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Interview with Vox Tempus - Vox Tempus
It's really hard to stand out in the world of progressive rock and progressive metal, but a quartet that has come forth, fulfilling the need to get back to basics when it comes to prog-metal, offering a sound reminiscent to Images and Words era Dream Theater. Ray Mantor (guitar), Dan Reed (vocals), Eric Ragno(keys), and Jim Turba (bass) make up the group better known as Vox Tempus.
The band came out of the ashes of Equinox, with both Mantor and Turba looking for an outlet of their own throughout many lineup changes in Equinox, which left the band at a crossroad, a crossroad that would lead to the formation of a new band. With the addition of Rango, whom you probably already recognize from Takara, and vocalist Reed, Vox Tempus was born. Although currently shopping for a record deal, they have had the complete freedom to create a record on their own terms, and who better to pound the skins than Gregg Bissonette, proving that these guys already have the clout in the prog rock/metal world. I was introduced to these guys about a year ago and had been anxious to hear more of their music and to follow up on what their current endeavors are and what better way to ask them myself.
So I asked these guys about the changes they went through over the years with Equinox that had brought them up the current endeavor known as Vox Tempus, and guitarist Mantor responded by saying
RM: Jim (Turba) and I joined Equinox back in 1996, both of us had been playing in bands together since we were kids, so I came across somebody who knew somebody in Equinox and they were looking for more members to help promote them at the time, behind the Color of the Time, so I called them, set up an audition and basically we toured behind that record, did a successful tour and we started writing new material. At the same time there were things going on with the members of Equinox and only a couple people were left, so then at that time we did a nationwide search for a new keyboard player, so we came a cross Eric Ragno and we continued writing. We did another nationwide search found (vocalist) Dan Reed. Its was kind of one of things where we went forward, in the spirit of Equinox, and we decided that it was best to choose a new name seeing that the lineup had changed since the Equinox release.
TH: Seeing how you guys have roots in the Twin Cities area (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota USA), and having found members from all parts of the country, did you guys relocate to anywhere during this time period to find Eric and Dan.
RM: We didn't want to limit ourselves to the Minneapolis metro area local musicians, we wanted to broaden our horizons, and we came across Eric and we basically corresponding through e-mail, sent music to him that way, had him put some tracks to them. So basically we would audition people through electronic means and demo tapes and when we felt that Eric would be the perfect fit, we flew him out here and we played together and he turned out to be the guy.
ER: I actually still live in L.A. and Ray still lives in Minneapolis, and Dan and Jim are actually in Colorado, so we are actually still are in other parts of the country. We get together to do recording, writing, and stuff like that, but we use electronic stuff like MP3's and Internet like you would not believe, we collaborate over the phone and DSL lines and that sort of thing.
Incorporating the things that they send each other into computer software, which with the advent of programs like Pro-Tools or Nuendo it has made life easier for musicians, not to mention if they live hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from each other.
RM: We all are set up with Nuendo in our home studios, and we basically demo ideas and basically broadcast it out to everybody, once we get the feel that something is good, then we all get together and work out all the details, so it's kind of different from the "normal" way of writing where everybody gets in a room and throws around ideas, we just kind of do it across the country, via-electronic means.
Besides working with eachother on this record, they incorporated drummer Gregg Bissonette to add the percussive attack to the record, who has played with everybody from jazz musician Maynard Fergueson to David Lee Roth to Joe Satriani to Ringo Starr, I then asked them about the experience with Bissonette.
DR: He is incredible, as renowned as he is, he was very friendly.
ER: He brings this whole legacy with him, when Van Halen split up there was a whole wave of 80's hard rock and he was in the thick of it. He was so down to earth with us, he always would ask "did you like that" or "was that good enough" and we were like, just do anything you want, nothing is too much for this record, just go crazy, and he really put in quite a performance. There are two sections where there are drum solos that are just perfect for a prog record, and he just went all out.
The drums were recorded in a studio owned renowned keyboardist Erik Norlander, I then asked how that experience was working at Think Tank Studios.
JT: We all flew out to LA and decided to record at Think Tank, Gregg has Worked with Norlander before, and we felt pretty comfortable working with him (Erik Norlander) on that.
RM: When we initially were corresponding with Gregg, we were shopping studios and seeing what we wanted to do as far as recording, and we had worked with Erik Norlander in the past on few other demos and pre-production projects that we have put together, so we made the phone call and he spoke highly of Gregg and it was likewise with Gregg, because he said "lets go to Eric's place" from that point its was pretty much decided.
TH: Did you guys see the big wall of Moog Synthesizers while you were there.
RM: Oh man unbelievable, he actually brings that stuff with him overseas.
ER: I watched him pack the gear up, it's crazy! The fans love to see the setup he has and he completely works with all of it.
With the music that these guys play, it surprises me by even the demo that these guys don't have a record deal. But when it came to that, it becomes clear that these guys are leaving no stone unturned as Ray put it, sending demos to both the majors and independents.
TH: Any interests so far?
ER: We have sent demos out to a bunch of folks and we are still talking about a lot of things. The things that we are hearing from some of our colleagues and labels is that this is a tricky time to sign to sign hard rock bands, because of the economy, because of downloading/pirating, stuff like that in general. We have had some offers, but the labels are a little cautious because of business reasons, like how much they are able to or commit to touring, how much support. At this time we are still reviewing stuff and reading through it.
