Music is like the biggest ocean of the Earth. With billions of colours, billions of lives, and water drops. So complicated, sometimes dark, sometimes wavy. Sometimes warn and in a moment cold enough. There are treasures hidden in these waters. Sound Struggle is one of those. As the band’s name suggest, they have struggled with their sound to bring it to the level where it is now. And now is their second studio release titled “Rise.”
Sound of funk stuck inside djent, progressive metal; brutal vocals matched perfectly with cleans; sometimes calm as a jazz song, sometimes more aggressive — there is a lot of struggle in here. That is the only logic explanation of this Boston based band.
From the first moment of the album until its last breathe, there is absolutely something that will keep you excited. From progressive rock to djent to jazz to metal, “Rise” has plenty of diverse elements signed by the band. One of the most interesting things about the music of Sound Struggle is that the saxophone is featured full-time. They continuously throw in plenty of different elements such as swinging jazz walks, funk grooves, and progressive metal intricacy. Although this sounds incompatible ‘Rise’ is a very accessible release with a steady pulse. There is plenty of inventive and ambitious material displayed here. Starting from the opening “Strongth” to the heavy jazz metal of “Rotating Door” and “Tempest.” My favourite tracks, though, are the classic jazz inspired title song and the insanely dense “Close Your Eyes.”
All in all, “Rise” is another mind-blowing experimentation from one of the funniest, innovative, and most technically accomplished bands out there.
“Rise” is available now from Bandcamp. Sound Struggle is a band you want to follow on Facebook.
Will Hack recently released a video single for “The Change in Me,” which features guitarist and producer Tony Lowe (Robert Fripp, David Cross, Flying Colors, etc.). About the single and his plans for the future, Will was kind to talk with us in the interview below.
Alright, first things first. Before we dive into all the music stuff, how’s life?
Life is very good, thank you. I am very excited with what music has to offer and in return for what I can offer to the lives of people in the world through my music. I have the joy of supporting children through my support work and teaching career but also in my music career, I aim to help others. I would like to help people to enjoy life; to feel empathy, even if just for a little over five minutes! Music is there with us on the journey of life; it can be a very good friend, and will allow us to feel alive. I hold this mission when creating music. Each song I create aims to tell a story, but also lets the audience create their very own emotional response, so two people may experience the music in different ways. So, thank you for asking; life is good and music is definitely a big part of it. I am enjoying writing songs, rehearsing on my drum kit, piano and working on vocals. I have also enjoyed the challenge of being involved with the video production for my new single too. I enjoy learning new skills!
Speaking of new music, you recently released a new single. Are you satisfied with the reception you received for “The Change in Me” so far?
I have been overwhelmed with the reception from ‘The Change in Me’. Thousands of views of the music video in a couple of weeks and so many people across the world have shared it via social media and expressed kind, supportive comments in different languages. I have made new fans across the world from Brazil to Spain and a number of other countries, and these great people are actively showing support, which is so valuable to me. It is with the support from family, friends and fans across the world that makes it all possible. And it doesn’t look as though the warm reception for ‘The Change in Me’ is slowing down- each day my inbox is flooded with lovely comments from my followers. I want to thank everyone so much for this support. And, I want to express my gratitude towards the producer and featured artist, Tony Lowe, for their involvement in the music, and to Sunn Creative for their involvement with the video.
What is “The Change in Me” about?
‘The Change in Me’ is a story of emotion; one of personal experience of change in my own life, and a way of expressing the journey that I felt I was on at the time of writing it, and that I expected to always be on. It is all about the importance of immersing oneself into the darker and sadder tones in ones thoughts, because unless you do this you cannot truly find happiness and the correct path you are meant to be on. A bit like a way of dealing with experiences in life; letting the mind unwind and process what has happened (not dissimilar to how we dream and re-programme ourselves ready for the challenges of the next new day). ‘The Change in Me’ therefore is really a very positive song. Although it has some rather dark lyrical themes the overarching message and integral mission of the track is that we should somehow come to terms with what has happened, to try and move on and to enjoy learning in life. Hopefully this ties in with my comment about wanting my music to help others as the track aims to act as a form of support and example of empathy.
