Tracklist:

1. Stranger in the Mirror

2. The Nameless City

3. She-Devil

4. Frozen City of Cubes and Cones

5. (The Case Of) Red Hook

6. Strange High House

7. Times Unknown

8. The Other Gods

9. Doom of Sarnath

Line-up:

Alisa Coral (Russia) - keyboards & synthesizers; voice (track 5)

Martyr Lucifer (Italy) - vocals; keyboards (track 1)

Gabriel Monticello (Spaceseed, USA) - bass, urpight bass, contrabass

Sparky Simmons (Acid FM, USA) - rhythm and lead guitars, acoustic 12-string guitar

Claudio Tirincanti (Blaze Bayley, Italy) - drums, percussion

Nik Turner (Space Ritual, ex-Hawkwind, UK) - sax, flute (tracks 4, 6, 7)

Bless (Hortus Animae, Italy) - piano (track 7)

Cyndee Lee Rule (Spaceseed, USA) - violin string section (track 4)

Fabio "Amon 418" Bartolini (Hate Profile, Italy) - rhythm and lead guitars (track 1)

Dr. James Hodkinson (Shadowlight, UK) - mellotron & moog (track 1)

Kevin Sommers (USA) - artwork design and lyrics assistance

The moments that make up a fun day –an interview with Torga Ostera

Torga Ostera in playful mood

Whowould have thought that a Portuguese band I had been following with interest for some timenow would end up working in a studio not 10 minutes away from where I live? Itwas a matter of time before we crossed paths, and what began as an interviewvia email became an invitation to drop by the studio for a chat.

Itwas around noon that I arrived at the Norton de Matos Music Academy in Coimbra, central Portugal, where theband has set their headquarters. Two members of the band are teaching there, soit is a highly convenient venue. I am greeted at the door by João Francisco,guitar and vocals, avid Pink Floyd fan. As we cross the studio proper into the controlroom, João Francisco introduces a new member of the band to me – I was gettingready to shake someone’s hand when he proudly pointed to an olive-green metalbox.

“Doyou recognize that?” he asks. Can’t say I did. “There’s one just like that on Pompeii”,he explained. Turns out it’s a Binson Echorec, a 70’s echo machine as seenbeing used by David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s cult film - even before theinterview begins, the floydian influence heard on the band’s first album is alreadyseen in the gear.

Ona red couch opposite the mixing desk sits someone strumming a bass. Turns outit’s the drummer, Renato Dias. Two more members enter the room, bass playerEurico Moleirinho and keyboard player Jorge Marinheiro. I fail to recognize himfrom previous publicity shots of the band. João Francisco explains:

“Theband was formed in 2006 and there have already been a few line-up changes.Renato himself has left and came back. Jorge is a new addition to the band; hewasn’t part of the line-up on our first album. He’s an old friend, though, sohe doesn’t feel like “the new guy”, and his input has come as a blessing forus. Right now, Torga Ostera is just the four of us.”

Thisis a special day for the band. They are working on a follow-up to their firstalbum, 2012’s Queda Ascendente, havea new toy to play with (the Binson), and have a photo shoot scheduled – thismeans the whole band is present, something that doesn’t happen every day.

“Joãoand Jorge are now based here in Coimbra, butRenato lives in Leiria, and I’m farther away in Lisbon”, says bass player Eurico. “Theinternet shortens distances, but there is nothing like actually playing in thesame room with the rest of the band.”

Aseveryone finds a seat, it’s time to whip out some questions.

First off, what’s in a name?

“Torga is old Portuguese for “root”,while Ostera is the goddess offertility and rebirth (Ēostre or Ostara, from pagan German mythology).There is an underlining idea in the name of the band of reaching for the pastin order to be reborn and build a future. The meanings of Torga Ostera candiffer and it’s up to each one to associate it with something personal.However, it all boils down to the link with the idea of “roots”, whetherterrestrial (meaning natural), whether traditional (meaning cultural).”

How would you describe your music? What areyour influences?

“We were motivatedby a feeling of lack in our country of a certain kind of melodic, harmonic and timbraltextures. With that in mind, British psychedelia and space rock were a startingpoint when coming up with the band. We kept adding influences and assorted bits,always following a guideline aimed towards conceptual music – creating a linkbetween songs so they would all sound like part of a whole.  We took inspiration from many sources, butmainly from those representing challenges both in terms of mindset andexecution, aiming to have the music stimulate reflection, helping to break fromthe vices of modern life. Music is a superior way of expressing feelings,philosophies and concepts. It is meant to be enjoyed, should be absorbed on itsown and not just as a soundtrack to the commute between home and work. We triedto aim the “understanding” of the album at a specific audience, the kind thattakes a break to listen to a CD in the comfort of their living room instead ofshuffling through an MP3 player.”

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Comfort music?

What kind of instruments do you use? What kind ofsound do you try to attain?

“First off there’sthe basic setup of a rock group: drums, bass, keyboards and guitar. Specifically,we use some Hammond, Fender Rhodes, synths (including a Nord that delivers thatgreat Mellotron sound), Fender Stratocaster and dozens of pedals. The mainpoint is getting the best out of analog, getting a fuller, warmer, more organicsound. We did considered using traditional Portuguese sounds as well, howeverwe felt it wasn’t the moment to do so yet. Maybe in the future...”

Isn’t it risky to sing in Portuguese? Don’t you fearbeing confined to a smaller fringe market?

 “Funny enough, we initially sang in English,but soon realized that we were worryingly close to the sound of some Britishbands. The process of reverting to our mother tongue was complicated becausethe songs didn’t sound too good in Portuguese, but it became our intention tomake space-rock sung in our native language so that it would be more easilyunderstood by the audience. In the end, we don’t believe language willnecessarily be a barrier or an aid towards internationalization. Portugal itselfis a small place with a political structure that doesn’t seem keen to invest inculture. That issue affects not only newer projects, but also popular artistswith fifteen, twenty years of work.”

What inspires the lyrics?

“The lyrics are areflection of each person’s daily life. Even though we were around 25 year ofage at the time we were working on QuedaAscendente, one might look back and smile at that “mature naivety” thatbecame perpetuated on the record. Love, envy, disappointment and fear are allepisodes that will certainly be common to all listeners and that served asinspiration to the eight tracks on our first album.”  

Care to guide us trough each one of them?

“The opener andcloser represent the key concept, that of “almost”. “Quase nós” tells ofeverything that one might have wished to achieve but never really got to. It centreson bad luck and cowardice as a wake-up call, featuring a nervous and weepingguitar: “(…) someone half-dead is still alive, but someone half-alive hasalready died!”.

“Balada ao Ensandecer”is about madness, ending up in suicide.

“Rosados Ventos” is about getting to know your inner self, a cardinal, directional etimeless quest.

“Apicultor deHomens” adresses the idea of the Wizard of Oz, in the way the poem’s “me” soundsbigger and stronger that he really is. He’s actually an aggressive,manipulative being without scruples that ends up being defeated by theoppressed.

“Saber Porque Não”is a straight-to-the-point song dealing with the worker’s apathy in the face ofexploitation.

“Não Vi Nenhum Tentar”tells of greed, unwarranted criticism, inability to cooperate, to present validopinions…

“Sol da Noite Acordada”borders on surrealism, the metaphor of the moon and the woman.”

Queda Ascendente has a very distinct Floydian sound, reminiscent of Dark Side of the Moon or their laterworks. Don’t you fear being dismissed as clones?

“On each genre ofmusic you’ll find timbral, melodic and rhythmic elements that allow you toidentify different types of music. Our idea was to take the Pink Floyd sound asa starting point and explore from there. Naturally, this being a debut album,the band wore its influences on its sleeves, but we aren’t worried about that.Every band sounds like something or someone, no matter how good they manage tohide it. Queda Ascendente was alaboratory of experiments for the band – it took five or six years to recordbecause we kept finding some vintage keyboard or guitar pedal that we couldn’tresist trying out on the studio. We wanted to experience the way recordings weremade in the old days, how to achieve a certain sound, and hence getting closeto Pink Floyd. However, Torga Ostera has a distinctly Portuguese feel and inthe midst of our pseudo-psychedelia you’ll find a sound very much the band’sown.”

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The windrose as metaphor for thesearch for meaning, a very Portuguese concept

What do you think of the way the album’s been received?

“Stimulated andsimultaneously disappointed. The band created the album for the satisfaction ofits own musical ego, knowing that this type of music isn’t very well known andaccepted in Portugal.The weird thing was that the album was well received by less demandinglisteners, but completely ignored by fans of the genre. On the other hand,despite being sung in Portuguese, it was surprising for us to see it so wellreceived internationally.

Playing live isanother story. It’s not easy getting gigs, and when we do, it’s rarely theright audience. Promoters seem to go for easy pop or high complexity, not themiddle ground where we stand. In some concerts we can really see people notgetting it - «what the hell, four minutes into song and no one is singingyet?». That kind of reaction.”

Can you tell me a bit about the album’s production,from the idea to the physical disc?

“The process ofbuilding the songs would take us to different spaces and times. 99,9% of thesongs began with the music rather than the words. João Francisco would come upwith the basis of the song, a possible poem, and the band would work on ituntil a definitive structure was achieved. We basically had a structure for thealbum within a week, but we then spent months polishing it before we even gotto the studio. We recorded it in Tomar, at Zero Estúdio with producer PedroCarvalho. It was recorded with a mix of digital and analog technology. The micswere similar to the ones used on Pink Floyd’s Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon.We only used tube amplifiers and all guitar pedals dated back to the 70’s. Throughoutthe process the themes metamorphosed and at each phase the songs would gainnew, more pleasing textures. The end product turned out to be a pleasantsurprise and it was exciting to get to hear the mixes at home.”

Speaking of which, you had to get a foreigner to dothe mixing. Why was that?

“Asking Jon Astleyto do the mixing was our producer’s suggestion. We weren’t really aware of thegood or bad a mix can do to an album. Turns out we just don’t have the propermaterial or skills in Portugal, so we sought a producer whose work we liked,tried sending him the album and see what he could do. We really enjoyed themixing on Roger Water’s In the Flesh,so we set that as a model, and were very pleased with the result, to the extentthat we might get in touch again with Jon to mix our second album.”

So the band is workingon a second album. We again discuss the Floyd influence on the first record. JoãoFrancisco confesses to having shed some of that influence.  

“Thefirst album was an experiment, a mix of foreign influences and Portugueseoriginal thought. The sketch-like artwork of the album kind of reflects that,like something you scribble on a diary. The album was like that, a diary ofexperiences of a band finding its way.”

“Ourown different influences have changed the music when playing it live”, addsJorge Marinheiro, the most recent member of the group. “When we play it at aconcert, it’s like it evolves into something different altogether.”

“Now,with our second album, it’s time to take off into other landscapes, leavebehind that sense of security that following your influences closely mightgive, and find our very own sound.”

“Basically,we sent Floyd out the window”, summarizes drummer Renato. With a background infunk and punk rock, he’s quite far from João Francisco in his appreciation forthe English space-rockers. “Hardly ever heard them before working with TorgaOstera – not my thing. They have grown on me, though”, he confessed.

Theyoffer to play me a two of the songs they are working on. These are unpolished,working versions, recorded at rehearsals. I gladly accept.

“Theymight come as a shock if you enjoyed the first album”, they warn me.

I’mnot shocked, but rather pleasantly surprised. Despite being only hints at whatthe final songs may sound like, already there is a change in sound. The firstone, “Malmequer”, displays a kind of aggressiveness not really found on Queda Ascendente, while the other one,“Maçã”, is a clear indicator of the song-driven formula the band are working onfor the next album.

“Arrivingonly after the first album, and listening to it, I felt there was great musicthere, but it lacked real songs”, says Jorge. João Francisco agrees:

“Wewant to concentrate, but not compress, all that musicality of the first albuminto a simpler formula, so next record will be more song based, but will soundmore concise and organized. The relationship between the music and the lyrics in Portuguese willcome more naturally. It will be a conceptual piece, whereeach song will be a chapter in a story.”

“It’snot a compromise in order to make it more accessible”, adds Eurico. “It’s goodto go for a different sound from the first album, to surprise ourselves andothers. Like Mikael Akerfeldt did in Opeth, except we have the freedom to do soimmediately on our second record.”

So what awaits Torga Ostera further down the road?

“Someone once saidthe road isn’t predetermined… it unfolds as you travel!”

Any contact with labels or distributors in sight?

“No. The onlything selling in Portugalis pop, compilations and children’s music at Christmas. Of course, we’d likethe album to reach more people. We were contacted by Greg Walker at Syn-phonicwho was interested in stocking it, answered back but haven’t heard from himsince.”

What difficulties have you bumped into as aprogressive rock band in the 21st century, in a country with little traditionand representation in the genre?

“Progressive rockis for an elite, it’s complicated to live from it, especially in Portugal!One remembers the (in)famous 10.000Anos... by José Cid: he didn’t get any backing, was probably branded amaniac and forced into the inane pop career we all know! Or that other time, whichwas extremely frustrating, when promoters rejected a David Gilmour concert becausethey considered it too instrumental and guitar-oriented. In Portugal On An Island was a number one record and not a concert round theseparts… Says it all!”

What do you think of modern progressive music, ingeneral, and the Portuguese scene, in particular?

“We find thatmodern progressive music, in general, has become much too technical and haslost the sense of melody. We find it’s easy to extend compositions into longtracks, and we could easily play more complex arrangements, but that’s not whatwe’re into to. We’re also not concerned with doing something original fororiginality’s sake, but rather something new that still sounds familiar.”  