RM: We are holding out at this point to see who can get our music out to the people, because we want to make sure that they stand behind us, get us out on the road, put the distribution out in the proper places, and airplay on any stations that play that style as well.
DR: It gets tricky when comparing different markets, and you don't know what song and so forth is going to warm up to a particular market (U.S., Europe, or Asia), prog is a tough one to market.
ER: It's amazing how many hardcore prog fans there are in Brazil or countries that we have never been to that have heard of us, and we would love to go and shake all of their hands, and just get to know the fans, because as Americans, most of us have not really been out of this country, and we have a lot of die hard fans in countries that don't even speak the language, they are already trying to translate the lyrics. Thank God for the Internet.
TH: Yeah the Internet was both a Saint and Satan to the record industry, the plus being an easy way to promote yourself globally and the minus being all the illegal downloading. But it seems due to the collectability of all the underground music weather it is indie rock, heavy metal or prog, there is that collectability factor placed within, people want to have something to hold in their hand, something official, with all the artwork and so forth. Now backtracking a little bit, where do you see your audience's different from place to place?
RM: Not only did we send out demos to the record labels, we also sent some material out to media outlets, so at this point we are getting airplay in a number of countries around the world. I noticed in a lot of places in Brazil, Germany, and many other places around Europe, those guys are all over it, wanting to know when the record is coming out and how can they get it and so forth.
As for the U.S., they are enthusiastic about it, but in other countries they are almost fanatical about it, being very eager fans; its exciting to see somebody respond to it that way. The nice thing about prog fans is that they are some of the nicest fans you could ever come across, I mean when they like something, they will like you forever; they want to buy every album, every import version, for different cover art or bonus tracks, it's really cool to have fans in that genre because they remain true to the music.
ER: They will go so far as to fly to another continent to see their favorite acts.
TH: Are there any plans to play live anywhere, festivals, tour?
ER: It really boils down to wait and see when we get the record done, last year we really wanted to get out and play, but we were in the middle of recording the drums with Gregg. Most promoters want to wait and see when the album comes out, we want to wait until the work is done, and once it is done, pretty much everything is on the table, so once the new record is out, anything goes.
TH: What should we expect from the new record?
RM: I think what you can expect from this record; the advances that we sent out contain most of the tunes people would be familiar with. We have a couple of other great things on there, we have an "epic" song, it clocks in at about eighteen minutes long, there is an instrumental track on there where we did a no holds barred free for all for everyone, it's pretty exciting. So as for the advance, it has a prog flavor, but is probably not as prog as some of the other stuff on the record. When we write stuff, we just sit down and write, for example, the track "For Every Life" is just a straight ahead kind of a rock song, whereas when we started to write the epic track "Love, Lies, and Treason," it was something that just progressed into what became this extended track.
ER: We also have a ballad on the album, we have some hardcore prog for the hardcore prog fans, we have the kick-ass instrumental for the MI/Berklee students, and the ballad is something you can play for all of your girlfriends and wives, and it does break their hearts, I have seem it happen. The stuff on the sampler/demo is just a cross section of all this. After playing with several different people over the years, we came to the realization a long time ago that that is our album and we can do whatever we want. If we want the twenty-minute song or heart-crushing ballad, we can do it, there is great freedom of making your own record. We are having a blast with it.
As the interview was wrapping up I asked them about their influences, what they are listening to these days, and of course some of their favorite gear that they are currently working with.
DR: Well for me when I started out as a guitarist, it was Randy Rhoads, but as a singer it's pretty much Geoff Tate, I have several influences, but he is the main one. Listening for him for the first time made me want to become a singer. As for what I am listening to now, one of my favorite bands is Disturbed, I think that they are a well-rounded band, not prog by any means, but you can tell that there is a prog influence, you pull the music apart and you can tell that there is a lot going on.
JT: Evanescence is a big thing that I have been listening to lately, as far as bassists that have influenced be, it's mostly jazz players such as Victor Wooten as well as players like John Myung (Dream Theater).
RM: I kind of always go back to the tried and true, going back to the 80's metal, such as Iron Maiden, things like that. Some of the newer stuff is cool too, for a while you had the "rap-metal" that was big, but now we are seeing more melody coming back to heavy much in the mainstream, which is really cool. The guitarists are now coming forward with solos, I mean the guitar solos disappeared for a while.
DR: I used to think it was kind of funny when you would be walking through the grocery store and walk past a copy of Guitar Player magazine and see a picture of Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) or somebody that never played a solo in their life. Somewhere along the way within the transition from the eighties to the nineties, it went from an emphasis on the musicianship to the attitude, it is what sold the bands to the public, I am starting to feel a change in focus, with musicianship coming back into the mainstream.
TH: Any Favorite Gear that you guys like to work with?
ER: We use a lot of virtual sounds, the way technology is set up now, and we can set up sounds on a computer and play them with a keyboard, but other than that I'm not really a gearhead. We love to check out any new technology we can get our hands on.
RM: I use Mesa stuff for my guitar. It took a long time to get to the point where I have a sound that I really like. I have played on a lot of different gear and I'm not too big on effects like harmonizes or other monster sounding effects. The tube stuff just has a tonality that you just can't emulate.
So that wrapped up the interview, on behalf of RevelationZ, I would like to thank the members of Vox Tempus for the interview.
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Dan Reed
Eric Rango
Jim Turba
Ray Mantor |
Written by Hashman - 5/29/2004 |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Timothy (Anonymous) - Saturday, July 15, 2006 | I have been looking for sites like this for a long time. Thank you!
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