Sonic Perspectives

Summer is here at last, and if you’re looking for the perfect soundtrack to celebrate the season, look no further: BPMD is here to provide you with the ultimate collection of American party anthems, with a killer track-list modernized for younger ears. The band is of course, the amalgamation of talents such as Bobby Blitz (vocals, Overkill), Phil Demmel (guitars, ex-Machine Head, Vio-lence), Mike Portnoy (drums, Sons of Apollo, The Winery Dogs) and Mark Menghi (bass, Metal Allegiance).

BPMD set out to do a covers album of songs from the 70’s, released by American bands. Each of the members chose two songs, and two songs were chosen collectively. The tracks here, while far from obvious, present an unequivocal portrait of American hard rock in the 70’s. Versions of classics from Aerosmith, Van Halen and ZZ Top are accompanied by deep cuts from Mountain, Blue Oyster Cult and James Gang.

Covering such distinctive songs has its share of risks: you want to be innovative, but also honor the original vision the writers had for the material. Collaborator Rodrigo Altaf caught up with bassist Mark Menghi to discuss how the band approached these songs, how the idea of putting together this project came about, and much more. Read their chat below, and remember that for more interviews and other daily content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

Let’s talk about BPMD which is you, Bobby from OVERKILL, Phil Demmel from VIO-LENCE, and Mike Portnoy on drums. “American Made” was released a few weeks ago and I’ve been hearing so much great stuff about it. Tell us what the reception to it has been so far.

I’m shocked, actually, to be honest with you. When you’re doing cover records you either love it or you hate it. And it’s still the case, but I think this record came out at just the right time with everything going on .I think people needed an escape, just some good feels good tunes. Just kind of re-imagined, and again, I just think it’s timing. The reviews and the response has been absolutely positively overwhelming, which has been great.

I spoke with Mike last December. Back then and he was promoting the new SONS OF APOLLO album, which is another one of his 85 or 83 different bands. Up to that point the project was called “Made in America” and then it was changed to “American Made.” Can you tell us what motivated that change?

“American Made” is a term Bobby came up with on our first phone conversation where I kind of had that idea of covering ‘Saturday Night Special’ and he coined it. He’s like ‘it’s gotta be seventies. It’s gotta be American Made,’ just kinda off the cuff. I was like ‘oh wow. That’s a great name. That’s a great name.’ And it just stuck. I didn’t know, Made in America existed, in my mind it was always “American Made.”

I understand that your son actually suggested that you recorded a heavy version of a “Saturday Night Special” and that’s that led you guys to form the band. What was his reaction when you told him ‘hey, remember your suggestion? This is it. This is what became of why you suggested me at that day?’

He was involved every step of the way, through when I was recording my bass. He loved it, you know? And my oldest son too, they love it. They actually like it better than METAL ALLEGIANCE

From what I heard, you guys didn’t even need to think too much when it came to choosing the songs, it was almost unanimous?

It was pretty easy. We each got to pick two, where they had to be released in America in 1970s and by an all American band. And as long as you stick to those guidelines, have fun and you can’t argue the other people’s choices. So if I picked two, they had to do them just like I had to do theirs, because there was no arguing that this is what it is. And then we get two community picks and everyone loved everyone’s choices. It was pretty seamless.

I saw an interview with Bobby that used a very interesting choice of words when comparing covers versus writing new songs, presentation versus creation. What are your thoughts on these two different types of endeavors?

METAL ALLEGIANCE I could create whatever I want, and I wrote it and I could spin it any way I want. No one will ever know because it’s creativity. But when you’re covering something as classic as these, bands better present it correctly, or better present it with a good overall perspective towards it. Presentation versus the creativity is much different, and in some aspects it’s harder.

A lot of people seem to dismiss covers album thinking it’s an easy way out, but I think they take for granted how difficult it is to give an original spin just song without losing its identity. It’s a hard thing to achieve.

It definitely is. Again, it comes down to creativity. It comes down to how you’re perceiving the songs. It’s very important on how one perceives a song because they can’t stink, they just can’t.

Going a little bit more in details on the songs, the album kicks off with “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” where Bobby states the intention of the album right off the bat. You know exactly what you’re getting yourself into with that intro.

It’s a live intro that Nugent cut on the “Double Live Gonzo!” album. We were listening to that in the studio when we all got together to arrange and Portnoy’s like ‘God, we’ve got to do something like this just for fun.’ And we didn’t know, we had no idea what Bobby was going to do when he went to cut his vocals. And when he delivered that we were like, yeah, done. Leave it.

That’s a nice stage for sure, makes it your own. And one of the expected effects of this album is to present these songs to a younger audience. As someone who wasn’t born and raised in North America, there’s also something new for me as well. I’ve been a metal-head since at least 1984. I didn’t know “Tattoo Vampire” or “Never in my Life,” for example.

We’ve been finding a lot of people don’t know Cactus. I myself never heard the song “Tattoo Vampire” before in my life until Phil suggested it. So that was one of the songs where I kind of had to scratch my head and go ‘oh, I got it. This is going to be interesting.’

There are bands, for example Cactus like you said, we heard the names of but we never stopped to listen to the songs on their album. They were not accessible to me in South America. It’s great that I get to experience them now and discovered them through BPMD. So thank you for that.

It’s amazing how much press we’ve done where a lot of these bands people never heard of – James Gang, they never heard of “Walk Away.”

One of the most familiar songs is “Toys in the Attic,” which you chose to release as a single – Phil goes to town on the solo. I like how on the videos for this album you guys use that animation, which is kind of like the Thunderbirds a little bit. Who was behind that concept?

It was basically South Park meets Tim Burton. We were supposed to film a video together for that live altogether in the first weekend in April, I think it was. And then that’s when everything just started getting crazy with corona. Everything started getting shut down, etcetera. So we had to alter everything, and hence the video you see for “Toys.” The director we hired to do the “Toys” video came up with that concept: it’s a great concept and we just let them go. I was like, ‘do your thing, man. You have the vision for it and have fun.’ And that’s what he delivered.

I also really liked the spoof you guys did on the Van Halen album cover, the “Women and Children First” one. Not a seventies album, but a very cool idea nonetheless.

Well, if you look at my Portnoy‘s shirt and the photo, that’s what we’re wearing. He’s wearing that shirt.

Whose idea was it?

It was the photographer, he saw Portnoy‘s shirt. And he said, ‘why don’t you guys do that?’ And we said ‘sure, why not.’

Tell me about the approach with “D.O.A,” which is a second that song that Phil chose, and where Bobby goes crazy with those screams.

That particular song was ‘you sure you want to cover Van Halen on record? Not a lot of people do that.’  And Phil, was like ‘I’m doing it.’ I respect it, we all obviously respect his decision. And it’s how we would do it. That’s what you’re hearing.

I like how Bobby goes crazy with those screams, but he doesn’t try to imitate Dave because there’s only one Dave. He makes it his own.

Definitely there’s only one Dave for sure.

I understand that Phil was kind of in need of a boost after the whole situation he went through with Machine Head and reforming Vio-lence. So that’s kind of an energy boost for him making this project.

He was very quiet about those facts when we were tracking and recording and getting everything together. I didn’t know that until later on. And I talked to him about it. I was like, ‘dude, you don’t need a booster, you’re killer. What you do is amazing.’ When we were getting all this together we never thought we can’t not have Phil, he’s an awesome dude, awesome player. And I’m glad he was able to fulfill something from this record.

When it came to putting together the band, those are the the three guys you thought about first, right? There was no other choice or nobody that said no.

Yeah, it was me and Bobby on the phone just kind of spit balling and Mike‘s name and Phil‘s name came up and I said ‘I’m sure they’ll do it.’ We all have a chemistry with Metal Allegiance, and we asked them, they said yes. And here we are.

By any chance, have you heard any feedback from the authors of the original versions yet?

Yeah, of course. Nugent, Billy Gibbons, Corky from Mountain, a bunch of Michael Anthony. They all love it, which is pretty crazy. That was unexpected to hear some, to read what they had to say about it. Because again, it’s their work, it’s something they had written and it’s ingrained in people’s minds. So for them to even acknowledge it and then write something about it, it was pretty humbling.

Tell me about your second choice, “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers,” which is a great song to jam too as well. You can’t go wrong with ZZ Top!

Well, that’s why I picked it, because it’s a great song to jam too. It was ‘what can we do, how can we jam on record and how could we transform this into almost like a jam band, if you will – what, what song would lead us to do that?’ And I knew I wanted to do a ZZ Top song, it was just a matter of which one. I was listening to “Tres Hombres” and “Beer Drinkers” came on. I was like, this is perfect. It’s wide open – we keep the arrangement and it’ll allow us to have some fun.

The end of the album, I think it’s one of the group choices. It’s almost like a statement of what the band represents with “We’re an American Band,” am I correct?

Yeah. That was Blitz. He’s like ‘we have got to do this’ and we all agreed. Even though it was a community choice, I was like ‘yeah, definitely.’ And it’s funny – before then we had no idea Rob Zombie covered that song. Again, all the choices we picked were just based on our love for that music and those songs, it wasn’t for any particular reason, but to pay tribute to these guys.

So what would be the next step for BPMD? I heard that this was planned as a three album deal. Is that the case?

We’ll see. I’ll never say never. It depends on what’s cooking, what everyone’s got going on. We’d very much like to do more that’s for sure. But again, it all depends on timing. Obviously the way the world is right now, it’s hard to get together and this record was made together. It wasn’t made as an internet record or a quarantine record, like everyone’s doing, it was done in room, in the studio. That’s why it has that live feel to it, because we were together.

Do you think the next step will be to represent another decade of Americana or go somewhere else geographically, like UK Made?

That’s what we’re talking about. UK in the seventies and Europe in the seventies, American Made Volume II. I mean, there’s so much we can do, it’s just a matter of doing it and talking about it. We haven’t just because we just put this out this record, it’s not even a week old. We’ll let this sink into the brains and see how the world turns over and then take it from there.

Tell me the status of Metal Allegiance. Is there a chance of a third album anytime soon?

Not anytime soon, because again, I refuse to do an internet record and we’re scattered all over the place. A METAL ALLEGIANCE album is a global thing, so it’s stressful to get the right timing and be able to being able to get into it into a room together. It’s most certainly not dead. We have all intentions in the world of doing a third record. It’s just a matter of when.

One thing that people always question is there any sort of chance of METAL ALLEGIANCE becoming more of a permanent thing? You guys do shows often, but it’s not like a tour – it’s one off shows and then it stops, right?

