Progpower USA interview with Andreas
- Thread starter Kazar
- Start date
MAXX68
Member
PPFestival is unique also for the fact that they gift you with this fantastic "magazine" with all bio and interviews of all the bands.
Btw Romanowar do you think that when Andreas is reminding abt "a bbq together, drinkin beers, internet test while we were in the middleof a fantastic party...during an italian tour..." is ref to something for us very familiar?!?! ;-) ihihihih
LET'S DO IT AGAIN!! (this time with a better internet line please..)
Btw Romanowar do you think that when Andreas is reminding abt "a bbq together, drinkin beers, internet test while we were in the middleof a fantastic party...during an italian tour..." is ref to something for us very familiar?!?! ;-) ihihihih
LET'S DO IT AGAIN!! (this time with a better internet line please..)
JenniferLynn
AKA Irish
Thank you for posting this.. I missed out on a bag this year (which contains the 'ProgPower yearbook')
and let's hope I get to get in on that BBQ!!! Putting in for my my passport in the NEAR future!!
and let's hope I get to get in on that BBQ!!! Putting in for my my passport in the NEAR future!!
MAXX68
Member
OFCOURSE! Irish you know you'll be alway welcome here, especially if we arrange a tour with Circus Maximus uh?:Smokin:
No problems at all!!! At my parents house now there is a ADSL line, not that old crappy wicked internet phone line. I think the files Andreas wrote are still there in the hard disk of the PC.
I guess I could sell them on ebay
I guess I have some pics of that "EVENT". Maybe I could post some here....
Prog-Agressive
The Keyboard of OUTSIDERS
Interesting interview. It works to know better all behind the band. but I don't understand "The Andrea's job topic" I mean, in my country all musicans have another proffesion too, 'cause nobody lives only by the music here. As example, I'm a chemist and keyboardist! hahaha.
AngraRULES
Member
Hey guys,
I hope you all enjoyed reading the interview as much as I enjoy conducting it. Andreas was truly a class-act and a real nice guy to talk to.
Our ProgPower USA interviews are usually done in a very laid back way, trying to make it like it's just a conversation as opposed to a question-answer-question-answer type of deal. I think the ProgPower attendees can attest that over the years, the interviews have been a great little feature of that cool Program Magazine available at the festival.
As for why the question regarding his job, it's simple. A lot of people seem to still be stuck in that little utopian world in which they believe that every band that has an album release, or a record label deal is driving a Ferrari and living the life. Most of the times, that's not the case. Also, a lot of people like to actually know what their day jobs are. Would you ever guess that Andreas works in that particular business? I wouldn't. I guess we can agree to disagree, but it's actually tied back into the reason why our ProgPower interviews are different than most of the stuff you find on the web. I must also say that unfortunately (due to space), we couldn't publish all interviews in full. A lot of fun stuff has been edited, including Andreas talking about his "BASS CRUSADE" If anyone's interest, I can post the full transcription over here. Just let me know!
By the way, all of the other interviews conducted for this year's ProgPower USA festival will soon be available at http://www.progpowerusa.com/xii/media/interviews.html. Don't miss out on checking out next year's lineup as well, it's fantastic!! Anyone who's attended ProgPower in the back will tell you that it's a truly different festival. It's totally worth the trip over to the US for it.
Cheers!
-Milton
By the way, Romanowar, I think we met a few years ago at a Symphony X show in New York City - You had flown in from Italy if I'm not wrong, correct? (At the time, I was with the Brazilian RockHard magazine...) If that's you, well, good to see ya! Haha
I hope you all enjoyed reading the interview as much as I enjoy conducting it. Andreas was truly a class-act and a real nice guy to talk to.
Our ProgPower USA interviews are usually done in a very laid back way, trying to make it like it's just a conversation as opposed to a question-answer-question-answer type of deal. I think the ProgPower attendees can attest that over the years, the interviews have been a great little feature of that cool Program Magazine available at the festival.
As for why the question regarding his job, it's simple. A lot of people seem to still be stuck in that little utopian world in which they believe that every band that has an album release, or a record label deal is driving a Ferrari and living the life. Most of the times, that's not the case. Also, a lot of people like to actually know what their day jobs are. Would you ever guess that Andreas works in that particular business? I wouldn't. I guess we can agree to disagree, but it's actually tied back into the reason why our ProgPower interviews are different than most of the stuff you find on the web. I must also say that unfortunately (due to space), we couldn't publish all interviews in full. A lot of fun stuff has been edited, including Andreas talking about his "BASS CRUSADE"
If anyone's interest, I can post the full transcription over here. Just let me know!By the way, all of the other interviews conducted for this year's ProgPower USA festival will soon be available at http://www.progpowerusa.com/xii/media/interviews.html. Don't miss out on checking out next year's lineup as well, it's fantastic!! Anyone who's attended ProgPower in the back will tell you that it's a truly different festival. It's totally worth the trip over to the US for it.