Theinterview is curtailed by the arrival of the photographer. The group strikes apose for a couple of shots. Against their better judgement they ask thisimprovised reporter to take a picture with them.

Hairy reporter meets talented musicians

Itis now 2:30pm and no one has had lunch yet, so we head across the street forsome sandwiches. Conversation at the table drifts from promoting the band, theinner workings of ProgArchives, current politics and, inevitably, gear - theboys sure know their material. After the quick lunch, Jorge Marinheiro kindlyinvites me to return with them to the studio as they work on the guide tracks forthe new album.

Eurico Moleirinho works on some basslines with Jorge Marinheiro, working on the guide tracks

Inthe control room, Eurico and Jorge toss around different ideas for the bass onone of the songs, the loud clicking of a metronome making sure no one skips abeat. For someone like me, at the far end of the music business, it’s aprivilege to watch a band at this stage of the recording of an album firsthand. In the time I’m there they do three or four takes before settling on acouple of minutes they’re satisfied with, for the meantime. Only a wallseparates these two from the other half of the group, who are in the studiotesting out their new toy, the Binson Echorec.

João Francisco and the olive-green gizmoat his left, with Renato Dias providing a beat.

Theywork around riffs and power chords, the metallic echo of the machinery takingme back to that time I never lived when experimentation was the rule. JoãoFrancisco sounds quite pleased with the device, which he actually got cheapfrom an auction website.

Finally,the whole band walks into the studio to jam for a while. They ask me in, and Ican’t resist taking out my phone halfway and film them, no matter how poor the recording:

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Smilesall round after this small distraction. The band surely is in high spirits and youcan feel the chemistry among them.

“Areyour ears okay?” jokingly asks Renato, before he eventually leaves for adoctor’s appointment with his pregnant other half. Eurico will soon follow,having a bus to catch that will take him back to Lisbon where he lives and works. Remindersthat there is much more than just music to these boys’ lives.

JoãoFrancisco seems to approve Eurico’s work on the bass, while Jorge Marinheirotakes out an Alesis Ion synth to work on soundscapes for a track. Jorge is keento get some work done before nightfall, when the studio reverts back into anafter-hours teaching room of the Norton de Matos Music Academy – a small priceto pay for excellent conditions.

“Recordingthe first album was full of hustle and bustle, with constant trips, quickdecision making, constant pressure. Here we have a great laboratory, acomfortable space to work, and it’s closer to home, giving us time to becreative.”

Onemore question to ask.

Finally, anything you wish to say to the ProgArchives.comcommunity?

We’d like topraise the overwhelming, intense and rigorous research work by the Admins andCollaborators at ProgArchives. It’s important to reinforce the work beingdeveloped regarding research and promotion of Portuguese progressive rock on aninternational level. It would be great if foreign interest could stimulate thecreation of more music in this country, because internally we are rotting dueto the lack of culture and support. On our behalf, we appreciate having beenadded to the database, and we intend to deliver more and better music!

I recently hadthe privilege of discovering the fine new album “Fanfare andfantasy” by Comedyof Errors . JimJohnston of the band kindly agreed to the following exclusiveinterview for Progarchives. I am very grateful to Jim for his candidand informative responses.

PA - The new album"Fanfare and fantasy" was recently released and is alreadyreceiving positive feedback. Tell us a bit about the new album.

JJ- Encouraged by the response from 'Disobey', and with a lot of newmaterial building up, 'Fanfare & Fantasy' was the next step inour 're-incarnation'. A lot had happened in my life personally and'Fanfare & Fantasy' was in a large part an expression of this.

PA - What would yousay are the main differences between the new album and the excellent"Disobey" released in 2011?

JJ- 'Disobey' has more 'unfinished business' from our firstincarnation. In the intervening years the improvement andaffordability in recording technology allowed us to realise sounds ina way we wouldn't have been able to do previously. Fanfare &Fantasy takes us as a band to where we are now and maybe points moreto where we are going.

PA - The new albumhas a strong symphonic feel to it. Was this something you intendedfrom the outset?

JJ- Never was the intent but the particular emotion expressed in themusic and lyrics would always dictate the arrangement. I prefer musicto have a strong narrative drive and try to avoid long passages ofdirectionless meandering. That said, everything has it's place ifit's appropriate to what you are trying to say.

PA - You wrote allthe songs on the new album, how "complete" were they by thetime you presented them to the band, and how much input did the otherguys have to the final product?

JJ- The arrangement, structure and thematic material are usually inplace and in demo form by the time the band gets to it. The parts Iintend the rest of the band should play are usually on the demo in'guide' form. Then after discussion and various trial takes , usuallystarting with drums, the nitpicking sessions start. As the guys strayin varying degrees from the guide I provide, I find that often thatsome bits have been much improved by their creative input (and somebits less so!) Together after much blood being spilled, we settle andagree on what is most effective (and practical) and can startbuilding the recording. Sometimes as the recording takes shape I willtweak the arrangement a little here and there. I pre- mix the tracksand get it to a good balance with level adjustments and panning. ThenRob Aubrey of Aubitt studios works especially on drums and gets us totidy up things before mastering various mixes which again arenitpicked to everyones satisfaction. The only cost is to our sanity.

PA - Presumably thematerial that appeared on "Disobey" was nurtured andaccumulated over a number of years. Were all of the songs on "Fanfareand fantasy" written since "Disobey" was released, ordo some go back before that?

JJ- Fanfare & Fantasy contains vastly more 'new' material writtensince Disobey but there are also bits of thematic material includedwhich I had written much earlier, parts of which appeared in someunreleased songs. These earlier ideas have now been re-written anddeveloped in other ways. I have piles of notes with musical ideasthat I have built up over the years which I'll probably never use.

PA - You havereleased the new album independently of any record label support.What was the reasoning behind this? Can bands such as Comedy ofErrors actually make a living from music these days, or is it more ofa hobby supported by regular day jobs?

JJ- We don't have the luxury of a label to promote and finance thealbum for us. However doing it ourselves means I can write what Iwant and the band can retain creative control. That is worth morethan anything. The internet has allowed us to gather together manyfriends from many countries, who are into our music, and who togethercomprise a considerable worldwide following. It has become very clearthat followers of our type of music are more passionate about it thanother genres. Music tends to be more an essential part of theirlives. I am privileged to write music that may have more of anemotional impact for our listeners than others who may be morepassive about it . I put every spare moment into it as do the rest ofthe band. We spend so much time and money on it that we certainlydon't make a living at it. After an initial float, one album canserve to finance the next. We put everything into it, emotionally andirrespective of what we can afford, just to get it the way we want.So it is far more than a hobby.

PA - What are thelogistics of touring in support of the new album?

Weare still very much a 'live' band and are keen to tour the album. Inour formative years we used to gig incessantly. We've rehearsed a setwith songs off Disobey and Fanfare & Fantasy, and are lookingforward to the coming gigs. I'm told things in the current financialclimate are not so great for lesser-known bands on tour. Howeveralthough venues are fewer these days, in the light of Fanfare &Fantasy's release we are being offered more gigs and festivals. .Currently we have the following booked but hope to include many morethis year and into next.........

20April 2013 - The Wesley Centre, Maltby, Nr Rotherham

Ticketsare on sale now from the Classic Rock Society Website at £12 or £10for members.

4May 2013 - The Electric Garden Prog Festival 2013

DetailsTBD - Check Electric Garden Website for information as it becomesavailable

Alsohoping to soon confirm a summer gig locally in Glasgow as we look tofill up our schedule.

Laterin the year we are playing Sun 29th September 2013 ‘t Blok –Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel in the Netherlands. Around the same time weshould confirm some more gigs in the Netherlands , Belgium andpossibly Germany.

Shouldbe able to confirm soon a UK festival in November. We'll keep thingsupdated on our website comedyoferrors.org

PA - Looking moreclosely at the new album, the track "Time's motet and Galliard"combines an instrumental and a quasi-folk piece. The motet section isnoted as being "after Talilis". Is this a tribute toTallis, inspired by his music or based on a Tallis composition? Tellus a bit about how the "Galliard" part came about.

JJ- I have always been fascinated by renaissance polyphony. ThomasTallis in particular wrote many beautiful motets and the motet inthis track is a 'take' on one them using themes which appear in Spemin alium, a 40 part motet written around 1570. The Galliard is apastiche on that type of 'dance' tune from the late renaissance. Ilike using the sort of chord progressions and syncopations they usedin those days and giving it the 'COE' treatment.

PA - "Thecause" appears to be a stark condemnation of religiousintolerance, especially of the type that still blights the west ofScotland and Northern Ireland. The theme can of course be extended toreligious bigotry the world over. Is this an issue you feelparticularly strongly about?

JJ - 'The Cause' is a meditation on the same troubles which appear indifferent guises all over. The world is such an idiot.

PA - The threefounding members (Joe, Jim and Mark) are playing and singing as ifyou have been performing regularly together for many years. Are yousurprised at how well you have come together after such a long timeand by the quality of music you are now making?

JJ- We all get on so well. With Bruce and now John , we all feel wehave known each other for many years . A dry Glasgow sense of humourof the absurd has served us well. We also have a total lack ofreserve in offering our opinion. A common interest and purpose in themusic has forged a camaraderie in the blood spilled in recording analbum !

PA - The sleeveimage was conceived by yourself and realised by Joe James. Tell us abit about the inspiration behind it.

JJ- At first , the graphic designer came up with many different sleevesall which would have served well for any album . The problem was thatthough the designs were all slick, polished and professional, theywere empty of meaning for our specific album. The sleeve is such animportant part of the creation that like the music and lyrics, thecover too should have a strong relevant unifying connection ( whethersubliminal or otherwise) . Many hours were spent working on thesymbolism, the colours and the layout just right. Everything on thealbum sleeve means something. For me what this album 'means' is toopersonal to go into in great detail here, but of course the wholepoint is that everyone can draw their own parallels and meaning oftheir own .

PA - John Fitzgeraldis credited as contributing backing vocals. Tell us a bit about hisplace in the band now.

JJ- We had been helped out by Hew Montgomery playing bass for live gigswhile we didn't yet have a bass player. Mark Spalding our leadguitarist had recorded bass on both the Disobey and Fanfare &Fantasy albums because John Fitzgerald had joined too late to do allbut backing vocals for F&F . However on the vinyl edition, Johnplays bass on the bonus track, a new version of 'Time There Was'. Helives around the Glasgow area and being a great bass player and allround good chap he ticked all the boxes.

PA - I know you havemisgivings about the the early albums credited to the band thatappear on this site. Would you like to put the record straight aboutthese albums? How do you feel now about the music they contain? Haveyou any thoughts about compiling some of them into an officialrelease?

JJ- We had recorded some demos in the eighties......you know.... theones done to fruitlessly send to record companies. Not great quality.We had then progressed to a vinyl minialbum to give us some'credibility'. The master tape for this was lost. A French company (I'm not sure if they are still in existence), cobbled together arelease from these early cassette demos and a recorded tape made fromplaying the vinyl minialbum. Some nice wee melodic ideas are therebut we certainly do not regard this as an official, sanctioned andauthorised release. Still regard Disobey as our debut album andFanfare & Fantasy as our second.

PA - What is thefuture for the band? Can we look forward to a third album in sayanother two years?

Iwould hope it would be sooner than that. I have gathered together alot of material which will be the basis of the third album ,thecentrepiece of which will be a very long epic track. It'll take afair bit of working out and getting the band to work on it, butthat's the best part of being in a band. Meanwhile we can't wait toget gigging and getting the word out about the new Fanfare &Fanfare album. The early reviews on ProgArchives have been better than we could ever have hoped and for thatwe are very grateful .

PA– Many thanks for a very interesting and informative interview Jim,good luck with the fine new album!

Photocollage created by Jim Johnston from photos taken by:

-All photos of John (bass player) are by Sam Holt.

-Black and White photos are by Steve Moffitt.

-All other colour photos are Billy Hepburn/MusicPro (UK)

Officialwebsite - http://comedyoferrors.org/

Interviewby Bob McBeath (Easy livin), March 2013

Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview with me – I and the rest of ProgArchives greatly appreciate it. Is there anything else that you’d like to say to your fans?

Thank you, for asking questions so easily to answer :-)

This is just at the end of his interview... i still don't know if his answer was a compliment...or not...

…In ourworld, in order for one side to be successful, wealthy or even "atease", there's always another "the other side", the one thatsuffers (hence the album's cover) - we wanted to represent it. So basically, wecan't achieve it (Utopia), but if we just open our eyes a little, we might beable to make the other side suffer a little less…

Yoav Efron on Utopia

DISTORTED HARMONY from Israel madetheir statement in the progressive metal scene in 2012 with their debut album “Utopia”.Yoav Efron (Keyboards,Composer and Founder), Yogev Gabay (Drums) and Guy Landau (Guitars) speak to Demetris Katsikis (Founder and Progducer of JustIn Case Radio) and myself about theirplans for world domination in a breathtaking interview...

This interview is meant to start in an unorthodox manner:how was the experience from the other night where your debut album “Utopia” wasstreaming in its entireness on JustIn Case Prog Radio? Have you done thisbefore and would you do it again?

Yoav: I'dlike to thank you all for the amazing opportunity and support you've given us theother night (and ever since Utopia came out). We had a blast and although we'vedone this before, it's an exciting and fun experience each time we hear ouralbum being played. Thank you so much for this!

Yogev: Thanksfor having us on the show and taking this interview, it means a lot!

I absolutely loved that show! Apartfrom hearing our entire album online, the chat with you guys was great! Funnypeople you’ve got there

Guy: Thankyou for the great opportunity and support you've given us that night. It'salways a great pleasure to know that people around the world hear yourmusic. I'm always amazed how easily and quickly things can move fast in thisgeneration with the Internet. It's exciting to seat on the computer and listento your music streaming live on a radio in other country and chat with fans.

