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Interview with Olaf Quinzaños - Heaven's Cry
Fist of all, Great album. I like the Fresh sound you guys have. I haven't heard any band sound like that before. Can you tell a little about how you developed that sound?
Thank you. I also have to first of all say that I am very proud of the people that collaborated to make this album possible. Since I am also aware of the sacrifices and effort that everybody in the band made, this is definitely the best group of people I have ever worked with. I think that the "sound" is the result of the coming together of many things, individually and as a band. We are also three guitarists in the band with a completely different "sound" and approach. Sylvain (bass/vocals) often plays the bass with two self-fashioned drum sticks (like Tony Levin's funkyfingers) which gives a great pecussive touch to what he does. "PrimalPowerAddiction" was also produced and recorded by Pierre (guitars/vocals).
You have two vocalists who by the way sound Excellent, why did you think that was necessary?
Pierre and Sylvain are natural singers and they evolved a musical relationship where this is well taken advantage of, they evolved to back each other up wonderfully. This takes away many limits when writing, and performing songs live. Their vocal contribution is key to the final sound we hope to achieve.
Can you tell a little about each of the tracks on Primal Power Addiction?
2K Awe Tick (Lyrics by Pierre)
The idea of generating a point of view external to the forged human experience and the paradox within our perceptions. It concludes with a series of open questions. So the music would suit the lyrical content, we had to make sure that we let the song guide us, and not be distracted by our "limits".
Masterdom's Profit(Lyrics by Olaf and Pierre)
In line with "2K Awe Tick" , Masterdom's Profit is a song about the excessive consumption of resources that our societies have come to believe they need to exist. The planet in its whole is bound to meet its demand, from minerals to the most complex organism, living beings. The time signature (generally 7/8) gives this song an impression of someone running in the choruses as the lyrics describe the experience.
A New Paradigm (Lyrics by Pierre)
At this point in the album, we are focusing on the human experience in its environment. This is a song of hope. During times when new medias and technologies are emerging at a very fast rate, old misconceptions must make way to a new paradigm, one that could lead us to more peaceful and loving future. In my opinion, this is the only way we could survive. We could destroy the planet a thousand times with our weaponry, etc. The introduction, is a musical metaphor of an ocean, followed by a huge approaching wave, passing on top of you while you are hit by the "water!" and then drop down when the heavy guitars come in.
Divisions(Lyrics by Pierre)
This is a celebration of the growing multiculturalism in the world. Musically and lyrically, this is a progressive one! The blending of cultures that is occurring between millions of people that don't belong to a race or a society in particular. People that are born with parents that have different cultural background, etc. The middle part of the song has lots of shifting time-signatures creating a disequilibrium which is then followed by a (return to a) state of peace.
A Higher Moral Ground(Lyrics by Olaf and Pierre)
"A higher moral ground" is about the cycle of power and control in human history, from its great beginning to its final corruption of man and societies. These lyrics speak for themselves!
Komma(Lyrics by Pierre)
This is a story. A self-proclaimed prophet has spread the word about an eventual mental war that will take the earth without casualties but for the individual minds. Its about the struggle that occurs between ideologies that try to run the future. It marks the end of the first part of the album.
Remembrance(Lyrics by Sylvain)
The second part of the album is on the individual level. Remembrance follows Komma as if one's mind would've been raped and then left alone with missing memories. People that know the demo sampler or have the Japanese version of "FFTS" will notice that the chorus has a link to the song "A Single Century". The music is not as complex and this is a song that just needed to breathe naturally.
One Of Twentyfour(Lyrics by Pierre)
This song has one of the hardest lyrics to understand and explain. Just because of that, I will let people's imagination try and grasp it. Hehe;-) We are very proud of this one!
Waves(Lyrics by Sylvain)
Breaking the waves that hold you inside, so you can grow again. Let the dreamer dream again. The guitar noise at the beginning represents this, as if there was a problem in the brainwave pattern that comes back every measure.
The Inner Stream Remains(Lyrics by Pierre)
It follows "Waves" in its essence, after the cleansing. It is about making it through hard times and trying to reach higher planes of consciousness to evolve within the remains of its initial mind, its soul. It ends the album in a very positive way, we finally found our way back!
Why did you cover a Midnight Oil track?
We jammed the song in rehearsal and we loved it. We feel that it really fits the concept of the album. I believe the lyrics are as current now as was when it first came out. We gave it the Heaven's Cry touch musically and it was enough for us. We knew it might be a bit controversial, a "prog band" doing this song but we decided to go with it anyway!
One of my favorite tracks is "A Higher Moral Ground". Everything about this track is brilliant. The guitar sound is one of the best I have heard. At times I think the track reminds me of Pain Of Salvation. Is there any connection there?
The lyrics in "A Higher Moral Ground " best represent the title of the album (PPA). It's about tendencies being confused with inevitabilities, and (inner) perceptions with (outer) reality.
I think that Pain Of Salvation is great! I heard the band for the first time last year and appreciate very much what they do. They are not afraid to experiment therefore I think have some things in common with HC.
Which bands do you listen to?
The whole band listens to a vast array of different music. Having very different backgrounds, everybody in the band has added to the repertoire of artists we listen to. I personally have very fluid tastes and appreciate music that will challenge me in one way or another. Tool comes to mind, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, and so many others.
Are you inspired by those bands to write the kind of music you play?
We hope to find inspiration from as many sources as possible. One undeniable influence for us has been Rush, which is a band all of us have been listening to for a long time.
What is next for Heaven's Cry? Tour? Album? EP? Or something completely different?
Definitely there will be a new album soon. We have been working on it for some time now, and even though it's still too early to say what exact form it will take, we are already well engaged. We also plan to re-release "Food For Thought Substitute" later this year and make it once again available. In the mean time we are also planning a Canadian tour.
Do you have any special messages to your fans that might read this interview?
We hope to see you at our next European visit!!
We invite everybody to visit our website at www.heavenscry.com and join our newsletter.
Cheers!
Thanks for a great album, and hope to hear and see you live someday soon.
Tak you for giving us the opportunity to share some of our thoughts with you.
Take care, and see you soon!
Olaf Quinzaños
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Written by Mads - 4/12/2003 |
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