Emir
Hot (May
08):I
have heard many metal bands using some “eastern” scales and melodies
but that’s usually just a little flavour on top of their “every
day” metal style. I tried to mix some of its pure originality
with no “make-up” at all, just like it’s played in Bosnia and
that part of Balkan countries. That’s was a risky move because
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a metal band throws accordion parts
out of nowhere and shock all metal fans with something totally
different. I tried to use that exact “shock” formula and it helped
to get signed to “Lion Music” which is definitely a big accomplishment.
Not everyone will like this musical mixture but this was my first
and quite a successful attempt to be part of the metal industry. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Oliver
Philipps of Everon (May
08):I’ve
been a producer for more than a decade now so I suppose I’d be
un-produceable for another producer anyway. It’s the same when
a doctor gets ill and needs to see a doctor, you don’t want to
have that actually. I’d sometimes wish to have a producer though
who takes my role, but I am realistic enough to be aware that
it probably wouldn’t work out. Already in the stage of writing
I think like a producer anyway, so my imagination contains musical
details as well as details of how to record or produce it, so
I suppose it would be difficult for me to take anybody else’s
advice on those issues. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Jonathan
Marshall of PALACE TERRACE (November
07):I
started writing the story during a very emotional point in my
life and within the story I had somehow wrote myself into the
album. The lyrics are based off of a story I have been writing
named FATHER. The story is of three close friends growing up
but, they seem to have different paths and through perseverance
one finds the way to help everyone in the end but, only after
death takes its role. It is a story that I hope to have
available to everyone soon. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Roger
Staffelbach of ANGEL OF EDEN
(November 07):I
was inspired by this as I am very much into medieval history.
I love sightseeing old castles, museums etc. This song is about
a battle which took place close to where I live and I often go
to this site to see the old paintings in the Battle Chapel. However,
I wanted it to sound somewhat like a Movie soundtrack and I guess
we got pretty close. I'm into Metallicas 'Ride the Lightning'
record, especially because of the guitar sound and the riffing
and I had this vicious riff and again I put it together piece
by piece, it just had to bring over the character of a medieval
battle from the start to the end. Mistheria did a terrific job
on the intro and the whole orchestration of that tune. He, and
this was the case on all the tracks he played on, always understood
a 100% what my vision of each of the tracks was. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Daniele
Liverani, Tommy Ermolli and Alberto Rigoni of TWINSPIRITS
(July 07):I wrote the lyrics and
vocal melodies. When I write lyrics I try to create a good interaction
between music and vocals. It’s very important that the lyrics
fit the music, and that it’s not just notes applied to the harmony. I
think that the experience over the years help to write good lyrics
and vocal lines, it’s something that comes out naturally and sometimes
when I write a song, the lyrics seem to me that are already there,
they only have to be discovered and written down…it’s a great
feeling! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Simon
Shedwell and Richard Hall of AWAKE
(June 07): When it comes to the
keyboards, we never wanted to go down the prog keyboard solo path
- for one thing Craig hates keyboard solos! - so we use them more
as an addition to the sound, which gives the album that great
big sound that it has. On tracks like Illumination however, we
used them in an more electronic way rather than trying to make
them sound like strings or orchestra parts. That is the great
thing about keys, you can do pretty much anything with them, and
we like to see how else we can use them. It’s something we’ll
push further in the future I think. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
John
Macaluso of Union Radio
(June 07): I next started my, what
I call National Geographic Adventure. I had to get the people
I really wanted to record no matter what, so I would do anything
to achieve this. I travelled all over the world to record the
musicians on the record. To Italy to record Marco Sfogli, France
to do keys, Pennsylvania to record piano with Vitalij Kuprij,
Germany, California to do guitars with Alex Masi and many more
places. I had to do it this way because I had to write the material
and collaborate with these guys, not just send tracks around to
places and hope that they were going to record something I loved. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Carsten
'Lizard' Schulz of Evidence One
(June 07): Well, our debut “Criticize
The Truth” basically was a harder version of what Robby did with
FRONTLINE, let’s say, we were a Hard Rock band back then. With
our second output “Tattooed Heart” we wanted to capture our live
heaviness as a Melodic Metal band, to which we’d somehow evolved
because of the live shows and festivals we did. “The Sky Is The
Limit” for us should be the album to, like I said before, establish
our own sound. This is, what E1 is all about, this is, how we
sound, for people to probably to say, this or that band sounds
like EVIDENCE ONE, instead of EVIDENCE ONE sounds like this or
that band. This doesn’t mean, we won’t stay true to our roots,
hell no, but it’s time to stand for ourselves.. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Milan
Polak (April 07):I think it’s sad
that we live in a time where media feeds people with fast food.
TV is flooded with reality and casting shows, making the viewers
believe that everybody can sing and be a star today. You don’t
need to learn an instrument, love & understand music – if
you don’t want to work a 9 – 5 day job just become part of a TV
show and get your 15 minutes of fame. It has become so annoying
that I actually wrote a song about it called “Superstar Mania”.