The problem is schedules. Alex with your Testament, Portnoy like you said, 85 bands. Everyone’s busy. We would love to do tour tours and there’ve been many times we wanted to go down to South America and we booked it and we put the time aside to do it. But unfortunately with promoters and whatnot it just always fell through. So we’ve tried to get out and do it. It’s just a matter of the promoters and timing. That’s basically what it comes down to

What else have you done or planning to do in the future?

I’m a wild card, man. Everything I do is pretty spontaneous, and METAL ALLEGIANCE came about because of, it was very spontaneous. BPMD came over listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd in my backyard. I mean, it doesn’t get more spontaneous than that. I’m concentrating on BPMD right now. Alex Skolnick and I started trading demos back and forth and he lives local to me. So at least we’re able to get together him and I, and we’ll see what happens. We’ll see where it goes.

Going back to BPMD, given the opportunities, is there a chance or even a drive to present the songs in a live setting?

We were supposed to be playing right now. That’s why we booked the June 12th release date, to support that around festival season and whatnot. And we were supposed to be out there and unfortunately, all those plans got scrapped away.

The post BPMD / METAL ALLEGIANCE Bassist Mark Menghi Talks Debut Album: “It Was Done In the Studio. That’s Why It Has That Live Feel To It, We Were Together” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

The debut release of super-duo Marco Minnemann and Randy McStine offers a densely crafted, hard-hitting album which takes listeners through a range of unexpected directions. When not recording and touring with his main band The Aristocrats or on solo albums, Minnemann is one of the most in-demand drummers in the rock, prog-rock and metal world. Likewise, McStine has been featured as a guest on a wide number of projects but now increasingly has been focusing on his own career, as featured on his excellent 2019 release “Idle”. This new collaboration finds both musicians in excellent form and enjoying a synchronicity that is fun and musically satisfying.

The duo initially met in 2018 while working with other artists, but as they discovered their shared passion for an assortment of Rock, Pop, and Punk artists, they decided to embark on a collaborative project together. Although McStine and Minnemann initially set out to record an EP, they quickly shifted to making an album as their musical ideas and chemistry flourished. 

Their self-titled debut, “McStine & Minnemann”, is a high-energy collection of ten compact, yet expansive Rock songs that sit well next to the likes of XTC, Mr. Bungle, The Knack, Queen, and Frank Zappa. As both men are prolific multi-instrumentalists and writers, they have created a space for each other to showcase their incomparable instrumental talents, while infusing them with an incredible mix of melodic and lyrical depth. You can read our extensive review of the album here.

In this interview, Sonic Perspectives correspondent Scott Medina delves into the songwriting on their album, the origins and depth of their collaboration, and a wealth of background from both musicians about their other past projects, including Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett, The Fringe and much more. For more interviews and other daily content, make sure to follow Sonic Perspectives on Facebook, Flipboard and Twitter and  subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

Slideshow photographs by Norrsken Photography and Design

Hey everyone, welcome to Sonic Perspectives. This is Scott Medina and today we get to talk with Randy McStine and Marco Minnemann with a new duo called…yes, you guessed it: McStine Minnemann. Hey, you guys, welcome!

Hello hello!

Hey, thanks for having us.

We wanted to get a sneak peek of what you’ve got coming with your debut release. I’m sure people are going to want to know right off the bat why you two decided to work together and how the album came about?

Marco and I met during some preparation for live shows with the band In Continuum and that was in the fall of 2018. We got to spend quite a bit of time together. It was just a week, but because we were in one location doing these rehearsals and then we had a travel show to Chicago after that, so we had a lot of time to just kind of hang out and talk about music. Moreover, we really found that we had a lot of common influences, in particular outside of progressive rock. That was a conversation that we would carry on well after that through text messages and Marco and I would send pictures of vinyl record sleeves that we were listening to and really got a sense of where we were coming from musically before we even talked about doing anything together. It was just kind of fun to chat music with somebody. Then from there I had a song called “Bottom Feeder Blues” that I thought would be great to have Marco play on. Then he sent me a solo song of his called “Blessed” from his “My Sister” album. So that kind of opened up the door to seeing how each other composes music on our own and just where we’re pulling from there. Therefore, to me it seemed like a logical next step to kind of see what it would be like to collaborate on something together. So, I also sent him a message about it and said, “Hey, look, you know, I think we’ve got a good vibe going and maybe we can do an EP…start small”. I’ll pick a few songs and you pick a few songs and we’ll see what happens. And that was really the start of it I guess about a year after we initially met. Therefore, we really kind of broke ground on this project in October of 2019.

Yeah, exactly. And it really felt very organic, the way we started kind of working. I remember when we sent the songs to each other, everything that came back was like completely in our best interest. And also like, you know, things when we started collaborating. With my band The Aristocrats, we usually kind of just write complete songs and then bring it to the band. And the songs are completely produced and we just have the band members play them. With us, it was a little bit like that…we would send finished songs, but we would also kind of extend them or put our own topics on top of it. And everything that came back from Randy to my songs – and hopefully also vice versa – felt really, really, really organic and felt like we had a very good duo thing going there.

So there was collaboration on it then?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So would you say, Okay, this is a song that Randy introduced and in final form it’s maybe 80% Randy and 20% Marco or something like that?

Well, I wouldn’t say it really in a percentage, you know, some stuff more, some stuff less. Obviously songs like “Program” or like “Catrina”, they were already pretty much set. However, there are certain things where I put some keyboard parts on top or some additional guitars. Then there are some true collaborations, like the song “The Closer” where literally I wrote the chorus and Randy wrote the rest around it. So, these things happen, too.

Nice. So, I’m looking at the track listing to get a sense here. Marco, which songs did you come in with initially?

I think the first song that I brought in was “Falling From Grace”, which actually Randy then really extended with some vocal lines that he came up with.I brought in “Catrina”, I brought in “Tear the Walls Down” and “Voyager” and the one bit for “The Closer”. I think that’s right. Am I missing something?

Yeah, yeah. That’s right on.

And how about the actual performance on it? Who’s playing what? Maybe all of our listeners don’t realize that Marco doesn’t just sit on a drum kit and can really play just about anything, too. So, I figure anything is possible with the two of you guys in the studio.

Yeah, well I would say it’s very democratically split. There is a core to this record, which is of course Marco on drums and I would say the next sort of essential pieces are my voice and the fact that I play bass on the whole record. So, there’s a cohesion in terms of a consistent rhythm section feel for each song. Obviously, I’m mostly known as a guitar player and singer. And while my guitar playing is all over the record, Marco plays a lot of guitar on this record as well. In particular, on his compositions like “Voyager”, he basically plays all the guitars on that song with the exception of a couple of key little bits that I added towards the end of the composition. On “Tear the Walls Down” it’s kind of the same thing. He’s doing all the guitars with the exception of this slide solo that I bring in at the end. So, like I said earlier, getting a sense of Marco‘s musicianship through his own music and seeing how diverse his palette is, I was totally open to – not only for my songs but for his songs – to just let him do stuff as well. I’m not gonna speak for him, but I know speaking for myself, I love anytime I get a chance to express myself on another instrument that isn’t the main one that I’m known for.

Yeah, it’s great. It kind of keeps things a little bit fresh and also takes you on a cool journey to do that. Also, we had one moment, the song “The Closer”, where for the very first time I had an opportunity for me to see something performed by Randy and Harry Waters on the piano, it was a song that I was part of composing and I was not part of the song playing-wise at all. So that was actually very, very cool to watch that for once to see like, Hey, I wonder what happens when I’m not involved. So, that track is where I just literally have a writing credit.

I was wondering about that one today as I was listening to it, if you played anything on it. But it’s good to know that you had that writing credit in there, too.

Yes, it’s interesting how that works sometimes. Haha!

So even though you guys are both so versatile, why didn’t you choose to bring in a bassist or other musicians to the band? Why did you just keep it as a duo? I was thinking about that especially when listening to a song like “Catrina” where if you brought in an additional bassist that would maybe take it into even different places.

Well first of all it’s more money for us if it’s only the two of us! Just kidding!

[laughing] Ah, the truth comes out!

No, I guess that was really the concept that we just wanted to do literally a duo album because since we’re both multi-instrumentalists and also on our solo albums, we play most of their instruments ourselves. So for some reason it didn’t occur to us while we were in the writing process and recording process to bring anyone else in. Obviously, that question will now arise when we want to do live gigs. That is a different sort of thing. But I guess it was just good for us to see how we would collaborate, just the two of us in the first place, just to kind of see where it’s going. In addition, it did go somewhere. So, that was the nice thing.

From my perspective, we had talked about, maybe once or twice, what it might be like to bring in fill-in-the-blank person to do something. But, I was also committed to the idea of just doing it as a duo. I mean there’s a lot of different territories you can go into with this. I mean, one is the fact that I mentioned a little bit earlier that frankly, it’s just fun to be able to experiment in a studio environment and frankly not even have to think about the live aspect of it. Because I tend to view those two things very separately. And given that we already were establishing  this chemistry together, I didn’t really see a need to add any more cooks to the kitchen, really. And like Marco said, just having the two of us…the thing is whatever happens next for us, whether it’s live or in another studio situation, the fact that we’ve established what the two of us can do on our own means something. It’s always easier to expand than it is to subtract. If we had come out of the gate with some five or six piece all-star band or something, well now we’re setting ourselves up for kind of unrealistic expectations with people’s schedules or all that kind of stuff. That’s a whole other thing. These things kind of all run through my mind when making these kinds of decisions.

Well that certainly makes sense. You don’t want to get into another The Sea Within position, I guess. Right, Marco?

[laughs] Haha, Well, The Sea Within, that was very interesting. I wouldn’t say it was really a too many cooks in the kitchen thing, but you need sort of a hub, somebody who is in control or to get things out there. So for example, when I did the thing with Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess, I did two albums with them, we really needed the guy from the record company to keep this whole thing together and keeping the log book. And this is where it kind of starts to get like a little difficult or frustrating and you have like two guys in the band who don’t get along and some one likes this on the song, and the other one would like to replace it and then all of a sudden you have this cluster f**k of people trying to make an album. You need someone to control it a little bit like that. In a duo, that doesn’t really exist. We can just kind of comfortably bounce the ball forth and back and be happy with the result.

I was even thinking just from scheduling perspective. I’ve talked to Roine a couple of times and he’s always like, Yeah, I don’t know when we could do another album with everyone’s schedules. 