I did it for the first time.

Apart from radio shows and interviews, how satisfied are you with thepublicity that DH and “Utopia” have received? Have you identified the routes toglobal domination?

Yoav: Wehave indeed identified the routes. I can say that our next album will includesubliminal messages as part of our "world domination plans" andthat's all we can say about it at the moment. Seriously though, we're extremelysatisfied and honored by all the amazing reviews, feedbacks and the supportwe're getting from audiences from all over the world, both professional andfans and we thank you all so much!

Yogev: Ihave the global domination tutorial since I was a little boy so you can be surewe have that covered.

As for the publicity, I’m very pleasedwith the amount of exposure we got - worldwide.

Of course I want it to be bigger andwider and to get to new people around the world, but since our manager, RayaKosovsky, took over the publicity side of stuff, I’m pretty sure that by nextyear there won't be a single kid without a DH shirt!

Guy: I'mvery satisfied. From the first moment "Utopia" went online, we got alot of great comments, supports and solidarity.

Our work is in processes. We areworking on a new album, killer live concerts and of course- we have Raya ourmanager  she's taking care of our publicity and progress to a global domination!

We would beinterested to hear about the popularity of progressive rock and metal music inIsrael – is there fertile ground in your country for a progressive metal bandto grow? (us bearing in mind there are a few Israeli bands in the scene, see ORPHANEDLAND or CAPRICIA for example)

Yoav: Professionallythere are many interesting and unique Progressive bands here. The scene isindeed strong and we have so many talents waiting for their break. One of thepeople (whom I just spoke with by the way) responsible for keeping theProg-Scene alive (and kicking) is our very own manager Raya Kosovsky, and thattracks back years before we even existed as a band. 

On a personal note, being a band, aworking musician here in Israel is almost impossible, so no, the ground isn'tfertile and you work extra hard to grow, but you have to keep at it, simplybecause you don't want to (or can't) do anything else but make music.

Yogev: Themusic in Israel is very developed and diverse. Taking into consideration the factthat Israel is a small and young country, it's very plausible that the varietyof styles will be very wide, due to all the different people who came here fromall over the world.

I think that the percentage ofprogressive metal fans in Israel is the same as the percentage of fanseverywhere else. But, because we are a small country, the numbers are a lotsmaller. Therefore, less people consume this kind of music.

That been said, I don’t think aprogressive metal or rock band can exist by only playing here.

Guy: Well,the progressive rock in Israel has a small scene. Israel is a small and youngcountry and I believe progressive rock and especiallyprogressive metal are relatively "new genres" for the Israelicrowd.

However, the metal scene is pretty bigbut still not enough if a band wants to grow in Israel. 

You can see a band like OrphanedLand. There is no doubt they are the most successful metal band thatever came from Israel and build a huge circle of fans during the years.

And yet, they are playing mostlyoutside of Israel.

Bearing in mind you are a (fairly) new band, what would you suggest toan aspiring band that has just started in the scene?

Yoav: Practice,practice, practice and then practice some more. Make an album, not a single,not a demo - an album. Try and do it as best as you can. Know there will bemistakes, it won't be exactly as you want it to be, but put every inch of yourheart and soul into it - promote it, and practice. Aspire to be the best atwhat you do, realize it takes time and then practice some more. Embrace thefact that this will be your life, get hammered… then practice.

Yogev: Theobvious thing, which is probably the most important factor in my opinion, isdefinitely how you play, reflected by the amount of time you put intopracticing. Practice as much as you can. But another issue I learned to beequally important is your visual show on stage.

The way you look can make all thedifference. I'm not talking about your physical appearance, clothes and stuff,but the way you “rock out” on stage and the amount of energy you project toyour audience.

Guy: Lotsof practice and the inside connection of the band members. There will be always"ups and down" but the work takes time, especially in music.  

Yogev: Musicas an art speaks to the emotional side of people. I think that as a band, wewant to get to as many people we can and affect people all over the world withour music.

Of course growing up as a little metalhead, touring the world is an old dream and I'd absolutely love to do it,hopefully soon!

You asked about DH being a full timejob. Well DH is not a full time job for me. I’m a full time student at RimonMusic School in Israel and I play in a couple of other bands. But yet, DH is mytop priority right now. I also do recording sessions here and there. This isprobably my biggest passion, recording. I absolutely love recording!

Guy: Iremember my Matriculation Exams in English at high school. One of theexercises there was a full conversion in English with a teacher.

One of the questions the teacher askedme was "what are your dreams/goals?"

I immediately said that one of mydreams is to be on the front of one of the famous Guitar magazines as"Guitar World" or ""Guitar Player". Well, the dreamdidn't come true yet! However, I did already get to be in a big magazine andhope it will not be the last. We got an article in the famous British magazinecalled "Prog". It's a big honor to be published with the band youlove and believe in. DH is not yet a "full time job" for me but thisis my aim. As a new band, things takes time and we just keep making musictogether and preforming. 

Why “Distorted Harmony”? Is it just a ‘catchy’ band title or does itrepresent something further for you?

Yogev: I think I’ll let Yoav answer that

Yoav: Well,this is a little personal but I came up with the name something like 6-7 yearsas a name for my "studio" (there was no studio by the way). At thetime I felt like it has a personal note in it, being that how I felt my lifewas - I was young. Before we released the album, I sat down with Yogev, whodidn't really like the name at the time and we decided that we'll try and findanother name for the band. I sent him 3-5 messages a day for a week withdifferent names (some were very stupid). We didn't find anything we like, so weasked the band, and since they all liked Distorted Harmony, we decided to keepit. 

Guy: Forme "Distorted Harmony" represents the multiple styles thatevery member gives to the band.

I grew up on Jazz music and heavystuff on the same time I think the music we play demonstrates our musicalambition and the places we all come from.

How difficult was it for you to get the band together? Was there aselection process or a natural combination of interests?

Yoav: Itall started something like 3 years ago. I posted online that I'm lookingfor musicians for a Progressive Rock/Metal. I got a few responses, met withthem and we decided to start working together. I remember someone recommendedYogev, unfortunately it took him two weeks to get back to me, by then I hadalready found a drummer. After a few months, the second drummer quit and Imanaged to contact Yogev again, this time he was available and we startedworking together. We then entered the studio to record a few demos (which willremain confidential for like… forever). The other two members quit andafter a few busy months Yogev and I decided it's time to find new membersand start working again. I posted that I'm looking for a Vocalist for the bandand met Misha, Yogev brought Iggy and we both asked Guy, who was playing inanother band with Misha at the time to join us - that's when "thereal" Distorted Harmony was formed, somewhere in late 2010 I believe.There was no selection process, just a love for music.

Yogev: DHstarted with Yoav alone. He started working on the music somewhere in 2006.After a while, he started to look for musicians to join him. I was in the armythat time. After playing with a few drummers he contacted me, and I’m stuckwith him since

When I joined in, the band includedanother two guys, a guitar player and a bass player.

That didn’t work out, and there werejust the two of us searching for band members again.

Iggy, our beloved bass player, was inthe army with me so I got him to come and try it out, and he definitely blew usaway and ran through the “test” song embarrassingly fast. So he was in. Guycame from a band of close friends of ours. And he too, slid in like a glove.

Misha came from that same band Guy wasin and the search was over!

And now we live happily ever after.

Guy:Iremember I've met Yoav for the first time and we had a great Chemistrytogether. He asked me if I want to join a heavy metal project - not DistortedHarmony. It was supposed to be another project, a heavy one, like the bandsSoilwork or Death. I said yes. In the meanwhile I heard the demos of DistortedHarmony and I was fascinated! This was the project I've really wanted tojoin but at the time they had another guitar player. 

After few months, while playing withYogev in a small Jazz Competition in our school, he approached and asked:"Say.. Would you like to come and play with Distorted Harmony?" I waslike: "F**k yeah!" 

From that moment on we started toplay/write together and it felt like a really natural combination.

Composition and lyrics: a one-man job or acollaborative result? Which comes first?

Yoav: Thelyrics actually come last. There's no "one-man job" here, it's allcollaborative. I bring the band the song, by then it will have the groove as Isaw it while composing, the riffs, rhythm and key past and we'll call it asketch. We'll then start rehearsing, playing and changing as we see fit,whether it'll be changing the drum parts, grooves and even the structure of thesong. I'll take all that we've done and work on it at home, revising it andwe'll keep at it until we're satisfied. By then I usually have a concept of themelody I want for the song, and that's when we start working on the lyrics.It'll usually be me and Misha, but as you can see, Utopia has many credits forthe lyrics and we all give our input in making them fit the song the way wearranged it.

Yogev: AsI said before, most of the music was written by Yoav. When the band cametogether at this final form, we started working on his stuff with a goal ofrecording in mind. As the process progressed, we “adjusted” his parts, and songforms to sound as tight as we can with a big emphasis on creating a constantsound for the album. So you can basically say that “Utopia” is Yoav's music,bent, ripped apart, and organized back by all of us

The lyrics for “Utopia” were writtenby a lot of people. Mostly by Yoav and Misha, Guy wrote one song - “Blue” and afew friends contributed lyrics as well.

After the lyrics were done, Misha andYoav sat down to write melodies that will suit the songs in the best way. Iabsolutely love the result.

How each of you studies for his musical skills to be in shape? What aresome of the techniques that you use?

Yoav: Idon't really know how to answer that question. For me, just playing the partsover and over again, finding the right "fingering" will be enough. Iactually stopped practicing a few years ago switched my focus to production,but that's a completely different subject

Yogev: I have a practice routine which I try to do every day. Coordinationexercises, timekeeping stuff, a lot of “snare” technique reading material andlately I started to spend a big part of my practice time on playing straightahead grooves. I’ll put a Hip-Hop album on, Lauryn Hill, Eminem or Snoop-Doggand just play it through, concentrating on the groove only. As less fills as Ipossibly can...
Making the simplest grooves dance and sounding tight, is the most requiredskill for a drummer in my opinion.

Guy: Ihave a practice routine on a lot of subjects. Listen to a lot of kinds ofgenres and I try my best to produce any style - from Jazz/Funk/Soulimprovise to Folk Finger picking. I actually don't practice much on Speed today. I am emphasizing on sound, effects, Time, Harmony and writing. For DH Ipractice the songs over and over again and of course I need a really long warmup before a concert

Some metal bandsfrom Israel incorporate traditional ethnic elements in their music. Have youever thought of doing this?

Yoav: No. It's not part of myrepertoire. I grew up listening to Jazz, Soul, Queen, Sting etc. I find nobenefit in bringing some "Oriental" just because we come from"this part of the world", especially if I'm not accustomed to it, anddon't really like it personally.

Yogev: Ithink the ethnic side should come naturally. Israeli music is highly affectedby ethnic music due to the cultures we’re surrounded by. I think bands likeOrphaned Land, who embraced the ethnic sound (in a great way) as one of theirmain directions, grew up listening and absorbing that kind of music. Therefore,it sounds very natural when they combine it in their songs.

I think DH didn’t go that way becauseit wasn’t natural. DH is more western music based (Rock, Jazz and Pop).

But hey, we’re working on our 2ndalbum, who knows what will happen

Guy:Notmuch. There are some great ethnic musicians in Israel but I've never connectedto the genre much although I appreciate it.

Talking aboutIsrael, a lot of people tend to discuss the political situation – does thisinfluence you in any way in your composition process?

Yoav: Ipersonally believe that the person makes the difference, not the lyrics to asong and although Utopia is basically a "Pacifistic" song, I don'twant to involve politics and personal agendas in our music/lyrics. We makemusic, a universal language, why should I tame it with politics? If somebodywould like to know my political views, that's a different story.

You might ask yourself about the lyrics on the title track, Utopia, which areclearly about war. The main statement is against that. No side is taken intoconsideration.
It's all about just stopping the unjustified hatred that surrounds us so much.

Your debut cameout as a digital download and CD, but self-released. Have you been approachedby a label to release your second album? How are things progressing on thisfront?

Yoav: That's a question for ourmanager. I can only say that we started working on our second album. Manyexciting things, both musical and official, are happening as we speak and wecan't wait to get into the studio and share our new music to the rest of theworld, signed or unsigned.

Yogev: I’mactually not quite sure about that. Raya, our manager takes care of thebusiness end of things. All I know is that we are working hard on the new stuffand we will start sending demos to labels when we have a solid amount ofmaterial. 

Which ‘Utopia’ are you referring to and isthere a concept behind the album?

Yoav: Utopiais basically a non-existing place or concept by definition. Many of the songsspeak about the things that are wrong in us as a society and/or individuals andI believe Utopia (the song) sums it all up. In our world, in order for one sideto be successful, wealthy or even "at ease", there's always another"the other side", the one that suffers (hence the album's cover) - wewanted to represent it. So basically, we can't achieve it (Utopia), but if wejust open our eyes a little, we might be able to make the other side suffer alittle less.

Yogev: No,this album is not a concept album. When we sat down to discuss the album title,I think it was Yoav who said he wants one of the songs to be the title for thealbum. After he said that, it was quite obvious that “Utopia” will get the gig

How would you characterize the DH sound to a first-time listener (withor without tags)? Is it progressive metal with a wider sense?