People do not appreciate real music anymore and the whole music
business is going down. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Patrick
Waltmans of Engine Of Pain (Feb 07):The
band is breathing thrash metal. I think it sucks that this
music is not around anymore at bands. If you are a metal head
and like the bands I’ve mentioned before you MUST check us
out. You must have the CD with artwork, check out our
Myspace area or website to fully understand and taste the
spirit of Engine of Pain. Once you’re in, you won’t get out!
We are not trying to re-invent thrash metal; we are just improving
it! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Dave
Martone (Feb 07):There are so
many great players out there, and a lot of it is starting
to sound the same. How fast can we go? Is that the point of
music? Possibly, but there is more to it than that. People
need to get a unique voice instead of just imitating all the
time. That drives me nuts! So much time is spent on technique,
and I spent my fair share of it, but I think the next evolvement
is in sound. I love engineering also, and thanks for the compliment
on the production. I find you can be very artistic with sound.
I am trying to basically paint a picture with sounds and a
cross pollination of styles to create new, fresh sounding
music. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Sphere
Of Souls (Nov 06): I
like the ‘rawness’ of the sound. Many metal/rock bands have
this over-compressed, heavily chorused guitar tone. In my
opinion this reduces the impact of music. I think that rock/metal
should be delivered ‘raw’, with a punch and without compromise.
It was a conscious decision. This sound also provided us with
a means to let the listener in on what kind of chords we use.
An overly compressed sound can bury some of the tones in such
chords, which defeats the object of using them. This meant
that we needed something different. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Bjorn
Lodin of Baltimoore (Oct 06): I constantly get “good advice” on how important
it is for a rock band to maintain a certain style in order
for fans not to get confused and disappointed etc. I understand
the rhyme and reason in this to a certain degree, but I’m
too much of a punk rocker to fall in line. When I read about
bands who see them selves as being a trademark..?.. and feel
a responsibility towards the fans - I don’t get it! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Daniel
Palmqvist (Sept 06): I’m
a big fan of good guitar playing, and I can get very impressed
by someone who has a great technique, but if the song and
the melodies aren’t equally good I loose interest pretty fast.
I really tried to listen to some shred type albums when I
was younger cause all my guitarist friends did, but I couldn’t
force myself to like it, haha. To me good playing in the context
of good music is so much more interesting. To me, there isn’t
that much difference between instrumental music and music
with vocals. It’s about having strong melodies and interesting
arrangements. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Bjorn
Lodin Of Baltimoore (June 06): First
of all, on the previous albums, there was never a situation where
people were band members and then got fired or was replaced for
one reason or the other, except for Nikolo Kotzev - he got "relieved".
Baltimoore has been full of great players coming and going for
when there's been a project going. This line-up is fucking great!
We're all good friends and we've found a way of making it work,
which means everybody does what I tell them to do.., no seriously,
we're a great unit and we've made plans for 2 more albums, 4 all
together. After that I don't know. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Daniel
Flores, Johann Niemann and Andreas Novak of Mind's Eye (June 06): The story starts of in a class room.
A teacher is trying to get the class to shut up. Then she goes
off to a world of lies, deception and corruption starting off
with the Darwin theory. The first song starts of with the moon
landings, a laughable topic in my book. Taking you next to the
tragedy of 9/11, later changing topic to sense which we have lost
trough out our generation, namely Intuition or how other would
call it telepathy. Changing topic again to the mysteries of the
Pyramids of Giza and how an archaeologist falls in love with them,
in the end thinking he is a great Pharaoh. From mental illness
we go off to physical illness about drugs and how easy it is to
get hooked on drugs. Drugs make us forget about reality but the
reality is that our world is dying and that’s what next song is
about, how are we going to save it? no wonder the earth reacts
with stuff like the Tsunami. Then we end the first half of the
album with some rules, sacred rules. We have forgotten about honesty
and honour. The old ways are disappearing in front of our eyes
and the new law is “everybody is you enemy”. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Richard
Andersson & Goran Edman of Time Requiem (April 06): First I must say that Göran is one of
the finest musicians I’ve ever worked with. I came in contact
with him after my fellow Jonas Reingold told me about having Göran
on next record. I simply just called him up and asked him if he
wanted the job. Göran never does this kind of music nowadays.
He knew about me and my music and he also liked what he heard
so he said yes. He is an extremely talented and professional musician. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Hubi
Meisel (March 06): I gave
my best to realize a mighty sound and this time I fortunately
could invest about 2 ½ months in the mixdown of the album. I was
using a lot of expensive analogue gear to achieve a warm and punchy
sound. I was also working a lot with effects, audio samples and
different reverb rooms in order to create special soundscapes
matching the storyline. In the song “Potala Palace”, for example,
in which the storyteller walks through the countless mighty halls
of Potala, I used about 20 different reverb types in order to
sonically express this special atmosphere. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Marcel Coenen (Feb 06): I
turn on my computer, start up Cubase, make a drum machine active
and start programming drum rhythms, so I get rhythmic ideas. That
is the way songs like Patron Saint and Skill Factor were written.
