Pravda

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Pravda is a quartet of highly experienced musicians based in Idaho, USA. KC Thomsen (keyboards), Dave Thomas (drums, percussion), Chris Holman (guitars) and Tom Svanoe (bass) all had many years of playing experience prior to establishing this outfit, which they try to incorporate into the musical expression of their new band.
I got in touch with the band for their story so far.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your biography has been
covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass this and go
straight to the albums.  
Please
give me your (long or brief) thoughts and lowdowns on.......

The Echoing Sounds from 2003
From Dave Thomas, Drummer: First
album we did as Pravda. We thought it was a pretty good concept with
all the stuff happening in the world. Fairly strong musically and
lyrically.  Would like to revisit the whole project with
different vocals and producing techniques now that we've more
producing and mixing experience under our belts.

From KC Thomsen,
Keyboardist: Concept CD of how war ravishes the person as much if not
more than a country or area. The psychological effects of war upon a
native girl, a priest and the foreign solider are told through the
lyrics and the music. Still sells strong after 9 years. 

Walking Through Walls from
2006

From Dave Thomas:  Personally,
my favorite album we have done so far.  Very much a prog rock
album, which is what we strive for. Decent songwriting and was much
more fun to record.  We started messing around with more
different time signatures and such on this disc which, for me made it
much more interesting.

From KC Thomsen: Our first real try at intricate Prog. I love it.
Much better sound quality than The Echoing Sounds. All the songs
still have a "feel" about them that, to me, show off the
thrill of writing and producing this CD.

Monophobic from 2009

From Dave: Third album, third
guitar player.  It seems every time we finish a disc we lose a
guitar player.  I liked this album but personally hated the
recording process we did for it.  I would have liked to have
spendt a little more time on the actual recording for it. 
Monophobic could have been a lot better than it was in my opinion. 
All the material from it sounds phenomenal when we play it live
though.

From KC: Great song writing, but lacked in the
production. We got a little too detached from this CD's recording
process.  Live this CDs songs are solid.

How is the
writing and the creative process in your band ?

From KC:
 It's a mixed bag really.  Sometime there are full songs
presented to the band by one of the members.  Then we
collectively tweek the songs to be even better: the form, keys, time
signature changes, sounds, etc. until we get the song to sound
right to us as a band.  Sometimes, someone just brings in a riff
or two then we piece it together and jam on it until something sparks
in the playing. Then we know we have something useful and special.

Most of the song writing is done by myself and Dave. The guitarist
usually contributes  a song or two per CD.  But the core
Pravda personnel, KC & Dave do most of the writing...so far. Our
new guitarist, John Redfield has many great ideas and riffs.  So
his influence will be heard on the next CD, which we are writing now.

Just to give those of us who
are unknown with your band a bit of a reference point or two: How
would you describe your music and which bands would you would compare
your music with ?

From KC: We describe our music as
Progressive rock with influences in Fusion, Heavy Metal, Jazz,
Classical and Experimental music.  I am a trained composer, so I
like to put in everything I can into our music.  

Our influences are: Dream
Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree,
Rush, Tool, The Who, ELP, Pink Floyd, Jazz, Classical.........

Why did you choose the Russian
word for Truth as your band name ?

From KC:  We were having a
hard time finding a band name we liked that wasn't taken.  I
took a year of Russian in college and I posed a few Russian words.
 Pravda struck us as cool and meaningful so we took it. We had forgotten or didn't care that it was the old Russian newspaper's
name.

The Russian newspaper with the
same name has during the last decade gone through a transformation
from being slightly accurate to printing every kind of loony
conspiracy theories. For example that those who read ProgArchives
every day lengthens their life span with 25 % and that the
ProgArchives staff are the masters of the universe. What is your
views on this newspaper and this sorry development ?

From
KC: I love conspiracy theories!  So to quote the movie Men in
Black (MIB) " the best investigative reporting on the planet in
done by tabloids, son."  I do think that anyone who listens
to and reads articles from ProgArchives WILL live much longer than most people.
 Plus, it automatically increases their IQ by 10 points.

What is your experience with
the music industry ?  

From KC:  We all have been involved in one way or another in
music for quite a few years.  Most of us have earned our living
from music at some point in time: Professional Composer,  Music
Teacher, Professional Drummer or Bassist at one time or another.  We
all have played in bands for years. We've toured locally and
regionally, written jingles and soundtracks.  So we all have had
our hands in music for many years.  Dave & I run Sonus West
Records, which we produce ours and some friends bands CDs. 

What is your plans for the
rest of this year and next year ?

From KC:  We are writing our
new CD.  This one has vocals, thanks to of our guitarist John.
We hope to have it out in about a year.  We have a few shows
lined up in OCT.  For 2011?  We are hoping to play a Prog
Festival.  Sell CDs and tour a bit more. Basically invade
and take over the prog wold!

Anything you want to add to
this interview ?  

Support local and
new music, especially Progressive.  Good bands need a chance to
become great.  Support your local music scene, buy their CDs,
see a show. That is the only way new bands survive to become great
bands,

is by local
support for new music.

