dark and mysterious images of ancient woodland. Do you use film in your stage act? I can almost see it in my head!

Ketil: You do? We have been discussing it, and have some ideas. We will get back to that!

Daniel: I really like your description of the album, because that is just how I wanted it to be.

Roger: Have you played many shows outside Norway?

Ketil: No, none to be exact. Progheads from many countries have shown interest, but we need someone to put a tour together, without ruining us.

Roger: What’s happening now with the band? Any gigs or more recording planned?

Ketil: We are playing Oslo, Begen and Trondheim later this autumn. Then I suppose it’s time to boil our heads, and start recording again.

Roger: What do you like to do after a show to relax? You can be as honest as you like!

Ketil: A beer and a pipe of good tobacco would be fine, thank you…

Daniel: Yes; cold beer and tobacco…. But I also want to get some feedback about the gig.

Knud Jarle: After the show I like to relax with a beer and a cigarette, talking with the fans and the rest of the band, and try to evaluate the show….

Jostein: After the show I like to be social, meet new people with a good pipe of something.

Guro: After a show I’m usually full of energy and run out and get some fresh air, and maybe if we are playing with other bands, I like to meet the other musicians and/or look at the rest of the show.

Roger: That was great – thanks for your time guys!

Nordagust are…

Daniel “Solur” Solheim – Vocal, Guitar, Keyboard, Samples, Kantele, Dulcimer, Mandolin, Sallowflute, Mouthharp, Conch, Axe and Hammer.

Ketil Armand “Bergur” Berg – Drums, Percussion, Kantele, Saw, Accordion, Hammer, Bells, Voices, Grindstone, Kettles and Barrels.

Knud Jarle “Strandur” Strand – Bass and Business.

Jostein Aksel Skjønberg – Keyboard, Voice, Flute

Guro Elvik Strand – Guitar, Keyboards

Haken/To-Mera interview with Richard Henshall and Tom MacLean

Haken’s set at this year’s Night of the Prog Festival in Germany was extremely well received despite the early 12:15 pm slot. I had a chance to talk to two members of the band just a couple of hours later: Keyboardist/guitarist/main composer Richard “Hen” Henshall and bassist Tom MacLean. The idea was to conduct interviews with two bands in one go, as the two also play together in To-Mera, though in quite different roles with Tom as the guitarist/main composer and Hen just on keys. We decided to begin with the Haken part of the interview.

Michael Schetter:
How are you enjoying Night of the Prog so far?

Tom MacLean:
Probably the highlight of our career, I think.

Richard „Hen“ Henshall:
Yeah, we never played to this many people before. And it’s our first time in Germany, so it’s a really big deal for us.

Just so you don’t have to correct me at some point during this interview – how do I pronounce the band name correctly?

Hen:
Haken as in bacon. That’s how we think of it.

What does it mean?

Hen:
There’s no meaning, really. It came from kind of alcohol-fueled gatherings between me and my friend and we thought it’d be a nice name purely from the sound of it. There’s no deep meaning behind it.

You didn’t really think that it might mean something in German when you chose it…

Hen:
(laughs) Yeah, we found out it means “hook” in Germany?

Yeah…

Hen:
Yeah. And it’s a Norwegian king. So it kinda worked out alright!

Tom:
And “knitting” in Dutch or something.

Hen:
We do love knitting, so it kinda worked alright out in the end.

You’re just working on your second album. How is that coming along?

Hen:
It’s very intense. For the last month it’s been non-stop, really. I would be working, coming home, recording the parts. And literally the day before we left to come here, we were recording right until the last minute. So it’s been very intense, but we’re almost there now. We got two more days or so left and it’s sounding pretty good, I think.

Tom:
There’s only the guitar solos left, I think, which we can record at a later time anyway. That’ll be fine.

After the CD is in stores, right? (Tom laughs) I think it was Allan Holdsworth who supposedly once heard one of his recordings and wanted to re-do one of his solos, but all the producer could tell him was “It’s already in stores, Allan!” Anyway, do you have a tentative release date yet?