Songs like La Bella Mira come from a sweet thought on someone
and that gives melodies in my head (in this case my girlfriend).
In other therms I think theoretically (New Race) and in others
I am playing with atmospheric sounds on my synthesizer (Still
Bleeding) or am I just jamming some riffs (Waiting). I get inspired
by a lot of things, I can get inspired by things happening around
me, or by hearing nature sounds, so many different things actually,
kinda hard to explain. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Carsten
'Lizard' Schulz of Domain (Feb 06):
I'm getting older! :-) To me personally it feels like my
voice changes all the time. I know how to warm up and sing my
parts, no problem, but to me, it's like it changes its sound somehow.
For sure, the voice gets deeper and darker with age, so it's getting
harder, hitting the high notes, but on the other hand, I love
this rough and edgy sound, simply because I have to sing more
like with power. Strength...? Well, ask those, who are forced
to work with me! :-) [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Lars
Eric Mattsson (Dec 05): The
main problem is that the market is a bit too small, not enough
people are buying these kinds of albums – the result of this will
in the long run mean that fewer albums will be released. The only
way to do this is to work all the time, expect very little money
and do it for the love of the music. There are many big problems
with the music business of today, it’s very hard to get support
from the magazines and as there are record stores closing down
all the time the only way to find music is from on line stores.
Since many record stores are closing this gives problems for the
distributors which is bad news for the labels… There seem to be
far too many artists and releases put out compared to the purchasing
power of the buyers. A lot of people download the music for free
from the internet. If the artists don’t get enough support from
the buyers they wont be able to put out more records and we will
risk ending up in a situation where most cd’s put out will be
compilation albums and re-releases. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Tuka
of Dogpound (Dec 05): Just
writing new songs and hopefully start to record a new album early
next year. I thing Micke has got like 15 new song. I will be seeing
him next week and we will try to sort them out and see with ones
that a Dogpound good. The ones that are to lousy maybe we will
give them to Nickelback so that their new album will be their
best ever. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
John
Novello
of Niacin (Dec 05): Even though
the organ samples are getting better and better, the live performance
parameters that a B3 has - the leslie speakers sound, the logarithmic
volume pedal, the keyboard feel, the ergonomics of the dual keyboard,
the actual sound of the sine wave generator and more - I don’t
believe will ever be duplicated as if they were, you’d basically
would evolve completely back to the B3 which other than it’s awkward
size and weight is the perfect machine. To me, it’s out points
are few compared to its plus points. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Milan
Polak (Nov 05): Well, writing
songs with lyrics I always compare to eating and digesting. Lol
Like I said before, I constantly absorb and feed my mind and all
these things shine through and come out in my songs. It’s a constant
process of experiencing and being moved by these experiences.
With instrumentals it is more like painting pictures to me. All
the instruments and sounds are like colours and by choosing which
sounds (or instruments) you mix together, you create sonic colours. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Bjorn
Lodin of Baltimoore (Sept 05): It
started in January 2004. I had gotten some riffs together and
really couldn't stop playing them... I wanted to start a new project
but knew I didn't have a drummer since Ian Haughland has joined
Europe again. I called Hempo, who's always ready and willing to
have a good time, and he said he knew a guitar-player, Mankan
Sedenberg, who might be a good side-kick for me and my riffs.
So, I flew down south and we hook up and started wanking. When
the songs were done, in July, Stefan Bergström joined for lead
guitar and Weine Johansson on bass. First we recorded drums in
4 days, the rest got recorded in a period of 5 months. The album
was ready in February 2005. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Katsu
Ohta of Ark Storm (Sept 05): No,
it was not something we intended to do. But we built the whole
production with mainly melodies in mind. The melody line was the
key for the song writing. So I am not surprised that people feel
the sense of commercialism to some degree. We just did what we
wanted to do as Ark Storm on our own way. And the result just
happened this way naturally. It may fit into the current trend
or whatever but it wasn't aimed anyway intentionally. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Dushan
Petrossi of Iron Mask (Sept 05):
We wanted a really wild recording, we didn’t rehearse much.
Anton Arkhipov our drummer sometimes didn’t know the songs, I
just told him “ok lets rock let s record”. He just warmed up 3
or 4 times with one of the songs and then when the song structure
was in his head for a couple of minutes he recorded and improvised
some very good breaks and licks. With the stress and energy you
are boosted and your performance is just great. A live gig feeling,
that’s just what we wanted. There are so many robotic, programmed
productions, I just hate it. I had to do it for the drums on the
first Iron Mask album and this was the first and last time I will
do that. A drummer needs to play live, all the rest is bullshit.
Some bands need that kind of production or if they don t get enough
money to get a drummer. Iron Mask is not Rammstein and will never
be, we need life in our sound. but don’t get me wrong it doesn’t
mean you have to play out of tune or not in the tempo there’s
enough rap metal shit for that [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Alex
Beyrodt of Silent Force (March 05):
25 fucking long years….and I still love it like the first
day. I still get excited whenever I pick up my guitar. It is a
gift from god, destiny and it changed my live completely.
