OK here is my shot, Although Sean answered most of these already.
Sorry I took so long Jurg
Again always thanks for asking questions. And these are good ones.
Lots of questions for the band
Just a few things that came to my mind while watching the DVD again. So here are some questions for the band members:
- What music do you listen to? And do you find the time to listen to new CDs?
I have to say I have been into Heavier Darker stuff lately. And quiet a bit of the usual influences that are always a must.
So currently, in my player, Porcupine Trees Deadwing ( just got it and love it! ) moody and dark but so well done! Kaki King Legs to make is Longer, she is scary good! , Riverside as well , these guys are really good! Conception, Flow which I am also way into! Kamelot, Black Halo is really great too, I am into it! Great production and vocals! I am becoming a big Khan fan, he is great! Green Carnation, the quiet offspring, the At war with self CD is great! And one incredible piece of music Threads from Redemption, Totally kick ass! I heard that from the lasers edge / sensory records site, the disc is not out till June but if the rest of it sounds like this piece it is going to be incredible.
A bit lighter and from our label I and way into Kino, it is a great disc! Awesome production and songs! So good I pulled out my Urbane discs again, John Mitchell is an awesome talent! Octane of course from Spocks is cool, the New Labrie disc rocks as well ad Russell Allens Atomic Soul. Inside Out stuff is happening right now. I even still throw Live at Last in once in a while. Also Whitewater from CG3, I have about worn my CG3 discs out though
- How is life on tour? I mean things like showering, sleeping, washing clothes, daily routine and stuff like that.
Sean answered this one pretty well I think, I would add crazy and hilarious at times to that. Life on the bus is a blast, lots of terrible humor and constant jokes and pranks, we watch movies and drink lots of
..soda
and try and sleep on the bumpy roads. We have hotels in the bigger cities upon arrivals and departures. We were on the bus from Amsterdam to Oberhausen this time, it was short, so no worries on the laundry, although the last time out we hit a couple of Laundromats. The showers can be interesting and a bit,,,,,dodgy Especially in the Bergkeller this time
Grandmas Tub I think it was? The daily routine is pretty much wake up somewhere different every morning and then check out the venue and find some breakfast. Which is usually the same, cheese bread and meat, no one diets on tour
we then do a load in and checked the gear and maybe head out to the local town or city for a stroll and another bite to eat. Then head back for sound check and sometimes a nap before the gig. After the gigs it is usually back on the bus on off for the next stop.
- How is the contact with the support acts on tour? Do you have time to talk to them?
Yes we do, we met some really cool people and other great musicians this time. This time we had Feed Forward ( a great band in Weert who rock and are really nice people! A pleasure, Alias Eye in Affshafensburg as you know, very cool! And then at Headway we met Shadowkeep, and the Splinter guys who were all very cool. We met the Guys from Prymary as well who were playing the next day at Headway. They rock! We have always had good contact with the other bands we play with, it has always been one of the highlights on tour.
- How often do you meet other band members when you are not rehearsing, touring or recording?
Like Sean said we just went to a Giants game and also saw each other at the SB gig in SF and are actually getting together this weekend at my place. We try and hang as much as possible and rehearse or write a few times a week. We have had a little break since the tour and will be back at it hopefully next week.
-- Who had an influence on whether taking photographs or recording bootlegs are allowed on concerts? The band, the venue, the tour manager?
We have the call on the photography and video shooting and audio taping recording? People are usually so amazingly considerate about this! Especially this trip over. Actually I have been contacted a lot about this, and Doug as well, we usually discuss the circumstances or who it is? We love the photos and videos and appreciate people taking the time to do this. I was contacted by a few people prior to this tour, luckily for us! And contacted a few friends I knew would be coming out to see us. The bootlegs are a different story, we like to have the call on that one. Just in case. In some cases we need to let the venue personnel know or get people photo passes, we let the tour manager know as well when needed. We pretty much handle this on our own, or have so far. By the way a HUGE thanks again to everyone who took picks! And sent them in!
- Why the hell do you need all these guitar/bass pedals? What do they do?
The Pedals, damn we need to get the gear page up people, sorry it is coming soon.
The Bass pedals you see my being tied down too at times are similar to the famous Moog Taurus pedals you see Geddy Lee playing, they add some serious bottom in parts and enable me to play up higher without the band losing its,,,,,,,,bottom. They run an Oberhiem 1000 module in my rack into the house PA, Our sound man extraordinaire Tom Size cranks them up loud in the mains for the shows and shakes the house.
The other pedals I have vary myself. I ran a floor tuner with mute this time, a volume pedal, a TC Electronics chorus flange doubler, an overdrive sans amp, and a new toy, the Line 6 modeling delay pedal with and expression pedel for the very strange and crazy bass solo.