Hen:
Hopefully mid-October. We’re playing ProgPower USA in September, so we’re gonna sell some copies there ahead of the release and we’re planning to release it right around the 15th of October.

Tom:
Also, we’ll bring some copies to Generation Prog in Nürnberg the week after. Well, I hope we’ll have some spare copies. We tend to only bring about 10 CDs to every show, so…

Hen:
Yeah, I think we brought about 200 less than we should’ve to this show ’cause we sold out within five minutes, I think…

You had a full album’s worth of demos before your first officially released CD. With Aquarius being a concept disc, obviously it all had to hang together. But did you get to revisit any of the demo stuff for the new disc or …?

Hen:
No, it’s all completely fresh, actually. We decided to write in one bulk so the songs linked together.

So it’s a concept disc again?

Tom:
(nods) Another big, overblown concept disc. Even more epic than the last one!

Hen:
We are still unsure about the concept, you’d have to speak to Ross. I still don’t even understand the Aquarius concept. (laughs)

Tom:
Yeah, we haven’t been briefed on that!

Hen:
I’m pretty sure it’s loosely based around dreams. You’ll have to wait and see. Read the lyrics and you’ll understand, hopefully.

Tom:
Good answer!

The new songs you played today were quite similar in style to the debut, but I don’t think there was any growling in them. Did you do away with that or is it still something that …?

Hen:
I don’t think it’s a conscious effort to get rid of the growling. More that that the sections in the new songs didn’t need growling. We haven’t actually got any growling on the album, but that’s not because we made that conscious effort. We didn’t feel the need for it, whereas with Aquarius some of the themes were a little bit darker in certain areas of the album, so…

You have several members who are or were quite active in other bands, sometimes even as leaders. How does the writing process in Haken work with so many composers in the band?

Tom:
It generally starts with Hen’s basic frameworks for songs. But this time around, although Hen is still very much the principal composer, there’s been a lot more… group editing, shall we say…

Hen:
Yeah, there’s a couple of songs where it’s been more a collaborative effort. One being Insomnia, being the main one where we had an idea for a song, but now, if you listen to it, it truly transformed into something new.

Much worse, obviously…

Hen:
(laughs) Obviously!

Everyone is happy with the song except for the guy who wrote it originally…

Tom:
(pats Hen on the back) He’s gotta compromise on one song!

Hen:
Yeah! So there’s a couple of songs which are collaborative, but obviously it’s the same idea where we bring the basic framework to the jams and everyone adds their own spice to it.

So Tom, for someone who’s a guitarist you play bass quite well! (laughs)

Tom:
Well, sometimes… Today I could hardly remember where I should put my fingers…

So which one was your first instrument, really?

Tom:
Certainly guitar. Bass I took on as a matter of principle after becoming tired with the lack of good bassists in our town. I figured, if someone’s gotta do it, it might as well be me. And my ego wouldn’t have been able to handle it had they found someone else to play bass. I had to step up to the mark. But I’ve been working on it since Aquarius… Whereas, I gotta confess, I was a little fresh to the bass, but I’ve been working a lot harder on my bass chops this time around.

So it’s not an oversimplification to say that you started playing bass for Haken?

Tom:
Yeah.

Haken’s music is very layered and very complex, so when you play live – and even in the studio – you have two guys playing keys, two guys playing guitar. Doesn’t the bassist get a bit lonely sometimes?

Tom:
Lonely? I’m still suffering a bit from bassist inferiority complex, but I’m coming to terms with it. I mean, that’s partly why for Aquarius I decided to get a fretless ’cause I thought if I just got a standard bass, no one’s going to notice it. (laughs) So yeah: Ego, I’m afraid. But this time there’s a lot more six-string bass, fretted bass on the new album. A bit of slap, a bit more tapping. A bit more bass bass. Bass for bassists.

Hen:
There’s definitely a lot more space in certain sections of the album for Tom to lay down some cool grooves.

Hen, you also play two instruments, in your case keys and guitar. Since you’re also a keyboardist in To-Mera, is this your main instrument or did the guitar come first?

