Questions for Ron

[Kebnekajse]

Some fanatic Questions
1. Any news about the new Tower album, please?
2. I really enjoy the vids of you playing guitar in the studio, but it would be cool to se Rick in action also. Are there any movie clips of him beating the drums, that you can upload? or maybe some of Doug and Jason?
3. Any plans for a DVD?
4. Any plans for a rerelease of Control and Resistance?
5. It would be a thrill to see you guys live, unfortunately i live in Sweden. If you have any plans of touring in Europe this summer you could contact Sweden Rock Festival, the festival is held in the beginning of june. You would be the only reason for me to visit the festival, despite big acts like Motley Crue, Aceept with Udo, Dream Theater, Yngwie and more. I seldom listen to metal nowdays.
Thats it, keep up the good work.

 

[fragility]

I thought you could still get C&R ?!! try www.lasercd.com

 

[Taedium Vitae]

I wouldn't be surprised if some places still had Control and Resistance in stock in Vikingland... I bought it from like CDON.se or Ginza.se or whatever a buncha years ago, and it was still in stock at Metal Blade/Roadrunner (I think?).

Come to think of it, it must've been like 4 years ago by now... how time flies...

 

[jimbobhickville]

You can still get C&R, yeah, but I think he's wondering if there is gonna be a remastered version or something. Maybe that isn't what he meant, I dunno. Anyway, does anyone know if the re-release of Energetic Disassembly was remastered at all? I have the original (not the original pressing, mind you, a later repressing with a crappy insert), but I wonder if it's even worth getting the re-release.

 

[Kebnekajse]

Yeah thats what i meant, a remastered version, or at least a version with a nice booklet that contains lyrics and some pictures. What about the version that you guys are talking about, what does the insert look like? Thanks guys for your conserns! Haha Vikingland, vad tror du om Watchtower och SwedenRock? Inte en chans säger jag, och om dom skulle komma så blir dom säkert utbuade. känner du många som diggar Tower? Dom flesta metallare som jag har presenterat för musiken reagerar med skräck.

 

[ronjarz]

“Energetic Disassembly” was reissued by Monster Records. They did a killer job with the CD. I don’t think the audio was remastered, but you might want to check the official Tower site at http://www.marathoncd/watchtower/ for more info. I had very little to do with the release. Jason and Doug helped the Monster guys with the packaging. The booklet contains all of the lyrics, a mixture of small color and black/white photos, and some flyers and magazine reviews. If you’re into what happened with the band nearly 20 years ago, then you might want to pick it up.

As far as “Control And Resistance” goes, the only versions of the CD that I’ve seen lately are the cheap Office Depot Xeroxed looking copies that Noise released. Only lyrics to half of one song are included. I think the band photo was deleted too. Noise did everything they could to cut costs, but still “rerelease” the CD.

1. Any news about the new Tower album, please?

Basically the same as it was months ago. We’re still in the process of recording. No songs are completed. The plan is still the same. Record half of the songs, then shop the CD while we’re finishing up the rest of the recordings.

2. I really enjoy the vids of you playing guitar in the studio, but it would be cool to se Rick in action also. Are there any movie clips of him beating the drums, that you can upload? or maybe some of Doug and Jason?

Yes, we recorded Rick recording some of his drum tracks. I think it was mostly when he was warming up and running over parts. Some goofing off in the studio too. I need to go back and see what we have on tape. I plan on getting some video of all of us recording, but I also tried that with Spastic Ink and Pete and Jason didn’t want to bother with any of that stuff. They wanted to just get their parts down on tape, not worry about camera angles, being entertaining, etc…

3. Any plans for a DVD?

I was working on an instructional DVD, but the project with Webster and Adler popped up, so I refocused. Bobby has his drum video done. Check out the info at http://www.bobbyjarzombek.com

WatchTower has never talked about making a DVD.

4. Any plans for a rerelease of Control and Resistance?

Noise has all rights to the CD. We can’t do anything with those recordings.

5. It would be a thrill to see you guys live, unfortunately i live in Sweden. If you have any plans of touring in Europe this summer you could contact Sweden Rock Festival, the festival is held in the beginning of june. You would be the only reason for me to visit the festival, despite big acts like Motley Crue, Aceept with Udo, Dream Theater, Yngwie and more. I seldom listen to metal nowdays.