When I picked up the guitar the first time I was hooked from the
first moment and wanted to become a professional musician. Today,
I have seen almost the whole world, I have been to Japan many
times, USA, South America, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and in
every European Country. Not to forget all this GREAT moments on
stage!!!! This is the best! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Richard
Anderson of Space Odyssey (March 05):
The biggest difference is mainly the production. On the
first CD we had a lot of effects whereas on the new one I wanted
a pretty dry, more acoustic sound because the playing stands up
on its own big time. From the beginning when I mixed the album
with Jonas Reingold I wanted no effects at all, but then the sound
got too small. So we turned the sound just a little fatter and
that came out great. I can imagine some fans reacting because
the sound doesn't explode in that 80´s production way, but this
is the way I like it. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Joe
Lynn Turner (March 05): It
was a surreal time for me because I had grown up playing Deep
Purple covers in bands when I was in high school and now here
I was fronting this legendary band that has always been one of
my primary influences. It was an awesome experience and working
on "Slaves and Masters" was one of the highlights of
my career. In fact, Ritchie Blackmore has often stated that that
album is his favourite since the band reunited in the early 1980s.
We toured the world during the Gulf War when many bands were afraid
to go out on the road and the fans were very appreciative. I completely
respect all of the members of Deep Purple and will always admire
them for their incredible contribution to rock and roll history
and glad I could be part of it as well. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Goran
Edman (Nov 04): Yngwie gave
me free hands with some tracks. Making Love, Bedroom Eyes, Faultline
and Judas. Judas though had a chorus melody but I had to come
up with the verses and the bridge. Faultline was his title but
I had to make up something around it. Mostly I was sitting in
my apartment or at the beach, preparing the lyrics. There was
plenty of time before we started recording the vocal parts and
I took opportunity of the nice climate to get myself a nice sun
tan. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Joe
Stump (Sept 04): I'm pretty
pleased with the new record, its certainly my finest hour. Every
aspect of the new record is as close to my final vision as anything
that I've ever recorded. The tunes are well crafted, the production
is real nice, the guitar tone is killer, glassy and crystal clear
and of course you get a lethal dose of insane extreme shredding
and neo-classical mayhem. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Tim
Donahue of Madmen & Sinners (Sept 04):
I'm always open to ideas, and expect a vocalist to bring
their own to an album. Compositionally, James (LaBrie) pretty
much stuck to what I had written. But he extended notes here and
there in order to give the vocal part a stronger delivery. That
in itself is not part of the thematic songwriting- that's delivery,
and I certainly wanted James to feel free to deliver the vocal
the best way he could. Needless to say, he sang great. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Richard
Andersson of Time Requiem (June 04):
There are a small group of people who can cope with me and
understand exactly what I am looking for when it comes to music.
One of these 5-7 people is Jonas Reingold. Actually there were
only a very small group that made the new record reality for me.
These people are in the inner circle of my reality. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Rob
Johnson of Magnitude 9 (March 04):
Its not as PROG sounding as our last cd , but still there
are those elements of prog , neoclassical & metal all together.
On this cd we tried to focus more on SONGS. There is still shredding
solos , but the songs are more mature & we think more to the
point as far as hooks, etc. We want to reach a wider audience
than ONLY prog or shred fans , Of course we want to reach those
people, but we wanted to display a complete package on this cd. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Kevin
Chown (March 04): Beware of
that phrase “trained musician”. Its not that “muzo’s” are bad,
but “schooled” musicians sometimes take themselves too seriously
and only worry about themselves and their own part instead of
thinking of the bigger picture musically. They don’t listen to
each other. I’ll take a street player most any day…..To answer
your question and how school related to me however, was good because
it forced me to play with better musicians at a higher level,
and to play types of music that I had never played before. It
broadened my horizons. But I never forgot my roots in rock. Play
what you feel. Passion over brains any day. You can’t look at
music school like it’s a vocational experience; you don’t walk
out the door with “the skill” when you are done, and the degree
means nothing if you cant (or don’t want to) play. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Rusty
Cooley (March 04): It was a very
natural thing. The idea of having more creative outlet and range
on the instrument makes sense. Also you don't have to do all kinds
of different tunings to make your guitar heavier. With a 7 string
you have all of the low end without even leaving A 440. Although
I do tune my guitars down a half step just out of habit. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Barry
Sparks of Dokken
(Jan 04): Well, if your expecting
some heavy metal style album, i guess you will hate it! its a
very personal album, all the songs mean alot to me musically and
lyrically, its more about simple catchy songs than "hey look
how fast I can play" I am very proud of it! it has a bit
of all my influences, but its mainly pop rock, you dont need to
be a guitar player to like it. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Anand
Mahangoe (Nov 03): Without melody
, a song is not a good song (to me) ! I don't have to tell you
that instrumental music is hard to sell ....almost impossible
without melody. Most of the guitar players do have technique ,
one faster than the other, so I do not find it necessary to show
them every minute. And next to this, I would also like non guitar
players / `normal` people (laughs) to buy my music, therefore,
melody is a must! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Thorbjorn
Englund of Winterlong (Oct 03):
Yep, it was very intentional. I already had the sound in my head
as I started to work out the songs. I wanted to make it very "in-your-face"-kind
of sounding, and to really maintain the raw guitar sounds that
comes out from the amplifier, not so polished and glossy-sounding
like most power metal. And even though we have synths and stuff
it still never feels too "fine", at least in my opinion...,
but it's difficult to explain, once you hear it you'll know what
I'm talking about. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Dushan
Petrossi of Iron Mask and Magic Kingdom (Sept 03): Wow that’s a hard question. If you mean the
current state of melodic metal, it’s still hard for bands like
IM ,there’s no real support on TV or national radios, we really
survive thanks to the melodic metal fans and the underground metal
world. If you mean label stuff, be careful only sign something
with a minimum money in advance, I’ve been crooked by my former
label, they released the album in a lot of countries without informing
me of this and they made problems with our new German label without
having any legal option for a second album. Now I m really happy
with my 2 labels (LION music and LMP) they are both really professional
and honest. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Marcel
Coenen of Sun Caged (Aug 03): Sun
Caged I formed in the year that my previous band Lemur Voice disbanded.