I know! Yeah, we just talked about this in fact, just like a few days ago. Roine and I, we actually do think about maybe doing another album at some point, we’re kind of planning on it, but it won’t be until next year or maybe even 2022 because I would personally really like to focus on this release that we’re having here right now, because otherwise it’s overwhelming for the audience and it doesn’t really make sense to confuse people. I think we have a good product out and so I kind of like to explore this territory.

Well, in terms of the cooks in the kitchen thing, you know, some bands or albums have diversity every other song, but you guys have a new direction every 20 seconds or so of each song.

[laughing, jokes] I thought this was more like a commercial album, even! 

Like “Falling From Grace”, it’s like strap on your seat-belt because you’re going on a ride.

Oh yeah, that’s a weird track. Yeah, I’m responsible for the quirky, weird ones. And Randy‘s the one who wrote the hits. [laughs]

I’m getting that! Well, I like the old school approach of having the short songs and the total running time of only 35 minutes.

That was a completely conscious decision. I guess I’ll let Randy take that, actually. 

Well yeah, that is something that we talked about and the idea that we started with this thing of saying, well let’s try an EP. And so to us that meant we’ll do six songs, you know, basically three songs a piece. And then as we got going, we figured, well let’s just expand it to 10. We’re both pretty  active writers and had a really good flow sending ideas back and forth. So we brought it to 10 and I think we probably had a conversation or two about whether or not the album should be longer. But then what we ultimately decided, we were talking about things like the early Van Halen records and stuff. About how they all sit in this 31 to 35 minute window. There’s audio reasons for that we don’t have to get into. But just as a concept, this idea of making a statement and kind of moving on and leave them wanting more type of thing. I think to what you pointed out, Scott, like the songs are compact, but they are very dense musically speaking. And, there’s a lot of detail in the songs and I didn’t personally want to have it feel fatiguing after a while. I feel like we said what we needed to say in that amount of time and there’s a lot to absorb whether the thing is 35 minutes or 78 minutes. We definitely didn’t want to just overwhelm people and have them get bored midway through.

Yeah, it’s a cool thing to have a precise record out there.  And we felt that it was just the right amount of songs and it feels compact, yet kind of entertaining. And also the energy is pretty much throughout the entire record always up. There’s a lot of information, but also when you listen to the songs, it’s a pretty aggressive album. It’s actually pretty heavy. You know, it has almost like some punk elements in there like some pop rock punk elements except for “The Closer”. It’s the right idea, you know, the right way to kind of release it in a sort of kind of a vinyl single LP format, length wise.

Yeah. It’s very remarkable how active, energetic and heavy that it is. Even even “Fly”, which is at a slower tempo, it’s still so sinister.

Yeah! That’s a cool track, yeah.

So Randy, one of the things I love the most is a great McStein guitar solo, but you didn’t even leave room in this album for too many of those. How do you make that decision when to throw in a guitar solo or not?

I guess for me it always comes down to the composition, even going back to the first album I did under the name “Lo-Fi Resistance”. When I was growing up, I was totally like an instrumental geek and I played Jeff Beck tunes and all that kind of stuff all through my teens and I still love a lot of that stuff, especially Jeff, he’s one of my heroes. But the truth of the matter is that when I made that shift to writing songs with lyrics and melodies and that kind of stuff, I found myself really just more at the the mercy of the song and feeling like, well, what does the song need? And sometimes, you know, I will find myself trying to put a guitar solo into something and it just didn’t do it for me. So I tend to come down more on the side of a very well placed, hopefully memorable solo, even at 10 seconds or 15 seconds. Something that has melody or a certain feel. I’m really proud of the solos that are on the record because they’re all coming from a different place. They’re short and to the point. But there’s a lot of nuance and there’s a lot of aggression in some of these solos. And frankly, I’m doing some things on this record that I’ve only hinted at in the past. And I’m also just really into layering of guitars. You know, people like Bill Nelson and Brian May and those types of players that really tuck in a lot of detail into stuff. So, I mean, depending on where you’re coming from when you’re listening to this record, there’s so many things that are guitar tracks that will probably go by people thinking that they’re keyboards or they just don’t really notice what’s happening. But, Trevor Rabin is another name that came to mind, you know, a huge influence as well. So, I’m into using the guitar as a song writer, as an orchestrator, as an arranger, more so than as an opportunity to just say like, you know, look what I can do.

Right. We’ll play the track “Your Offenses” at the end. And that’s a good example of the kind of guitar soloing that you seem to be aiming for on this album.

Yeah, absolutely.

So in addition to the musical statement you guys are making, is there a lyrical statement that you’re looking to make with this collaboration?

I think we weren’t focusing on the lyrics to kind of take it to a certain concept album direction. I guess it was clearly more musically aimed. Also, when Randy and I talked just internally about the songs and the messages, it’s mainly about the music, even though obviously the lyrics are hopefully meaningful and also be understood, but we were not aiming at a certain topic.

For me, I tend to let the music dictate what I write. It’s very rare that I write lyrics first, then followed by the music. An example though where that happened was actually the song “The Closer”, where I had the words first and then kind of sat down at the piano and tried to bang something out. So yeah, I tend to let the music kind of dictate where it goes. And for me, a lot of times lyrically, it tends to be a major outlet for me to voice concerns or various feelings that I can’t get out otherwise. I think because of the nature of the approach musically and the sort of punkiness that Marco mentioned, my lyrics on this record tend to be anywhere from the word sinister, which you mentioned earlier, to, you know, sort of political and a little angsty, but I don’t feel like it’s openly preachy or anything like that. I think you can read into it what you will. I don’t tend to really think too much about it to be honest.

And was there any meaning in the samples you have in “Tear the Walls Down” of the girl on there?

Oh yeah. Interesting. Well first of all, thank you for listening to that. You know, that was just actually a fun little addition because she was just actually filming. We were actually hanging out somewhere and I did something with the recording with the audio, it was just more like a fun little game. The song has a more deeper meaning. I wanted to actually write an album which was called “Catrina”, which was aimed at the icon of the Day of the Dead celebrations. So that album was meant to be purely about death, which is kind of a really dark topic, but I wrote especially “Catrina” and “Tear the Walls Down” on that note. Strangely enough, when I brought these songs in, and then Randy writes songs like “Fly” for example, all of a sudden it was like eerily comfortable to putting the bits together and they felt almost as if they belong, there was the homogenic, for some reason.

Does that tie into the album cover of the underground subway tunnel?

Well, I work in an office with this guy, Tom Cole. He’s a great artist. He has always like a good eye and understanding for vibes and things, you know. So he did some of my album covers and that completely was Tom‘s work. And we just looked into what we really kind of liked what kind of topics, and then appointed him into the direction that we kind of felt would suit the album.

And then how do you decide when there’s only two of you…are you flipping a coin to see whose name goes first?

Oh, you mean with the band name?

Yeah, the M&M!

Well it’s worth pointing out that we basically did this whole album communication through text message. We did not once pick up the phone and have the kind of chat that we’re having now. I really get a kick out of that. So one of those conversations was about that. I knew personally that I thought it would be smart for us to just put our names on it. There’s so many projects and so many side projects and everything has a name and you kind of get lost in the shuffle. And I just thought, let’s keep it simple. Like an old school duo. We’ll just use our last names. And then there will be no question who is in the band! And so Marco was the one who said, when we were talking about what the order should be, just say it out loud and see what kind of rolls off the tongue better. And I guess through that little exercise, which takes all of 10 seconds, we decided that would be the order to put it in.

And are you guys looking at this as an ongoing collaboration or are you just waiting to see how this first EP- turned-into-an-LP is received and where future inspiration and scheduling comes from?

Well, I guess I find it very comforting to be in a duo. Obviously I write a lot of solo albums and I’m the only writer then and I have to make decisions. With The Aristocrats, it’s almost a little bit like the same. You just write the songs, you bring them in, and then you kind of play them as a band. Right now actually, this feels like a true collaboration and it feels good to have a partner in crime, so to speak. To send ideas out and waiting for Christmas that something comes back. Like all of a sudden Randy does these amazing things to the songs and ideas that I wouldn’t have come up with. And hopefully vice versa too. So, these other things I was really looking forward to and right now we’re swimming in this ocean and the water feels nice!

Yeah, yeah. I feel the same. The comment about Christmas is so true. It’s funny because for all of the gripes that a lot of people might have about this sort of age of remote collaboration – and of course now we’re in extreme circumstances where it’s really the only way to work, which is kind of an interesting twist on the whole thing – but,  I’ve made records with people in the same room and that’s great. And Marco has obviously done that a ton as well. But there’s a different sort of emotional thing that happens when you send a song to somebody and then whenever they get back to you with something, that moment of that email coming in and sort of downloading it and then putting your headphones on for the first time or something, it is a very exciting and sort of intimate feeling, you know? And that was certainly something I felt all the way through this process. And even now, I mean, you’re asking what are we going to do next? I mean, we have a lot of ideas that we’ve already sent back and forth. We probably have another album there. It’s really just a matter of keeping this sort of fire going and I think we’re really on a similar wavelength when it comes to our productivity and excitement level. So to me, it  absolutely makes sense to keep going.

In this time right now where we’re all in stay at home mode, are you two working remotely on other projects or do you actually have spaciousness that it would make sense to just jump into the next album pretty soon?

The weird thing here about the stay at home order is while I’m in Lake Elsinore here by the Lake, you know, and it’s a small town and it’s kind of weird. I’m not feeling a big change, you know, strangely enough. People are still here on the lake surfing, doing their thing and people are out and going on the mountain range or whatever and doing the outdoors activities. And when I’m not on tour, I write anyway. I sit at home and record and write songs and do my thing. The only thing that changed is that some of the Starbucks are closed! So for me it really didn’t change much. And I am writing new songs for my own albums, for The Aristocrats. And yeah, for our new McStine Minnemann album, for the next one already. I’m not done yet with this! You know what I mean? So we really enjoy exploring this. So that’s what we’re doing.

I wouldn’t imagine that either of you cares very much if this album is categorized as prog rock per se. But when it comes to the marketing side, is there a difference if you’re being released by a record label or along the channels that largely do prog rock and caters to that kind of an audience? Does that limit your exposure if it’s considered  prog rock or does it give you at least a base audience?

Oh, Marco, do you want to field this one?

The two of us have actually have a following in the prog rock world and so far, I think people expect a certain thing from us, which we actually deliver even with an album. So songs are short and precise, but I guess they have the ingredients that people in the so-called prog world, I mean, what is it anyways? How would you define prog is always the question. But so far, the people who heard the album and we send it out to prog magazines as well, were pretty delighted, it seems. But also this album opens doors to a whole kind of different category, I guess. You know, people who would listen to Public Image Limited, or Tegan and Sara or, Yes, they can all find something in this album, I believe.

