Shadow Gallery's Gary Werhkamp

Rodrigo

Heat in 7
Apr 17, 2001
883
3
18
Southern California
UltimateMetal.com's Rodrigo managed to snag an interview in cyberland with Shadow Gallery's Gary Wehrkamp, about their excellent new album Legacy, his influences, and more.



(Thanks to Anne Leighton, I was able to schedule an interview with Gary Wehrkamp of Shadow Gallery. However, due to my hectic day job I could only do an e-mail interview with Gary. It still ended up being a great discussion about the new excellent Shadow Gallery album Legacy. -- Rodrigo)


Ultimate Metal: Congratulations on the new album Legacy Gary! I have been hearing if for the past few weeks and I simply love it.

Gary Wehrkamp: Thanks a lot.

UM: My first obvious question would be what does the band and especially you think about it?

GW: I do not know what everyone in the band thinks. I know Mike likes it a lot. I haven’t heard too much feedback from the other guys. For me, it is kind of hard to judge especially when I have been so close to it for so long. I am so used to listening for out of tune, out of time parts that it becomes habitual to have the ear drawn to the technical details. It’s a little challenging to remove the producer’s hat and become an unbiased listener. To be honest, I haven’t played it too much. A few times the week of its release, but not since. I encountered a similar experience with Tyranny, where I couldn’t really appreciate it when we were finished. Then, about a few months later I started giving it a listen and I totally fell in love with it. There have been very few times since where I haven’t gotten goosebumps from listening to that. So I hope eventually Legacy can impress me the same way.

UM: There is no mistaking that this is a Shadow Gallery album. You guys have totally achieved your own sound and one that I do not hear any other bands play. Do you agree and if you do how does it feel to be very unique and not sound like other bands?

GW: I suppose we are unique. I never really think about that until someone like yourself mentions the fact. We have always wanted to be a well-rounded band, and adding all those musical dimensions increases our separation from other acts.

UM: How did you guys hook up with Neil Kernon? I think that Legacy is the best sounding Shadow Gallery album yet. How was it working with him?

GW: Initially it was a matter of us being us being too busy with other things and trying to efficiently manage our time more properly. Carl has mixed the past records but it looked like his schedule was going to be a bit tight. Additionally the record company wanted to associate us with a bigger name in the prog rock community. They asked us for our consideration with working with someone. We made a small list of names, all exceptionally talented people, and Neil just seemed to be the obvious choice from his experience and positive attitude. We knew some of his past work and appreciated what he had done with some of the records he did with Queensryche. It was a lot of fun working with him. From the third day on, everything became funny, and it was a non-stop comedy routine, yet we managed to remain extremely focused and work very diligently. There was a great deal of pressure on us to mix in a matter of days, so it became intense at points where we had to decide what was most important to focus on. It is really difficult to mix with someone else there, I think any mixer would agree and both Neil and I are used to working alone, so we had to make some compromises to each other. Although I considered him to be the primary mixer with myself just more helping him along. I would have preferred more time to get creative with the mix. It is something we have had the luxury of, in the past, and I was a bit stressed out upon returning home, but after a period of separation from it (we were going 15-18 hours a day, every day nonstop), I was able to hear it from a new perspective.

UM: Would you want to work with him in the future?

GW: I have no idea what we will do in the future regarding mixing.

UM: You are credited with writing the majority of the music in Legacy, how did that occur? In your previous albums as far as the writing is concerned most everybody from the band contributed in writing the music.

GW: Yes, we are used to being a collective group compositionally. After finishing Tyranny and the few side albums we worked on, we became a bit disenchanted with the long recording process, and thus, a little bit uninspired. I seemed to come out of that slump first, and had worked on a bunch of songs. Mike and I demo-ed quite a few, getting together once a week for a few months. Then, when it came down to making the record, Brendt and Chris didn’t have much to bring to the table, so we pressed on with what we had, but their presence, spirit, talent and creativity is a big part of this record and band, and is heard throughout. Carl usually has great musical ideas as well, but he was quite busy handling the lyrics for what music was already written, and while we agreed to make a CD of 50-55 minutes of music, we still ended up somehow with over 70.

UM: Is there a process that you use when you write your music?

GW: I am not sure. For me it usually stems from improvising and finding a magical moment within that. Then the work comes from it, weeding out the mediocre parts (and for me there are plenty!) and joining different ideas that contain the same emotional content. The first few songs I worked on were hard work, not being quite so inspired, but others, like “Colors” or parts of “First Light” wrote themselves almost instantly. Those are the great moments when it feels like the emotion is just channeling through you. When you say, “Ok, I need something here” and the first thing you play, whether it is 40 seconds or 4 minutes, just comes out from the top of your head, it is like you are locked into the passion of the moment and the song. Finally, God lets it flow freely. Music is fun to write when that happens and such a chore when the inspiration is elsewhere.