Yoav: Althoughyou can't deny that "Utopia" is a Progressive Metal album, influencedby the likes of Dream Theater and Symphony X, we're very diverse in our musicalbackground and we all bring the music we like when arranging a new song. We'retrying to get as far as we can from the traditional progressive-metal sound(while staying true to its roots as much as we can - and want) simply becausethere's so much we love to play and listen to. We referenced Opeth, PorcupineTree and Muse as our inspirations, but the fact is that they're only a few ofthe bands that might help describe our sound. On that note - you'll definitelybe able to hear and feel it in the next album.

Yogev: Toughquestion. It is progressive metal by definition; Long songs, big arrangements,a lot of solos and unisons, big guitar sound, rapid time signature changes etc.But, we are influenced by so many genres like jazz, pop and electronic stuffthat you can hear a new blend of sounds in our album. Most of the melodies arevery “pop” like, very catchy, you’ll fill tones of jazz harmony segments andstuff like that.

I’d like to think we take the best ofeach world. So if a melody we write sticks to your head after one listen, wedid our job

Plus, we have a lot of fans who don’tlisten to prog or metal usually so I guess we’re on the right track.

Guy:Withtags  I believe that a first time listener will say that we have the DreamTheater "Color". DT is one of the modern progressive bands thatreally created a new access to the genre. In Distorted Harmony, considering thediverse tastes of music every member brings, I feel that there is somethingdifferent in the sound and the color. It's still a progressive music,Rock/Metal but we absolutely don't want to sound like a specific band but totake our influences and make a new "picture".

Following from the above, we would like to hear your personal views onwhat progressive music signifies for you and how you see the future of the movement.

Yoav: Tobe honest, I grew up listening to King Crimson, Genesis, Jethro Tull etc. Butthat's where I stopped. I was (and still am) a huge fan of Dream Theater andSymphony X but now I find myself listening (when it comes to Progressive) tobands like Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Meshuggah (they are progressive!) and justrecently discovered Anathema. The reason I think I keep listening to those 3-4progressive bands is because each as defined their own sound, brought a new andunique dimension to the Progressive Music world (and archives) and I wish (formy band of course as well) we will start hearing new (and even adventurous)sounds in the Progressive music scene. I think what makes this genre unique isthe "ability" to say - "f**k you all, I'll do it because I likeit and I can" and frankly, I'm tired of hearing "another"grinding/shredding guitar solo, a worn out unison or the same 7/8 groove. Wehave so much "to take" from all the new and exciting genres outthere, and I wish I could hear that more in the Progressive music scene.

Yogev: Ipersonally see prog metal and prog in general as a stage to express whateveryou want, in any way you like. It feels like you have no boundaries in thisgenre. Sadly, most of the prog metal bands take this fact and abuse it so muchthat you can’t find the song itself behind the whole mess. That is the reason Ihardly even listen to this kind of music any more. It's all so messy and soloaded with information that I just can’t enjoy it like I used to. I feel thatprog players prefer to have a complex or technical part over a part that servesthe song best. That's where they lose my attention usually.

In DH, we put the song writing,fluidity, and overall sound in the highest priority. That's why I like ouralbum so much.

Guy: Whenit comes to Progressive rock and metal I grew up listening to Dream Theater, PinkFloyd, Yes, Symphony X, King Crimson, Genesis, Jethro Tull, etc.

The uniqueness of the bands isthe songs. Most of the time progressive composition has longinstrumental parts and solos. Every member has a place to express hisability sound and feelings.

I'm not that familiar with the modern progressivebands and music. When I hear progressive bands today, most of the time, thingssound really great, the production and the playing is amazing. But I sometimesthink bands give a lot of attention to the instrumental parts and solos and notto the singer and the melody.  Sometimesthe only thing you need is a song and a melody that will "catch"listener ears…

What music do you listen to this period? What are your musicalinspirations?

Yoav: Whenit comes to metal I'm stuck listening to Meshuggah and just Meshuggah. They'reabsolutely amazing and I'm learning and gaining so much from listening tothem, not to mention the pure joy of listening to amazing and complex heavymusic. My favorite band would be Muse and I also started really digging intoRadiohead recently so I can definitely say they're both a big inspiration tome. Beside my love and admiration (that's all I heard as a teenager) for Jazzwhich I try and get as many as I can and incorporate it in my writings, I alsostarted listening to the Foo Fighters, loving and taking as much as I can fromtheir awesome song-writing and there will always be Queen. 

Yogev: Themusic I grew up on is quite different than the stuff I like listening to now. Igrew up listening to old rock groups. A lot of Deep Purple, Dio, Queen,Rainbow, Pink Floyd, led Zeppelin, Kansas, Yes, King Crimson and stuff likethat. Later on I got into the heavier stuff like Metallica, Pantera, Slayer.

Today, my musical taste took a detourto all the non-metal stuff out there. A lot of modern Jazz, Funk, Soul, R&Band Motown all the way to Hip Hop, breakbeat and electronic stuff.

The only metal survivors in myplaylist are Opeth, Porcupine tree, Lamb of God and Meshuggah. A lot ofMeshuggah.

Other Djent bands are in theresomewhere, bands like Periphery and Animals As Leaders.  

Guy: TodayI try to a listen to and learn every kind of genre in music. It starts fromclassical music, Jazz (modern and hard bop, Aaron Parks ,Joshua Redmanetc..), every kind of rock and metal music during the years, Folk, Indie etc..

I listen today mainly to Alternative /indie music. That sounds very general to say it because there are a lot of"genres" inside the alternative idea... I listen to bands like:Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Foals, Fleet Foxes , Bon Iver, Other Lives, Sigur Ros,Biffy Clyro, Muse, Jeff Buckley etc..

Do you find time for other musical collaborations beyond DH?

Yoav: Asa musician, I think it's wrong to do just one thing, playing one specific genreand style, a single band, just one project etc. I think it's our nature toexpand and explore as much as we can (physically and mentally). Speaking formyself, I divide my time by writing/composing for DH, composing and doing sounddesigns for commercials and promotional videos and promoting and improving as arecord producer (which is basically the thing I love doing most).

Yogev: Ofcourse. I play in a few bands other than DH and I play in projects andrecording sessions here and there.

I’m actually a part of a Jazz group inmy school which is going to play in a 3 week tour across the east side of theU.S in a few big Jazz festivals!

Guy: Sure,I play in another Israeli Rock band with our singer Misha. I have otherprojects with different people, different genres - Electronic and Folk.

I also compose arrange and producewith other musicians.

I think it's a great thing to havedifferent projects and to play with different people. It opens your mind to newthings and eventually gives you your own unique sound.

We tend to forget about ladies when talking about progressive metal;have you ever thought to include female vocals into your music?

Yoav: Frankly? No. If we will find it fits a song as a backing track wemight. I actually prefer Misha's falsetto. 

Yogev: Idon't’ think we ever considered that. First of all we have Misha, so fortunatelywe don’t need to think about it 

In my opinion a man's voice is a lotmore soothing to this genre. I don’t know why, but female singers just don’tsound right to me in the confines of this genre. The problem is probably withme, but it just doesn’t sound coherent.

Sadly, it’s still a huge boy’s club.

Guy: Notmuch. I never liked that much progressive rock bands with female vocals. It'snot really my style. I love Misha's voice and I think he gives somethingdifferent to the genre. 

What’s your personalphilosophy in life? How do you cope with barriers? And, simultaneously, how doyou build your strengths?

Yoav: Vodka?

Yogev: Sometimesyou win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.

Guy: "Takeyour time to think, but when the time to act arrives, stop thinking and startworking." Napoleon Bonaparte

I take this sentence as an example tomusic and creation. Most of the time musicians today can be stuck with a greatmusic in their drawer or their hard drive. It's hard to take an act and justspread your music. Every musician is wondering if his creation is the best thingfor himself at this moment. Musician just needs to make and keep on the hardwork.

How were the live experiences you already hadwith DH? What are the reactions of the people who come to your live shows?

Yoav: Onething I love about us is that we bring the rehearsal to the stage. We have somuch fun and energy and that's exactly what we hear after the show. With everyshow we see more fans, young and "old" alike and we get such amazingsupport from our fans that it just makes us want to perform more and more. Wewill start working on a "show" pretty soon and we hope to bring allof our love for music, playing and performing, our love for one another plussome Rock'n'Roll to the show.

Yogev: Theshows we had, all of them, got excellent reviews and they were a lot of fun!

But the last show at the “Barby” wasabsolutely outstanding. We played “Utopia” top to bottom, we played our newsong “Misguided” and we pulled off a very cool Muse cover. The amount of energythat night was unbelievable. Best show I had!

Guy: Wehad great reviews for our live shows. It's really important for me to feelcomfortable on stage and have fun! We have a killer show in our concerts andthe crowd dance and sing the songs with us and have a lot of fun.

Are there upcoming shows outside Israel that we should know about?

Yoav: In the works. We are working on it…

Yogev: New stuffsounds great!

Guy: It’skiller stuff

A message from your part for the readers of Progarchives is…

Yoav: GivenI just recently discovered Progarchives, I believe our manager Raya, being anactive member for many years will have much more to say to the community. Iwill just say that it doesn't matter what type of music it is, seeing suchpassion and love for music is just heartwarming. I would like to thank youpersonally for your support, love and appreciation for what we do. Seeing howmuch we care and love the music we do, accepting and embracing it. You guysrock!

Yogev: Justbig huge thanks for all your support with Utopia! You guys are the best!

Guy: Thankyou all for your supports and love for our music! 

Anything that you might want to add?

Yoav: Thisis probably the most thorough interview I've ever done and I would like tothank you for this wonderful opportunity. Thank you so much for supporting us,but basically - thank you for loving what we do! Yoav.

Yogev: Justwant to let you know how excited I am that people react and like our music. Nobigger pleasure in the whole world! Yogev

Guy: Thankyou for the great opportunity. It's an amazing thing to know that people aroundthe world love and support what we do!  Thank you!

Peace, Guy L@ndau

Lookingat the line-up of this band, one could not but expect an interesting result: JohnWEST (ex-ARTENSION, ex-ROYAL HUNT), Steve DIGIORGIO (ex-DEATH, ex-SADUS etc.),Charlie ZELENY (ex-BEHOLD...THE ARCTOPUS) – all combined under a Greek-namedtitle: MYTHODEA. How come? ChristosNIKOLAOU, the main man behind this project explains to ProgArchives and JustInCase Radio followers how myths become reality in a torrential manner…

 
 Hello Christos! Please briefly introduce whatMYTHODEA stands for to our readers:

Hi Thanasi! Mythodea isa symphonic progressive metal band, featuring John West on Vocals and thewriting of the lyrics, me on guitars-music composition, Steve DiGiorgio on Bassand Charlie Zeleny on Drums. We just made our appearance with our debut self-titledalbum Mythodea.

The name of the projectcame out as rather intriguing to me – how did you come up with the name?
I waslooking for a name that would combine music and story-telling. The wordMythodea is a made-up word by the Greek composer Vangelis, and it means song ofa myth. I found it very appropriate for my music, because a myth can be afictional or a real story... and this gives no limitations both musically andthematically. The way I compose music is like creating a soundtrack for amovie... so the less limitations that movie has thematically, the more space itgives me to express it musically.

Is MYTHODEA  a “Christos Nikolaou” project with sessionmusicians, a full-time band or something in between? – please enlighten us!

I would say that it is something in between. Itcould be a solo project with my name on it… but I don’t like solo projects. Itseems selfish and it discourages the members to participate into the music, andit makes them feel distant from it. I prefer a band with steady members. I feelthe combination is right between us… we worked very well together and we havethe same passion and madness for music.

Now a questionthat I guess you get from many: how did you manage to get all these big namesunder a single roof?? What was your selection process/aims and where thereother names on your list – why these specific musicians?

Well, I can say that I was lucky! It allstarted by aiming high and sending a demo song to John West. I was and I am afan of his magical voice for more than 10 years now, and working with him was adream come true. I asked him to record just one song (Ultimate Pain) just forme, because I composed that song imagining only John’s voice in it. I gotpositive answer, we both liked the result of the first song very much… and Iasked “shall we record more?” and he replied “as many as you like”. Neverthought of any more musicians participating because I had no budget for a wholealbum… but John suggested finding more musicians replacing drums and bass, andthanks to him I could now have the attention in order that I can be takenseriously and finally work with musicians I never thought it would be possibleto work with. At first I worked with Bobby Jarzombek, we recorded two songs butsadly he was too busy touring and we couldn’t go on. So I found an equallytalented drummer who has a great variety in all music styles, Charlie Zeleny.For bassist, John suggested Steve DiGiorgio and of course having this legendarybassist would be amazing. Steve liked my music a lot and he got on board. Iconsider them Mythodea band members and they feel the same.  I can’t describe how happy I am having suchtalented and great people in my project. The rest of musicians came alongwithin the years of self-producing slowly the album. It was a slow process butvery necessary… I learned so many things having all these guys as mentors andgradually improving myself both as musician and sound engineer.

I read that you write all the music for the project– how long did it take you to complete the music for the album? Will there bespace for other composers in the future for MYTHODEA?

Yes, I compose all themusic for Mythodea. Composition is something that I love and I’m trying toevolve in. Most of the music was already made, but in primate stages… theysounded demo, and 4-5 years ago didn’t have a good picture of my style. I wascomposing how I felt, and whenever I was inspired without forcing myself.Having no deadline for completing my album, was a good chance for improving thealready composed songs and create more, and at the same time improve myself assound engineer. You may have a good composition but the way you can orchestrateit and how you can present it takes the half of your effort. My style ismultilayered and everything is on the move... so, having so many instrumentsplaying all together is a very challenging task both as an arrangement and amix.
I haven’t worked together with another composer in the past. I wouldn’t mind,but I believe that the sound will be totally different. 