Are there any touring plans?
At the moment I am promoting my single and continuing to work on various areas of my music career. I would welcome the opportunity for a tour and concert dates in the future but at the moment I have been taking some time to focus on giving this single the attention I would like to offer it. I would be very interested to work towards live shows in the near future as a solo artist but also as a musician working with other artists too.
While we’re on the subject of touring, what countries would you love to tour?
I would love the opportunity to tour countries I have yet to visit before. It would be amazing to tour in the countries that have supported my music. For now though, I am happy to have my feet on the ground and to be promoting my music in other ways. Although, playing concerts are simply amazing experiences.
Who and what inspires you the most?
My inspiration comes from my passion for music. I love the positive feeling that I get while drumming to my heart’s content, or while playing a passionate melody on the piano, or while belting out a powerful vocal effort in my singing. The great feelings that I get from such musical activities give me my drive to create pieces of musical works to share with others. Also, it is the support from family, friends and followers/ audience members who make it all possible. The warm support from everyone since the start of my musical life as a young child has inspired me to learn, practise for hours most days for 25 years, yearn to mature musically, and to develop as a musician. This is always with the central idea that I want to help others; that others may enjoy the experience I can offer either in a live show, sonically and or through video.
What other genres of music do you listen to? Have any of the other genres you listen to had any impact on your playing?
I think that the genres of music that have inspired me have depended on what I have been doing at the time. As a drummer I have been inspired by certain heavier rock bands and progressive rock artists, as a pianist and composer I have been inspired by genres from pop to classical to film scores to rock, and as a vocalist and music listener I have been inspired by more genres than I can think of! I am one of those sorts of musicians whom cannot easily answer that question, because such a wide variety of genres, bands and musical works have inspired me towards my own ‘style’. In short, if the music stimulates a sense of power, energy and emotion then I probably would love to hear it, and may then want to learn from it too. I enjoy the challenge to creatively entwine various genres, so that I may build a colourful mix and a rich sound scape for my own music.
I really appreciate you giving us your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us and the fans before we wrap things up?
Just that I am grateful for the opportunity for this interview and I hope my followers will like learning more about the journey of my music. Together, let’s inspire the music and hearts of tomorrow!
“The Change in Me” is available from Will Hack’s Bandcamp. You can follow Will on Facebook here.
Deep Stare is a progressive metal trio from Prague, and they released their debut EP titled “Triplet” recently. Guitarist and composer Michal Popelar introduces us to the work of this great instrumental band.
Thank you for having time to answer some questions. First of all, introduce us the band Deep Stare. What does the band name refer to?
Deep Stare is an instrumental progressive rock/metal band and it was founded in September 2013. But we know each other much longer from previous musical activities. The band members are: Michal Popelář – guitar, Tomáš Monok – bass guitar and Luboš Pavlík – drums. Our work is strictly auctorial and you can find components of many musical genres.
The name refer to way, how we feel things. Whether it is a music or everything that happens in our lifes. It is important to go deep and not to judge things superficially. The superficiality made us lose „deeper“ knowledge of the essence of the matter.
Would you mind telling us about your musical background, as well as education?
Each of us has different musical backround and education. Luboš studied drums at a conservatory, I was studying violin at an art school for 7 years and Tomáš didn’t attend any art school. However it doesn’t discourage us from playing that kind of music we play. Each of us tries to improve his individual skills of playing as well as playing in a band. Always is something to improve.
You recently released your debut EP titled “Triplet.” How was the creative process for it?
In the beggining there was a song „Eternal Sense,“that we composed during our period with vocals. This song had originally two parts. The first one was sung and it was kind of rock ballad, the second one was instrumental. After our decision to make a music instrumentally we kept only the second part and called it just „Eternal Sense.“ Then we decided, that it is the high time to make other material and record a CD. Then we composed a song „Words Of Wisdom“ and at last „Obsession“, which is played only instrumentaly without samples. We made an EP „Triplet“ from these three songs. As the title says, there are only three songs on the EP.