Thank you for the
interview.  We appreciate the press and the chance to share our
music with you and your listeners.  Peace.

Thank you to Pravda for this interview

Their PA profile is here, their homepage is here and the Russian online newspaper is here

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toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Topic: Pravda Posted: September 03 2010 at 09:34
	Pravda is a quartet of highly experienced musicians based in Idaho, USA. KC Thomsen (keyboards), Dave Thomas (drums, percussion), Chris Holman (guitars) and Tom Svanoe (bass) all had many years of playing experience prior to establishing this outfit, which they try to incorporate into the musical expression of their new band. I got in touch with the band for their story so far. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's bypass this and go straight to the albums. Please give me your (long or brief) thoughts and lowdowns on....... The Echoing Sounds from 2003 From Dave Thomas, Drummer: First album we did as Pravda. We thought it was a pretty good concept with all the stuff happening in the world. Fairly strong musically and lyrically. Would like to revisit the whole project with different vocals and producing techniques now that we've more producing and mixing experience under our belts. From KC Thomsen, Keyboardist: Concept CD of how war ravishes the person as much if not more than a country or area. The psychological effects of war upon a native girl, a priest and the foreign solider are told through the lyrics and the music. Still sells strong after 9 years. Walking Through Walls from 2006 From Dave Thomas: Personally, my favorite album we have done so far. Very much a prog rock album, which is what we strive for. Decent songwriting and was much more fun to record. We started messing around with more different time signatures and such on this disc which, for me made it much more interesting. From KC Thomsen: Our first real try at intricate Prog. I love it. Much better sound quality than The Echoing Sounds. All the songs still have a "feel" about them that, to me, show off the thrill of writing and producing this CD. Monophobic from 2009 From Dave: Third album, third guitar player. It seems every time we finish a disc we lose a guitar player. I liked this album but personally hated the recording process we did for it. I would have liked to have spendt a little more time on the actual recording for it. Monophobic could have been a lot better than it was in my opinion. All the material from it sounds phenomenal when we play it live though. From KC: Great song writing, but lacked in the production. We got a little too detached from this CD's recording process. Live this CDs songs are solid. How is the writing and the creative process in your band ? From KC: It's a mixed bag really. Sometime there are full songs presented to the band by one of the members. Then we collectively tweek the songs to be even better: the form, keys, time signature changes, sounds, etc. until we get the song to sound right to us as a band. Sometimes, someone just brings in a riff or two then we piece it together and jam on it until something sparks in the playing. Then we know we have something useful and special. Most of the song writing is done by myself and Dave. The guitarist usually contributes a song or two per CD. But the core Pravda personnel, KC & Dave do most of the writing...so far. Our new guitarist, John Redfield has many great ideas and riffs. So his influence will be heard on the next CD, which we are writing now. Just to give those of us who are unknown with your band a bit of a reference point or two: How would you describe your music and which bands would you would compare your music with ? From KC: We describe our music as Progressive rock with influences in Fusion, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Classical and Experimental music. I am a trained composer, so I like to put in everything I can into our music. Our influences are: Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Spock's Beard, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Tool, The Who, ELP, Pink Floyd, Jazz, Classical......... Why did you choose the Russian word for Truth as your band name ? From KC: We were having a hard time finding a band name we liked that wasn't taken. I took a year of Russian in college and I posed a few Russian words. Pravda struck us as cool and meaningful so we took it. We had forgotten or didn't care that it was the old Russian newspaper's name. The Russian newspaper with the same name has during the last decade gone through a transformation from being slightly accurate to printing every kind of loony conspiracy theories. For example that those who read ProgArchives every day lengthens their life span with 25 % and that the ProgArchives staff are the masters of the universe. What is your views on this newspaper and this sorry development ? From KC: I love conspiracy theories! So to quote the movie Men in Black (MIB) " the best investigative reporting on the planet in done by tabloids, son." I do think that anyone who listens to and reads articles from ProgArchives WILL live much longer than most people. Plus, it automatically increases their IQ by 10 points. What is your experience with the music industry ? From KC: We all have been involved in one way or another in music for quite a few years. Most of us have earned our living from music at some point in time: Professional Composer, Music Teacher, Professional Drummer or Bassist at one time or another. We all have played in bands for years. We've toured locally and regionally, written jingles and soundtracks. So we all have had our hands in music for many years. Dave & I run Sonus West Records, which we produce ours and some friends bands CDs. What is your plans for the rest of this year and next year ? From KC: We are writing our new CD. This one has vocals, thanks to of our guitarist John. We hope to have it out in about a year. We have a few shows lined up in OCT. For 2011? We are hoping to play a Prog Festival. Sell CDs and tour a bit more. Basically invade and take over the prog wold! Anything you want to add to this interview ? Support local and new music, especially Progressive. Good bands need a chance to become great. Support your local music scene, buy their CDs, see a show. That is the only way new bands survive to become great bands, is by local support for new music. Thank you for the interview. We appreciate the press and the chance to share our music with you and your listeners. Peace. Thank you to Pravda for this interview Their PA profile is here, their homepage is here and the Russian online newspaper is here