So just kind of putting it solely into the prog category would be probably a mistake. And I guess also in our discography or the description of the album, different names and categories will come up.

Yeah. It was never really a deliberate conversation. Even just the songs that we brought to the table. It’s not like we really had a conversation and said we should do something that sounds like XYZ. Um, it was more so just that  the songs that I picked were kind of based on conversations that we had about bands that we like, artists that we like. So it felt like a comfortable space to pitch those ideas. And when it comes to the progressive thing, and I’ll be saying this probably till the very end, I know where my influences come from. I know where my heart lies in terms of that style of music. But genres to me are like paint colors to sort of throw around the canvas. I don’t really see the need to deliberately set out to do something specifically quote unquote “prog rock”. You know, it’s something I’ve listened to since I was a kid. It will probably always be there in some way, sometimes obvious, sometimes not so obvious. But, I do think for me I’ve been sort of hesitant to kind of plant that flag because once you start throwing that word around, expectations go all over the place and then you kind of end up in this position where you’re trying to explain what that word means to you. And that happens endlessly on message boards every day. I guess all I can say is, to me, it’s the kind of record that anybody who enjoys progressive rock should find something that they can really relate to. It’s like “rock plus” to me. I like to put everything under this kind of umbrella of “rock” and then where does it go from there? You know?

Yeah. It’s kind of funny because when I played with Adrian Belew,  we did the Adrian Belew Power Trio and I was in the band and he would always use this one line that Robert Fripp said when he was asked about his music in interviews, which is “it’s like we play intelligent rock”. [laughs]

Ah, that’s great!

I said, I think it sounds a bit pompous, but still it has something to it, doesn’t it? It’s almost like the album we just put out it has like almost like a Police “Regatta de Blanc” quality to it. Really short, precise songs with some really cool elements in it that are fun. And also for the musos.

So how do both of you decide where you’re going to put your energy next? You know, whether it’s time for an Aristocrats album or to work with The Fringe again, or The Mute Gods, or In Continuum or it’s time to do a solo album? Like, how do you even make that choice? Or is it just based on who queues up and gives you a call?

I personally let it fall from the sky. You know, I kind of think about it like, well obviously The Aristocrats, that’s my band, you know, and we have already a history and a discography and a following. So there is definitely an agenda. We do the whole thing where there’s an album coming out and we have like one and a half to two years tour and then it’s time to get the next album out. And so that’s kind of a religious agenda pretty much. With what’s happening here right now, we’re just debuting our album, which is fantastic. The vibes are amazing. I choose personally what to prioritize in how much fun I have with the production and how fruitful it is. So I’d like to concentrate on these things. And yeah, if The Mute Gods are coming along, that is kind of really an easy and fun production as well because Nick Beggs is just such a nice guy, one of my dearest friends. And when we work on these albums, it is just always very, very enjoyable. That is not planned actually until, I guess next year or something. We just had like an album in early 2019. And then there’s like the studio jobs where somebody just sends you something and you make time and play it. And those productions, they don’t really take necessarily very long. Even like the stuff with Steven Wilson, for example, those productions were done in four days or five. Even though I have to say, I have to say, not to make a big detour, Steven and I had a little bit of that feeling when we did actually the album “The Raven That Refused to Sing” and “Hand.Cannot.Erase.” That was a little bit of a vibe like what Randy and I have because we were the first ones sending tracks forth and back and adding ingredients. And that was pretty much a vibe like that as well. It felt actually very joyful and very, very cool to put these songs together. So that was kind of a little bit of a similar approach, a similar feeling to it, you know. But long story short, I personally like to concentrate on the things that are fun to me and that are worth it, but then ultimately become worth exploring.

And so to take that example that you gave…it sounds like you guys have made The Aristocrats enough of a priority, was it that when you started going out with Steven and doing those couple of albums together, you told him, well, you know, this is great and Guthrie and I will do it as long as as we can, but The Aristocrats is our priority. So at some point we’re going to know head back to make those albums and tour with that trio.

Unfortunately, it was a little bit like that. I have to say “unfortunately”, because there was so much traffic going on by that time because the Steven recordings were great actually. And I brought Guthrie into the album recordings for “The Raven That Refused to Sing” and “Hand.Cannot.Erase.” And the tours were always fun. And I have to say, I really regret that we couldn’t make time to kind of get it all under one umbrella. That was kind of a little bit saddening. And this is where it sort of broke apart because Steven decided to tour exactly in the windows where The Aristocrats tour would have happened, or they would overlap. And it seemed agenda-wise that we could not really make time to make these things work around each other. It was just too much money involved and too many kinds of scheduling conflicts. And then, yes, unfortunately you will have to make a decision. Well, you know, The Aristocrats, that’s our band. And we built a following, we built a legacy. So that decision was made pretty easy. But it’s a good problem to have that you have more on the plate to pick from and to choose then having no gigs, you know what I mean? Even though sometimes it’s regrettable. Look, I have many, many times where I had great offers that I wanted to take, like Joe Zawinul, I couldn’t do it and had to refuse. Ministry, the band, you know, they asked me if I wanted to join them. Jethro Tull. And I couldn’t do all these things. And there’s many more names, you know, that would probably surprise you. Oh, I was supposed to do the whole Devin Townsend tour and that conflicted with The Aristocrats schedule as well. But we’re still in touch and, you know, something might happen. John Petrucci was the same. These are all names that kind of float around and sometimes when the stars align then probably Devin and I will go out and do things. But again, it’s a comfortable position to have a band on your own that has success. Yeah, I can really say that. That’s worth more than gold sometimes.

It was interesting last year on the Cruise to the Edge, you were Steve Hackett’s drummer for those few gigs. But I guess because of the priorities you’re mentioning, you probably chose that you couldn’t do the whole touring with him after that. So you just did all that rehearsing for those gigs. It was amazing!

Well, it was interesting – Thanks, first of all! – but also it was such a comfortable environment because I was already on that ship, uh, literally. Right. And so it kind of just made sense, you know? I mean, I was hanging there anyhow. And, the Steve Hackett program was intense. I didn’t at first know that! I thought like, Hey, I can play a bunch of Genesis songs. Let’s do that! [laughs] And then there was like almost three hours’ worth of music, you know! I gotta say though, it was magnificent. We had such a good time. One of my favorite, favorite gigs I’ve played probably. It was just unreal. The songs were so good and the vibes are so good! We locked really well. Especially like the third and the fourth show we played, on the On the Blue Cruise, my God, we were so tight and so locked in. It was really, really fun. I gotta say that was something I also would have loved to continue, you know, but hey, you know, that was exactly when our album “You Know What?” came out for The Aristocrats and then we started the tour. But anyways, that was also planned exactly that way. Steve knew that I was on the boat and he asked me, “Hey, can you do those gigs?” And I was like, “absolutely.”

Well, hats off to you for doing all that rehearsal just for those shows. [Marco laughing] I’m so grateful I was there. I mean, just getting to see you play “Shadow of The Hierophant” was just amazing!

Ah, yeah! [laughs] Thank you.

Randy, how about you? How do you choose what’s next up on your plate?

Well, I’m, well look, I’m not as in demand as Marco, so I don’t have the same problems that Marco has. But maybe that’ll change! But the truth is I just want to enjoy all of the different projects that I’m involved in. I don’t actually like being busy from the standpoint of feeling like I have to juggle things. I find that my energy is best directed towards one or two priorities. Because it should be common sense that if you burn all this energy in a million different directions, it has a point where you can’t really pick that one thing that if you took all of that energy and just applied it to the one thing that you actually really want to do, that thing doesn’t see the full potential. Last year, 2019, that’s was kind of the moment that I realized this. And funny enough, it was Cruise to the Edge. We were on there doing In Continuum and it was all good. And Adrian Belew was on the ship and we hung out one night. I had never met him before and we were at the bar and he was sitting there and I started inching closer. And then before I knew it, we fell into this like two or three hour conversation just about music and about the difference between being a sideman and trying to be an artist and how to get the two to sort of work together. And it was a really great conversation. I remember leaving that ship feeling reinvigorated to sort of focus on myself, which is something that I hadn’t really done in a long time. And last year was a really monumental one for me. I put out an album and of course I went on tour opening for The Pineapple Thief, just going out on stage by myself and I know you were at one of those shows. So really the whole year became about like kind of reclaiming interest in myself, which I felt was really important and kind of lacking in my life for a few years as I just tried to take gig after gig. And that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy all the gigs that I did, but it made me realize why I started making music in the first place because I have something to say. So that’s kind of the way I feel about it.

Recently I was asked to play some live dates with Big Big Train, which would have been a lot of fun. I think we were supposed to go out and play some shows, what this week or next week or something. So you know, these things come along and I’m always honored to be asked to do various things. So I wouldn’t want to give anybody the impression that I’m not. Um, but hopefully you get what I’m trying to say. Which is that just having one or two things that you can really devote your time to and to try to see those things, flourish, I’m more in that headspace  now than ever.

It sounds like it really has been a much more impactful thing for you to come out with something like “Idle”, the compilation album you released at the end of last year, than maybe you did when you were touring playing bass as a Simon and Garfunkel tribute. Is that right?

Yeah, these things, they’re gigs and they’re fun. And every gig you should hopefully be able to take something away. That gig in particular, I mean, we’re talking about doing a tribute band, right? So it’s like the furthest thing away from getting to channel your own voice and creativity. But even within those things there are lessons to be learned. And my bass playing got a million times better as a result of just having to learn those songs and play them every night. I would say to my friends, I basically got paid for a couple of months straight to get better at an instrument that I don’t normally get to play. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that. It’s just that when I think about all the things that I’m trying to do or the things that I seek to do as a musician, you know, being in a tribute band is not like a number one priority of mine. So I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’ll take gigs off the table, frankly, just to focus more inward on myself. It’s a short term loss but often a long term gain because cause things open up and that’s that kind of falling from the sky thing that Marco was talking about. It’s amazing sometimes how you say no to something and then when one door closes, another opens. And I try to keep all my doors open, but make it clear to people that maybe now’s not the time. 

You’ve always been ambitiously successful about inviting in highly revered performers to work with you. You know, even before you had really established yourself amongst your peers, like you have now. What was your secret as you were starting off to approaching those artists and getting them to perform on your own material?