“Triplet” is very eclectic. What do you think I should describe Deep Stare as to my friends? The real question here is, what do you guys consider the music of Deep Stare to be?
We try to build our music to evoke some feelings, thoughts, moods, but also relax. It works the best at live shows. It is necessary to immerse into the deep and to not take it as several things put together. Every another song is trying to go deeper and deeper. We are on the beggining of our existence and we belive that some day we will be able to compose songs, which nobody will have to think about and listeners will be just dragged into the music.
This eclectic music must have a wide range of influences and inspiration. Would you guys mind enlightening us as to some of the influences you haven’t mentioned already?
We draw inspiration from many sources. Each of us listens different kind of music and we are not cut from the same cloth. We try to bring variety of styles and combinations into our work. For now we are a little bit conservative, but I belive, that we will free ourselfs of the borders and we will connect more music genres into one piece. Our big inspirations definitely are Dream Theater, Rush, Led Zepelin, Pink Floyd and many many others.
Can you think of some moments where musical homages have been included in Deep Stare’s tracks?
In our songs, we hope, are not used any parts of music, that have ever been composed before. We know, that parts of classical music from famous composers are used very often, but we haven’t used it yet and we are not planning to do it.
What’s the live experience with Deep Stare like? Any plans for a tour somewhere down the road?
We have played in several concerts and festivals in the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Hungary up to this day. We participated in international drum festival in the Czech Republic in 2014. It was great to meet musicians as Mike Terrana, Gavin Harrison etc. We have got many plans for tour, but we are still looking for someone, who would help us with it.
What have you been listening to recently? Also, would you tell us what your all-time favorite albums are?
There is so many bands and albums. Each of us listen to little bit different kind of music. It is not just progressive music, art rock or metal. There are also other genres. The music has nothing to do with rock or metal very often and still it sounds great to us.
What kind of advice would you impart to other musicians? Do you have any words of wisdom or inspiration for other artists trying to make their mark?
I’m not sure if it’s not too soon to pass on some experiences, but no matter how old are you, how long is your experience or how long you play, the most important thing is to do it by your heart. It must be honest. You have to belive in what you do. As well as he must like it.
Thank you again for agreeing to do this interview. I think I’m out of questions, so feel free to add anything you like.
Thank you for this interview.
Visit Deep Stare’s official website here, and follow the band on Facebook.
Through trial and error, through experimentation, through perseverance, Lanes Laire has come full circle to the core of his being… his musical roots. Originally from Los Angeles, Lanes started his musical career playing in various bands while still in high school, performing all over Hollywood and the famed Sunset Strip. However, he always stood out from the crowd musically, bringing a moody progressive edge to his songwriting. He was the “Peter Gabriel” to Genesis. And like Peter, he eventually moved on as a solo artist.
Earlier this year Lanes released an album titled “Resurrection of Black,” which features drummer Gregg Bissonette and his brother, bassist Matt Bissonette.
Read below what Lanes had to tell us about the record, his beginnings, and more.
Tell us more about your musical beginnings.
When I was 12 years old I found and old guitar stuffed away in our hallway closet. It was a Kay f-holed acoustic my dad’s dad gave to him when he was a kid but he never played. We took it to a local guitar shop to get it fixed up and I started teaching myself how to play guitar. The first song I taught myself was Day Tripper by The Beatles. Eventually I had formal training and studied contemporary and traditional jazz. I think I was 13 when I joined my first rock band and knew that’s what I wanted to do.
How did you go about forming this project?
When I began working on this album I tried out a few musicians but wasn’t finding the right combination. I was talking with my good friend Wally Minko, who’s a great session keyboardist and arranger about the project and he said “I’ll get you the right guys.” He hooked me up with drummer Gregg Bissonette and his brother, bassist Matt Bissonette. This was exactly what I was looking for. They provided a solid foundation and brought that musical intangible I needed to build upon.