Sun Caged started out as a project, only Rob Van Der Loo (bass
and chapman stick), Dennis Leeflang (drums) and me, just writing
some songs and recording a demo with guest musicians (Scar Winter,
2001). When Lemur Voice disbanded we decided to make Sun Caged
a full time band. Sun Caged's music is also very diverse, the
main style is progressive metal, people compare it to bands like
Queensryche, Fates Warning, Ayreon, Dream Theater and Cynic, but
also Meshuggah and Haji's Kitchen are influences. It has a lot
of different vibes, we all play different in the band and have
different influences as musicians and that makes the music we
create. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
James
Byrd (Aug 03): It’s really difficult
to gauge the “success” of a particular album in all the areas
such a concept can cover. There’s always sales, but that depends
on many factors. According to my label, sales of Anthem were less
than its predecessor “flying beyond the 9”. Was it because it
wasn’t as good? I doubt it really. But I have no way of knowing
that because so many things changed after September 11th, the
promotion levels by the label of that album being among them.
Reviews were good. I think it’s a good sounding album in terms
of production, and I think I played well. It was a reactionary
album in terms of the content, and that is always a risk. But
you know, I can’t really think about any of this stuff when I’m
making an album. I have to just go with what I feel at the time
and be sincere, and I think it’s a passionate sincere album, and
in a lot of ways is better than flying beyond the 9. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Joe
Stump of Reign Of Terror (July 03):
I love to play guitar and I feel completely blessed that I make
a nice living with a guitar in my hands playing and teaching the
style of guitar that I truely enjoy. And in addition to all of
the very cool things that come with my modest level of success
the reason I`m driven and motivated is my total and complete dedication
to my craft. And to me each album is a new challenge to push myself
and take all the areas of my playing and composing to a higher
level. [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
„
“
Neal
Grusky of Takara (July 03): Well
many people have had other agendas when it comes to Takara, and
it has left me in the position in one way or another of having
to find new people. This is a hard biz. I am not a big fan of
lineup changes but it just seems that this is the way it works
out. Be when it is all done we are much better off now than we
were before. Takara currently features Bjorn Engellen on Bass,
Derrick Pontier drums, Eric Ragno keys and of course Michael Flatters
on vocals. his is a powerhouse lineup , best yet for us you'll
see! [READ
THE INTERVIEW]
Dave
Martone (Feb 07): There are so
many great players out there, and a lot of it is starting
to sound the same. How fast can we go? Is that the point of
music? Possibly, but there is more to it than that. People
need to get a unique voice instead of just imitating all the
time. That drives me nuts! So much time is spent on technique,
and I spent my fair share of it, but I think the next evolvement
is in sound. I love engineering also, and thanks for the compliment
on the production. I find you can be very artistic with sound.
I am trying to basically paint a picture with sounds and a
cross pollination of styles to create new, fresh sounding
music.
Sphere
Of Souls (Nov 06): I
like the ‘rawness’ of the sound. Many metal/rock bands have
this over-compressed, heavily chorused guitar tone. In my
opinion this reduces the impact of music. I think that rock/metal
should be delivered ‘raw’, with a punch and without compromise.
It was a conscious decision. This sound also provided us with
a means to let the listener in on what kind of chords we use.
An overly compressed sound can bury some of the tones in such
chords, which defeats the object of using them. This meant
that we needed something different.
Bjorn
Lodin of Baltimoore (Oct 06):
I constantly get “good advice” on how important
it is for a rock band to maintain a certain style in order
for fans not to get confused and disappointed etc. I understand
the rhyme and reason in this to a certain degree, but I’m
too much of a punk rocker to fall in line. When I read about
bands who see them selves as being a trademark..?.. and feel
a responsibility towards the fans - I don’t get it!