Sometimes I think about this because I’m also occasionally very surprised at how things sort of locked into place. The first time that really happened was with Nick D’Virgilio and that was 2009 and kind of a similar situation where I was working on solo material and had really no plan other than I was sort of cobbling together home studio equipment for the first time and trying to learn how to use a mic preamp and all this kind of stuff. And I was playing all the instruments, including drums. And at a certain point I just kind of hit a wall and said like, man, it would be great to get somebody else on these tracks. And I literally just went over to my music collection and started looking at all of the different CD spines and then when I landed on the Kevin Gilbert portion and then some of the other that Nick has played on, obviously Spock’s Beard. I was like, man, I wonder if I could get a guy like that to play on these tunes. Basically, I just cold called him in email form and just kinda told him what I was doing. And that was another one of these very natural things where I essentially hired him for his session fee, but he really liked the material and then we kept doing more and more and you know, fast forward a few years later and we have this band The Fringe together. So I don’t have a secret. I guess it’s a matter of when I would approach people, I felt like I had something worthwhile, musically speaking, and that it was something that I envisioned them playing on and that I hoped that they would as well. I tend to think of it as like casting the right actor for the right movie or something. It’s like Tom Hanks played Forest Gump, but you have to consider that there were probably nine other actors on that sheet that could have been that character. And then the whole thing would be completely different. So, I feel like the last 10 years have kind of been like that for me. And it started out with me sort of knocking on people’s doors and trying to just make connections and make some music happen. It was always coming from a place of purity. It was never like a business decision like, Oh, if only I get so and so on my record, I’ll be rich. You know? It wasn’t that kind of thing. It was just that these are musicians that I love listening to and watching and I think they could contribute. And over time that has kind of turned into a situation where in the case of Nick, he’s the one calling me and saying like, Hey, can you play on my solo record? You know, things just tend to come full circle and I’m super grateful. It’s, it’s been amazing.

Yeah, it’s interesting because Nick’s solo album comes out within a week of your guys’ album coming out and you’ve got quite a bit of input on his solo album, which is beautiful. So it’s great to see. Any chance of The Fringe doing something in the upcoming year or so?

I always like to think it’s possible. The Fringe has been much more difficult to get us all on the same page, just in terms of scheduling and approach because the first album that we did was very organic. That was three guys in a room, basically cutting the whole thing in the studio. And it was great. Geographically speaking, it’s not realistic. Nick is in Indiana, I’m in New York and Jonas is in Austria. So I think so much time has passed, we’d have to kind of let that idea go unless something radically shifts or if we really booked the time to go in and knock it out. But, there’s a lot of material in a folder on Dropbox. It’s just kind of sitting there and some of the stuff I kinda got tired of waiting and just kind of took it for myself. Speaking of Nick‘s album, his song, “Where’s the Passion?” was something that we technically recorded as The Fringe with Jordan Rudess as a guest for a recording workshop that we did at a place where Nick works called Sweetwater. But he ended up taking it for his record because it fit, obviously he’s doing a concept record. So yeah, look, we talk all the time. I love those guys. I think we made some cool music and I think there’s a lot of actually unrealized potential that we were just starting to tap into in live gigs that we didn’t even properly capture on the record and perhaps when the time is right, you know, we’ll get it together. That’s really where it is.

Well, I’m happy that the time’s right for the two of you now and everyone should be excited to get this new album in their hands come the beginning of July. Marco, anything else you want to let us know about before we sign off?

[laughs] I think we covered pretty much most of the ground and thank you so much for doing this for us, for getting the name out and the word out. I hope that people enjoy the record. I hope that we get a band together, maybe find actually a bass player, and maybe a keyboardist who can also sing and then we might actually bring the experience live to all you wonderful people.

Yeah, it’s so hard to know what’s gonna be happening with live music or when that’s going to come around again. But I have no doubt you guys will be ready to tear it up as soon as the “Go” order is given. We’re going to close with that track “Your Offenses”. Anything you guys want to say about this one to queue it up?

It’s a favorite of mine. This was one of those songs that could have been something that could have worked for The Fringe in the sense that at its core, it is built around a kind of trio sound. I think what Marco brought to the table really significantly enhanced – like all the songs on the record – significantly enhanced what my original vision was and took it into this kind of Police-like territory, with other things of course. I remember talking about sending things back and forth and him getting inspired to put some guitar ideas down. He sent me a mix back with these really cool acoustic 12-string guitars that he added to the bridge section right after the guitar solo. And then through the outro. I just immediately lit up because I was like, man, he did exactly what I sort of had in my head to get to at some point, but just hadn’t sat down to kind of work out the parts. That’s in a way like when I really knew, Oh, we’re totally on the same page here with the kind of ideas that we’re tossing back and forth. And I think it’s that openness from both of us as songwriters to trust one another to totally put their stamp on it and always add great things. I think that’s what really makes this collaboration so special.

Well thank you guys so much for taking the time to talk to us and give us a little peek into your world. Stay healthy, Stay well and I know you’re going to stay creative so I don’t even need to say that. We’ll look forward to seeing you when we’re able to live in person.

Awesome. Thanks for having us and absolutely see you soon!

Yes. Thank you Scott!

The post RANDY MCSTINE and MARCO MINNEMANN Talk New Duo Project: “This Feels Like a True Collaboration, It’s Great to Have a Partner In Crime, to Send Ideas Out and Then It’s Like Waiting For Christmas that Something Comes Back” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Within Temptation has always been a mutant musical entity. From their early material, which had gothic elements, through the incorporation of symphonic metal influences, to the dramatic shift on their latest album “Resist” – read our review here – they never made the same album twice. This formula – or the lack of one thereof – seems to have worked well for these Dutch metal ambassadors, because they have been on an upward trend since their debut, 1997’s “Enter”.

Their extreme and uncompromising dedication to their art is evident in releases such as the fan favorite “The Heart of Everything” and the concept album “The Unforgiving”. Their live shows are no slouch either, with their attention to detail fully showcased in many live releases, most notably in full-blown live releases like “Black Symphony” and “Let Us Burn”.

Within Temptation‘s latest full length release brought yet another change in style, with the album bringing industrial undertones and sounding a little bit more accessible for the masses. Their recently released stand-alone single “Entertain You” follows the same trend, but that hasn’t stopped the band from achieving success, with the track peaking at No.1 Most Added Song at the Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator Chart and debuting in the Top 50 of the Mainstream Rock Charts in the USA within the first week of the release.

“Eventually, everyone will have their own idea what the song and video are about,” said singer Sharon den Adel. “For us, the inspiration comes from how we treat a certain group of people that doesn’t fit in our society, and how we always feel a need to emphasize how much they do not fit in so we can feel good about ourselves. We start singling them out, cornering them in all sorts of ways. Nowadays, our first reaction is to film an incident instead of helping someone. They’re not here for our entertainment. It’s time for a bit more self-reflection and to ask ourselves why we do it, and think about the consequences for the others. Awareness is hopefully a step forward to change.”

Sonic Perspectives collaborator Rodrigo Altaf caught up with the band’s singer Sharon den Adel, and they discussed much more about the new single, while also delving into the band’s evolving nature, her opinion about the reaction of some fans to their musical evolution, their future touring plans with Evanescence, their unique stage clothes and much more.

Listen to their chat in the links below, and remember that for more interviews and other daily content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

The post WITHIN TEMPTATION Singer SHARON DEN ADEL Reflects On Band’s Latest Single and Musical Direction: “Part of Our Fan-base Was Surprised with It, But It Was Logical for Us That We Needed to Change and Evolve” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

After seven full-length albums, Lamb of God has titled their eighth studio record with their own name, suggesting that “Lamb of God” is the statement of a band prepared to fully embrace their place as a veteran metal act. This definitive moment for the group comes in the wake of longtime drummer Chris Adler leaving the band early last year, but his shoes were quickly filled by the youthful energy of Art Cruz from Winds of Plague. New drummer in tow and decades of experience behind them, “Lamb of God” seeks to continue the legacy they have been crafting in the studio and on the road since their formation in 1999. “Lamb of God” is an album filled with heaviness and groove in equal measure, sticking largely to the formula that has granted them widespread acclaim and opportunities to share the stage with Slayer on last year’s farewell tour.

With the exception of Cruz, the band has maintained its lineup since their formation, retaining the iconic voice of front-man Randy Blythe and the talents of guitarist Mark Morton. Aside from their unyielding speed and resolve, “Lamb of God” also includes guest features from vocalists Chuck Billy (Testament) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed) to accent an already impressive roster. The band’s current position in the scene and forward momentum are set to remain relatively steady with this record despite the lineup change, as “Lamb of God” seems focused on exploring more of what the band does best rather than breaking new ground. 

Morton spoke to Sonic Perspectives contributor Samantha Buckman at greater length about the lineup change, how the band approaches songwriting at this point in their career, and what the future holds for Lamb of God.

For more interviews and other daily content, make sure to follow Sonic Perspectives on Facebook, Flipboard and Twitter and  subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

The post MARK MORTON of LAMB OF GOD Discusses Self-Titled Album: “We Feel Like We Are Still Making Relevant and Inspired Music” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Best known for his longtime role as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for American metal band Sevendust, 2020 saw Clint Lowery embark on his career as a solo artist with the release of his first album in January. Having previously released solo material under the project Hello Demons Meet Skeletons, “God Bless the Renegades” was the first full-length album under his own name. Departing somewhat from the path he has blazed in his time with Sevendust, Lowery embraced the full range of rock as he blazed a trail that stood distinct from any project he had worked on prior. Bright and full of unique rhythms, it showed Lowery breaking out of his comfort zones in the pursuit of something unique decades into a well-established career.

Now, less than six short months later, Lowery has dropped a surprise collection of songs in an EP titled “Grief & Distance.” Borne from personal life events and the effects of current events, the acoustic EP is a collection of three original songs and two acoustic versions of tracks from “God Bless the Renegades.” Stripped back and with a vulnerability listeners were not afforded in the hard-hitting “God Bless the Renegades,” this new EP seeks to connect with listeners through the shared experience of distancing during the pandemic as well as through the pain of personal loss. Not his first foray into the world of acoustic production, “Grief & Distance” strikes with a high degree of emotion and precision, reflecting a new dimension of  Lowery as a songwriter as he continues to establish his individual sonic identity.