Which bands or musicians influenced your works at the most?
I’m pretty eclectic when it comes to music but there are a few that have stood out. I grew up listening to The Beatles so they have always had an influence. When Gary Numan’s Replicas album came out, that really grabbed me. The moody rawness and synth heavy album was something I had not heard before. It was because of Numan I got into synths. Still a fan to this day. Pink Floyd is a huge influence. When I was first starting to write serious music I didn’t know much about Pink Floyd. Being the dumb naive kid that I was, when I heard them I thought, “damn, these guys sound just like me!” Of course they were the masters of their craft so I had a lot to learn. Jean-Luc Ponty was a huge influence. It was his music that exposed me to jazz fusion. I also got into Al Di Meola, early Genesis, ELP, and other progressive bands. But Numan, Pink Floyd and Ponty were the biggest influences.
Lets talk about your new studio album “Resurrection Of Black.” Describe its music and tell us about its sound.
The music is definitely moody but rockin’. Maybe moody crossover progressive is the best description. I wanted to create a soundscape with this album and make sure it flowed from beginning to end. I used sound effects and did guitar experimentation to create unique sounds throughout the album. I like utilizing drone bass notes as the foundation to set the mood. There’s a lot of Moog Taurus pedals on this album. Those original pedals have such a great sound. The songs themselves deal with topics ranging from the state of the world, corporate greed, to cliques and not being part of the “cool” crowd. It’s not necessarily a concept album but there is a common underlying theme.
How did the creative process of “Resurrection Of Black” go?
Resurrection Of Black actually has its roots going back when I was still in high school. Most of the songs were written back then. I performed these songs in various bands but never seriously recorded them. After putting them aside for a while, I decided it was time to bring these songs back and do them right. Though the songs themselves were already written, there still was plenty of room to mold and craft. I had the freedom to do what I wanted, which is great to not have restrictions on the creative process. The album came together fast and ideas for the songs just kept coming. I felt fortunate for such a smooth creative flow.
What was the hardest moment at the recording phase of the album?
Laying down intricate guitar parts were probably the hardest moments. Whether a technical riff or a soft string bend, it had to be perfect. I’m my toughest critic, as is the case with most artists so striving for perfection can be very frustrating. However, you do have to draw the line. So, there are imperfections on the album but that’s what makes it human…what makes it real.
Are you satisfied with where “Resurrection Of Black” landed?
Yes, I’m very satisfied. I feel I accomplished what I set out to do with Ressurection Of Black.
If you have to pick a song that in the best way describe your work, which tune would that be?
Two immediately come to mind – The World Around Us and Justifiable Condemnation. But if there had to be one definitive song, it would be The World Around Us. It pretty much encapsulates my style.
What does the future hold?
Great things, of course! Always thinking positive. I’m planning to do some live shows in 2016. I’m excited to take Resurrection Of Black on the road. Also, I already have songs put aside for the second album so I’ll be starting work on that next year.
Is there anything you want to share with our readers about your new album?
The best way to enjoy Resurrection Of Black is to sit down and listen to it from beginning to end. It’s rockin’ as well as provocative.
One of the greats of the current prog scene, Geoff Banks, has passed into eternity. I only heard the news minutes ago. He and I had many intense and brilliant conversations about everything that matters in this world. May he find peace and joy in the next. . .
Here’s Sally Collyer’s tribute:
Incredibly sad to hear that we have lost Geoff Banks today, one of life’s real people if that makes sense and I am glad that I was able to call him a friend, Geoff was actually one of my very first friends here on FB and at that time little did I know that he would play such a big part in our Tangent journey – always there 100% behind us even when things weren’t going too well, certainly not a fair weather friend, he was loyal, clever, infuriatingly funny and had a huge heart and passion for the music and friends he loved…too young to leave us …. I will miss those marathon 3 hour phone calls when he would talk to us in turn until both the house phone batteries ran out such was his passion for whatever his next project was or the problem he wanted to help us solve – my love and heartfelt condolences to his family and all who loved him – there are many – Rest in peace now my friend and you are totally forgiven for all the ludicrously rude jokes and atrocious behaviour, you rocked for real, larger than life and never to be forgotten xXx
The release of “Stone and Steel”, originally planned for this year, will now happen on 7th March 2016. Alongside nine songs and documentary footage filmed at Real World in 2014, we have decided to include four songs from the Kings Place gigs this year, and to mix all performances in 5.1 as well as stereo. It hasn’t proved possible to complete this work in time for a pre-Christmas release.