Daniel
Palmqvist (Sept 06): I’m
a big fan of good guitar playing, and I can get very impressed
by someone who has a great technique, but if the song and
the melodies aren’t equally good I loose interest pretty fast.
I really tried to listen to some shred type albums when I
was younger cause all my guitarist friends did, but I couldn’t
force myself to like it, haha. To me good playing in the context
of good music is so much more interesting. To me, there isn’t
that much difference between instrumental music and music
with vocals. It’s about having strong melodies and interesting
arrangements.
Daniel
Flores, Johann Niemann and Andreas Novak of Mind's Eye (June 06):
The story starts of in a class room.
A teacher is trying to get the class to shut up. Then she goes
off to a world of lies, deception and corruption starting off
with the Darwin theory. The first song starts of with the moon
landings, a laughable topic in my book. Taking you next to the
tragedy of 9/11, later changing topic to sense which we have lost
trough out our generation, namely Intuition or how other would
call it telepathy. Changing topic again to the mysteries of the
Pyramids of Giza and how an archaeologist falls in love with them,
in the end thinking he is a great Pharaoh. From mental illness
we go off to physical illness about drugs and how easy it is to
get hooked on drugs. Drugs make us forget about reality but the
reality is that our world is dying and that’s what next song is
about, how are we going to save it? no wonder the earth reacts
with stuff like the Tsunami. Then we end the first half of the
album with some rules, sacred rules. We have forgotten about honesty
and honour. The old ways are disappearing in front of our eyes
and the new law is “everybody is you enemy”.
Richard
Andersson & Goran Edman of Time Requiem (April 06):
First I must say that Göran is one of
the finest musicians I’ve ever worked with. I came in contact
with him after my fellow Jonas Reingold told me about having Göran
on next record. I simply just called him up and asked him if he
wanted the job. Göran never does this kind of music nowadays.
He knew about me and my music and he also liked what he heard
so he said yes. He is an extremely talented and professional musician.
Hubi
Meisel (March 06): I gave
my best to realize a mighty sound and this time I fortunately
could invest about 2 ½ months in the mixdown of the album. I was
using a lot of expensive analogue gear to achieve a warm and punchy
sound. I was also working a lot with effects, audio samples and
different reverb rooms in order to create special soundscapes
matching the storyline. In the song “Potala Palace”, for example,
in which the storyteller walks through the countless mighty halls
of Potala, I used about 20 different reverb types in order to
sonically express this special atmosphere.
Marcel Coenen (Feb 06): I
turn on my computer, start up Cubase, make a drum machine active
and start programming drum rhythms, so I get rhythmic ideas. That
is the way songs like Patron Saint and Skill Factor were written.
Songs like La Bella Mira come from a sweet thought on someone
and that gives melodies in my head (in this case my girlfriend).
In other therms I think theoretically (New Race) and in others
I am playing with atmospheric sounds on my synthesizer (Still
Bleeding) or am I just jamming some riffs (Waiting). I get inspired
by a lot of things, I can get inspired by things happening around
me, or by hearing nature sounds, so many different things actually,
kinda hard to explain.
Carsten
'Lizard' Schulz of Domain (Feb 06):
I'm getting older! :-) To me personally it feels like my
voice changes all the time. I know how to warm up and sing my
parts, no problem, but to me, it's like it changes its sound somehow.
For sure, the voice gets deeper and darker with age, so it's getting
harder, hitting the high notes, but on the other hand, I love
this rough and edgy sound, simply because I have to sing more
like with power. Strength...? Well, ask those, who are forced
to work with me! :-)
Lars
Eric Mattsson (Dec 05): The
main problem is that the market is a bit too small, not enough
people are buying these kinds of albums – the result of this will
in the long run mean that fewer albums will be released. The only
way to do this is to work all the time, expect very little money
and do it for the love of the music. There are many big problems
with the music business of today, it’s very hard to get support
from the magazines and as there are record stores closing down
all the time the only way to find music is from on line stores.
Since many record stores are closing this gives problems for the
distributors which is bad news for the labels… There seem to be
far too many artists and releases put out compared to the purchasing
power of the buyers. A lot of people download the music for free
from the internet. If the artists don’t get enough support from
the buyers they wont be able to put out more records and we will
risk ending up in a situation where most cd’s put out will be
compilation albums and re-releases.
Tuka
of Dogpound (Dec 05): Just
writing new songs and hopefully start to record a new album early
next year. I thing Micke has got like 15 new song. I will be seeing
him next week and we will try to sort them out and see with ones
that a Dogpound good. The ones that are to lousy maybe we will
give them to Nickelback so that their new album will be their
best ever.
Milan
Polak (Nov 05): Well, writing
songs with lyrics I always compare to eating and digesting. Lol
Like I said before, I constantly absorb and feed my mind and all
these things shine through and come out in my songs. It’s a constant
process of experiencing and being moved by these experiences.
