Please tell us more about your second
album Diagramma from 2007
That album was a transitional one.
There are 5 songs on it that were just me playing or programming
everything, then two songs that featured the whole band. By then I
had realized that prog had a small but enduring audience and I geared
the album towards that aesthetic instead of a jazzier one that the
earlier album had. The album was a lot more keyboard-oriented than I
was used to being and instead of using a guitar synth to trigger
stuff along with the occasional keyboard-based synth, I spent as
much time playing "traditional" prog keyboards as I did
guitar.
As before, I was very much interested
in merging electronic elements like drum machines and samplers, loops
and synth based sounds with the more traditional sound of guitar,
bass and drums but as computer technology had advanced radically
since the first album, I was able to create far more complex
atmospheres and treatments.
Please tell us more about your third
album We Are in the Time of Evil Clocks from this year.
That was a real band effort and was
recorded in various places throughout a 13 month period. I don't
think I have ever taken so long to track and produce music before in
my life, but when you have 4 players to account to and for, it takes
a lot longer to reach a consensus.
The idea was to have a darker sounding,
more mysterious vibe than before and we really wanted to have a windy
hill in the Autumn as a sonic returning point through-out.
How would you describe the musical
developments on your three studio albums?
Well, as I mentioned already, the basic
thrust is to maintain a performance-oriented aspect regardless of the
technology used. I love gear and I love trying out new stuff, but I
don't want the real-time performance of music to get subsumed by
production techniques or digital audio workstation assumptions.
Every album has some part that is
basically an Acousmatic episode not intended to be performed (ranging
from nature and city ambiences to a clamorous industrial sounds).
Every album features songs that use a mix of sample based percussion
sounds mixed with real drums. That element has remained constant. The
sound of a huge and busy bass has also been a constant. The variables
have been the guitars, keyboards vocals and other instruments like sax. That changes
according to who is in the band at the time and what they bring to
the table.
For instance, on Evil Clocks album,
Ange has a pretty voice so I wanted to accent that. She's a really
strong soprano player and able to improvise easily so I wanted to
accent that as well. Bassist Claude Prince was excellent re-creator
of parts and wanted a challenge so we gave him lots of tricky things
to do. He is also a formidable slapper so we set up areas where he
could do that. Aaron has excellent technique and a real feel fro
grooving in odd meters so that was played up on the album. He also
was in the process of shifting his grip from a more traditional
jazz-like one, to a harder-edged rock one, so we wanted to get both
on record.
On Diagramma Alain was a heavy-hitter
on drums with a very idiosyncratic technique so I wanted to showcase
that side of things. Gary was a wonderful tapper so we played up that
aspect. Both of them were given tons of room to do that on
Arachnophobia. Paul Joannis was a HUGE Rush fan and had that
sensibility so the song Awakening, was mostly his showcase.
How is the availability of your three
albums?
Diagramma and Evil Clocks are easily
had at 10T and various other places. The first is essentially out of
print as it was only a CD-R release through CD-Baby. I have had quite
a few requests for it actually so I may print up some real copies or
alternatively, start getting some more available for download.
Just to give those of us who are
unknown with your music a bit of a reference point or two: How would
you describe your music?
I'd say it is performance-oriented
stuff. It is full of contrasts and very eclectic, but is unified by a
strong rhythmic feel. Even when we are playing in odd meters (a lot
of the time) we try to keep a groove-oriented pocket. We have been
compared to a lot of people but the one that seems to be used most is
King Crimson. I think that is because we are edgy at times (although
we do have some very pretty little ballads) and have lots of angular
riffs and dissonant chords. The vocals are often described as
sounding like Dave Gilmour so there is that as well.
From my point of view the music is
jazzy in nature, not in the swing sense of the term (although we do
have some sections that rely of swing grooves) but in the underlying
approach to the songs and the players. I like distorted guitar and
tricky riffs so there is lots of that, but mostly it is twisted
song-oriented stuff.
How is your gigs situation?
We're doing tons of them lately, mostly
small clubs and dives. There have been some dismal turn-outs to be
sure, but we also have had some amazing response. I think it is
important for a band to be out there dealing with gigs both good and
bad. It not only makes you so much tighter, it also helps you grow as
a band. After awhile you can deal with pretty well anything a gig
throws at you and bit by bit you find that you're making a mark and
people of all ages and back-grounds begin to get into it.
What is your experience with the music
industry and the new internet music scene?
I have been doing music full-time since
I was 18 (with the exception of two years pounding spikes in the
mountains) and I have had a ton of experience working with lots of
players. I've worked with world famous people and total unknowns and
everything else in between. I find that musicians are generally a lot
more tolerant than fans, music buffs first and foremost and easily
approachable on that level. The few that I have had tons of attitude
from usually don't seem to get far in that field.
The internet is amazingly difficult to
deal with. At once it offers a distribution network unlike any
before, can target niche markets better than any other media ever
could, but is rife with piracy and seems to be inspiring the gradual
dissolution of the concept of intellectual property. It is an
interesting time to make music that's for sure.
Oddly enough I came across an article
from the turn of the century (1900 ie) and it was talking about the
demise of music because at that time illegal Canadian reproductions
of sheet music were threatening the American publishing industry.
Perhaps nothing has really ever changed and music just chugs along
regardless but I do know lots of people who simply aren't earning
money anymore and that needs to be reconciled with the perceived
right of the end-user to take whatever is available for free.
What is your latest update and the
plans for the rest of this year and next year?
We're planning to record the new album
early 2011. The material is all written and we are rehearsing it now.
To wrap up this interview, is there
anything you want to add to this interview?
Keep your minds open; check out new
stuff, music is still vital.
Thank you to David for this interview
Their PA profile is here and their homepage here
/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage")
The Rebel Wheel
Topic Options