What is the lyrical story of the album? To meit sounded a kind of “Ode to the Greek Gods” (laughs) – is there a specificstory or concept behind it?

Haha, thank you verymuch! This is actually a very honoring title!
This album is not a concept though, but the themes are similar. They have to dowith the human nature itself. Everything that we experience in our lives, our feelings,disappointments and temptations. I have plans though, of making in the future aconcept album or a concept song. I think it is very appropriate for my style ofmusic.

How would you characterise the MYTHODEA sound? Wouldyou like to assign some tags for the benefit of our readers? Surely the term “progressive”is a valid one…
I’m not very fond oftagging, but of course they are useful for the listeners to get an idea of whatto expect to listen in a band. Mythodea is a symphonic progressive metal band,with all the creation effort being focused not to impress with technicalskills, but mostly it is focused on the music itself, in the description andpresentation of its lyrical theme.  Iwould characterize Mythodea as a heavily orchestrated melodic music, a balancedcombination of symphonic soundtrack music and power progressive metal band,which both depend on the other. Most bands compose the riffs and their musiccould stand easily with just only the main band playing, without the orchestra.My music would sound incomplete without the orchestra, it plays a great role tomy music.

I believe the termProgressive Rock is a tag describing originality, so I would say that it is thetag of no tag in music. Music has no limits, so personally when I compose I’mnot thinking that now I’m going to create a power song, or a technical hard-to-digestsong or anything like that. I have a theme in my mind, and depending on that, I’mtrying to express it as well as possible, and that only leads me to theappropriate music. I like the term progressive, because I aim for originalityand to evolve musically but always keeping in mind the beauty of music.Predictions about progressive rock… I’m very optimistic that listeners’ hungerfor a better, honest and more interesting music will make progressive genre tohave more and more fans. I’m hoping that metal in general will finally be moreappreciated. There are great minds and talents, and I hope they will see thelight of day and be recognized.

Buzz word:influences – what are your influences as a musician (e.g. other musicians,bands, styles) and which of these found their way through to your music?

Whatever I’m listening to and keeps meinterested in, I can say that it’s my influence.  The way that a composer orchestrates a fullorchestra, or a guitarist composes riffs, even experiences in my life, broadensup my ideas. My favourite bands are Symphony X, Adagio, Evergrey among fewothers, but my main influences are composers from baroque and classical eralike Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, and more recent composers from the movieindustry like John Williams, James Horner, Howard Shore, Danny Elfman etc.

I would say that my music is a mixture of allthis, All these composers and bands have helped me find my way and finallyshape my own sound.

What’s your personalphilosophy or/and mottos of your life?

I believe that the ability to think foryourself, being original as a person and having the wisdom to take selfless decisionsno matter the cost, is my main philosophy. Self-preservation and survival byhurting others are primitive instincts that only education and music can helpkeep away from and evolve as better people. I mentioned music also because asPlato said music indeed“gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, acharm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything.”

What would you advice someone who is currentlyaspiring to sink her/his band in the challenging world of progressive rock?

I’m quite new to this.I can’t tell that I have much of experience. The only thing I could advise frommy brief journey making this album and working together with such greatmusicians, is to take your time, be patient, don’t be very eager to releaseyour music to the world, unless you are very happy with it and you dideverything you could for it. Just be yourselves and enjoy the creation of yourmusic, and time will tell about the rest.

The album has been released onlydigitally – do you see this as a more direct way of promoting your music? Wasthere/is there any interest from record labels in releasing your material nowor in the future?

Producing an album is very costly. I self-producedit, and it took me four years to complete it. After mastering it, and feelingthat I had to move on, I thought that it was about time to release it. Surely,digital release is fast and easy way for the artist, but it’s not the best.Most listeners want to have the actual CD with the booklet, and artwork intheir hands. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bare further costs so I made only adigital release for the time being. Hopefully, a record label will help me soonwith the physical release. I’m expecting some answers from a few. Thanks to thecrises which has affected all of us, has affected also the labels. Booking acontract is not easy no matter how good or bad the music is. No matter if alabel helps me or not, I will make a physical release also in the near future.

I enjoyed the album quite a lot but I will tryto remain as unbiased as possible (laughs) – what has been the reaction to thealbum so far from the press and metal fans?

I’m very glad that youenjoyed the album! Receiving positive feedback it is the best reward for me.Thank you!

It’s two months afterthe release, the exposure process is kinda slow, but I’m very happy that thepeople who have commented in facebook, youtube and e-mails and from thereviews, were very kind and generous to my music. It is a nice feeling that mywork had only positive reaction (so far!). I hope more people will get to know Mythodea and then I will have abetter picture of how they think about it.

Do you (as Christos) have any sideprojects/musical collaborations beyond METHODEA? How do the members of the projectbalance their time between this and other projects?

Mythodea is the onlyproject I work on. I just want to make as many albums as possible! The othermembers of course they are super busy with many projects at the same time. Thefact that I only compose the music and there is no deadline makes it quiteeasy. They don’t have for now to balance their time with me and the otherprojects. When I will be ready I will notify all the rest members and we willthen work all together. For now we just keep in touch as friends, and exchangeideas for the future.

Are there plans to see MYTHODEA live in Greeceor elsewhere? I can imagine that it would be a challenging task to get allmembers together and reproduce the album in a live set?

Yea, it’s a bitdifficult for something like that to happen. Maybe it would be easier for me togo to USA instead of them to come all over to Greece.  My maininterest for now is to make more studio works… and if there will be the rightresponse it would be great to play some Mythodea music to the fans. The idealfor me, live or studio work, would be to play together with live full orchestra .

What does the future hold for MYTHODEA? Anyfurther surprises?

Well, yes… I’m workingon it!  I’m hoping that you will enjoy the second album evenmore when of course I release it. It’s very soon to tell, but the four songs Ihave composed already sound different and promising. It’s still the Mythodeayou have heard already, but more evolved. Depending on finance of course Iwould be happy to work with additional talented musicians or even with a liveorchestra… all depends on what future holds.

A message from your part for the collaboratorsand members of ProgArchives is…

Happy and prosperous2013, and I would like to thank the collaborators and members of ProgArchives forwelcoming me to their musical family. I really appreciate it and I’m honored!

Any final words?

Just a big thanks toyou Thanasis for this interview and your interest in Mythodea.
I would like to invite everyone to feel free to join to Mythodea facebook pageso you get all the updates and have a talk about the band or music in general.
All the best!

MYTHODEA’s profile onPA: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7737

MYTHODEA officialwebpage: http://www.mythodeaband.com/home.cfm

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MythodeaBand

Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/MythodC

JustInCase Radio (Greece) and ProgArchives joined forces to interrogate CUEROCK,whose ‘Tales of Future Passed’ has placed itself among the most interestingreleases of the year. Demetris Katsikis (Founder and Progducer of JustIn CaseRadio) and myself fired questions relentlessly to the German quintet, and, in fairness, they stood up to the task!!! Let’s see whatthey have to say about tales of past, present and future…

CUEROCK are:

LarryLee Lehmann / Vocals
Achim Harhoff / Guitar
Klaus Hogrebe / Bass
Andreas Blechmann / Keyboards
M.B. Forrester / Drums

Hello Gentlemen! Where, and at what part of yourbusy schedule, does this interview find you exactly? Composing, touring or justmeeting up to discuss future plans?

Indeed we are composing newmaterial for a second CD-release hopefully coming in summer 2013!

Section 1 – tales of past

Yourbiography is already in Progarchives.com but we would like to know a bit moreabout the history of the band. What did CUE stand for in the 70’s and were thereever any releases from this early version of the band?

Achim: We cannot tell you much about the earlyyears, for none of us was part of the band at that time. I saw the band threetimes on stage: first time when I was twelve, next time when I was fifteen,last time when I was seventeen years old. They were the flagship of our localmusic scene, playing Genesis- and Yes-styled music and touring the whole GermanRepublic. I always dreamt of being part of such a great band, though my musicalroots were much heavier. Aged nineteen I came in contact with the bass playerand we had a side-project. When the band needed a new drummer, I suggested to takeM.B. who played with us. M.B. then introduced Axel to CUE, and the former bassplayer became the vocalist (Freddy Mercury – style!!!). And only a few monthslater they asked me to join them as the guitar-player. This was in February1985.

It seems that both Achim and M. B. became members of CUEsoon before you change your name to CUEROCK. Were there significant differencesbetween CUE as it was and the newly-formed band, both in personnel and thesound that you wanted to achieve?

Achim: Don't forget our dear Axel! After CUEhad tried to be successful playing New German Wave mixed with SAGA (they had anacclaimed TV – performance in an early German casting show), the band lostdirection because success was missing. With this new line-up CUE became amixture of TOTO, DEEP PURPLE and 80’s Pop. It was not what I personally reallywanted to do, but we had such a deep friendship...

Ifwe accept 1986 as the ‘official’ starting point of what CUEROCK represents now,this makes it 26 years of history, impressive! Why only three releases in thisperiod? Were there periods of inactivity?

Achim: First I must say that CUEROCK startedwith Andreas Blechmann 1998! His arrival marks a real turning-point!

CUE went through many difficulties. In1988 our singer went to Turkey for occupational reasons. It is very hard toreplace a singer whose vocal range spans almost 4 octaves. In 1992 we gotcontact to a singer who was pretty good, and he propelled us to produce a CD (‘I’).But the chemistry wasn't right, so we broke up with him. And in 1994 ourkeyboardist had to leave for health reasons. He was almost a concert pianist,and the three of us remaining were looking for new members for years. But wedidn't find the quality we needed. Until Andreas Blechmann came!

Thereis little information about your ‘I’ (1991) and ‘Physically’ (2004) albums.Could you give us a bit of insight as to who was involved in these albums andif/how the sound is different to 2012’s CUEROCK?

Andreas: ‘I’ is CUE,sounding more Pop-oriented. ‘Physically’ is pure CUEROCK.

Achim: Looking back on‘I’ I would say that it is a kind of swan song for CUE. But we did an EP1998/99 (‘The Inner Eye of CUE’) - we called it a ‘tryout’ - with 4instrumentals including early versions of ‘For Sabine’, ‘Journey to the Centre’and ‘A Farewell to the Falcon’.

Andreas: The Falcon...

Achim: Yes, your AtariFalcon. We did the recording with an 8-track Atari Falcon. But a new PC andsound card were already ordered, and so we named one of the instrumentals ‘AFarewell to the Falcon’.

Andreas: We achievedunexpected success with this EP. We sent it to German magazines like ‘Gitarre&Bass’and ‘RockHard’ and received great reviews. We even got nominated for the Germanrock award 1999. But we had no chance to get it with our non-commercialproject...

Achim: And this wasthe birth of CUEROCK. It was an important impulse. We began to develop ourstyle. Andreas wanted us to become heavier with fat guitars left and right. Onthe other hand we wanted to put in classical structures such as variation,polyphony... but unfortunately ‘Physically’ remained unfinished due to Axel'sdeath in 2004 – this was a shock...

Andreas: With the re-launchof CUEROCK 2009 we felt that we need vocals as a carrier for our music.

Achim: And Larry-Leewas the first singer after decades who was able to sing what we had in mind...Now we are able to add a touch of ‘sing-along’ to our music, so that listenerscan join in... You called it ‘catchy’ in your review – a big thank you forthat! But we still place on variation and polyphony as important musicalstructures.

Ifsomeone wants to explore your past, are these albums still available?

Achim: They were just demos, neverreleased officially. We still have about 100 items of‘I’ at home, but the sound quality is bad. Thousands of German Marks for a poorproduction...

Section 2 – tales of present

Let’s get closer to what CUEROCK represents now. Theaddition of Larry Lee in 2010 seems to have added that extra bit of power,enthusiasm and motivation to get things going again. Is this the case?

Larry-Lee: I´dsay on my entering the Band CUEROCK,  thatthe personal CUEROCK band members views, if they were to voice their opinions,then they would probably answer: yes, Larry-Lee´s joining the band brought hugemotivation amongst its founder members. His vocal versatility/musical vocalability/power/emotion and expressions, for all his ray of sunshine whensinging, and bringing Achim’s music ideas in composing into reality, then yes.It has brought life into its music by putting the hard composed work intoreality. CUEROCK where not seeking the 1980´s styling from rock music fromvocalists, in back then meant high pitch, high octave screams. It's also notreally fitting for CUEROCK material. Our bands intentions are more for themelodic rock groove with a large element of theatrical feeling within its musiccompositions. In this way the guys probably recognised me as a huge asset totheir music, being able to bring into realisation their - also future coming -material.

Achim: Yes, he is areal sunshine... ;-)

Andreas: But don't offerhim expensive wines...

How did you find Larry (or how did he find you!)?

Larry-Lee: It wassimply by chance. I simply landed on their doorstep, having heard they needed avocalist, but was somewhat held back. However, I'd worked all my life in themusic branch and have been a pure full blooded musician, almost as long turningpro in 1977, I had sung virtually every styling of the modern day music scenes,be it rock/swing/Tamla-Motown, or many of the dozen other styles, due to havingbeen in many also cover bands, as well as bringing over years of originalmaterial... I'd mastered almost all, but I thought the metric structure of CUEROCK'smusic would be well above my capabilities. However, on visiting the band I wasin as a full time member without even having taken an AUDITION! I personallygave my entry into the band via the words ‘I’m coming to you as an apprentice’,as they had not found any other vocalist with the ability to put theircompositions into reality. But felt with patience that I could make them proudof me. I've never looked back since that day, and feel from that day on as ifI've been with them from foundation day.--------------- They are simply greatguys to work with.