Cheers!
-Milton
By the way, Romanowar, I think we met a few years ago at a Symphony X show in New York City - You had flown in from Italy if I'm not wrong, correct? (At the time, I was with the Brazilian RockHard magazine...) If that's you, well, good to see ya! Haha
AngraRULES
Member
Ok, so this is a portion of the interview that didn't make it to the program simply because of lack of space:
Milton: (laughter) Well, I’m sure that now that the happy band has done some touring, there are plenty of interesting stories from the road for you to tell me…
Andreas: (laughter)
Milton: Your tour mates CIRCUS MAXIMUS can be pretty hard-partying people sometimes…
Andreas: Yeah… (laughter) We’ve had our fair share of freaky stuff happen, but of course not all can be disclosed without major consequences for everyone (laughter). Let’s see, what has happened… The weirdest things, like we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere and all of the flights were cancelled. Somebody actually broke a glass on stage under the kick drums, and Johnny’s foot got cut.
Milton: Ouch.
Andreas: Yeah, and there was blood all over the place. Also, we’ve had places where there was not enough room on stage… Just really weird things that keep happening to us. I have just come to accept that something bizarre is bound to happen every time we’re up there.
Milton: That’s funny. You have the ProgPower gigs lined up, anything else going on aside from that?
Andreas: At this point I’m opening negotiations for a couple of European legs but nothing is really finalized yet. I can’t really say for sure, but we’re working on it. It’s definitely our ambition to be out on the road by the end of this year, but exactly how, when and where is a little too early to say, really.
Milton: I can see you guys being a great fit for a tour in the US such as the Progressive Nation tour that DREAM THEATER puts together once a year.
Andreas: Yeah, I’ve heard of that. As a matter of fact, somebody brought to my attention that at some point, there was a big buzz on the Mike Portnoy forum regarding Mercy Falls. So yeah, there might be an opening there and we would of course jump right into it. Obviously that might be a good way to go.
Milton: Sure thing. Andreas, there seems to be quite a rise of melodic and progressive metal in Scandinavia in the last few years. You know, PAGAN’S MIND, SEVENTH WONDER, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, ILLUSION SUITe… I could go on and on with more names. Back in the day people would think of Norway and Sweden and would think of black and death metal…
Andreas: Yeah… I don’t know really what this rise is attributed to. To be quite honest, there’s always been an active music scene here. Everyone has been in a band, or has a friend who has been in a band. Every now and then you kind of align with what’s going on and you find a scene to play, where there’s a potential audience for your music. The death metal thing was more commercially successful I think, although PAGAN’S MIND and HAMMERFALL are now bigger bands, playing festivals all the time, CIRCUS MAXIMUS is also definitely on the rise. I think it’s a smaller scene, but a very active one. In this day and age, I think you can pretty much get away with anything. You’re not confined within one specific style anymore because of the decline in record sales and the rise of internet promotion. You know, you do your thing and eventually you develop some kind of following. The fans of progressive and power metal at some point are bound to hear about these bands you know?
Milton: Makes sense.
Andreas: And this is not just for Scandinavia either, I hear about these great bands coming from Israel and Tunisia for instance. I think it’s everywhere, but just now we’re given the tools and the infrastructure to get to it.
Milton: Oh yeah, which has probably been the biggest barrier for this style of music until the last few years.
Andreas: Sure, sure. Without question.
Milton: Now, you’re a bass player and I can’t help but notice that in a lot of SEVENTH WONDER songs, the bass lines and the sound are right in the listener’s face so to speak. Can’t help but wonder if that was a conscious decision by your part.
Andreas: (laughter) Definitely.
Milton: “You know, let me just put my bass lines all the way up front while the other guys aren’t looking!”