With instrumentals it is more like painting pictures to me. All
the instruments and sounds are like colours and by choosing which
sounds (or instruments) you mix together, you create sonic colours.
Katsu
Ohta of Ark Storm (Sept 05): No,
it was not something we intended to do. But we built the whole
production with mainly melodies in mind. The melody line was the
key for the song writing. So I am not surprised that people feel
the sense of commercialism to some degree. We just did what we
wanted to do as Ark Storm on our own way. And the result just
happened this way naturally. It may fit into the current trend
or whatever but it wasn't aimed anyway intentionally.
Dushan
Petrossi of Iron Mask (Sept 05):
We wanted a really wild recording, we didn’t rehearse much.
Anton Arkhipov our drummer sometimes didn’t know the songs, I
just told him “ok lets rock let s record”. He just warmed up 3
or 4 times with one of the songs and then when the song structure
was in his head for a couple of minutes he recorded and improvised
some very good breaks and licks. With the stress and energy you
are boosted and your performance is just great. A live gig feeling,
that’s just what we wanted. There are so many robotic, programmed
productions, I just hate it. I had to do it for the drums on the
first Iron Mask album and this was the first and last time I will
do that. A drummer needs to play live, all the rest is bullshit.
Some bands need that kind of production or if they don t get enough
money to get a drummer. Iron Mask is not Rammstein and will never
be, we need life in our sound. but don’t get me wrong it doesn’t
mean you have to play out of tune or not in the tempo there’s
enough rap metal shit for that
Alex
Beyrodt of Silent Force (March 05):
25 fucking long years….and I still love it like the first
day. I still get excited whenever I pick up my guitar. It is a
gift from god, destiny and it changed my live completely.
When I picked up the guitar the first time I was hooked from the
first moment and wanted to become a professional musician. Today,
I have seen almost the whole world, I have been to Japan many
times, USA, South America, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and in
every European Country. Not to forget all this GREAT moments on
stage!!!! This is the best!
Richard
Anderson of Space Odyssey (March 05):
The biggest difference is mainly the production. On the
first CD we had a lot of effects whereas on the new one I wanted
a pretty dry, more acoustic sound because the playing stands up
on its own big time. From the beginning when I mixed the album
with Jonas Reingold I wanted no effects at all, but then the sound
got too small. So we turned the sound just a little fatter and
that came out great. I can imagine some fans reacting because
the sound doesn't explode in that 80´s production way, but this
is the way I like it.
Joe
Lynn Turner (March 05): It
was a surreal time for me because I had grown up playing Deep
Purple covers in bands when I was in high school and now here
I was fronting this legendary band that has always been one of
my primary influences. It was an awesome experience and working
on "Slaves and Masters" was one of the highlights of
my career. In fact, Ritchie Blackmore has often stated that that
album is his favourite since the band reunited in the early 1980s.
We toured the world during the Gulf War when many bands were afraid
to go out on the road and the fans were very appreciative. I completely
respect all of the members of Deep Purple and will always admire
them for their incredible contribution to rock and roll history
and glad I could be part of it as well.
Goran
Edman (Nov 04): Yngwie gave
me free hands with some tracks. Making Love, Bedroom Eyes, Faultline
and Judas. Judas though had a chorus melody but I had to come
up with the verses and the bridge. Faultline was his title but
I had to make up something around it. Mostly I was sitting in
my apartment or at the beach, preparing the lyrics. There was
plenty of time before we started recording the vocal parts and
I took opportunity of the nice climate to get myself a nice sun
tan.
Joe
Stump (Sept 04): I'm pretty
pleased with the new record, its certainly my finest hour. Every
aspect of the new record is as close to my final vision as anything
that I've ever recorded. The tunes are well crafted, the production
is real nice, the guitar tone is killer, glassy and crystal clear
and of course you get a lethal dose of insane extreme shredding
and neo-classical mayhem.
Tim
Donahue of Madmen & Sinners (Sept 04):
I'm always open to ideas, and expect a vocalist to bring
their own to an album. Compositionally, James (LaBrie) pretty
much stuck to what I had written. But he extended notes here and
there in order to give the vocal part a stronger delivery. That
in itself is not part of the thematic songwriting- that's delivery,
and I certainly wanted James to feel free to deliver the vocal
the best way he could. Needless to say, he sang great. 
Richard
Andersson of Time Requiem (June 04):
There are a small group of people who can cope with me and
understand exactly what I am looking for when it comes to music.
One of these 5-7 people is Jonas Reingold. Actually there were
only a very small group that made the new record reality for me.
These people are in the inner circle of my reality.
Rob
Johnson of Magnitude 9 (March 04):
Its not as PROG sounding as our last cd , but still there
are those elements of prog , neoclassical & metal all together.
On this cd we tried to focus more on SONGS. There is still shredding
solos , but the songs are more mature & we think more to the
point as far as hooks, etc. We want to reach a wider audience
than ONLY prog or shred fans , Of course we want to reach those
people, but we wanted to display a complete package on this cd.