Right now, seeing Spastic Ink live will not happen mainly because Bobby lives in California. If he ever did move back to San Antonio, I think it would be cool if we did a song or two at a club over here and just check out the vibe. Pete and I both play in different cover bands 3-4 times a week, and getting the 3 of us to play onstage would be very easy to do. Probably play something from “Ink Complete”, maybe “Data Race”, “178”, or “Suspended”.

I have the doubleneck now, so I would be able to play the "Ink Compatible" songs, although there are tons of gtr overdubs on those songs, and it might sound rather thin live. I’m currently using the doubleneck with my cover band Dragonfly, and am getting very comfortable with it. Although pulling off “Multi-Masking” would be slightly more difficult than “46&2”.

As for WatchTower gigging, that’s very possible. But I don’t think it will happen until we get the next CD released. I always feel like I’m wasting time and energy when we do these reunion shows without having anything to push and promote. We were hoping to have the CD out soon so that we could make some of the summer festivals in Europe during the summer, but we aren’t going to make it. Even if the material was totally recorded right now, it would take a few/several months for it to be properly released.

When WatchTower played at the festival in Holland last year, we were invited to play at a festival in Greece, but we couldn’t work out lots of details. But when the next CD is out, I’m hoping to play a few festivals while we’re there in Europe, and maybe play some clubs in between. But we’ll see what happens when we get to that point…

Ron

 

[fragility]

oh man! That DVD would have been cool!!

 

[Atheist]

You have to get back to it at some point.

 

[fragility]

Definately!

Here's a question for you Ron - do you deliberately set out to write technical music or do you just think in that way?

 

[KJP]

I was working on an instructional DVD, but the project with Webster and Adler popped up, so I refocused. Bobby has his drum video done.

What exactly does this project involve? I wasn't able to locate any informations at the Spastic Ink website...

When WatchTower played at the festival in Holland last year, we were invited to play at a festival in Greece, but we couldn’t work out lots of details.

Holy crap, I never knew that!! Can you recall whether it was Rockwave or Arhens Open Air? I am asking because this second one ended up being a disaster with its second day getting cancelled. However, the next time you'll play in Europe I won't hesitate to travel to see you. I know it worth every bit of it.

Kostas JP.

 

[ronjarz]

KJP,
I don't remember what Greece festival we were invited to, but it was about 10 days after the Holland gig. WatchTower was about 50/50 if we were going to go for it, but then Dennis, the drummer for Sun Caged (the band that we were going to be playing the club shows with) quit and made eveything from that point on very complicated. We had very little choice but to decline. Sucks because I get lots of Ink orders and cool emails from people in Greece.

By the way, Marcel Coenen was cool enough to let me use his amp for the Holland gig. Thanks Marcel!!

 

[Kebnekajse]

Hey Ron
I just want to thank you for the answers you gave me.
It would be realy cool if you some day could upload the vids, when you have time of course.
You know Rick has played a major part for me as a drummer. He has an unique style of playing drums, combining jazz trash and fusion. I have even heard some parts from your San Antonio gig where he play some kind of a drum n bass"ish" drum groove. He is one of very few drummers that have meant alot to me. Here are some drummers that have had a major influence on me:
Snowy Shaw, he opened my eyes for the drums.
Billy Cobham, he introduced me to jazz.
Elvin Jones, an amazing jazzmachine.
Rick, of course!
Toni Allen, the afrobeat drummer of the Fela Kuti band.
Erik Dahlbäck, Drummer in the swedish Progband Fläsket Brinner.
I think i should mention Morgan Ågren as well, great drummer.

Does anyone know anything about Ricks and Dougs appearance in Retarted Elf?? Are there anything recorded and realeased? and how long and when did they play in Elf?

Sorry for my lack of english words and grammar.

 

[zlogdan]

My copy of Control And Resistance does not even has lyrics on it. And it is not pirate you know. But I got that as present from a friend of mine who has lived in Japan. My Dream Theater "When Dream And Day Unite" looks the same. This is a very "Brazilian" way of making cds man. In the past most Rush cds were released here with only cover and back cover.