Andreas: (laughter) I don’t like to be the silent hero, I’d rather be an average guy that has visibility. (laughter) And I really went to quite the extent on the Become album. But I play bass because you can have so much fun and do so much with it. There’s so much space in metal music that’s just empty, not being occupied by any other instrument. If you’re going to make the effort to occupy that space, you might as well make sure that people will notice it otherwise it’s going to be a wasted effort. And then there’s also that mentality that I used to have when I was younger. If I’m going to play sixteenth note triplets, you damn well better hear every single note otherwise I’m not making the effort. You had to make ridiculous mixes for that to come through of course, but that wasn’t the way to go. You still have to be musical and I guess we were still learning. But still, I somewhat cling to that notion that there’s no point in playing something cool or even writing something cool if it can’t be heard. And I have very strong support from the band, especially our guitarist since some of his influences are bands with very prominent bass players, like MR. BIG. That’s also one of the reasons why we have only one guitarist. It’d be too crowded with more than that. We always tell mixers that we’re not interested in getting a Rammstein sound. More like MR. BIG with 21st century-sounding drums and vocals or something like that. (laughter)
Milton: You’re the perfect example to disprove the theory that bassists are useless. (laughter)
Andreas: (laughter) Don’t get me started, I get so pissed! (laughter) I feel like I’m on a crusade. Every time someone says that I have to send them a YouTube link and say “Look at this! This is what bass playing should be, goddammit!” It really pisses me off… (laughter) I think it would be cool to do for bass what Yngwie and all of those guys did for guitar. There’s a lot of cool things you can do with a bass guitar and when I was starting out, I really couldn’t find someone who was good enough for me to be inspired by. When you see the videos on YouTube of people playing bass arpeggios and stuff like that, I really don’t want to come up as an asshole but sometimes it really sounds bad, almost as if they’re drumming each note. You know, I want to see it being played clear and perfectly, hear every note sound much like the guitars. You need a really good technique for that and there’s so much room for improvement. Most proficient bass players I come across are very funky, Victor Wooten-like guys. There aren’t that many really cool metal bassists. Most do a couple of tapping licks and people are impressed, but that’s not the real difficult thing. It’s all for sure, but there’s very little substance to it.
Milton: Can you think of any good players that you actually like in the metal scene though?
Andreas: I am very much impressed by the old bassist of SYMPHONY X, Thomas Miller. He did some really innovative stuff back then even though it’s not always very clear to hear. He was all over the place and that was cool. DREAM THEATER’s When Dream and Day Unite also had some really great stuff, although oddly mixed. It’s almost like our debut, Become. After that I found most of their bass lines almost boring, but that contrast back then was really what got me into it. I think it’s time for us bassists to kind of reclaim that power and make something of it.
Milton: Looks like the Bass Crusade has found a leader! (laughter)
Andreas: (laughter) I don’t know about that, but I definitely want to do my part.
Milton: (laughter) Well, I’m sure that now that the happy band has done some touring, there are plenty of interesting stories from the road for you to tell me…
Andreas: (laughter)
Milton: Your tour mates CIRCUS MAXIMUS can be pretty hard-partying people sometimes…
Andreas: Yeah… (laughter) We’ve had our fair share of freaky stuff happen, but of course not all can be disclosed without major consequences for everyone (laughter). Let’s see, what has happened… The weirdest things, like we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere and all of the flights were cancelled. Somebody actually broke a glass on stage under the kick drums, and Johnny’s foot got cut.
Milton: Ouch.
Andreas: Yeah, and there was blood all over the place. Also, we’ve had places where there was not enough room on stage… Just really weird things that keep happening to us. I have just come to accept that something bizarre is bound to happen every time we’re up there.
Milton: That’s funny. You have the ProgPower gigs lined up, anything else going on aside from that?
Andreas: At this point I’m opening negotiations for a couple of European legs but nothing is really finalized yet. I can’t really say for sure, but we’re working on it. It’s definitely our ambition to be out on the road by the end of this year, but exactly how, when and where is a little too early to say, really.
Milton: I can see you guys being a great fit for a tour in the US such as the Progressive Nation tour that DREAM THEATER puts together once a year.
Andreas: Yeah, I’ve heard of that. As a matter of fact, somebody brought to my attention that at some point, there was a big buzz on the Mike Portnoy forum regarding Mercy Falls. So yeah, there might be an opening there and we would of course jump right into it. Obviously that might be a good way to go.
Milton: Sure thing. Andreas, there seems to be quite a rise of melodic and progressive metal in Scandinavia in the last few years. You know, PAGAN’S MIND, SEVENTH WONDER, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, ILLUSION SUITe… I could go on and on with more names. Back in the day people would think of Norway and Sweden and would think of black and death metal…
Andreas: Yeah… I don’t know really what this rise is attributed to. To be quite honest, there’s always been an active music scene here. Everyone has been in a band, or has a friend who has been in a band. Every now and then you kind of align with what’s going on and you find a scene to play, where there’s a potential audience for your music. The death metal thing was more commercially successful I think, although PAGAN’S MIND and HAMMERFALL are now bigger bands, playing festivals all the time, CIRCUS MAXIMUS is also definitely on the rise. I think it’s a smaller scene, but a very active one. In this day and age, I think you can pretty much get away with anything. You’re not confined within one specific style anymore because of the decline in record sales and the rise of internet promotion. You know, you do your thing and eventually you develop some kind of following. The fans of progressive and power metal at some point are bound to hear about these bands you know?
Milton: Makes sense.
Andreas: And this is not just for Scandinavia either, I hear about these great bands coming from Israel and Tunisia for instance. I think it’s everywhere, but just now we’re given the tools and the infrastructure to get to it.
Milton: Oh yeah, which has probably been the biggest barrier for this style of music until the last few years.
Andreas: Sure, sure. Without question.
