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Interview with Nick Van Dyk - Redemption
This is an email interview I did with Nick Van Dyk, the mastermind behind Redemption. Their debut album is a small masterpiece and if you haven't checked it out yet, you can read a review of the album here. Well, onto the questions...
If you had to describe the music of Redemption with only one word, what would it be?
Metal! Dammit, it's metal! :)
When I got the album I assumed that this would be a one album project. Now I'm happy to see that you're playing at ProgPower USA with new singer, drummer and keyboard player, and I've read that you're writing material for a new album. Could you tell me what has happened since the release of your album and up till now? Do you have a new final lineup?
The real line-up change for the festival was the addition of our permanent vocalist, Corey Brown. Rich Mythiasin, who was our session vocalist for the record, did a great job but progressive metal is pretty far removed from his normal style of singing and going forward I wanted somebody who, both from a performance and a songwriting standpoint, is extremely comfortable working in this genre.
We had a logistical issue with Jason drumming because Symphony X has been touring like crazy and even though we're going to be at the same festival, it's tough to work out rehearsal time. I'm hopeful that he'll join us on stage for a song.
The rest of the folks are outstanding musicians who have signed on for this show since I can't be playing bass, keyboards and guitar all at once! So the core of the band is myself, Bernie Versailles, Corey and Jason.
How is the writing for the second album progressing? Do you have any idea of when you might enter the studio again?
I have sketches for about half the songs done, and we'll be debuting one of them at ProgPower. I think after the festival is over we'll finish up writing and hopefully record sometime next spring.
Do you have any other Stephen King adaptions in the works? Or adaptions of other kinds?
There is one track that we recorded in the sessions for our self-titled CD based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft -- The Music of Erich Zann. It's a good track so we may use it for the next record, but the lyrics might change. There's a lot of third-person story narration on the first CD and that's something that I want to move away from going forward. So there probably won't be as much linear story telling next time out.
The production of the Redemption album is very special. I really like the heavy, dark and detailed sound, and also the fact that the vocals are mixed somewhat lower than usual. How did you come upon that sound? What considerations went into it?
First, thanks very much. Second, I'd love to say it was all done purposefully but that's really just the way it turned out! :) We recorded the drums in a small drum room that didn't have a good ambient tone, unfortunately. So we had to work a lot with EQ on those. The guitar sound I was quite happy with, and the bass as well. We tried a couple of different mixes with the vocals. It was hard to strike a balance actually, between Rick's voice sounding strong and it being too in front. The fact that there's a lot going on with the music made it challenging as well. It was a lot of work just making sure that everything can be heard and that no frequencies were stepping on each other. I have a real respect for engineers now, I can tell you that much.
With continuing listens to the album several details show themselves. One of my favourites is the way the background texture changes through each verse of Desperation Part I. First verse has a sinister atmosphere, like there is some ominous presence coming, then in the second verse the church organ gives a feeling of despair, and the third verse feels like silence before the storm. Were you trying to achieve something like that, or did you have something else in mind when composing this?
You are absolutely dead on! Thanks for noticing. The different textures in the different verses is something I was purposefully trying to do, particularly on the four Desperation tracks (though also a bit on As I Lay Dying). I've tried to be very "song-driven" in the music and not just be progressive for the sake of being progressive. But by modulating the verses a little bit, you can get away from the stale verse-prechorus-verse-prechorus-chorus structure. So hopefully what you're left with is something that still feels like a song but has a lot of texture to it.
Did you ever consider making the Desperation suite a full-blown concept album?
The Desperation songs were the last ones written for the record, so I didn't have the luxury of enough time. I was somewhat conscious at the time that I was short-changing the story by not being able to expand more, get away from the linear story-telling aspect of it and delve more into the characters from a first-person perspective. That's something that could be done on a concept album more easily. But I didn't know if I'd have the luxury of releasing another CD and I definitely wanted to tell this story, so four songs will have to do. Hopefully there's enough there to spark a reader's interest in the book, because the book raises many more interesting issues than I can hope to in the space of 20 minutes of music.
'Something wicked this way comes' is one of my favourite songs of the year so far. It has everything. How long did it take you to compose that song? And how long did it take to record it?
It look a VERY long time to compose. I think the first inklings, musically, are probably ten years old. In fact, I can remember picking up the book at a bookstore in San Francisco and thinking it would make a good song. So I had the idea in my head for a long time and probably started collecting riffs. But the finished version sounds virtually nothing like what it started out to be. I think only the introduction and one or two other riffs stayed intact, and the notion of the samples being used was in there from the start. But most of this was rewritten and finally honed in the last year before recording. The entire ending section, for example, was written the day I got a 7-string guitar and came upon a riff that I thought was cool.