Hen:
I was about 7 when I started playing piano and I picked up the guitar when I was 12, so I’ll say I’m pretty more comfortable on the piano and the keyboards. So yeah, it’s my first instrument.

How does your approach to keyboard playing differ between the two bands?

Hen:
I think a lot of time in Haken I take a step back and Diego takes the lead keyboard role, but in To-Mera I’m the sole keyboardist, so I take more of a lead role. And it’s a different style of music, really – it’s more jazz-influenced. So I guess, naturally my playing style is going to be different.

Tom:
He gets to shred more on the keyboards instead of the guitar.

This makes for a perfect segue into the next section of our interview: I am here with Richard Henshall and Tom MacLean – not of Haken, but of To-Mera, for once!

Hen:
It’s been a long time!

Let’s start with a really creative, original question – what does the band name actually mean?

Tom:
Apparently, this is what I’ve been briefed to say, it’s based on the original name that the ancient Egyptians gave to their kingdom which was founded on the belief that science and magic should coexist in founding a civilization. Or something like that, apparently.

You have all of that memorized, right?

Hen:
I’ve never heard that one before! (laughs)

Tom:
That was the original one. It’s changed down the years.

What I think is quite apparent is that compared to most female-fronted metal bands, To-Mera have a very uncommercial style. Was this a deliberate decision or did it just come naturally for you guys?

Tom:
Well, if by “uncommercial” you mean failure to sell CDs, then yes, you’re probably right. (laughs)

I mean, the music is a lot less accessible than bands like Nightwish or Epica.

Tom:
When the band started originally, it was kinda supposed to be quite an avant-garde kind of thing. It was actually founded by Lee Barrett, who’s no longer involved, but he was the label manager for Elitist Records and they signed a lot of very extreme technical, out-there avant-garde bands. I met him and Julie through a random coincidence, but I happened to know both of them through their individual backgrounds. Julie had just left her previous band and wanted to form a new band, Lee wanted to form a technical metal band, we all just get together and wrote riffs on a laptop and produced some songs. I don’t know if there was any deliberate intention to be inaccessible.

It doesn’t have to be a negative thing, it can make you stand out from the pack in a way…

Tom:
It has pros and cons, because we did want to try to be an original and technical female-fronted metal band. But it does create problems when the bulk of the audience and the media are kind of looking for the next Nightwish and Within Temptation. So the bands we tend to play with quite vary. Something we just play with goth bands and it’s a bit odd, because we take whatever comes, really.

You parted ways with Candlelight Records after two albums and released your next EP independently. How did that work out for you?

Tom:
It was a steep learning curve, really, because in some ways we got signed so quickly, we didn’t even know where we were or what we were doing. We were kinda mothered by this label, who at the same time were very distant and hands-off, and we weren’t really sure what we were supposed to be doing. And we reached a point where we realized they weren’t really that interested in the direction we were taking. They basically expressed disappointment that we wouldn’t pursue a more commercial vein. We thought “This is not gonna happen”. So we did the EP in the space of about a week a couple of years ago, put it out there on our own, and it was obviously a lot different from when you’ve got a label pushing things. Suddenly we were there without any muscle, but it’s kinda seeped through gradually.

Are you going to try to hook up with a different label for the next album?

Tom:
We got a few ideas and I think the main thing is to actually have a product that we’re all gonna be happy with and agree on and kind of take it from there. Rather than try to find a label first, which in this day and age without a product in the first place is not very likely, we’re just gonna try to put something together and see if it’s worth marketing.

Are you already working on new material these days?

Tom:
For the last couple of months everything’s kinda been on standby ’cause we’ve been finishing off the Haken record, but there’s plenty of stuff to work on when we get back to it. So yeah, there will be plenty of new stuff.

I thought the EP was quite different stylistically from the previous albums. What kind of further development can we expect?

Hen:
Well, Tom has written a lot of the ideas already. We’ve had a couple of rehearsals about four months ago or so and I’d say the songs are flowing very nicely and if anything, it’s taken a softer approach to the music. But you still have the hardcore riffs and the jazz harmony, so it’s still in the same vein.