Anyway, the process from that point is to demo the song, make a recording with all the parts and then pass it on.

UM: What influences do you draw upon when you write music?

GW: Well, like I was just mentioning, it’s more a question of inspiration. Sometimes I will have a preconceived conception of that kind of bit of music I feel partial to writing, maybe its something more classical, or more hard rock. I just draw from everything I have learned, and trust my instincts. That is something I have finally been able to do this past few years, learn from my experience and let my natural reactions speak for themselves.

UM: In the majority of the songs Carl Cadden-James writes they lyrics and vocal melodies, how do you two work together in combining the lyrics and music? Are the lyrics written first and then handed to you or vice-versa?

GW: No, usually it is the opposite. Someone will hand him some music, and if he feels inspired or moved by it, he will write lyrics/melodies for it. Sometimes it goes back and forth, he’ll recommend extending a part, or the music will support his melody a bit better, or other minor things. On Tyranny there was a great deal of back and forth. With Legacy, it was more like the music is done, lyrics are done, record the song.

Regarding the parts that Mike wrote, we went back and forth and wrote some of the lyrics together in my living room and studio.

UM: Conceptually, this is more of a “happy” album than your last albums Tyranny and Carved in Stone. Was the band tired of the negative themes and did you decide to be more positive this time around?

GW: It wasn’t by design. Maybe it appears happier only when compared to Tyranny which was more about the struggles and realizations of a life that had been blinded by false happy toys used in keeping the truth out of reach and beyond ambitions to question beyond a certain level. Legacy is more about finding the true joys of love and lessons that were passed from and to, and realizing the important issues are not always the obvious things in front of us.

UM: I hear Legacy as being a combination of the musical themes of both Carved in Stone and Tyranny but obviously being moved forward. Of course "Cliffhanger 2" is similar to "Cliffhanger" from Carved in Stone and "Society of the Mind" reminds me of what the band was doing in Tyranny. Do you think this statement is fair and is this something you guys wanted to do?

GW: “Society of the Mind” is a hard driven riff that could have fit in Act I of Tyranny (perhaps). As you mentioned “Cliffhanger II” picks up where it left off, lyrically and musically, from Carved in Stone. I think “Colors”, “Legacy” and “First Light” show a new direction, and “Destination Unknown” is a combination of all of the directions including the first Shadow Gallery record. I almost thought that song was too “Shadow Gallery”-ish and for a long time I avoided giving it to Mike and Carl for fear they would say, “Oh come on, this sounds like “Christmas Day””. I believe it has influences from “Queen of the City of Ice”, “Don’t Ever Cry just Remember” and “New World Order”, and even “Dance of Fools”, all wrapped up into one song. But now that I think about it, that wouldn’t be a bad thing, as I love all those songs. Sometimes you cannot help writing and sounding like yourself.

UM: What was the reason in coming out with “Cliffhanger 2” for this album? Was there a lot of pressure from fans to hear the continuation or did you guys just decided it was time for the story to continue?

GW: Lyrically, Carl left us hanging since 1995. There was fan reaction to hearing the next chapter, and it obviously wouldn’t fit on a concept record like Tyranny, so we thought this would be a good time.

UM: There are a lot more instrumental passages found in Legacy. As the years have passed has Shadow Gallery found more confidence in their playing abilities to allow for more instrumental passages?

GW: I don’t think it has ever had anything to do with confidence, just more a matter of compromise as we have always thought it to be of great importance that we are a vocal band with lots of layered harmonies. With the last record, there was so much to say, and only so much time to say it. This time around we had more freedom to write the songs without having to know where ‘what’ had to be said ‘when’.

UM: Speaking of “Cliffhanger 2” and instrumental passages, I find that the “The Crusher” is absolutely beautiful. Every single instrument is played to perfection and the melodies that are played are stunning.

GW: Thanks! That was fun to write and play. I almost wish it kept going for another 10 minutes.

UM: Another thing I found great about Legacy is the fact that I simply do not get bored with it and I am amazed at how fast the songs seem to go. Before you know it, the album is done and I immediately restart it. There are so many things going on especially in "First Light".

GW: Yeah, I guess you could say “First Light” is a dozen songs in one, which I have always liked, yet they all relate and themes return. I have always wanted people to find something new, for at least the first 40 listens, and if that happens, boredom tends to be shelved.

UM: Speaking of "First Light", did you guys set out to make a song over 30 minutes long when you first sat down or as the song developed did you just keep adding more music?