Achim: I guess Larryread an online ad or I read his one – I don't know. The first time only Larryand I had a meeting in our little studio. I had already heard some of hisformer songs online and was sure that his voice had the needed range! And whenhe told me he'd come as an apprentice I had the feeling that he is the rightmember for us! We had tried out some very young singers before, talented andwell-sounding, but with weakly-skilled singing-technique. Whenever theycouldn't hit a high note they wanted us to pitch down the song instead oftraining their voice... Larry – despite of his long lasting career – said: I amwilling to learn. No egomania, but professional attitude!

And what about the writing process: who is/are the maincomposer(s) or are all members contributing equally?

Larry-Lee: Within my past in the music branch, bands have mostly always been mine,but for the very first time in years this was not to be. And also for the very firsttime in my life I've decided to take a complete backseat in my music life, andI don’t regret a thing! I've also never, ever been in any type of band or musicproject where I have not had disagreements/arguments. However, in this bandI've not witnessed one day of such! Approximately 28 months since my entry,argument free, just good warm hearted togetherness.

The song-writing process musically is done mostly between Achim+Andreas(Andy); Lyrically it's our Achim at work, with his - in my mind - genius works.I’m a U.K. Subject, and English is my native tongue, and he writes it as aGerman better than I'll ever be able to do (I take my hat off to You, Achim). Better said: musically+lyrically one could say 89%of the works come from his geniality+wondering adventures mind,----- it's whatmakes CUEROCK what it is.

Achim: (Blush...) I have to point out that one of the biggest inspirations for meis the aggregation of musical skills in this band! I have such a huge respectfor all my band mates. One of the biggest impulses is to let all of them glare– I love vocals, bass, drums and keys, and – of course – electric guitars.Pathetically spoken: Every note is filled with love for these musicians – aliveor passed away!

Andy and I havemeetings with intense working on structures, arranging and/or voicing, and hegives very important inputs that help me develop the ‘songs’. But it is theagreement of ALL members that make the song finished!

Are lyrics a big part of your writing process now? Whowrites the lyrics and what are the themes you deal with?

Larry-Lee: I occasionallycontribute just a little to Achim´s ideas, but tend to keep my nose out of thisregion of work. I used my full musical know-hows in the first period of mysuccessful ventures in the music branch and made my own success during theperiods 1977 to 1983, so I do know my real capabilities. But it was a differentmusic scene for me back then. If I was asked directly now how to valuateAchim's / CUEROCK's music and lyrics, well, it's an easy answer for me:composition and content extremely meaningful and full of inner feelings. It'smusic content one could class as a typical bombastic Hollywood Motion Picturemusic, which can be seen by us as a huge compliment.

Achim: The lyrics... They are mostly the attempt todescribe the visions I have in mind. I am a very visual thinking person; themusic I have in mind yields pictures and film-sequences that I try to explain.And I always look for strong words and precise terms. Larry is an importanthelp, for he's a native speaker. Let me try to illustrate it with an example:

Kaleidoscope pt.I: ‘...but in the nighther memories pull her retrograde through time’; Larry: ‘No common Britishperson will understand this’, but we discussed what I had in mind: A term thatgives a precise description of the wrong direction of thinking and living.After a while he said: Yes – let's do it this way...

I am a teacher for music and biology; asa scientist, I always take in the observer's view; as a music teacher, I alwaystry to expose the beauty of what I see.

Could you tell us a few words about the musiccomposition process? How do you write music? Does music come first, do lyricscome first, or, is it a simultaneous flowing process?

Achim: The first ideas are often simultaneous; there is ariff or a chorus in my mind – words and music. When I begin to work it out Ifocus on music – and later I try to fill my visions with words. But thephonetic structure of the lyrics (the ‘sounding’ part) is quite clear rightfrom the beginning.

Howwould you characterise the CUEROCK sound? You are listed under progressivemetal in ProgArchives, but there is more to it…

Larry-Lee: Well, as CUEROCK's frontman I'd have to give the substantial answer, if asked in private the answerwould be: an intellectual/technical/melodic/poetical and meaningful form ofPower Rock/Metal with strong grooves, simply modern, tight and refreshing.

Achim: Having dealtwith TOTO in the 80’s has formed us in the way we groove, I guess. EspeciallyM.B. is more a gentleman-drummer than a rock-animal, playing more restrained,but always exactly figuring out the musical structures of our songs. It isgreat to see how clearly everything sounds when he's playing! And Andreas oftenadds a touch of Jazz/Fusion-feeling. Some Vai and Lukather aspects mayappear... But I also try to add – maybe not quite obvious – I touch of ‘BonJovi’ to our music (oh – my – god...).

Followingfrom the above, does the term progressive rock mean something special to you oris it just another means of categorising the music? What are your predictionsabout the future of prog rock?

Andreas: Indeed wecalled our music ‘progressive rock’ to give people a rough idea of what theycould expect. We hate thinking in categories, but people need this kind of aidto orientation. All WE want to put in our music is polyphonic structures,variation, development...

Achim: You will neverhear a verse simply repeated with new words. I hate simple encores apart fromchoruses. Life is not a flat-line – you've got ups and downs, changes, youshould develop. If you try to create music that's vivid you have to transferthese aspects to it! It's like one of my favorite TNG-episodes ‘Déja Vu’: eachencore is a little bit changed – and these variations carry the story up to theend.

But categorizing is a verydangerous thing. Some people think we're not proggy enough, others are deterredby suggesting we are playing boringly endless songs...

Future of prog rock? Noidea. I don't count on categories; I just look for individual artworks. Thereare so many impressive songs in this genre today...

What’s your personal philosophy or/and mottos of yourlife?

Larry-Lee:  Mine has always been from day one of musicpath as follows: Sex, no drugs but Rock´n´Roll...

Achim: Never stoplearning!

Klaus: Always try togive your best!

M.B.: Let's play,until the geriatric nurses get us from the stage!

Whatwould you advice someone who is currently aspiring to sink her/his band in theprog world?

Andreas:My personalopinion: There are too many bands outside that rely on solemn and dramaticexaggeration. A sip of ‘big ease’ and musical flow is needed more than anotherdeeply grieving world-ache-epos...

Achim: On the otherhand WE love this kind of neo-romanticism, don't we? I guess the most importanttip is that they should try to tell their own musical stories. But I guess thatyoung musicians who decide to dip in progressive have the right skills andtalents to do it well! Imagine all those young talents of jazz you showed me, Andy!

NEWALBUM! – 2012 marks the world-wide release of ‘Tales of Future Passed’. Pleasetell us about the recording process and how you ended up collaborating with7Hard.

Achim: Well, after getting acomplete line-up we started to put together new vocal material forlive-eventers and so on. Larry confirmed us to put in some of our physically –instrumentals, for they were – to his opinion – too precious to be buried inthe past. So we finished with a small edition mostly for promotional use. Afterhaving tuned our web presence (by the way: many, many thanks to our supportersMarco Witte, Ingo Holzhauer for designing & supervising it, Ingo also forhis live-mixing, Julia Jork for dealing the lighting and Jens Herken forsound-supporting our rehearsals) Larry came in contact to Hans Derer (Owner of7Hard). Hans wanted to re-release our CD under his label. But we decided totake in a new song (‘Days Of Future Passed), for it was always in my mind that ‘Kaleidoscope’had to get this second part (the musical storyline was not completed; there wasstill more to this main theme!). But we had a strict deadline for the CD. I puttogether the song at record speed (The best way to turn your hair totallywhite...).

One word that could describe your latest album is ‘dynamic’?What are your influences as musicians (e.g. other musicians, bands, styles) andhow do these blend together to the final result?

Achim: At present itis firstly my job to compose or at least work out the ideas. I do this bymidi-programming bass, drums and keys (whenever Andy is not available). I lovethe elegant and musical drumming of M.B. and I love the virtuosity of Klaus andAndy. So I always imagine how they would like to play it. Maybe this is thereason why it appears dynamic: I always try to work the songs out in a way thatbrings out every facet of their musical sense.

Threetracks from ‘Physically’ appear to be in the new album as well. Are the newversions significantly different and/or have they been re-recorded? Is this thelink between the old and the new material?

Andreas: We only didsome re-recordings with Klaus. But we didn't delete all of Axel's parts! Klausreally admires Axel's work, and so it was to honor him by putting his work onthis CD. The strangest thing is about ‘For Sabine’: you can hear Axel playingthe whole first movement. The bass-heartbeats in the break leading to thesecond movement weren't played by him any more – he died shortly before thisrecording-session...

Achim: It wasn't easyto integrate the sounding of the new takes in the original ones, but I guessyou will hardly hear it now... So you can say ‘Tales of Future Passed’ is thelink between CUEROCK 2004 and our future. It is a turning-point, a thank you toour dear friend Axel. I personally found peace with his death by doing this CD.

Wepresume that the story of ‘Dreamon in Neverland’ is a special one. Are you happy to give the details of thistrack?

Achim: It was early in2005 when I told Andy that I had an idea for a three-parted-musical suite forour Axel. Dream On... was planned to be part two. I had this idea of abass-riff, the 6/8 – groove was one of Axel's favorites, and I wanted to holdon to what this really great little man was for us. So I outlined the firstmovement and a first verse. We did a draft recording to fix the idea. We alwaysdreamt of completing this song for him. We played it to Klaus and Larry andthey were eager to have this song completed, too. So I finished it. It may beunbelievable, but Klaus and Larry, the two who never knew Axel, became hisfriend by carrying out this song! Friendship beyond death...

But there a still two partsmissing... we plan to do 3 CDs for 7Hard...

Do you have any sideprojects/musical collaborations beyond CUEROCK?

Achim: M.B. and Klausplay with other local bands. M.B. supports friends of him who need a skilleddrummer; Klaus is really quite successful with a top class cover-band. Larrytries to put together a show band. But CUEROCK is their top priority, ofcourse.

Andy organizes and conductsConcertos such as Requiem by Mozart, St. James-Passion by Bach... it is part ofhis profession, but these concerts go far beyond what he has to do for his job!It is pure passion for church music.

Oh, I am the poor guy whohas no time for side-projects. Composing and producing CUEROCK takes most of mytime beside my job and my family (without their patience and understanding itwouldn't be possible)!

Howare the live experiences of CUEROCK? What are the reactions of the people whocome to your live shows?

Larry-Lee: We only had afew smaller venues till now because we focused on recording. But one revieweron Amazon.de pointed out the friendly manner of the band. We are who we are, inreal life the same as on stage. We like to talk with the audience after theshow...

Achim: …and evenin-between, when there a longer instrumental passages, right, Larry?

What is most important forme is that we seem to reach younger people as well as people in our age. EvenMetal-headbangers enjoyed our music. But they shouldn't get too drunken – thenour music might cause a brain-overkill...

Section 3 – tales of future

Whatare the immediate future plans/goals for CUEROCK?

Achim: I am workingout new songs for expanding our live-performance; Songs that will fill oursecond CD hopefully coming in 2013! And Larry will manage live-contacts; wewant to play as much as possible. But our kind of music is not Germanmainstream at the moment, so it's not easy to get attractive live-jobs. Imaginewe are newcomers (smile...)

Isthere any possibility to see CUEROCK playing live in Greece (home of JustIn CaseProg Radio) or UK? Friends of Larry must be waiting for his return! What arethe challenges in playing lives shows abroad?

Larry-Lee: Yes and no... better saidif you have better contact than us, with Greek festival/concert organizersliking our style of music then maybe. However our Greek contact possibilitiesare sadly low. But naturally it would be great to appear somewhere within yourcountry, as also others. However good our music, it’s still an up-hill climbeven for us to be heard live. This music style is limited for new on the sceneprogressive bands. Now, being Dream Theater/Porcupine Tree/Spock's Beard/SteveVai/Toto/Haggard/Tankard and a small number of others, for such establishednames... we've been in the business just as long, but without such a name muchpatience is needed! But we will get there, maybe to Greece also, with help fromyour side of the water.

Concerning my friends inthe UK: Yes there still are a few out there (most probably dead by now – haha...). And yes, I've had many personal compliments from many of my past band/sfollowing, who have discovered our CUEROCK CD, recognized my voice and madecontact. It is firstly a great inner feeling, and it would be a moral boost forany musician. Yes, GLASTONBURY 2013: here we come...

Achim: Our chances playing abroadare limited by the fact, that we all have our main professions. So it is aquestion of money, but to get enough money depends on popularity, which we tryto increase.

Amessage from your part for the listeners of JustIn Case Prog Radio, Greece is…

Achim: ...the cradle of our European culture; many thanks for that! And forGyros, Samos and Metaxa... I am almost addicted...

Andreas: Nothing more to say...

Amessage from your part for the collaborators and members of ProgArchives is…

Achim: FirstI must point put that we are very, very proud of having become part of yourcollection and receiving this fine review of our album! It really is an honor!

Larry-Lee: I say the same to all YOUprog-collaborators out there! But it would simply be good for us as a band ifmore of you, who have listened to our CD, would send in some of your up-frontopen personal true opinions as to CUEROCK’s music pro or con on our guest-bookon www.CUEROCK.com. It is critique thathelps a band most!

Anythingthat you might want to add?

Larry-Lee: For thoseevermore visitors browsing into CUEROCK information and news: please, justremember that I, Larry-Lee, as a member of the Band state as follows:

Pleasedo not await from me any overall form of seriousness. Most bands are maybeserious, and the original CUEROCK guys also, but I myself am a mad characterwho loves and does his job in the band. However it's not possible for me tostay serious long! As a person I'm just full of fun and cannot survive withoutdoing something silly and stupid. It's my Lancashire UK humor, ok?