Tom:
It’s gonna be recognizably the same band, but I think there might be a few more hat tips to the earlier style as well, the darker stuff, eventually. But we still got time to flesh that out.

Hen, as the new guy in the band, which of the old To-Mera tracks is your favorite to play?

Hen:
Well, I love Delusions. I’ll say Hourglass for me, it seems to have a great energy, it’s a really good crowd pleaser. But the whole album is really fun (Tom pats Hen on the back).

Did you incorporate another guitarist into the To-Mera live sound now that you’re in the band? Do you play both instruments on stage?

Hen:
We’ve tried it once, didn’t we? We did a cover of…

Tom:
Queensryche… (laughs)

Hen:
Yeah! I kinda messed that one up a bit. “Is this my spot?” And I missed my solo, so that didn’t really work out too well. But who knows, in the future…

Tom:
I think there’s scope for it, we just have to work out how to bring it in. We still got the same musicians that we had for the Earthbound EP, we’ve gotta consider how to make our sound continuous between the all the different albums whilst trying to bring in new things at the same time. Hopefully, Hen will be doing some guitar work, but not making me look like an amateur. (laughs)

Hen:
That’s never going to happen!

Tom:
We’ll just cut out some of his notes. (laughs)

Hen:
And then we’ll put them on your solo! (laughs)

To-Mera has been around for six years and in other countries you’ve already opened for bands like Dream Theater, Emperor and Pain of Salvation, but you’ve never played in Germany. How did that happen?

Tom:
It was funny, really. When Transcendental came out, the German press completely trashed it, to be frank. Basically, I remember the first Metal Hammer Germany review we got and I think it was a one-line review and it went something along the lines of “Where are the choruses? 1 out of 10” or so. We didn’t get off to a good start with the German crowd, unfortunately. I think over time our music might have become more pleasing to the German ear, but unfortunately everyone was looking elsewhere…

Now to my favorite question: You’ve put out three CDs and you’ve had three member changes. Who’s next?

Hen:
(laughs)

Tom:
Probably me…

Hen:
Me, man. I’m out!

Tom:
It’s a good question. (laughs) No, seriously, I’m not gonna give you the answer you expect that I’m gonna give. We’ve kind of been thinking slyly that we’re gonna incorporate a lot more guest musicians on this next thing. Because so far the basic sketches we’ve got down are quite diverse and in some ways would benefit from having a mixture of different people whilst retaining the same core band, getting a mixture of auxiliary musicians to kind of add to it.

What kind of instruments are you thinking of?

Tom:
Well, I mean anything from something as conventional as a piano to things like ethnic instruments and percussion.

Some jazz instruments like saxophone…?

Tom:
Possibly. We’ve done the saxophone thing once before. We had a few guest musicians on Delusions, it made it quite quirky in places. I think that’s something we’d like to try. I’m not saying we’ll turn into some Ayreon project or something, just flesh out this… This comes from having been so heavily involved in Haken for so long where everything is so multi-multi-multi-layered. I mean, the average track has about a hundred different instruments on it or something. You realize there’s a lot more scope for additional parts and such. So we’re probably going to use some extra singers. Julie has some talented female singer friends who may well feature… I mean, we haven’t thought as far ahead as actually doing it live yet, but in terms of recording we are thinking about adding some extra singers and whatnot. I can’t say who they are yet, but some of them are quite well-known.

OK, to finish this off, name one somewhat recent CD that everyone should hear!

Tom:
I’m just gonna have to say Jasmine by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden, ’cause it’s a very beautiful album of jazz ballads. Just piano and bass, acoustic bass.

Hen:
I recently discovered a new band, they’re called Shaolin Death Squad. I really like them. It’s kind of like a mix between Mr. Bungle and Pain of Salvation. And what I like is the album Five Deadly Venoms, so check that one out, it’s a really good album!

About the author: Michael Schetter plays bass in the instrumental prog fusion project Relocator whose debut CD featured former Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian as a special guest. Michael is also the organizer of the Generation Prog Festival and concert series.

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