Lowery spoke with Sonic Perspectives contributor Samantha Buckman more about what inspired the creation of “Grief & Distance,” the decision to make a surprise release, and what he expects in his future solo career. For more interviews and other daily content, make sure to follow Sonic Perspectives on Facebook, Flipboard and Twitter and  subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

The post SEVENDUST’s Guitarist CLINT LOWERY Discusses Surprise New EP and Future Solo Career: “I Would Love to Produce Records, to Collaborate with Other Musicians – That’s Where I See Myself Going.” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

June 12th brings another release from Frontiers Records. Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall the third one under this moniker, is another evidence that Magnus‘ creative well seems endless. Just like the band’s other two releases, it features a long list of special guests on vocals: Ronnie Romero, Dino Jelusick, Noora Louhimo and many others help Magnus bring to life his view of metal music with a modern edge. Rounding out the lineup on the album is Anders Kollerfors on drums with mixing by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Primal Fear, Amaranthe, Pretty Maids).

Karlsson is well known as the mastermind behind several Frontiers productions, including the successful initial Allen/Lande trilogy and the recent spin-off album Allen/Olzon, as well as releases by Starbreaker (with Tony Harnell), Bob Catley, and Kiske/Somerville. In 2008, he joined German heavy metal icons Primal Fear and with them has toured the world and recorded several successful albums which charted in multiple countries around the globe.

The Free Fall project kicked off in 2013, and the bands previous efforts were warmly received by the numerous fans of the Swedish mastermind. The new album, entitled “We Are The Night”, further expands an already broad musical palette, and sounds surprisingly cohesive, despite the many different singers involved in the recording.

Sonic Perspectives collaborator Rodrigo Altaf spent some time with Magnus discussing the genesis of the new album, the selection process for the singers, the different recording techniques and much more. Listen to their chat in the links below, and remember that for more interviews and other daily content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

Connect with Magnus Karlsson online: Facebook | Buy “We Are The Night”

The post MAGNUS KARLSSON Reflects About Upcoming Solo Project Album “We Are the Night”: “I Chose Singers That I Truly Love to Sing On This Record” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

With tried and tested metal anthems like “Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching)”, “Excalibur” and many more, Grave Digger are one of the most influential and pioneering bands of the German heavy metal scene since their inception. 2020 brings a relevant milestone in the career of these Teutonic metal masters, as they celebrate their 40th year of existence. The work ethic of the band has not changed, and yet they sound modern and timeless like never before.

Never one to rest on their laurels, they chose to celebrate the anniversary by releasing an album of new material. On their 20th studio record, the band around front-man Chris Boltendahl continues their epic story centered in the Highlands. “Fields of Blood” (check out our review of the album at this location) is the logic consequence of a legendary trilogy which had its first two installments with the albums “Tunes of War” and “The Clans Will Rise Again”. Well crafted songs such as the stoic “All For The Kingdom”, or the epic anthem “Lions Of The Sea” have an ear-worm quality to them, and promise intensive neck muscle training. The whole album takes us into the vastness of Scotland on a journey through explosive sound landscapes. In an effort to make the whole experience even more genuine, the band even recorded parts of their new release in the Scottish Highlands. As a very special highlight of the album, “Thousand Tears” features the incomparable voice of Noora of Battle Beast, refining the most touching metal ballad of the year in a duet with Boltendahl.

Sonic Perspectives collaborator Rodrigo Altaf had the chance to sit down with Grave Digger’s axeman Axel Ritt, and they discussed several aspects of the new album, how Covid-19 is affecting their touring plans, criticism from the fans in certain aspects, what are their plans for the upcoming future, and much more. Listen to their chat in the links below, and remember that for more interviews and other daily content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

Connect with Grave Digger online: Facebook | Website | Twitter | Buy “Fields of Blood”

Slideshow live photos by Tim Finch, Dario De Marco, and Rainer

The post GRAVE DIGGER Guitarist ALEX RITT Talks New Album “Fields Of Blood” and Band 40th Anniversary: “It Makes More Sense for Us to Release New Material Than to Warm Up the Old Stuff” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

For over 25 years California-born but Indiana-based drummer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Nick D’Virgilio (NDV) has been delighting music fans, first and foremost through his drumming. Having recorded with Genesis, Big Big Train, The Fringe and hundreds of other artists, toured extensively with Tears for Fears, played with Peter Gabriel, and been featured drummer in well over a thousand performances of Cirque du Soleil, NDV has already established an impressive legacy. While fronting Spock’s Beard, Nick also became known for his lead vocal talents over the course of four studio albums and several tours.

2020 sees the long-awaited release of “Invisible”, his first full-length solo album in nearly 20 years. D’Virgilio describes his new record as “a collection of songs that make up the story of a man who is unhappy with where his life has ended up. He finally decides to take the scary step of leaving everything behind so he can go and find the meaning of his life.”

Keen to establish that “this is not your typical drummer record,” D’Virgilio states that “‘Invisible’ is a rock album with various musical flavors thrown in because the songs were formed with the story in mind. A classical prelude that uses various themes from the whole piece sets the stage. From there comes a mellow ballad outlining the story and then it is on to the adventures of the central character. The main thing making this record did for me was to reaffirm my strong belief that we are all here for something. We all have a purpose.”

As he prepares for the album’s release on June 27th, Nick took some time to talk with Sonic Perspectives correspondent Scott Medina. Together they delve into the concept behind the album, recording at Abbey Road and Sweetwater studios, and discuss some of the incredible musicians involved. You can read the transcript of the interview, or stream the audio below, and remember that for more interviews and other great content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

“Invisible” can be pre-ordered in several configurations at https://www.nickdvirgilio.com/shop/

Today we get to talk with Nick D’Virgilio on the cusp of releasing his brand new solo album called “Invisible”. It’s coming out at the end of June and we really can’t wait to dig into this album with you, Nick, welcome.

Thank you very much for having me. Appreciate it.

So, this is a concept album, yes?

It is. It is a story record.

So tell us where this theme started germinating for you about the invisible man.

Well, it’s sort of a weird story, but the original impetus was when I got my gig with Cirque de Soleil. I started that gig and did about six or eight weeks of rehearsal and then when we actually went to go start rehearsing for the main show in the tent, I found out at that point that I was going to be in a booth behind the stage. No one was being able to see me play! [laughs] They’d hear me, but no one would see me. For the first little bit, it really irked me…I thought it was just like, I’m invisible. Anybody could be back here. You know, what’s going on? Now that has nothing to do with the story of the record. But that’s the first thing that came to my mind when that happened. So in my booth, I set up my drums – and I should say at the beginning that it ended up being one of the best experiences of my whole life – it was great. I got over that stupid feeling pretty quickly. But you know, at the beginning, it got to me. So basically I just set up my booth and while I was on downtime in there, I would just write songs. I set up my little room with a little recording interface and my acoustic guitar was there and I would just start writing songs and riffs and things like that. And that’s where the word “invisible” first came from. And then over time I started just getting some more tunes together. It wasn’t till way after Cirque…the first songs probably came about around 2012…so they’d been around for a while. And then after I got to Sweetwater [where Nick currently works] I started flushing out the idea more and my friend and co-producer of the record, Mark Hornsby, sort of kicked me in the butt and said, man, you need to finish this record. And that’s kind of where it all came from. Then I took the word “invisible” and sort of morphed it into more of a story about someone who is disgruntled with his life, not happy about where he ended up. He feels like an invisible person who could die tomorrow and no one would miss him, dead end job, that kind of thing. And he goes out to find the meaning of his life and in the end he finds it.

And would you say there’s aspects of this story that are somewhat autobiographical?

A little bit, but not really. It is more of a story that is more fiction, but I did sprinkle a little bit of some of my own adventures throughout.

Had you not seen the Cirque du Soleil before you signed on to play?

Yeah, I had seen a bunch of Cirque shows before, especially in Vegas and stuff. And you always see the band, but they’re not the focal point. The acrobats and the people on stage are the focus, and the music is there to support them. And I knew that going in for sure. But you usually do see the musicians either off to the side or somewhere in the show. And I was the only one in the band that you couldn’t see in this show! It’s not like the band was totally in plain sight the whole time, but you knew they were there and the band could see the stage directly. I had to watch the show through a TV monitor! That kind of thing. No one had told me that until the first day the real rehearsal started that that’s where I’d be playing.

That was in the fine, fine, fine print of the contract that I guess you didn’t get to read…

[laughs] Exactly.

Yeah, I could imagine that’s a big hurdle. Especially being someone who’s used to performing out on rock and roll stages and such. But hey, you made something out of it with the germ of the idea for “Invisible.” And there’s a really wide range of styles here on this album. How did you choose which direction to go stylistically? I mean, is this the kind of music that Nick D’Virgilio truly likes the most?

Well, I wouldn’t put it that way. Every song has a specific purpose and a vibe to fit the story. I wasn’t really thinking style as much as: does this particular vibe of the tune and the feel and the beat – and all of those kinds of things – go with what I’m trying to say? So that pulled me down certain directions. You know, I can’t get away from the prog-rock completely, and I don’t want to. I just call this record more of a rock record in the grand scheme of it all. It has its technical moments for sure, but it has some really straight ahead stuff, too. And ballads and the whole nine yards. I just wanted to fit the songs to the story no matter what style they kind of came to me. Now I don’t want people to get the wrong idea, that they’re so widely varied that it’s completely different from tune to tune. I mean it sort of is, but it’s not like you’re going to get like a polka next to a prog tune next to a country tune next to a jazz song. It’s all kind of based around rock and roll, I think.

I think of it as a rock album, too. But there are some wonderful ballads on there. I really love the opening first proper song of the title track “Invisible”. That’s just so beautifully done with the acoustic vibe and Jonas Reingold and the fretless bass…

Ohhhh yeah.

And then the way the strings just close that song out. You know, it’s just gorgeous in that moment. Let’s talk about that use of strings and brass. You recorded those at Abbey Road studio, correct?

I did! I was totally spoiled to be able to do something like that. The reason that happened was because we had a lot of great…well, I should say this record happened the way it did because of my job at Sweetwater. We had a bunch of great vendor partners come on board with this record, especially drum companies, but also the microphone company, DPA. And that gave us the ability to afford to be able to go to Abbey Road and record the strings and brass there. Mark had gone over there to do a bunch of other sessions, he had a good relationship with the people there, and DPA wanted to be involved as well. After we did that session at Abbey Road, we went to the DPA factory in Denmark afterwards and did a big factory tour and shot video of that. So there were reasons to go over there, but it was just an amazing experience to get those players in that room on my record. You know, it’s just incredible stuff.

I was listening to Mark Hornsby talk about it on that interview you did with DPA and he said that they didn’t have to add any reverb or anything from the strings on the recording in that room.