Then it went through another change because the finished song was about 19 minutes and Ray [Alder] was listening to it and thought it was a bit disjointed. He's not generally a fan of overly long songs, so it's pretty ironic that in addressing his suggestions I was encouraged to make the song longer...but that's the reason for the instrumental section right before the final verse where the melody lines from all the different parts of the song are revisited. Almost like an Overture in reverse.
This one was surprisingly easy to record, given its length. We did it one section at a time and just kept plugging away. It took less time to record as a percentage of its length than it takes up on the CD.
Who came up with the ingenius way Rick sings in 'Part VIII Departures'? Did you always have that in mind or did it just evolve during the recording sessions?
I don't like patting myself on the back too much, but that's my melody line and I'm pretty proud of it. Rick nails it, too...when he sings "it's his smile the bullet carries" I always get a chill. That's the highlight of the CD, I think.
Are you planning to play this song live?
It's too long to do the whole thing, but we're going to do a little bit of it, yes.
What went through your mind the first time you listened to the finished album?
Thank God it's finally finished! :) It's funny...in a way, it's surreal that all these tremendous musicians did a project with a complete unknown. But I think we have something that we can be very proud of, and, more importantly, a building block for the future. I'm very excited about working on new material with these guys.
I know that you recorded an instrumental track and a cover of the Police song 'Synchronicity II', which didn't make it on to the finished album. Will we be able to hear these tracks sometime in the future?
I think so. The instrumental is a cool track but something about the mix didn't sit right with me so I decided to hold back on it. I wanted to include Synchronicity on this record but there was an issue of length and the label strongly suggested I hold it back. Which I think backfired on them because they've been deluged with requests for it. Heheh! I think it's a killer version and I'd love to include it on the next record but it may have already been played out by then...we'll see. There's also another song, called Man of Glass, that is going to be great when Corey redoes the vocals and that one will be on the next CD, definitely.
When did you know that you wanted to become a musician? And what inspired you to come this far?
I'm fortunate that my parents forced me to take piano lessons when I was six. I wound up playing semi-competitively for about twelve years and that gave me a foundation in music, theory and composition that basically enabled me to have the confidence that I could pick up a guitar. I picked up the guitar because you couldn't get a piano to sound like Iron Maiden! :) And this was before keyboards were accepted music in metal, so my options were limited. :)
I started writing on guitar almost as soon as I picked it up, and had a wealth of music that I never thought would see the light of day but it was a good creative release for me. When I became friends with Ray, Bernie, Mark [Zonder], Joey [Vera] and other musicians, it took me a while to get the courage to play the material for them but eventually I realized that it didn't suck, and that with their help I could put a CD together. So I guess it all came about very gradually.
How do you go about composing this complex music? Do you have any special inspirations, or does it just happen?
It's a variety of things. Sometimes I start with lyrics, sometimes with music, sometimes with a melody line, sometimes with a riff. As I mentioned, the bulk of the last six minutes of Something Wicked came about because I had just bought a 7-string and was fooling around on it. Other times I will just fit a melody to music that's written and then tweak the music if a melody emerges that is stronger than the music will accommodate. Basically, strong melody, a few cool riffs and a structure that makes it sound like a song as opposed to just a bunch of things strung together...these are what drives the songwriting for me.
Do you live off music?
Unfortunately, no. If anything, it's the other way around. My "day job" (I am a senior executive in the entertainment industry) allows me to be a musician.
Do you have any spare time and what do you like to do with it?
I like to play golf, although I'm so terrible at it you'd never know how much time I've invested in it. I'm a big wine collector. I like movies. But most of my spare time is spent hanging out with friends, or spending time with my wife and our six-month old girl.
What is your favourite book?
I'll give you a two-part answer. The most powerful book I've read is Desperation...hence my decision to adapt it. But the best-written book I've read is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Eco is a genius.
What is your favourite movie?
The Shawshank Redemption. Care to guess where the band name comes from?
Can you name your favourite three albums of all time?
1. Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath
2. Moving Pictures by Rush
3. Piece of Mind by Iron Maiden
I guess that mean's I'm "old school", eh? :)
I hope that you will make it to Europe to tour someday. Do you see that happening sometime in the future?
There are no plans at present, but I would love to do that. I love Europe and try to get there once a year.
Ok, now you're free to write whatever you want for our readers.
I'd like to thank the staff of RevelationZ for the opportunity to answer some questions, and for taking the time to review Redemption and give the readers a chance to learn about us. And thanks to all of you for your interest. I hope you enjoy the CD!
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Written by Steen - 6/28/2003 |
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