Douglas A. Ott
CEO
Nice call all around! I think it's interesting how many facets of the bands sound has been chiseled by some band or singer over the years and you guys obviously have your finger on the pulse!
Here's my take:
Early on when we were a 4 peice: Benignus, Paul, Brain and Myself our influences were (in no particular order) : Rush, Genesis, Yes, Queensryche, Marillion, Saga, Dream Theater, etc. We were trying to revitalize a style of music that we thought was basically dead. DT was trying to do the same only on a whole new level, we on the other hand were trying to in fuse the older, what we called dinosoaur prog, with the newer sounds of Rush and Queensryche while keeping the integrity of the word progressive. Not too heavy, not to light... somewhere in the middle.
Later on when Ted and Ed joined the band our influnces expanded with Ted bring in his Kansas influences as a singer and his love for heavier stuff like Kings X which I got totally into. Ed brought along a lot of the same older prog stuff but also his love for groove and funk. This led to me to bring in some of the stuff that I had been holding back on like Todd Rundgren/Utopia, Tears for Fears which everybody liked, Ted and I found a common obsession and love for Jellyfish, Paul even admitted some of his fondness of some of the heavier stuff that I used to be into: Sabbath, Ozzy, Scorpions, MSG, UFO, Etc. All these combined influences now started to bring in a different era of what would be Enchant and our sound would sbsequently change almost on every record: BOTW - early prog influences. Wounded - Heavier influences. Break - Seattle and grunge influences. J9 - More pop and even jazz trickling in.
When Sean joined the band I found myself being even more open to outside influences; outside being outside of prog. I started just writing music, not writing prog songs... oh, they eventually came out with some sort of prog twist for I can't seem to escape my influne in the genre even if I wanted to, but there was a sense of every day music wrapped with in the shroud of proggressive.
I myself love music and even though I don't really listen to newer prog stuff, it's influence runs deep in my soul, as does growing up listening to am radio, as does being a teenager and listening to every guitar driven album I could find, A does the 80's with it's drum machines and keyboard based arrangements, as does being enthralled by the early 90's music change and "grunge" sound, as does the 2000's resurgence of old Black Sabbath and Aerosmith licks I keep hearing in alternative stuff. Like I've said a million times since I started this band,"we are musical sponges soaking up what ever comes our way". It's still true to this day.
I love so much that it's a long list that takes an hour to just scratch the surface.
Here's a few prog bands that didn't make the list that I still love to this day: UK, FM, IQ, King Crimson, Nektar, Pink Floyd, ELP, Gentle Giant, Queen, Camel, Jethro Tull, Dixie Dregs, Beatles, just to name a few. This does not include the psuedo prog bands like Styx, Journey, Triumph, the Police, Ambrosia, nor the fusion groups like Jeff Beck, Ian Hammer, some of the Doors jams, etc.
I can keep pumping influences out but I will stop here with a short list of pop stuff that I've always loved but was ashamed to admit to my Metal brothers!
Hall & Oats, Mister Mister, Duran Duran, Outfield, and all the one hit wonders over the years!
As always, thanks for listening!
Doug
Here's my take:
Early on when we were a 4 peice: Benignus, Paul, Brain and Myself our influences were (in no particular order) : Rush, Genesis, Yes, Queensryche, Marillion, Saga, Dream Theater, etc. We were trying to revitalize a style of music that we thought was basically dead. DT was trying to do the same only on a whole new level, we on the other hand were trying to in fuse the older, what we called dinosoaur prog, with the newer sounds of Rush and Queensryche while keeping the integrity of the word progressive. Not too heavy, not to light... somewhere in the middle.
Later on when Ted and Ed joined the band our influnces expanded with Ted bring in his Kansas influences as a singer and his love for heavier stuff like Kings X which I got totally into. Ed brought along a lot of the same older prog stuff but also his love for groove and funk. This led to me to bring in some of the stuff that I had been holding back on like Todd Rundgren/Utopia, Tears for Fears which everybody liked, Ted and I found a common obsession and love for Jellyfish, Paul even admitted some of his fondness of some of the heavier stuff that I used to be into: Sabbath, Ozzy, Scorpions, MSG, UFO, Etc. All these combined influences now started to bring in a different era of what would be Enchant and our sound would sbsequently change almost on every record: BOTW - early prog influences. Wounded - Heavier influences. Break - Seattle and grunge influences. J9 - More pop and even jazz trickling in.
When Sean joined the band I found myself being even more open to outside influences; outside being outside of prog. I started just writing music, not writing prog songs... oh, they eventually came out with some sort of prog twist for I can't seem to escape my influne in the genre even if I wanted to, but there was a sense of every day music wrapped with in the shroud of proggressive.
I myself love music and even though I don't really listen to newer prog stuff, it's influence runs deep in my soul, as does growing up listening to am radio, as does being a teenager and listening to every guitar driven album I could find, A does the 80's with it's drum machines and keyboard based arrangements, as does being enthralled by the early 90's music change and "grunge" sound, as does the 2000's resurgence of old Black Sabbath and Aerosmith licks I keep hearing in alternative stuff. Like I've said a million times since I started this band,"we are musical sponges soaking up what ever comes our way". It's still true to this day.
I love so much that it's a long list that takes an hour to just scratch the surface.
Here's a few prog bands that didn't make the list that I still love to this day: UK, FM, IQ, King Crimson, Nektar, Pink Floyd, ELP, Gentle Giant, Queen, Camel, Jethro Tull, Dixie Dregs, Beatles, just to name a few. This does not include the psuedo prog bands like Styx, Journey, Triumph, the Police, Ambrosia, nor the fusion groups like Jeff Beck, Ian Hammer, some of the Doors jams, etc.
I can keep pumping influences out but I will stop here with a short list of pop stuff that I've always loved but was ashamed to admit to my Metal brothers!
Hall & Oats, Mister Mister, Duran Duran, Outfield, and all the one hit wonders over the years!
As always, thanks for listening!
Doug