No, that room, it’s just amazing! Just the history in there, you know, you feel it as you walk in. It’s incredible.

Well, what’s really unique in this is that you’ve got a symphonic prelude that starts the album. But then throughout the album, in the majority of the songs, you’re weaving in those strings and brass, right alongside the rock instrumentation. So it really makes for unique arrangements.

Yeah. John Hinchey arranged some of the horn and string parts with me. He’s a friend of the band and friend of the prog world. He’s a trombone player by trade, but he’s been involved in a bunch of other projects that I’ve worked on over the years, Rewiring Genesis and all those kinds of things. And he gets this kind of music and he’s got a great ear for this and knows how to arrange for every instrument in the orchestra, which is a huge and amazing gift for anybody to have to know how instruments fit in a range, and where they’re gonna sound best in a song, and all that kind of stuff. And he helped out quite a bit to fit those parts into the songs.

So you’ve got those sessions happening in Abbey Road and then you’ve got the main recording happening at Sweetwater studios. I mean, it really sounds like just the ultimate recording package.

It’s pretty amazing. Yeah. Sweetwater‘s a great studio. Killer room. Russ Berger-designed. Sounds great. We do just about anything there, you know, so it’s a definitely a great combination sonically for sure.

Plus you’ve got all those drums at your disposal. I see you’re even releasing a drum booklet to accompany the album detailing exactly what you play and why you chose it for each track.

Right. Yeah, that’s how this record happened. We got most all the drum vendors that we work with at Sweetwater to come on board and to show how they can all play in the same sandbox, so to speak. And show the differences in the sound and the vibe and the feeling of each drum kit and how they’re made and how they fit into a sonic spectrum. So I was able to mold the sound of each tune to the exact drum sound I wanted. It was a really neat process ’cause I’ve been at Sweetwater for about five and a half to six years now and I’ve been really blessed to be able to get to know these drum vendors and the companies and how they make drums and their theory behind stuff and why they sound the way they do. And it was really neat to be able to mold that sound to real exact specifications to each song. Sort of like a mad scientist sort of thing in there! So people listening to it will really get to hear cool vibes and different changes sonically from tune to tune. And so yeah, the drum book was a necessary thing to basically give thanks to all of these companies for coming on board with this and to show off their great gear. They make amazing products. It’s the least we could do. Plus, there’s videos coming along with all the songs that have drums as well.

It’s just so unique. It’s such an unusual thing to do. It makes the album stand out in a really unique way. Like everyone knows, Oh yeah, Nick, he’s that killer drummer…but it’s not a drummer’s album per se. It’s a rock album but you get to really feature the drums in a very unique way.

Yeah, you bet. I’m really lucky to do so.

But in addition to drums, you’re playing a wide range of instruments throughout this album, including guitars, keys and bass as well. Like the song “Wrong place, Wrong time” is pretty much all you except the guitar solo from Randy McStine.

Right. I only wanted one tune where I played everything. I do play drums, I play rhythm guitar on a bunch of stuff and some bass on a bunch of it, and a few keyboard parts and I programmed some of the loops and different things like that throughout the record. But I definitely wanted to take advantage of some of these amazing guests and friends of mine to play on the record as well. So I just picked that one tune you mentioned to play everything and then, and had Randy come in to do this stupidly cool guitar solo. [laughs] The guy’s an amazing musician. He’s so good! So that was a lot of fun. I’m not really a soloist anyway, especially on guitar. I never studied it or really learned how to solo correctly. You know, there’s so many other people that do it incredibly well. Although I feel I’m a decent and very capable rhythm guitar player. I can play riffs and things like that. I kind of went with my strengths.

Absolutely. And the other killer Randy guitar solo – one of them – is on “Mercy” with Tony Levin playing his classic groove on the Stick and bass.

Ooh. Yeah. [grinning] I know!

It gives you the chills, huh?

[laughing] Yeah, it does, for sure!

Was that the first time you’ve played with or recorded with Tony?

What happened was that a couple of the songs on the record, “Snake Oil Salesmen” and “In my Bones” and the first single “Where’s the Passion” all stemmed from these recording workshops that we’d have at Sweetwater. Like “Where’s the Passion” was a Jordan Rudess recording workshop and I was lucky enough to have him play my song for the recording workshop! Same for “In My Bones”, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick was coming to do a recording workshop, and so we used one of my tunes. “Snake Oil Salesman” was a recording workshop that Tony Levin was on. So, I mean, I really lucked out to being in the right place at the right time for these certain things. And I’m lucky enough to have the guys come and teach people how to record and how they do their thing, and then I’d get a really great track out of it too! So it’s a win-win all the way around, for sure.

So “Snake Oil Salesman” was the first one that I got to play with Tony on, which was an amazing thing, you know. He’s just incredible, right? All the stuff he’s done, he could play anything and he’s got such a great feel, you know. “Snake” is pretty much just more of a straight-ahead tune. On “Mercy”…well, I’ll say this and I’m trying to be as humble as possible here. I sent him the whole tune to play on, ’cause I played bass on half of that song, like on the faster rockier parts. And he plays his Stick on the choruses and fretless on the sort of breakdown part. And I asked him to play the whole tune, of course. And… he writes back and he says that he couldn’t improve on the bass that’s already there! [laughs]

I go, come on man, you’re Tony Levin. Of course you can. Give me a break. But he said, Dude, just keep what you have. It’s great. I’ll play the other parts. And that’s how it worked. So we’re both playing bass on that tune. So when we first heard back what he sent us on the chorus, when I heard that Stick come in… Oh, man, I was through the roof with excitement, you know. THAT’S the Tony Levin sound! It’s just incredible. So those little touches added so much cool flavor to the record.

How did the choice to cover the song “Money” come about?

I’ve always dug that tune. The old, the original version by Barrett Strong. The Beatles did a great version. There were a couple of funky versions in the eighties. And then that song came along when I was starting to think about the story in general. Like, what’s this person going to be doing when they give up on their dead end job? The guy decides to just let it all go, forget it. He quits, just walks out the door one day from his job and decides to go find himself. So, as he’s walking around town, he starts meeting people and going through these sort of little adventures, as I’m calling them, and realizing that he’s not really the only one that feels the way he does. He finds that out rather quickly. So basically my thought process was that he’s walking down the street and decides maybe he’s thirsty or something. So he goes into a convenience store to grab something to drink and he sees the person behind the counter and they just look disheveled or depressed or don’t want to be there, That kind of thing. And he asks something like, Is everything okay? And then they spew out this whole thing of why they’re there, that they’re stuck there because of the money, and they can’t get out from underneath to what they want to do. Sort of the similar thing to what he was feeling. So that was my thought process behind it. It kind of stemmed from that opening little drum groove which was a loop I had found somewhere. It just slowly morphed out of that into the whole song.

Most people will know that song obviously from The Beatles. And so it has that nice tie-in to the Abbey Road sessions and the Beatles…

Oh yeah.

Is there any other tie-in to the Beatles for you or anything else from the Abbey Road recording?

Well, just, just BEING there and all the amazing music that they recorded in that room! You know, there’s the old pianos that they all played on. There’s still cigarette burns from cigarettes that John Lennon would put on the side of the upright piano, all the stuff is there. They haven’t changed the room at all since they recorded there in the sixties! The control room and the technology’s obviously upgraded since then and all that stuff. But the actual main room is exactly the same. They haven’t painted it, they haven’t taken out any of the diffusers or all those kinds of things. So the vibe is still exactly that.

[chuckling] What a thrill. I also love the backup vocals on this album. You do backup vocals as well, but you’ve got some women, including your daughter, singing and it’s just particularly strong backup singing. On one track it’s kind of a Steely Dan thing and on another one it kind of sounds like Pink Floyd backup singers a bit. Did you work out all of those parts or how did that come about?

Yeah, most of the parts I had made up, you know, and kind of sussed out before we got the girls – and boys – in there to help sing. So I kind of knew what was going on there ahead of time. But once we were in the studio working on the songs, a few things morphed here and there and we tried to go with whoever’s strengths were singing. But yeah, it was cool. It was great to have my daughter Sophia. My son Anthony sang on one song as well. So it was really great to have them involved in any way I could. And I’m a huge fan of background vocals, too. So the more the merrier.

Exactly. I think it was the last Cruise to the Edge, when UniKuE was playing and you had your daughter come out and sing. And I remember that really blew everybody away.

Yeah. That’s cool, she’s got a really great voice.

With the storyline in Invisible, with this kind of story of disillusion with life and redemption, is there any connection there from your history with Neal Morse and the way that he’s worked similar terrain in his storylines? For example, I was really sensing in the track “I Know the Way” that closes the album, almost a sense of revelation.

Yeah. I mean, I don’t think it comes directly out of that. My guy sort of goes through a near death experience. That’s what “Wrong Place, Wrong Time” is about. And so I did a bunch of research and studied up on those things and found that a lot of people that come back from those things have the same feeling that, you know, they saw the light. Somebody – say it’s God, or however you want to describe it – says that your time on earth is not over yet. You haven’t achieved…you know, I’m not done with you yet, so to speak. And that’s where that came from. So, it’s about realizing that you’re not alone. That was the biggest thing I wanted. The biggest sort of moral of the story I wanted to come out of this thing is that we all have some worth. I’ve believed that forever and that’s sort of what I wanted to get across: that no matter how small it is, you know, we’re all here for something. We grew up believing that if you’re not a huge star or famous or rich or something like that, that your life wasn’t necessarily worth it or you’re not as good as someone else. But it doesn’t matter what it is…we’re all here to touch someone else in some way. And you don’t know how you doing the smallest thing, how that could help somebody down the line or how much you’ve touched a person by just doing the littlest thing. That’s what life’s all about. So we all have worth, whether it’s big or small or in the middle.

And so voicing this story of Invisible at this point, it’s been about 10 years since your last EP came out, “Pieces”, and then about 10 years additional before your first full length solo album, “Karma”. Where are you in terms of your songwriting now? Is this really energizing for you having put this whole album together and you’d like to write more in the future? I see you’ve gotten some writing credits started with Big Big Train as well. So do you think there’ll be more solo material in the near future, or is this kind of a good thing only for whenever the inspiration strikes?