Milton: Now, you’re a bass player and I can’t help but notice that in a lot of SEVENTH WONDER songs, the bass lines and the sound are right in the listener’s face so to speak. Can’t help but wonder if that was a conscious decision by your part.
Andreas: (laughter) Definitely.
Milton: “You know, let me just put my bass lines all the way up front while the other guys aren’t looking!”
Andreas: (laughter) I don’t like to be the silent hero, I’d rather be an average guy that has visibility. (laughter) And I really went to quite the extent on the Become album. But I play bass because you can have so much fun and do so much with it. There’s so much space in metal music that’s just empty, not being occupied by any other instrument. If you’re going to make the effort to occupy that space, you might as well make sure that people will notice it otherwise it’s going to be a wasted effort. And then there’s also that mentality that I used to have when I was younger. If I’m going to play sixteenth note triplets, you damn well better hear every single note otherwise I’m not making the effort. You had to make ridiculous mixes for that to come through of course, but that wasn’t the way to go. You still have to be musical and I guess we were still learning. But still, I somewhat cling to that notion that there’s no point in playing something cool or even writing something cool if it can’t be heard. And I have very strong support from the band, especially our guitarist since some of his influences are bands with very prominent bass players, like MR. BIG. That’s also one of the reasons why we have only one guitarist. It’d be too crowded with more than that. We always tell mixers that we’re not interested in getting a Rammstein sound. More like MR. BIG with 21st century-sounding drums and vocals or something like that. (laughter)
Milton: You’re the perfect example to disprove the theory that bassists are useless. (laughter)
Andreas: (laughter) Don’t get me started, I get so pissed! (laughter) I feel like I’m on a crusade. Every time someone says that I have to send them a YouTube link and say “Look at this! This is what bass playing should be, goddammit!” It really pisses me off… (laughter) I think it would be cool to do for bass what Yngwie and all of those guys did for guitar. There’s a lot of cool things you can do with a bass guitar and when I was starting out, I really couldn’t find someone who was good enough for me to be inspired by. When you see the videos on YouTube of people playing bass arpeggios and stuff like that, I really don’t want to come up as an asshole but sometimes it really sounds bad, almost as if they’re drumming each note. You know, I want to see it being played clear and perfectly, hear every note sound much like the guitars. You need a really good technique for that and there’s so much room for improvement. Most proficient bass players I come across are very funky, Victor Wooten-like guys. There aren’t that many really cool metal bassists. Most do a couple of tapping licks and people are impressed, but that’s not the real difficult thing. It’s all for sure, but there’s very little substance to it.
Milton: Can you think of any good players that you actually like in the metal scene though?
Andreas: I am very much impressed by the old bassist of SYMPHONY X, Thomas Miller. He did some really innovative stuff back then even though it’s not always very clear to hear. He was all over the place and that was cool. DREAM THEATER’s When Dream and Day Unite also had some really great stuff, although oddly mixed. It’s almost like our debut, Become. After that I found most of their bass lines almost boring, but that contrast back then was really what got me into it. I think it’s time for us bassists to kind of reclaim that power and make something of it.
Milton: Looks like the Bass Crusade has found a leader! (laughter)
Andreas: (laughter) I don’t know about that, but I definitely want to do my part.
ConnieOH
Metal Lover in Ohio
JenniferLynn
AKA Irish
Thanks for posting this!!! And for the very reasons Andreas mentions is one of the things I absolutely LOVE about SW - the bass is PROMINENT and there are as many bass 'solos' as guitar solos..
And Billy Sheehan was a bad ass
And Billy Sheehan was a bad ass
AngraRULES
Member
Agreed. There was some great stuff that was left out of most interviews. Thanks for the kind words, glad to hear you liked it! =)
AngraRULES
Member
AngraRULES
Member
That's one of the things that jumped to me the first time I heard the band. I sing and play guitar, and I confess it was the first time that I was like "Damn, that's actually really awesome that a melodic prog metal band is doing that to that extent!"
Hope they keep on doing it in the next album. =)
Hi there. I just wanted to share with all the SW fans the interview we've justed posted. I didn`t want to open a different topic about the interview, as there is already a topic about an interview. I hope noone gets angry for this intromission, specially AngraRules, whose interview is just AMAZING, and Kazar, who started the topic.
The english text begins when the spanish rtanslation ends, at the bottom of the page. I really hope you all like it and want to thank Andreas for taking the time to answer.
http://www.laestadea.com/2010/11/entrevista-con-seventh-wonder/
The english text begins when the spanish rtanslation ends, at the bottom of the page. I really hope you all like it and want to thank Andreas for taking the time to answer.
http://www.laestadea.com/2010/11/entrevista-con-seventh-wonder/
AngraRULES
Member
Hey man, no worries. Thanks for the kind words about my interview. You guys did a fantastic job as well. Good job! =)
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