OFFICIAL PPUSA INTERVIEW: Vanden Plas...Any Questions For the Band?

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

Howdy Y'all,

It's that time of year again!

General Zod will be conducting the official ProgPower USA interview with Vanden Plas in the next month or so.

He's hard at work on questions. But he'd love to know if there's anything you'd like to know. It's a good bet he'll be chatting with vocalist Andy Kuntz. But maybe not, depending on Andy's schedule.

So...

Dig deep in your bag of arcane questions. Let's play Stump The Band this year. We want to create the best PPUSA interviews ever printed to celebrate PPUSA X.

Offer your questions here. Zod will review them and add them to his already growing arsenal. There are no guarantees he'll ask every question posed. But he'd love to know if you know something he doesn't about Vanden Plas.

Ask away!

Bill

P.S. As usual, we'll post 1/2 of each interview online (site in progress; URL to be posted soon) and the entire interview exclusively in the ProgPower USA printed program given to all who attend this year's fest.

 

[Prog_Please]

Dig deep in your bag of arcane questions. Let's play Stump The Band this year.

You mean like "How many feet does a centipede have?" Or "How many albums will they release before the band calls it quits?"

Hmmm... good thing I don't have to come up with all the questions cuz they'd all suck.

 

[Met-Al]

Seeing as how Vanden Plas is one of those rare bands that has maintained the same lineup from the start of their recording career, could they ever see the band continuing without any of its members? That's not to say I would want to see any member of the band leave. This is purely hypothetical.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

You mean like "How many feet does a centipede have?" Or "How many albums will they release before the band calls it quits?"

Hmmm... good thing I don't have to come up with all the questions cuz they'd all suck.

Not that kind of stump-the-band question.

What we strive for with our PPUSA interviews is to thoroughly research each band for weeks before we talk to them. In so doing, we'll know as much as possible about each band -- where albums were recorded, who produced them, what interviews were given at each step along the way, what certain lyrics mean, why certain cover artists were chosen, member turnover (or consistency), current events in each band's home country, personal questions or comments about a band member's family, what it was like to tour in each country, any "road stories" they care to share, etc.

To achieve that level of knowledge requires that I buy and pour over each album, listening to each track, reading each lyric, and -- especially -- all the liner notes. I also search the Internet reading reviews, fan comments on forums, Wiki entries, MySpace blogs, and previous interviews.

It takes about a week to 10 days of prep before I interview each band.

What we try to avoid is duplicating questions that have already been asked, and ask questions that cause the band members to say, "Good question" or "Let me think about that one for a moment." I like to keep the band members guessing as to what question comes next, not anticipating each one and answering by rote.

My philosophy is this: The band members are giving me 45+ minutes of their lives. Their time is extremely valuable. So I treat it as such and do my very best to give them an interview they'll remember for a long time.

So "stump the band" means to dig deep with really great, insightful, thought-provoking questions.

Zod's knowledge and passion for the bands, combined with my own, ought to make for fascinating reading this year -- PPUSA's tenth anniversary blow-out.

Bill

 

[LunaTEKKE]

It's far too early in the morning for me to think of anything insightful, but maybe someone can help me out with pronouncing the band's name...and the title of their last CD.

 

[lady_space]

Who chose to cover Kayleigh and why?

 

[YtseJammer]

I believe the band was planning on recording the last Showcase show for a live DVD. Are there plans to film this year's set (or any other set for that matter) for a live DVD/CD?

I think VP and DT toured Europe together in the past. Has there been any discussion with Portnoy in getting VP on the Progressive Nation tour? Perhaps their best chance at a full-blown US tour.

Any chance of a full covers CD? VP records some of the best covers around! (see Kiss of Death)

 

[batmura]

Do they ever think that prog bands much worse and derivative than them are getting all the exposure in the world whereas VP gets constantly overlooked?

 

[hunter]

Seeing as how Vanden Plas is one of those rare bands that has maintained the same lineup from the start of their recording career, could they ever see the band continuing without any of its members? That's not to say I would want to see any member of the band leave. This is purely hypothetical.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert

I think this is an excellent question, since it is incredibly rare for any band to retain their original members as long as VP has. I'd love to know their secret for staying together.

But for my question ... How did Vanden Plas make the transition from just a "metal band" to Musical Theater Performers with classics like Jesus Christ Superstar, Andy Kuntz' Rock-Opera 'Abydos' and the new Ludus Danielis (The Play of Daniel)?