Yeah, I’m going to be doing a lot more. This is sort of my time to get this part of my career happening, although I’m doing it way late. I just, I was always in bands and doing the band thing for so long and raising a family, and doing those kinds of things. It just never took precedent to do the solo artist thing, as much as I’ve always really wanted to. I also don’t think that I was at a level where I felt confident enough to do the solo artist thing. It just took me a while to get here. So now that this record’s done and I’ve done the concept record, you know, double- LP sort of long thing, I’m definitely going to be writing a lot more. And the plan is to put out a lot more of my own music over the next 5 to 10 years or so. You’re gonna see and hear a lot more of me on my own as time goes on. I’ve got a ton of music in the can, lots of song ideas and you’re right, I’m writing for Big Big Train a bit here and there, which is fantastic. I love that band so much. And I’m talking to Randy McStine about doing some other stuff on the side there. So I’m really starting to dive into writing a lot more and just sort of bring my voice out like I just haven’t done before.

With that being your main focus, does that mean you’re not looking out to being a touring drummer with another band in the future, if that came up?

Well, I’m not going to say I’m not going to do anything in specific. Everything’s open, especially in this time with all this coronavirus and all the crazy stuff going on and the way life is. Thankfully I still have a job at Sweetwater. I’m very blessed to have that in this particular moment. But if an opportunity comes that’s going to be worth it…sure, I’m not going to turn anything down. But Big Big Train is a huge focus for me. The band is really achieving a certain level now and we’ve been working really hard for a long time, so I’m in for the long haul with them for sure. As well as my solo stuff. So, I got a bunch of irons in the fire for sure.

I know Big Big Train was going to make their debut in the US this spring. And it sounds like they just officially canceled the summer UK and Europe gigs. And I know it’s been a long time coming to get them over to the States. So do you think if the Coronavirus issues lift in the next few months or latter part of this year, do you think the Train will give it another go next spring?

Oh, we’re definitely gonna do it for sure. When that happens and when the shows get booked, I can’t really say because I don’t know. But we’re not stopping here for sure. But it took us a long time and it was a lot of hard work just to get that little tour booked. And everybody was hugely disappointed when it didn’t happen. So, it’s just postponed.

And you mentioned working with Randy a little more. Would that be in the context of The Fringe or…

Maybe, yeah! We’re talking to Jonas. Yeah, exactly. So maybe another Fringe record coming down the pipe and Randy and I are always sending stuff back and forth with all kinds of different ideas in mind. So any chance to play with Randy and Jonas again, I’ll jump at.

And of course both Randy and Jonas play some killer parts on your new album too, which is really cool.

Yeah. Those two guys are two of my favorite musicians of all time and I had to have them as much as I can get them for sure.

When you were with Cirque, how many shows approximately did you end up doing with them?

My tally at the end was 1,426. Now that’s just the shows! That doesn’t include all the dress rehearsals and rehearsals and everything else. So you’d probably add at least another couple of hundred on top of that. The amount of times we actually rehearsed and did the show, that wasn’t an official count, you know, where there was audience in the seats, that kind of thing. So yeah, a lot. Definitely a lot.

And what’s it like for you doing that many performances of the same show compared to being in a touring band? How do you keep that from getting stale?

Well, you know, it’s kind of tough but you just go with it. You’re part of a huge production every day and then you definitely have to stay on your toes with a show like that, too. Because you’re playing to the performers on stage. So if they make a mistake and have to redo a trick, you have to skip back and do that part of music again and you’re all locked to computers and everything like that. So you have to manipulate the computers in real time to follow the people on stage. So there’s a lot to it. So you gotta be on your toes. And thankfully for me, as much as I said at the beginning that I was pissed about playing in the booth and all that kind of stuff, the show that I was in, Totem, was a very drum-heavy show. It’s based around sort of native, Indian, native American, Canadian sort of themes, so it was lots of drums and percussion. And I got to play pretty hard. I was in the best shape of my life after a couple of years of being in that show, playing 10 shows a week and exercising all the time and being around all these amazing athletes. It ended up being a really super cool thing. And, you know, some nights you play great, some nights you didn’t play as great and, but it’s part of the whole thing. It becomes a job, but you’re still playing music every night, so it’s a better job than some.

And what’s the vibe like behind the curtain? Is it an inspiring atmosphere?

Oh yeah, it’s an incredible atmosphere. I mean, cause you’re, well, I mean we were traveling with 160 people touring in just our team. And that includes everybody from people who sell the tickets to sell the merch and the refreshments, to all the administration and our catering staff and our trainers and wardrobe people and plus all the entertainers, crew, all of that stuff. So there were people from 19 countries, all those different languages. My kids got to travel the world with us and learn these different languages, these different cultures and just become friends with all these people. And these are serious athletes that are on stage doing these incredible things. You know, like these are like full-on Olympic athletes. They were formally on the Olympic team of their country and now they’re doing these things for a Cirque show! So that atmosphere…there’s nothing else that I know of quite like it. And then put that together with all the music and the smoke and the pomp and circumstance and the technology that goes into it. It’s an amazing thing.

I’m really glad for you and your family to have that experience. It sounds incredible.

It was pretty neat, man.

So you’ve played drums on hundreds or if not thousands of recordings over the past few decades. What are a couple of your favorites that our listeners may not be aware of?

Hmm. Hmm. That’s… I wonder. Let me see. I always go back and really enjoy listening to the Mike Keneally record “Dog”. If anybody’s never heard of Mike Keneally or they don’t know who he is, he’s one of the greatest guitar player, keyboard player, musicians ever! Amazing guy. He’s so prolific of a songwriter. Talk about a guy who just has music oozing out of him all the time. I knew all those guys for quite a long time. I met Mike through Kevin Gilbert way back when and always wanted the opportunity to try and play with him because he always has the best musicians surrounding him. You have to be at a certain level to be able to even play with Mike. Although he can play any style of music, but you gotta be up there. And so I’ve always tried to make my myself – or think of myself – as that higher echelon sort of player that can play in any situation, or at least try to. And the opportunity came to join his band one time. And I jumped at it with my friend Rick Musallam and Bryan Beller and Mike and we toured for the “Dancing” record and then the time came to make a new record and it’s called “Dog”. There’s a bunch of really cool moments on that record for me that I really enjoy. Especially, I think it’s the first track called “Louie” is one of my favorite tunes we ever did, really heavy. And it was always a real challenge to play for Mike. He comes from that Frank Zappa school and you just gotta know your stuff when you’re playing with him. And try to make it groovy and fun and all of those kinds of things. So that was a great experience, very educational, lots of fun, great guys, became really good friends with everybody. And so that’s one of my cool drumming experiences that I really enjoy.

So I know with the current situation, obviously you don’t have any gigs on the books right now, but the album is coming out nonetheless at the end of June. What else do you have planned hopefully to happen on your calendar in the coming year or so, or what ideas do you have to be bringing this album out more?

Well, first just building up to getting the record released. There’s a lot into putting out records these days, you know, just by keeping up with all the bells and whistles of social media and trying to engage everybody and you know, there’s a lot of competition for people’s attention. It’s just tough to stay on top of it all. Thankfully I’ve got some really good friends and people helping me out with this, so I’m trying to learn as I go with that and do the best I can just to get the record out first. But then I don’t want to put the record out and never perform it. So I’ve got to see how the next few months come together and then I’m going to try and figure out a way to get out there and actually play this, whether I have to stream it online or do it in front of people hopefully, which is what I want to do, obviously. So figure out a way to do this live and see how that goes. Big Big Train is going to be in the studio since all the touring stuff got canceled. We’re gonna start working on a new record to put out sometime next year, I think, but we’re going to start recording in November. So that’s coming up. Plus the gig at Sweetwater still, full time with that as well.

And are you doing okay on the home front through this COVID era?

Oh yeah. Thankfully I got a place to play drums here and the family’s all doing well. The kids finished school for the year. Tiffany‘s working at the hospital and she staying healthy thankfully through all of that. So yeah, it’s all good.

Well, Nick, thanks so much for taking some time to explain it all to us and we’re going to close with a track off the new album and offer it actually to you if there’s any song that you’d like us to pick out for that?

Hmm. Well, what are you in the mood for? [laughs]

Some of my favorites are a couple of the really upbeat songs where you have the horn section coming in there, like “I’m Gone” and “In My Bones” with its sax section is really cool. Those kinds of funky grooves are great. But sometimes you shine the most in the ballad category. I think the title track is going to really move people.

Alright, well go for that one then. That sounds good. There’s some beautiful fret-less bass from Jonas on there. The strings from Abbey Road. Carl Verheyen, the guitar player from Supertramp. He’s the one playing the acoustic and just an incredible feel and talent that guy has. It’s amazing. So, yeah, let’s go for the title track.

Right. And this is really setting up the whole concept of the album, with our main character.

It sure is, yeah. Exactly.

I just love those lines, “I should have thought it out” and “I should have listened to my heart.” You know, it’ll definitely tug on you. So Nick, thanks so much. And we look forward to seeing you back out there and good luck on the release of this album.

All right, buddy. Thank you so much for the time

The post NICK D’VIRGILIO Talks Upcoming Solo Album “Invisible” and Future Plans: “You’re Going to See and Hear a Lot More of My Own Music in The Next 5 to 10 Years” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Her Chariot Awaits is a newly formed hard rock/metal group featuring the highly regarded Spanish singer Ailyn Gimenez (ex-Sirenia) on lead vocals and the multi-talented American guitarist and producer Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob, Noturnall, Sonic Stomp).

This exciting new musical alliance is yet another creation of Frontiers Records, a label that seems determined to combine as many artists as possible in an infinite amount of bands. In this case, Ailyn and Mike got out of each other’s comfort zones to create a record that offers technical, aggressive, modern and extremely catchy heavy music.

With the band lineup being completed by Jeff “brother of Ron” Thal on drums and Brian Gearty on bass, their debut album builds a bridge between symphonic metal realms and groovy, alternative riffage. It includes ten new songs, and an inspired cover of k. d. Lang’s hit “Constant Craving”, which receives a rather dark treatment.

Sonic Perspectives collaborator Rodrigo Altaf discussed the inception of Her Chariot Awaits with Mike Orlando, and they touched on his other projects, an upcoming album with Living Color’s Corey Glover, his involvement in a yet to be announced band with some big names in heavy metal, and even whether or not Adrenaline Mob will ever return. Listen to their chat in the links below, and remember that for more interviews and other daily content, Sonic Perspectives is on Facebook, Flipboard, Twitter and YouTube, where you can be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

Connect with Her Chariots Awaits online: Facebook | Website | Purchase The Album

The post MIKE ORLANDO Reflects On the Collaboration with AILYN in New Band HER CHARIOT AWAITS: “It Was Great to Work with a Singer with a Different Background in Symphonic Metal appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.