Achim: So you think thatall of us other guys completely lack any sense of humor? I guess I will doremixes of our songs chosing the … the ‘best’ takes of Larry-Lee... grin...

Klaus:There are some interestinglive-takes from our rehearsals... grin...

M.B.:Yeah...

Although Norway may be betterknown for its metal exports in the musical underground, Norway (as well as therest of Scandinavia) have been the defacto torch bearers of the vintageprogressive rock sound and spirit. Although progressive rock now has rootsacross the world, it is here where the highest concentration and density of ‘vintage’progressive artists seem to reside, conjuring the spirit of the bygone 1970’swith the fuel of mellotrons, flutes, and psychedelic effects.  Tusmørke and their recent debut “UnderjordiskTusmørke” is an addition to this proud legacy of Scandinavian progressive rock,and the album’s been receiving some great acclaim from press and media lately,myself included! Their debut is highly recommended; a twisting, atmosphericmelting pit of everything vintage and 70’s. Check them out!

Hello! How is the weather inNorway this time of year? J

It’sreally varied, we’ve had winter come and go twice so far, with snow and frost,then a sudden thaw, new snow and then mild again. It’s a bit confusing for thewildlife, plenty of blackbirds deciding not to migrate this year. It’s also abit of pain for us, since we can’t wait to get our skis out to go trekking inthe mighty woods of Nordmarka and Østmarka. Traditionally, snow before winter solstice is not a dead certainty,loads of getting your hopes up only to see the snow turn to sludge the dayafter it has fallen. The days are short, the nights are cold, Orion is high inthe sky and pretty soon there’ll be twilight around the clock, more or less.

For us non-Norwegian speakers,what does your name mean? Why did you choose to adopt Tusmørke as a band name?

Tusmørketranslates as twilight, basically, but is most commonly used about the timewhen the sun is setting, i.e. dusk. We call dusk “skumring” and dawn “demring”,as well, and “tusmørke” may apply to both. We chose to adopt it as our bandname since it contains the word for darkness, “mørke”, as well as “tus” or“tuss” (modern spelling), meaning elf, goblin or troll, so it denotes themurky, shadowy hour of uncivilised, supernatural, unbaptized creatures, likeus. Also, when we started out in 1994, black metal and church burnings and catsacrifices were ubiquitous in the media and gradually became a local pastime inour small town of Skien, Telemark, so we thought of it as a kind of play withthe imagery of evil that was quickly becoming a cliché among young certainyoung people in Norway at the time. We are certainly misanthropic, hateful andgrumpy, but not evil in the sense that we yearn to pervert God’s creation oranything like that. Not on a daily basis, anyways. Twilight is a dubious sortof half-light, it can be perceived as darkness or as light, just like our musicis an amalgamation of several styles where people tend to perceive what theyexpect to find. Metal-heads see us as a metal band, prog-heads think we’reprog, while we’ve always viewed ourselves as a psychedelic folk band, first andforemost.

What’s the story behind theforming of Tusmørke? I would guess you have met each other through theNorwegian prog rock scene?

Yeah,we did. It’s a long story. Tusmørke was formed in 1994 in Skien, a small towntwo hours south of Oslo. I played the guitar in a psychedelic rock band calledCaptain Cumulonimbus and his Wondrous Cloudship, with Krizla playing various flutesand doing the vocals while Håkon Andersen played drums. It also featured Rune Seipon bass and vocals and Gunhild Lurås on cello. After a disastrous stint of gigsat local youth clubs, suffering abuse at the hands of local 12 year olds inexchange for a minuscule amount of much-needed cash, the cellist and bassistabandoned us before the final gig, leaving us as a trio. We jammed all night infront of a disinterested bunch of chavs in the sports hall of a school atKlyve, an unprivileged part of Grenland, itself a notoriously unprivileged partof south-eastern Norway. It is close to our then-home town of Skien, a placewith all the problems of a big city but none of the opportunities. The onlyfamous person to come out of Skien was Henrik Ibsen. He grew up there, moved toGrimstad when he was 15 and never came back, much like us, only we were 18 whenwe finally left. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We played the “concert” anddecided that it couldn’t get much worse and since we didn’t really need theother two, we formed the trio of Tusmørke and soldiered on. The idea was thatwe should be an acoustic corner trio after the fashion of troubadours andgallery minstrels seen in Monty Python movies and the Black Adder series. Weplayed several concerts and did a memorable Advent tour of local shoppingmalls, supported by the council. Angry news agents-ladies told us to take ourAfrican bongo nonsense elsewhere. Our former band mate Rune, now turnedjuggler, asked one particularly angry kiosk attendee whether she was feeling alot of pain inside. She told us to piss off. We did.

Tusmørkethe mediaevalesque trio developed into an electric outfit with the joining ofAndreas Wettergren Strømman Prestmo in ‘96, who was really a guitarist butdecided to play the bass for this project. He also played with Fangorn whichbecame Father Robin and is currently singing and playing guitar in Wobbler. Istarted playing the electric guitar and the bongos were replaced by a drum kit.Krizla continued playing recorder and penny-whistles for a while, though,before finally investing in a proper flute. Things were falling into place. Notbeing completely out of tune and actually being able to hear the guitar meant anew direction for us.

ElektriskTusmørke became Les Fleurs du Mal when we all moved to Bærum outside of Oslo in1997 and formed a commune there. We rehearsed every day for a long time in ayouth club at Rykkin, a notoriously underprivileged area of ridiculouslyaffluent Bærum, Akershus. Andreas worked as an activator/warden in this youthclub, so we could rehearse from early morning until 1 PM when the kids wouldstart coming in. We imported an organ player from Jæren called Trond Egil Aasenand watched in awe as he hauled a Hammond B-3, Leslie, Clavinet and MiniMooginto Rykkin Fritidsklubb. Things were looking good. Then Håkon lost interest in(un)popular music and was replaced by Henrik Harmer, the drummer of FatherRobin. He did an excellent job filling in for Håkon and we did a concert withWhite Willow in Asker and a couple of gigs in Skien and Porsgrunn beforerecording a 17 minute demo called “Ode on Dawn”. We had an idea that we wouldbe able to do this on a full-time basis and went on a band tour to London tostrengthen bonds over this new commitment. It all turned pear shaped when itwas discovered that we didn’t all share the same definition of the phrasefull-time. The band split up on the bus on the way back from the airport,Andreas and Henrik continued with Father Robin and me and Krizla went back ouruniversity studies. Who knows what we could have accomplished had we only keptpushing forward. Father Robin has yet to release any of their material but arestill recording from time to time, forever postponing the release date of theirnow four LP box set. It will be a marvel to behold when it is finally done. Inthe meantime, Andreas is with Wobbler and me and Krizla are doing Tusmørkeagain, after playing with outfits as varied and unique as Momrakattakk, theFew, Lydia Laska, the Mornings and the Mockery of Life.

As faras we were concerned, we pretty much made up our own scene back in theSkien-era. We were perhaps looking more for differences than similarities in thosedays, and felt alienated by the Oslo-crowd who embraced the neo-prog that wecouldn’t stand. Håkon Andersen, the original Tusmørke drummer, is the nephew ofJørn Andersen who ran the Colours label, responsible for issuing the firstalbums by Änlagård and Anekdoten.  Heshowed us what was what, warning against black metal and telling us that musiccan’t be based entirely on hatred (it can) and told us why Flash was reallysuperior to Yes (it isn’t). Still, we believed everything he told us andlistened to loads of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Høst, Yes, Gentle Giant, BevisFrond, Ethereal Counterbalance, Omnia Opera, Genesis, Univers Zero, Yezda Urfa,Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Cream and Black Widow. As far as aNorwegian prog secene went, we had our fanzine, Old Man Willow, and our bookcafé, Lunarium, in Skien while in Oslo there was the godawful Prognetikmagazine and the excellent Tarkus fanzine. When we became aware of prog nightsin Oslo at a place called Månefisken, ten years later, the same people werestill active! That is where we met HlewagastiR and Lars Fredrik Frøislie ofWobbler, as well. While the earlier versions of Tusmørke were marked by beingfriends first and band mates second, the current lineup, which is the seventhincarnation of the band, is based first and foremost on musical merit, ropingin musicians to serve a particular purpose. The sixth incarnation was in 2009and featured Svenno on percussion and Reggie (also of Father Robin) onkeyboards. They were gradually replaced and finally Deadly Nightshade joined in2011 so that the seventh manifestation of Tusmørke could plague the earth.

Each of you are involved inother bands in the Norwegian progressive scene- Wobbler put out a record lastyear that I really loved! How do you balance your responsibilities between thedifferent bands? What makes Tusmørke different from these other bands?

Werehearse less often, for a start. Usually, we meet up once a week, and if wehave new material to work on, maybe we put in a day or two of extra work. Apartfrom this, we rehearse individually. HlewagastiR is a human dynamo, able to flyin straight from a gig with Wobbler in Germany, go to work at Teknisk Museum,meet at rehearsal with Tusmørke the same night and play a concert the followingday. His energy is extraordinary. We are all friends with the Wobbler lot andeven share the same rehearsal space. There is a strong feeling of mutualsupport. What separates Tusmørke from other projects like Wobbler is that weare willing to go on stage and present new material that’s barely rehearsed andjust rely on improvisation to save the day. Inspiration, spur of the moment andsheer intensity are usually our saving graces. (I nearly wrote insanity there,but I didn’t.  Oh, wait, I did.)

“Underjordisk Tusmørke” is thename of your new album, and a great album it is! I think it really manages tocapture the vintage warmth of the classic progressive rock very well. What isthe story behind this album? What went into making it a reality?

MeetingHlawagastiR and Lars Fredrik Frøislie through Andreas Strømman WettergrenPrestmo and hanging out at Månefisken discussing the inflated price of thereissue of Museo Rosenbach’s Zarathustra made the recording possible, really.Tusmørke had reformed in 2009 as a trio with me on bass and vocals, my twinbrother Krizla on flute and vocals and Svenno on percussion. Around this time,I had just quit wasting time as the bassist in punk band Lydia Laska andstarted rehearsing my own compositions as The Mockery of Life with an assortedband of local Oslo freaks, including songs composed to win over my wife-to-beNadia. I recorded a cassette of songs telling her of my feelings for her, whicheventually resulted in a wedding on the Nile in Cairo with Andreas as my bestman in 2010. In 2009 it hit me that the natural thing to do after quittingLydia Laska would be to revive Tusmørke, which had  lain dormant for a decade, to rehearse songsof wonder and magic and enchantment. The inspiration for this came mainly from listeningto the early albums of Current 93, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. Itinstilled a feeling that everything is allowed in music and that you don’t needto follow rules. I especially wanted to break the rule that you need a guitaristin the band. Soon the trio was bolstered by Reggie on keyboards. Svenno and Reggiequit after a string of concerts, to be replaced by HlawagastiR whom we had metat prog nights at Månefisken in Oslo, and Deadly Nightshade, a fellow spacecadet from jam sessions in the attic of Hersleb skole, a local school in thecentre of Oslo. We had rehearsed loads of material with Svenno and Reggie inthe living room of my flat in a derelict apartment house in Oslo, so when thetwo new members joined and we had rented a proper rehearsal space we chose themost suitable of these tracks for recording the debut album. We laid down thebasic tracks with Lars in the basement den of the farm of the Frøislie family andrecorded the rest in his apartment in Tøyen, Oslo.

The album artwork for this albumis pretty strange, is it meant to represent or convey anything in particular?

It’smeant to convey the eeriness of the underworld of the subterraneans, a fixtureof Norwegian folklore. The art was made by Camilla Kloster a long time ago; herart was brought to our attention by Sverre of Fresh Tea, who issued our firstsingle. We chose the artwork because it features the kind of beings you mightencounter in dreams of elves and also the passage to the beyond, a gatewaybetween light and darkness, an aperture of pleasure and ecstasy and yet theentrance to the mundane world.

The lyrics on the album fit themusic very well- “The Quintessence of Elements” for example deals with conceptsof alchemy. What inspired these lyrics? Are there any topics of interest youmight recommend myself and other proggers looking into?

Withregards to “the Quintessence of Elements”, I’ll let by brother Krizla answerfor himself:

“The lyrics are inspired by the concept of the philosophers'stone, in
traditional alchemy usually presented as a substance or artefact that
enables the magus to transmute base metals into gold. The stone of the
philosophers is also used to discover the fifth essence in nature, the
higher reality beyond the mundane existence constituted by the four
elements of fire, earth, water, and air. The stone, of course, is
really a mystical metaphor for a certain knowledge or insight through
which transformations in the world can be brought about. It may also
stand as a metaphor for the attainment of knowledge about the true
meaning of the world and existence. However, most occult writers tend
to emphasise the material aspects of the quintessence of elements:
there is no end to recipes and methods described to attain this
so-called stone, typically including the boiling of mercury under the
full moon whilst chewing on a toad. Rest assured, this is a smoke
screen for non-initiates, comparable to the methods by which financial
experts turn nature and work into numerical gold through the holy
rites of the stock market. The result will always be false, and
potentially very harmful to the would-be initiate! Now, the lyrics of
The Quintessence of Elements are rather personal, and are informed by
the results of certain mystic and unholy rituals that do reveal the
truth concerning the philosophers' stone and the attainment of the
fifth essence of the four elements. This knowledge is hidden somewhere
on the album Underjordisk Tusmørke and can be found by those who seek!
For those proggers interested in the topic of alchemy, Aleister
Crowley and his Magick in Theory and Practice is a good place to
start, together with Eliphas Levi's Transcendental Magic. However,
these schools of ritual magick are based in masonic and theistic
traditions that I don't really care for. I'm more interested in
rituals based in learning sorcery directly, through experiences in the
magick of nature and through musical improvisation. The fifth essence
that unites the four elements is very close, there is no need for high
priests or self-professed revelators.”