Given a total running time which will approach three hours, we’ve also taken the decision to release “Stone and Steel” on Blu-Ray only to ensure the highest quality video and audio. It will also be available as a paid download via Vimeo.
As a consolation for anybody who was hoping that Santa might put a copy in their stocking, we’ve released video of another Kings Place performance online: “Judas Unrepentant”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_i-uqGNzgU
(This performance won’t be included in “Stone and Steel”.)
Best wishes,
Andy, Danny, Dave, David, Greg, Nick, Rachel & Rikard
Big Big Train
Rush, R40 Live (Anthem, 2015). 3CD/1BluRay. Too many tracks to list.
Nothing Rush does is unimportant. Whether it’s winning an award, appearing on the cover of a mainstream magazine, releasing an album, or playing a concert, Rush matters. They’ve never not mattered, but they probably matter now more than ever. They’ve weathered every wave of music, always done exactly what they’ve wanted, and they’ve survived as a band for forty-one years.
What’s not to celebrate?
They are the grand men of rock, the grey eminence overlooking, overshadowing, and influencing every rock band since—whether directly or indirectly. Perhaps most importantly, however, they have influenced countless men (and, now, it seems, lots of women, too) in North and South America for at least two generations. Most importantly, they taught us not to be them, but to be ourselves, each and every one of us. If another voice in western culture has promoted individuality and excellence more than the three members of Rush, I’m not aware of that voice.
When Rush announced they’d be touring again for the fortieth-anniversary of the band (dating from when Peart joined), speculation flooded the media that this would be Rush’s last big tour. Of course, they were a year off—the tour came after forty-one years, but who really worries about such things. Forty years. Forty-one years. Either way, amen.
As I have had the privilege of writing many times, Rush has been my band—my obsession—since junior high detention, March 1981. Thank the good Lord for Troy and Brad, my fellow detainees, encouraging me to pick up this great new album, “Moving Pictures.” While other bands have certainly attracted me, none have done so in the way Rush has. Not only did I listen to every note—how many times?—but I absorbed every lyric, chased every reference, and fell head over heals for three Canucks whom I’ve never met.
When Rush played in Lincoln, Nebraska, this past summer, my two oldest kids—Nathaniel (16) and Gretchen (14) drove with me across the Great Plains from Boulder. It was their first Rush concert, and we loved every minute of it. Indeed, this is an understatement. We hung on every word and loved every aspect of the films. With thousands of others, we sang, jammed, and pumped our fists in the air.
The 3CD/1BluRay set arrived at my house in Michigan on Friday. I’ve had a bit of time to immerse myself in it. In terms of sound and visuals, this is an extraordinary release that absolutely captures the spirit of the tour. There are a number of things I’d not noticed when sitting high in the bleachers in Lincoln. Peart has a World War I RAF roundel in his drum set; Geddy has rearview mirrors on his keyboards; and there are lots of plastic dinosaurs near Alex. Additionally, things on stage really never stop moving. Lights change, props arrive and disappear, and there’s constant motion
I do have one complaint. Possibly a first when it comes to my view of Rush. The packaging for R40 Live is simply of poor quality. Not the disks. They’re fine. But, the cardboard holding the disks together is flimsy, and, even with the best care, I doubt it will last long or wear well. This is unfortunate, and I’m sorry the record label chose to put such a masterful moment in Rush’s history in such an ephemeral box. Talk about incongruous.
Still, R40 Live is well worth owning, as it captures such a crucial celebration. The blu-ray, especially, sounds extraordinary. As well it should.