GW: Mike and I initially were designing a story, considering another concept from way back but the idea of doing another concept record didn’t inspire me, so we decided to make a long song. It was the result of other songs we had written but weren’t satisfied with and finding pieces with similar colors of passion that could work together. It came together rather quickly once we dissected all the other songs. We were a little amazed after a session of replaying and piecing when we looked up and the song was 13 minutes! Then after adding the musical section after the last lyric it was sitting in around 18. I thought it would be nice to round it off around 20 minutes or so (which I guess it is). Somewhere around 23 minutes, (I believe, once I extended the fade out to include past Shadow Gallery melodies an idea that Chris and I had laughed about for months) it grew to half an hour after we added the funny bits, funny to us. I know some fans have complained about what happens at the end, but they have to realize that we need to have some fun too sometimes!

UM: Now what is exactly is going on during the part that has no music. What I hear is a door bell being constantly rung as well as some knocking on the door. What is the whole meaning with that?

GW: I don’t know. What do you think?

(Side note: I finally was able to play it as loud as possible to find out what is going on in that part and the answer has been finally revealed. Thanks Gary, your answer made me do that.)

UM: The only other song I know off that is just as long is Pink Floyd's "Echoes" (which is one of my all-time favorite songs by them). What do you think of that song?

GW: I love it very much! I love everything by Pink Floyd! They are my biggest inspiration and first major musical love. It is more natural that by design that I would want to have long songs, as I grew up hearing that as normal when I was a kid.

UM: I assume that the cover of the album with the lighthouse has something to do with "First Light". The reason I say this is because of the fact that one could interpret that when ships where sailing at night the lighthouse would be like the "First Light" to see the land. Am I kind of close or just totally off base here? : )

GW: An interesting theory. You would have to ask Carl, as he designed the cover.

(Side note 2: In the lyrics to “Destination Unknown” there is mention of a lighthouse, I hadn’t really paid much attention to the lyrics before that. Maybe that’s where the inspiration of the cover came up and not my theory.)

UM: Is there a meaning to the title of the album, "Legacy"?

GW: Just how it relates to the songs, and the band, and our personal lives and experiences.

UM: I remember reading an interview with you or another member of Shadow Gallery where it was stated that you guys weren't really happy with your contract with Magna Carta. Is this still true or have you guys patched things up with them? If you haven't are you currently looking at other labels right now?

GW: I personally have a good relationship with Magna Carta and they did quite a bit to get Legacy in motion. I have to admit there was a period of time where we were unsure of how things would unfold and Magna Carta really helped out and made the record possible. I also think they extended great courtesies with us in the past, letting us finish a long and difficult recording process that set them back with their own situation. They are very business like and very professional, but also very funny, we are seldom able to get by 60 seconds without a very funny reference. Like recently Mike Varney called me up and pretended to be a poor Rap guy who wanted to make a record and have me produce it. When I suggested to this “guy” that I might be able to fit it into my schedule in a few weeks but might not be the best choice for the job, he started freaking out on me, swearing and yelling. It was funny, but I should have known it was Pete and Mike and their funny way of greeting me before we got down to business.

We have not discussed what will become of our future recordings with each other, or Magna Carta. Our contract is up, but they have mentioned wanting to work some more, and we will hear from and deal with them first. We have received a few other offers, but wanted to be professional enough to wait for the right time to talk with these people.

UM: What is in store for the immediate future of Shadow Gallery?

GW: Immediate? To finish this interview, eat lunch, and schedule the next 5 interviews and to continue promoting Legacy. After that, only the shadow knows….

UM: What hobbies do you have besides music?

GW: Besides Music: Music.

Also fine dining, Yankees Baseball, drinking beer, occasional reading, Frisbee, volleyball, traveling, once-a-year canoeing, enjoying the company of Ginger and my cats, and more music.

UM: Are you a fan of sports? If so what are some of your favorite teams?

GW: I am passionate about the New York Yankees. I am going to a game Saturday. I also have always liked the Dallas Cowboys although I am not as fanatical as Brendt or some of the other guys are with their teams.

I used to like Hockey and Basketball but I have tried to keep my sports viewing to 2 teams to allow more time for music.

(Side note 3: I wish this would have been live because being a Boston Red Sox fan we could have probably discussed this rivalry for a long time.)

UM: What would be something that you do/like that one would not expect from you?

GW: Cannot think of anything.

UM: Do you have any final words?

GW: Not until I am dead. Is it that time?

UM: I hope I haven't bored you with my questions and I truly appreciate the fact that you have taken your time in participating in this interview.

GW: No, they were great! Thanks and best of luck to you and the website!