Kevin
Chown (March 04): Beware of
that phrase “trained musician”. Its not that “muzo’s” are bad,
but “schooled” musicians sometimes take themselves too seriously
and only worry about themselves and their own part instead of
thinking of the bigger picture musically. They don’t listen to
each other. I’ll take a street player most any day…..To answer
your question and how school related to me however, was good because
it forced me to play with better musicians at a higher level,
and to play types of music that I had never played before. It
broadened my horizons. But I never forgot my roots in rock. Play
what you feel. Passion over brains any day. You can’t look at
music school like it’s a vocational experience; you don’t walk
out the door with “the skill” when you are done, and the degree
means nothing if you cant (or don’t want to) play.
Rusty
Cooley (March 04): It was a very
natural thing. The idea of having more creative outlet and range
on the instrument makes sense. Also you don't have to do all kinds
of different tunings to make your guitar heavier. With a 7 string
you have all of the low end without even leaving A 440. Although
I do tune my guitars down a half step just out of habit.
Barry
Sparks of Dokken
Anand
Mahangoe (Nov 03): Without melody
, a song is not a good song (to me) ! I don't have to tell you
that instrumental music is hard to sell ....almost impossible
without melody. Most of the guitar players do have technique ,
one faster than the other, so I do not find it necessary to show
them every minute. And next to this, I would also like non guitar
players / `normal` people (laughs) to buy my music, therefore,
melody is a must! 
Thorbjorn
Englund of Winterlong (Oct 03):
Yep, it was very intentional. I already had the sound in my head
as I started to work out the songs. I wanted to make it very "in-your-face"-kind
of sounding, and to really maintain the raw guitar sounds that
comes out from the amplifier, not so polished and glossy-sounding
like most power metal. And even though we have synths and stuff
it still never feels too "fine", at least in my opinion...,
but it's difficult to explain, once you hear it you'll know what
I'm talking about.
Dushan
Petrossi of Iron Mask and Magic Kingdom (Sept 03):
Wow that’s a hard question. If you mean the
current state of melodic metal, it’s still hard for bands like
IM ,there’s no real support on TV or national radios, we really
survive thanks to the melodic metal fans and the underground metal
world. If you mean label stuff, be careful only sign something
with a minimum money in advance, I’ve been crooked by my former
label, they released the album in a lot of countries without informing
me of this and they made problems with our new German label without
having any legal option for a second album. Now I m really happy
with my 2 labels (LION music and LMP) they are both really professional
and honest.
Marcel
Coenen of Sun Caged (Aug 03): Sun
Caged I formed in the year that my previous band Lemur Voice disbanded.
Sun Caged started out as a project, only Rob Van Der Loo (bass
and chapman stick), Dennis Leeflang (drums) and me, just writing
some songs and recording a demo with guest musicians (Scar Winter,
2001). When Lemur Voice disbanded we decided to make Sun Caged
a full time band. Sun Caged's music is also very diverse, the
main style is progressive metal, people compare it to bands like
Queensryche, Fates Warning, Ayreon, Dream Theater and Cynic, but
also Meshuggah and Haji's Kitchen are influences. It has a lot
of different vibes, we all play different in the band and have
different influences as musicians and that makes the music we
create.
James
Byrd (Aug 03): It’s really difficult
to gauge the “success” of a particular album in all the areas
such a concept can cover. There’s always sales, but that depends
on many factors. According to my label, sales of Anthem were less
than its predecessor “flying beyond the 9”. Was it because it
wasn’t as good? I doubt it really. But I have no way of knowing
that because so many things changed after September 11th, the
promotion levels by the label of that album being among them.
Reviews were good. I think it’s a good sounding album in terms
of production, and I think I played well. It was a reactionary
album in terms of the content, and that is always a risk. But
you know, I can’t really think about any of this stuff when I’m
making an album. I have to just go with what I feel at the time
and be sincere, and I think it’s a passionate sincere album, and
in a lot of ways is better than flying beyond the 9. 
Joe
Stump of Reign Of Terror (July 03):
I love to play guitar and I feel completely blessed that I make
a nice living with a guitar in my hands playing and teaching the
style of guitar that I truely enjoy. And in addition to all of
the very cool things that come with my modest level of success
the reason I`m driven and motivated is my total and complete dedication
to my craft. And to me each album is a new challenge to push myself
and take all the areas of my playing and composing to a higher
level. 
Neal
Grusky of Takara (July 03): Well
many people have had other agendas when it comes to Takara, and
it has left me in the position in one way or another of having
to find new people. This is a hard biz. I am not a big fan of
lineup changes but it just seems that this is the way it works
out. Be when it is all done we are much better off now than we
were before. Takara currently features Bjorn Engellen on Bass,
Derrick Pontier drums, Eric Ragno keys and of course Michael Flatters
on vocals. his is a powerhouse lineup , best yet for us you'll
see!