As formyself I am interested in reading about Egyptian and Ancient Norse mythology aswell as studying various texts concerning the years of migration in Europearound 300-700 AD. The International Bronze age is a favourite topic, as wellas books on Nordic petroglyphs. There are some really nice petroglyphs from theNordic Bronze Age close to where my identical twin brother and I grew up; apicture of the petroglyphs is featured on the tray of the CD version ofUnderjordisk Tusmørke.  I enjoy reading Goethe’sFaust and Milton’s Paradise Lost, the poetry of Coleridge, Rimbaud, Keats andBaudelaire, the plays of Shakespeare and Ibsen,  and of course the Bible and the Quran. Forspiritual enlightenment I thoroughly recommend contemplating the texts of Plotin.As for inspiration, no amount of reading can match a nice stroll in thecountryside, bird watching and ruin spotting.

On my promo of “UnderjordiskTusmørke”, there are three ‘bonus’ tracks, with “Ode on Dawn” treading intofull-fledged prog epic territory. What kept these songs off of the ‘real’album; why were they kept as bonuses?

Thefirst two bonus tracks were issued as a 7” vinyl single in 200 copies by FreshTea in 2011, the final track is the only proper recording ever made by Tusmørke’spredecessor Les Fleurs du Mal, in 1997. We wanted the CD to be like the crammedreissues of the 90s were every available minute was filled with music. This isa result of our sense of humour, which arguably is perverse.

I would argue that there are twomajor schools of progressive rock at this point- one that tries to merge theprogressive spirit with contemporary rock, and the other that stays true to thevintage sound. Tusmørke are most certainly adherents to the latter style. Doyou think this ‘vintage’ sound of progressive rock is as relevant today as itwas in the 1970’s?

We donot care much for the modern age. We neither strive for commercial success nor formaking our music palatable to the jaded masses. Relevance is certainly relativeto the listener; to some we are utterly pointless, to others we are spot on.

What’s the scene like locally inNorway for progressive rock? Undoubtedly, Scandinavia has taken on a greatsignificance in the revival of progressive rock…

Thereis no scene as such, just a hell of lot of lone wolves, ha ha! I think a lot ofmusicians in Oslo are open minded, there is a sense of community in a wayregardless of genre, there is a lot going on, people hang out in bars, meet atconcerts and so on. We are not concerned with limiting ourselves to being aprogressive rock band, labels like “prog” and “retro” are more damaging thananything, I find, since they tend to exclude rather than invite would-belisteners; we are a psychedelic folk band intent on blowing minds and movingfeet. We are not about reviving anything, but rather express our romanticyearning in a musical form that makes your imagination and body move. Thegroove is in the Heart of Darkness and Tusmørke draws breath in time with itspulse, beating out the rhythm to stirr the air inside your ear and make youdance.

What advice would you give toyoung and uninitiated progressive musicians, looking to start a band or gettheir music heard in today’s world?

Practicea lot and make good songs, grow old but don’t grow up.

Favourite beers?

Various Belgian Trappist beers, Norwegian Haandbryggeriet’sDark Force and Dobbel Dose, Guiness and Newcastle Brown Ale.

Favourite cheeseburgers?

Anythingwith bacon and  Blue Castello.

What have you been listening tolately?

SkogenBrinner, The Folklords, Hexvessel, Arktau Eos, Alice Coltrane, Neu!, Fairuz, Deathin June and while writing this interview, the mighty Omar Khorshid, Egyptianking of electric guitar.

Are there possible tours in thefuture for Tusmørke? Come to Vancouver- we haven’t had vintage prog rock aroundthese parts in quite a while!

We’dlove to go to Vancouver, book us and we’ll come!

Any last words for theprogressive community at large?

Destroythat which destroys you.

Cheers, and Slainte from Canada!Conor Fynes

Cheersand skål from Norway! Benediktator

First hearing of this band through its symbiotic relationship with progressive forerunners Haken, To-Mera brings its own, uniquely dark approach to progressive metal, a genre I have long felt was in need of a good kick to the yarbles. Though To-Mera adhere to some of the more familiar traits of prog metal, they have a uniquely avant-garde leaning that makes their music more atmospheric and challenging that one may first expect. With a vast concept album recently released, I had some questions about the band, the music, and life in general. Band mastermind Tom McLean was kind enough to take some time to answer them!

Where did you get your name from? From what I know, it has an origin in the history of Egypt…

Julie gave the band its name. Every time I explain this it comes out a bit different, as the true origin of the band's name is lost to the mists of time, but from what I recall, the ancient Egyptians used the word 'To-Mera" (or some phonetic equivalent) to name their homeland, on account of the fact that the name apparently had a deeper meaning, encompassing magical and scientific elements. And so To-Mera was conceived as a band that would create "technical" (scientific") yet also "magical" music.

How might you describe yourselves quickly to listeners who have not heard To-Mera before?

Dark, emotive, occasionally challenging music.

How did you form as a band? Any uncanny stories behind how To-Mera became a musical unit?

When Julie left her previous band, Without Face, she returned to Hungary and attempted to form a new progressive metal band with friends back there. But it wasn't working out, so she returned to England, where she joined forces with Lee Barrett (original bassist who also ran Elitist Records, which signed Without Face) to go about forming this band. I believe they went through a handful of guitarists before I bumped into them at a train station in London (recognising Julie because I was a fan of Without Face). But at that time it didn't occur to me to offer my services as a guitarist, as I was under the assumption that their new band was already in motion. In fact it was until I ran into them again a few months later at a Dillinger Escape Plan gig (where I wouldn't even have been had a friend of mine not won some backstage passes from Kerrang at the last moment) that I learned they no longer had a guitarist. The rest is history.

To-Mera have often been described as a band that fuses genres and styles effortlessly. Is there a clear intention in you to take different styles and fuse them as such, or does this happen as a result of natural musical expression?

Perhaps at the beginning there was a clear intention to "mix things up a bit". As the core trio, Julie, Lee and I were all into the avant-garde side of metal, so we wanted to incorporate that into our music. Perhaps an early inspiration was a band called Ephel Duath (whom Lee also had signed to his label for a time) who were attempting the fusion of jazz and metal. I liked the attitude, and I suppose we were attempting to go down a similar route at first, but trying to make things a bit more melodic.

But after Transcendental it became natural for us to indulge in whatever we felt like at any one time. There were never any boundaries set as to what could and couldn't go into one of our songs.

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To-Mera is not the only band you are engaged with presently; in fact, it seems like To-Mera is the meeting point for some very busy musicians with the tendency to be in multiple bands at once.  Especially considering the sister project Haken has been quite prolific in of itself, how do you balance the responsibilities between this and other bands?

That's a fair question, but in fact I feel everything reaches its natural equilibrium in time, and it's not worth fighting it. Some bands will be busier than others at different times depending on where they are in the recording/ promotion/ touring cycle. We've always been respectful of each others' projects so it hasn't caused too much friction. That said, when To-Mera released "Earthbound" in 2009, we'd already decided to take a little breather as we'd found ourselves between a rock and a hard place, having effectively eschewed the industry that had built us up and, to an extent, knocked us back down again. Meanwhile, Haken was just emerging onto the scene, so it made sense to nurture that band for a while whilst To-Mera licked its wounds and recovered enough to work out how to proceed. I'd say my involvement in Haken almost certainly rekindled my enthusiasm to do another full length with To-Mera, so we feed off each other's energies I suppose.

On that note, To-Mera is often compared to Haken, due in large part to the fact that you share two members, and that you’re both at the forefront of the progressive metal revival. Do you think these comparisons are fair, or would you prefer To-Mera be seen as a wholly separate entity?

Richard and I are two sides of the same coin I think. Yin and Yang. I suppose we came to work together because we are both very passionate about pushing the limits of musical expression, and to an extent we both depend on each other to push and challenge the other. But I think it's probably fair to say that To-Mera is the dark to Haken's light. To-Mera has always been centred in the darker side of metal, whilst Haken has been more closely oriented to flamboyant classic progressive rock. One band deals with the darker side of human experience, the other more in uplifting fantasy. So they complement each other in that respect.

That said, it wasn't until after To-Mera's second album 'Delusions', that we joined forces as musicians, so if the bands had any similarity before that point, it was purely coincidental.

Vocals are often seen as a hit-or-miss point in progressive metal, but the vocal work in To-Mera matches the par of the rest of the band, offering melodies more challenging than what one would normally expect from a melodic singer. How are these vocal melodies written; is it done after the instrumentation is complete?

In the early days, certainly on much of Transcendental, much of the music was written to match the vocal melodies, but the dynamic gradually shifted in favour of writing melodies around the music. I've always found Julie to have an unconventional approach to melodic writing which, while some people find challenging, I've found to be a breath of fresh air. She's perhaps more of an intuitive writer than the rest of us, who are all music school nerds.

What is the experience of playing a live show like? What can audiences expect from To-Mera in the live setting?

We'd often joke that our audiences could expect amps to malfunction, microphones to feedback, keyboard power supplies to fail and strings to break, but I guess that would be focussing on the negative side of things! :)  I think controlled chaos is a good way to describe it! :)

I’ve just spent the past week listening intently to your latest record, “Exile”- a really excellent album! How does it feel to have this album finally out to breathe in the world?

I'm glad you enjoy it! Creating this album really was a marathon. After I'd had my year away from music (2009-2010), I really had the itch to do another album with this band, but after the positive response Haken was receiving with "Aquarius", I realised how To-Mera had been going about the album production process in a grossly inefficient and compromising way. What we'd done up till then had been to record everything in recording studios, paying considerable amounts to sound engineers with limited time. As a result we always felt the time and monetary constraints always got in the way of obtaining the optimal outcomes on record. The way we recorded both "Aquarius" and "Visions" with Haken was totally different. Everything was recorded on our home computers, meaning we had the luxury of both time and money (in that it cost us nothing) to be as thorough as we wanted to when recording our parts. The end products are pretty immaculate in my opinion. So it was time to take this experience to making a To-Mera album. It took a LONG time to record everybody's parts and bring the whole thing together, but at last we can say we have an album where we did things our way! So in answer to your question, it is a HUGE RELIEF to finally have "Exile" out there. :)

What was the writing process behind this album? Did you have an idea for the album in mind before you sat down to write?

You're onto something there. We knew that we had a lot of frustrating experiences from our time together as a band up till that point to draw upon. Some personal, some professional, but ultimately we'd all had more than our fair share of unhappy situations to deal with as a unit, and really we wanted to make an album that celebrated the power of the music that brought us together in the first place, but also represented an act of defiance to any negative forces, be they internal (i.e. negative emotions) or external (i.e. state of the music industry, life in general), that threatened our right to exist as a creative entity. This led to the formation of the concept behind "Exile", which we shall deal with below ......

The first thing that really struck me about “Exile” was its concept, which I find really interesting. Unlike most concept albums- which seem to go the narrative route- “Exile” seems to approach concepts by employing abstraction and allegory. What can you say about this concept; do you think it plays a vital role to the album as a whole?

If I may say so, I've always felt Julie was a master of allegory. She buries herself in phiilosophy and self-help books, and has wisdom, be it direct or indirect, beyond many people of her years. In essence, the concept is loosely about a protagonist having undergone a traumatic experience, then trying to eradicate everything from her life that holds any associations to it, but then realising that by doing so she is deconstructing the essence of herself, and ultimately finds that it is better to accept all the pain and imperfections of her life than live in denial of it.

The concept was the very impetus behind writing the album in the first place. The music was very much written to fit the various moods and emotions of the story. 

The question I ask every artist- what advice would you give to other musicians, particularly those who have not yet been noticed, or are still in the process of learning music?

To those who have not been noticed, I have one very important lesson from my own experience. It is far better to live with a creation that brings you total pleasure that few take notice of, than live with one that you are ashamed of that everyone knows about! Lasting success can only be attained in small steps. There are no shortcuts to building a strong house.

In terms of learning music - the process never ends. There is always more to learn. But make sure you're enjoying it.

Any tips for recording or songwriting?

For recording, learn to do it yourself as soon as you get the opportunity! The more you come to rely on others doing the job for you, the less power you will have over your vision.

Regarding songwriting, everyone has to find a method that works for them. If we all wrote music the same way, no-one would want to listen to anyone else's music!

Any favourite beers?

Hmmm .... I haven't been drinking much beer recently, but the last one I enjoyed was called "Poachers" by the Badger Brewery in Dorset, England. Has a liquorice flavour. Might be a bit sweet for my tastes now.

Favourite cheeseburgers?

As long as it's not from a fast-food outlet, I'm happy.

What have you been listening to lately? Any favourite albums of 2012?

Funnily enough the album I've been listening to most recently came out in 2010, but I only got it a couple of months ago: - "We're Here Because We're Here" - Anathema. Beautiful album. Other than that, I think the only release of this year that got me really excited was "Radio Music Society" by Esperanza Spalding. Instant classic! "Rise of the Fenix" by Tenacious D was good fun as well.

What lies in your future? Touring Europe, perhaps?

The band's future is as certain or uncertain as any others. We're still assessing the general response to "Exile" before we make any appropriate plans.

Final words?

To anyone who has shown any interest in the creative efforts of this band, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving a deluded composer "un raison d'etre".

Cheers from Vancouver! Best of luck on future albums, I’m looking forward to hearing what you’ll do next!

Thanks Conor! Best of luck to you too!

To-Mera's PA Profile may be found here.